man on the moon

2010-10-06T21:39:00.000-07:00

So we have some new friends named Derek and Holly. Derek has his own blog and reading his blog has convinced me to resurrect my own blog. Ta-dah!

So things have been pretty busy in Dayton. We went to the Renaissance Festival last weekend and had a pretty kick ass time. I don't have any pictures yet but I can guarentee you there were bread bowls and funnel cakes all around. I'm so happy fall is here. Pumpkins, cool weather, Halloween, hot chocolate and pumpkin pie at McDonalds... Life couldn't get better.

I've also been doing a little crafting lately. I want to quilt but I have no one to quilt for. It feels a little selfish to quilt for myself since we have 548 quilts and blankets. I decided that decorative quilting would help me in two ways. 1) it will help me practice machine quilting and 2) it will give me practice using shapes other than squares. I'm pretty good with geometric shapes (as seen here) So anyway... here's what I've been working on. It took me a total of about 5 hours. My only regret is that I forgot to add the pumpkin stem. *sigh* What do you think?

In other news, I'm going back to Paris this winter. I just realized I never posted pictures from my last trip. I'm more excited about this trip because I'm getting better at French and I feel like I actually know and remember the city. I'm also making a short trip to London (like last year) but this time we'll get to see everything we didn't get to see last time. Should be a hoot. =)

Anyway.... welcome back, y'all!

2010-02-22T16:15:00.000-08:00

It's that time of year again.... I'm asking for your dontations to the Humane Society of Greater Dayton. It's a non-federally subsudized shelter and they do a lot of great work for the community of Dayton. This year my goal is to raise $2000. I'm hoping you can help. =)

Please go to to make a dontation. AND... as a special "thank you," I'll be sending the first person to donate a special surprise. =) So go donate!

from The Humane Society of Greater Dayton:

The Humane Society of Greater Dayton is committed to finding great homes for great pets. We work to create lifelong, healthy relationships through adoption and education services, as well as through programs: The Humane Society of Greater Dayton is committed to finding great homes for great pets. We work to create lifelong, healthy relationships through adoption and education services, as well as through programs that ensure the safe, humane treatment of all animals.

a brief review

2010-02-08T19:43:00.001-08:00

So it's been a while and a lot of things have happened since my last post.

November
-went to Minnesota for deer hunting and got skunked

December was pretty awesome...
-packed my bags and went to Paris, France for three weeks (pics and stories to come)
-had Christmas with my Mom and Brother
-had the best New Year's ever with the hubby playing games at BWW until 1am

January
-saw a sick puppy in a pet store over Christmas and decided to go back and buy it. When it wasn't there, we decided to buy another pup anyway. Her name is Amelia
-started school after a month-long break

February
-just trying to get through the winter and through the school quarter without giving up. Onwaaaaard, ever onward...

getting her first tooth brushing

Amelia and Champ @ Yahoo! Video

Champ and Amelia @ Yahoo! Video

ignore the phone conversation. lol

a come back?

2010-02-07T17:52:00.000-08:00

I just can't stay away....

2009-10-15T11:04:00.001-07:00

Well kiddos, it's been real. I'm hanging up my blogging shoes and heading on to knew and better things. Take it easy and don't forget to write.... first name underscore last name at yahoo dot com.

end of summer

2009-09-07T11:24:00.000-07:00

Well it has been quiet a week. I can't believe it but I'm almost sad that summer is ending. This past week I have been up in Minnesota spending time with my family and enjoyed every minute of it. I love my nieces and nephews so much and I can't wait to see them again.

The main reason for my trip was to go to the Minnesota State Fair with everyone. I was glad to be able to spend the day in the sun without getting sick and we had the most fun time. Unfortunately, the only pictures I have of myself are ones where I am stuffing my face. *sigh* I will make you sick when I tell you all the stuff that I ate but it was all soooooo good. I had a corndog, macaroni and cheese on a stick, cheese curds, a bucket of cookies (not the whole bucket, mind you), a fried candy bar on a stick, pizza on a stick, fried fruit on a stick (probably the best thing I tried), a funnel cake with strawberries and a snowcone. Tasty!

I was even able to talk an Arab down on his prices so that I could expand our costume collection...

It was rough coming home... literally. Jared and I are planning on going home for a weekend during hunting season so I had the idea that I would bring my rifle back to Ohio in order to take it to target practice. The morning I was supposed to come home I ended up falling back asleep after my alarms went off. I woke up at 5:30 and my flight was at 7am. I had to speed all the way to the airport and then I missed my exit. I finally got to the airport at 6am and had to return my rental car. I made it through to the check-in desk at 6:15 only to find that I had not purchased enough locks for the firearm case. Arg! The ticketing agent told me to run down to the convenience store on the first level and buy a lock there. Of course, when I got there, they were sold out. I started crying immediately. I scheduled my return flights so late that if I missed one flight, I would have to call off work. I was mega stressed out. I get back to the ticket counter to see if they'd just loosen their standard since there was no way I was going to get a lock. Instead, one of the TSA agents offered to sell me his locker lock FOR $12!!! After realizing that it was my only option for getting on that plane, I sprinted to find an ATM. FINALLY, I got the firearm checked in, got through security and got on my flight just minutes before take-off.

I slept most of the way home and when I got off the plane I immediately called Jared. He said, "Scott's picking you up... I have some bad news...." What more could go wrong today?! As it turns out, Jared and Champ were leaving the house to picke me up at the airport. When Champ came running outside, two large dogs from across the street came barrelling over and one attacked Champ and bit him around the neck! The owners came running out of their house to seize the dog and Jared was able to get her jaws off of little Champster. One of the owners found an emergency vet that was open on a holiday weekend while Jared and the other owner immediately pressure on Champ's wound. Jared drove them all to the emergency vet clinic where Champ had surgery to fix up his wounds. Apparently he only had a small gash on his right shoulder that didn't look too bad. When we went to the clinic after I got home, the vet told us that we were lucky to have him alive. Once he was on the operating table and they were moving his arm around, he started bleeding out from a severed jugular. His condition was declining and started to show signs of hypovolemic shock. Not good. Luckily we had an excellent vet and she was able to cap the veins and save our little friend. When she told us the news I cried. She said most animals with this type of injury don't even make it to the hospital. We're so lucky.

We weren't allowed to see him for the first two days because of staffing and privacy issues. It would have been fine except I hadn't seen him for almost a week and I was anxious to see him again. Finally, on Sunday night, the vet allowed us to take him home after I got off work. I half expected to see him and his eyes would light up and he would be happy to see us. Not the case. I'm sure he was happy to see us but he sure didn't show it. When we took him outside he actually pulled on the leash to go back inside the vet's office. =( We thought that maybe once we got home he'd act more like the fun and loving Champ we know. Instead, he refused all treats, drank some water, refused to take his medications and then went back to the bedroom to lie down. He has also been like that all day today.

It's just so heartbreaking to see him in so much pain. His tail wags a little when you call his name and I get excited for those little moments when old Champ breaks through. I'm sure all he needs right now is lots of rest, lots of water, lots of love, and lots of time. He's walking about 60 feet before he gets too tired or hurt and has to rest. I can't wait until we can take him for his first walk around the block. It's good to have him home even though he just rests in our bedroom all day.

You can't see it but he has a number of bite wounds that are sutured as well as a 5-inch incision where the vet capped his jugular and repaired muscle damage. He's being so brave!

it's been forever

2009-06-23T12:44:00.001-07:00

What a day! What a week! What a month!

It all started about a month ago when we decided to have a garage sale the same week that I was preparing for finals and was busy writing term papers. I expected to have a better turn out for the garage sale (apparently sticking up signs on the corner the old fashioned way doesn't get 'em like it used to) but we did relatively well for the effort we put into it.

Here's what the garage looked like before...

And here's what it looks like now.... (You can see the floor!!)

We now have space in the garage to construct some shelving and all the stuff that's left can either go on the shelves, go in our upper storage space or back out to the shed. We may even have room for an air hockey table.(!) After having the garage sale, we decided to use the extra cash to landscape the yard. I'm throwing around the word "landscape" pretty loosely because really we just decided to plant some much needed foliage.

In the works...

After...

(Before, again...)

Ta-da! (Oh yeah! We got a new roof too! Yey!)

I kept crashing the lawnmower into the lattice work so we planted some lilacs in the back yard next to our porch. My parents had lilacs next to their deck and I always loved them in the spring/summer. Too bad they don't bloom as long here in Dayton. =( Oh well.

The landscaping has really been my project. Unfortunately, it doesn't look like much now but in a couple of years hopefully (if I don't kill them) the plants will fill out, get taller, and be a real garden. Jared has been way helpful through it all. He tore out all the bushes and roots (lots of roots, omg!), hauled soil and mulch, and dug holes... okay who am I kidding, he did all the hard work. But I designed it, picked out and bought all the plants, planted, spread the mulch and have been watering like crazy.

While I've been busy in the front, he's been a busy little bee too. He washed, sanded and painted the front porch. The guys before us didn't add grit to the paint and last winter we even had some stranger fall off our porch and injure himself. Thankfully we didn't get sued. Jared did an excellent job and I have faith that this paint job will last much longer this time around.

He whitewashed the shed (which took him almost two days!) and he's done a great job at keeping the lawn thick and healthy.

He even found the time (and will!) to sand and stain all the fences and the back deck. It took him a week but it's gorgeous now! Time for some parties!

He's pretty much ready to take on the Cobra Kai now.

We have a ton more projects lined up for this summer. We're putting in a privacy fence on the north side of our house. Because, let's face it, we're gonna get a puppy SOMETIME. I'd like to tear out all of the weeds behind the garage and shed but it may have to wait until fall. My mom is coming to visit after the 4th of July so we'll have some fun summer adventures then. I'm going to clean up the garage so we can finally play some darts again and maybe build ourselves a set of corn hole boards. I'm really looking forward to the rest of the summer, can you tell?!

obx

2009-06-23T11:23:00.000-07:00

About two weeks ago we left Dayton for our McFamily Beach Vacation in the Outer Banks, North Carolina. (OBX, baby!) We decided to drive because we wanted to bring Champ to the beach. 13 adults, 7 children, and 1 dog all in the same house?! Madness! On top of that, I took a few hard hits in the head with a few waves and ended up getting a sinus infection and whiplash! My doctor said I may even have a slight concussion!! Craziness!

On with the vacation...

Here we are in West Virginia. If it weren't for all the inbreeding and buck teeth, I'd probably want to move there...

We arrived in Elizabeth City, North Carolina where Jared's aunts and uncles live. We stayed at one of their houses while they were spending the summer at their beach cottage (jerks!)...
      (Aunt Geri brought over a FEAST! and after a day on the water, it was much needed and delicious!)

      (Jenn and the girls at the river)

After days and days of driving and waiting to go to the beach, we finally made it! We went to Jockey's Ridge to fly kites...

      (Dan flying my engineering feat)

      (Toby, Oliver, Eric and Kosette)

      (Me, Aunt Mary Ella, Jackson, Shauna)

      (Shayne, Kasia and Lexi)

      (Me making Toby cry)

      (Shayne and Toby, Heg, Dan, Jared, Shauna, Keesha, Kalista, Eric and Kosette)

We drove down to Cape Hatteras Lighthouse...

      (Jared, me and Dan after 248 steps)

Had some delicious seafood...
      (Uncle Frank showing Eric, Geri, Shayne and Jackson how to eat crab)

Took some pictures....
      (OMG aren't they adorable?!!!)

      (This is supposed to be our "sexy" face picture...I don't know what's happened on the left side of this picture ;) )

And spent a day at the beach...
      (Lamont, Kaylee, Lexi and Kosette)

      (Everyone in the water.. Jared, Keesha, Kasia, Eric, Shauna, Nancy, Jenn and Oliver)

      (Kaylee and Kierica)

      (Heg and Kosette)

      (Kosette, Kasia, Lexi and Nancy build a sand sculpture of Champ!)

We also had a lot more fun that I didn't capture on camera. We went mini golfing THREE times at a couple of really fun (and easy!) courses. We had a ~~talent~~ variety show where I showed everyone I can juggle (bet you didn't know that, huh?!) and Jared showed off his madd math skillz. We took Champ to the beach and he was terrified. He almost choked himself once just trying to get away from the surf. And last but not least, Champ got flees.

Hurray for North Carolina! Can't wait to see you again in two years! =)

2009-05-20T21:55:00.000-07:00

Lately I've been finding it hard to update. I don't really have a lot of extra time to blog these days and I've also been lacking in the inspiration department. So I'm going to pose a question for my reader(s).... it would be great if you all could respond but if you would rather it be a private response, you can just e-mail me.

What in life is beautiful to you? And where do you find inspiration?

...must...sleep....

2009-04-13T09:48:00.000-07:00

I am so tired. If I suddenly type, "asdkl kfaldk ,nsajllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll" you'll know it's because I fell asleep and did a face-plant onto the keyboard. I'm in desperate need of a second wind.

About a month ago I said to myself, "Chrissa, you really, REALLY need to finish school." I had already been accepted to Wright State University but hadn't actually registered for classes last fall like I was supposed to. Opps. Two weeks before classes started at the end of March I was scrambling like mad to get my shiz in order before the quarter began. My boss (who is totally awesome, by the way) had promised me that I would move up to full time in January but since we are experiencing a ton of budget cuts, I've still only been working part time. Perfect, right? I swear, the day I told my boss that I was starting school again she started scheduling me for 28-35 hours per week instead of the 22-25 hours I had been working. Not that I'm complaining... the money is good and I still have enough time to complete my homework on time... but I'm now realizing how much I took my spare time for granted.

So I'm taking 4 classes this quarter. I probably should have only taken 3 but I'm trying to get done before next fall so it looks like I'll be taking between 16-18 credits every quarter for the next year. It's kind of exciting though--knowing that this will be the last year of college for me (for a while, anyway) and that I'm really not far from being finished. So yeah, I'm taking 4 classes. I have a computer class which has actually been more helpful than I was thinking it was going to be though I'm learning way more about Excel than I ever wanted to know. My second class is French. I'm a little nervous about it because I've never been good at picking up other languages and I have be fluent before they'll let me graduate. So far it's been good. The third class I'm taking is a little of a disappointment. It's called History of Western Music. We're getting into the interesting stuff now but the professor presents the material as if it is uninteresting and not important so naturally everyone thinks its a slacker class. The last class is a literature class called Great Books. We're reading a mixture of classic lit from different time periods. It's a little overwhelming; there's a test every class period and we're reading/discussing a new book every week and a half. Oy!

So what have I been doing with what little time I have to spare?

Well.... at the end of March, both Jared and I got LASIK!!! I was seeing 20/300 before the surgery and the day after I was seeing 20/15. That's better than 20/20!!! I'm still experiencing a little dryness but otherwise it's turned out pretty well. Whenever I get around to it, I'll post the video... it's pretty awesome.

This last weekend, we totally had a blast. Our friend, Scott, got home from a year in Iraq so we were excited to see him. On Saturday we bought a new monitor for our computer and decided that we are going to buy a new tv. (Eeee!) We also went out to dinner with Summer, Daniel, James and Liz and afterwards we caught a movie. The movie wasn't bad but I don't know if I would recommend it to anyone. Maybe if they were sick and on the couch all day. I dunno. It's called "Sunshine Cleaning" and has Allen Arkin, Amy Adams and Emily Blunt. It was okay. Then, on Sunday, we invited the whole crew over for Easter dinner. Good food, great activities and fantastic company. *sigh* I wish the weekend didn't have to end... Either that or I wish our friends would all move in with us.

Egg Fights...

Frisbee

Good Times.

namasté

2009-02-26T09:59:00.000-08:00

I've been trying to do more activities or put myself in environments that promote self-realization. I recently made a trip to the Dayton Art Institute that helped me become aware of this inner artist I have boxed up inside. I feel balanced when I can express that side of me. It makes me want to make a trip up to Chicago to buy a cello from William Harris & Lee Co. so that I can play again. I want to lock myself in a room and play until my fingers are too stiff to move. I used to do that a lot but it just seems like there are so many other things now that waste my time. Kind of like this blog but it does keep me writing so I guess it does have a few benefits.

Another thing I've been doing/been wanting to do more of is journal. Writing about my thoughts and activities helps to give significance to those happenings. One problem I have is when I get depressed, nothing is important to me. I neglect the feelings of others, nothing is fun and nothing matters to me. Writing is one of the ways I can remind myself of the meaningfulness of my life and my worth. I don't know if that makes sense.

I also went to yoga today. I love stretching and it's my favorite part of exercise so it's no wonder I love yoga. I feel so energized and ready to just go do a million things all at once. I often wonder if I have bipolar tendencies.

I'm really looking forward to this weekend. We're seeing a play with from friends on Friday. Saturday we're going to chear on the University of Dayton Men's Basketball team and afterwards we're heading down to Cincinati to get our 80s groove on with Stranger. So yeah, that's kind of where I'm at. I'm happy and I feel good.

And as a side note... we had some visitors this last week (Jared's parents) so here are a few pictures from our adventures.

See how cute my hubster is..

Oliver and Nancy at the Cheesecake Factory

Oliver assisting as Nancy paints the trim in our bedroom

Oliver crashed out after a long day of fun. Nancy and Jared doing crosswords. Champ, chillin'

Oliver and Nancy at the Newport Aquarium

Oliver and Nancy at La Comedia Dinner Theater. We took them to see a show called Polynesian Fire

Us at the dinner show. Remind me to never wear that shirt again.

The weirdos getting frozen custard in the middle of winter

Can you guess who won at bowling?

Oliver and Nancy at the 2nd Street Market

At BD's Mongolian BBQ before the Blue Jacket's game

All of us at the Blue Jacket's game

Our friends Saad and Valerie and their kids Faiza and Zack

Champ, missing his treat dealer, Grandma Nancy

See how much fun you would be having if you came to visit us!

That's Mr. Miyagi to you!

2009-02-09T14:40:00.000-08:00

Yey! We're now officially a two car family. It was such a good deal that we couldn't pass it up. Plus, Jared gets really mad at me when I leave trash in the car. Now I have my own car to leave trash in.

"Later dudes..."

2009-01-28T14:42:00.000-08:00

There's a kid inside of me afterall! A snowstorm last night/today dumped about 6 inches of snow on us. Enough that Jared was told to stay home from work but not bad enough that we couldn't go out. After we shoveled we brought Champ outside to romp in the snow. I used to think that he enjoyed the snow--he bolts out the door like some wild, crazed animal when we're in Minnesota during the winter. Apparently it's just the hunt that he enjoys. He's pretty much a weenie when it comes to the elements and being outdoors. Today he stuck to the shoveled paths and would hardly play in the snow with me. Bum!

So we decided to have a little fun of our own... We went SLEDDING!!! I bought these saucers a couple of days ago and I've been achin' to use them. Unfortunately, our friends are also bums and didn't want to go sledding with us. Alas, a bunch of pictures of me or Jared and only one of the two of us together.

Snow Day @ Yahoo! Video

2009-01-20T08:20:00.000-08:00

So, I guess it's probably time for an update. A lot of exciting things have been happening so I'm pumped to share...

First, my mom came to visit us last week for a couple of days. It's unfortunate that she didn't come this week since I have the next four days off. What can ya do? We took her to our favorite restaurant, The Golden Lamb, bought and played a few Wii games, and had a visit from my brother, Ron, and his girlfriend, Shelly. We went out for dinner with them and eventually conned the two of them into playing Rockband with us until midnight.

Unfortunately, you get a lot of pictures like this when you let strangers use your camera. Oh well.

I'm embarrassed beyond belief to be posting this but my family cracks me up... fo real. Jared says I need to shorten the video even more and add more captions so I'll probably do that either tomorrow or the next day. Make sure to see the end...

Rockin' out @ Yahoo! Video

Second, I've been working on sending out (homemade) Valentine's Day cards to my family.
I have this book called 3000 Things To Do Before You Die and in it, one thing to do is "mail everyone you know a Valentine's Day card". I've sent Valentines to my family in the past and since I can't really afford to send out V-Day cards to everyone I know, I figured sending Valentines to my family twice would be good enough. Finally... one more thing checked off the list.
Next on the list? Pilot a rocket ship.

Third, the gym. I've been marking on the calendar the days I've hit the gym. So far this year I've been to the gym 1 out of every 2 days. That's pretty good! I've discovered the secret for me.... 80s music. I can rock out on the ellipticals for 60+ minutes as long as I have sufficient 80s tunage to listen to. I don't think I've lost weight (I haven't been using a scale) since my clothes don't seem to be fitting differently but I have noticed a slight change in shape and a significant change in my mood. So I guess that's enough to be happy about for now.

Forth, the inauguration. How flipping cool was that! It's so cool to see everyone around the country rejoicing. A new president, a new found hope and optimism. I have to admit, I teared up a little. I'm not a patriotic person (I think I've mentioned that before) but yesterday gave me a glimmer of hope that maybe someday I will once again be proud to be an American. I guess we'll have to see.

you know you're getting old when...

2008-12-31T14:01:00.000-08:00

I tend not to listen too much to the lyrics of the songs these kids are listening to today until I hear a line or verse that really catches my attention. The new Leona Lewis song was on today and the line that caught my attention was when she sings, "It's gonna hurt when it heals too, it'll all get better in time." There's a lot of truth to those words she sings. At the time I happen to be thinking about my dad and the last time I saw him while he was alive. Throughout the day I find myself remembering little things about my dad and even though the memories are sometimes painful to think about, I know that each time it gets a little easier.

2008 was a tough year so I'm not going to pretend like a New Year is going to change everything. I still have a lot of issues to deal with in the coming year and I expect that 2009 will be just as hard as 2008. I used to think of myself as a strong, independent woman but in the last few years I think I've become the exact opposite. 2008 taught me that I can become those things again. It has taught me that I can stand on my own two feet again. I don't have to feel stressed. And more importantly, I am in control (or at least I'm getting there).

I'm not really one to make New Year's resolutions. I am who I am and I don't necessarily feel like I need to change. Mostly I don't like making resolutions I don't fully intend to keep. Instead, I like to set goals. So these are my goals for 2009:

1) Finish my scrapbooks through 2008
2) Have a yard sale this spring (Everything except for the table/chairs, bikes and car is for sale)

3) Put up the crown moulding
4) Get new carpet
5) Find a new job (possibly)
6) Go back to school
7) Get a better hair cut

So anyway... what are your resolutions?

It's a Christmas MIRACLE!!

2008-12-25T21:32:00.000-08:00

Before I get into the all the Christmas morning jazz I'll tell you about our trip to The Nutcracker. For those that don't know, Jared and I had our first date at The Nutcracker in Salt Lake City in 2002. Since then, we've seen The Nutcracker every year--4 times in Salt Lake, once in El Paso, once in Dayton, and this year we saw it in Columbus. We invited our good friends, the Khalilis, and we went out for dinner at Buca di Beppo's. We made it to the theater with minutes to spare but it was totally worth all of the hustle and bustle (I hate that phrase, by the way). The theater (The Ohio Theater) was BEAUTIFUL. I'd post the pictures but they don't really do it justice. Faiza and Zack (the kids) absolutely LOVED the ballet and we also thought it was pretty good as well. The sets were fantastic, the dancing was mediocre, some of the costumes were incredible and the music, of course, was beautiful (though I probably heard 5-6 mistakes). Overall, I think Ballet West (Salt Lake City's) is the best Nutcracker we've seen (they have all the original Russian choreography and it's really a ballet as opposed to a musical with some dancing) and the costumes are amazing. Anyway, here's a couple pictures..

On to Christmas... Jared must have stayed up all night on Christmas Eve counting the minutes. He tackled me in bed Christmas morning at 7:21am--3 hours earlier than I typically like to leave the comforts of my heating blanket and flannel sheets. He said, "It's Chriiiiistmaaaas!! C'mon, let's open PRESENTS!!" Ugh. I told him that I wanted to keep sleeping. The earlier we got up to open presents, the sooner the mystery and suspense would be gone. He got up, reluctantly, and went to the den to turn on the computer. A few minutes later we could hear the faint chiming of Windows as the computer boot up. What the! Our computer hasn't had sound since September... could it be true? Were we hearing things? I sprang out of bed and we both went running to the den to see if it was tru. Sure enough, the sound was working! It's a Christmas miracle!! I was hesitant to post this entry because I didn't want to jinx it but everything seems to still be in working order.

So it's offical. He's real. Santa is REAL.

So yeah. We had a pretty good Christmas. We woke up early and since I couldn't convince Jared to go back to bed, we got up and opened gifts. Back in November I let Jared buy himself a rifle "for Christmas" and he was so happy and grateful that he decided to spoil me for Christmas. I made out with a ton of booty this year...

Silver charm bracelet
Charlie Brown Christmas
Dolce & Gabbana perfume
the CUTEST pajama pants & shirt
Silver celtic knot necklace
Blokus board game
Anne Klein watch (to replace my broken AK watch - I didn't know it was broken :( )
Blue and black keffiyeh
Food processor
Dyson vacuum
Mike Birbiglia CD
Bravo and Bath & Body Works gift cards
Dead Sea Cleansing Facial gel

I also got a gift card to Ikea (from André) and golf clubs (from my mom) so I'm excited to hit the courses this spring. Told you I was spoiled. Jared insisted that he didn't need any gifts from me since I had already let him buy a rifle. But I couldn't just let him sit there on Christmas morning without a single gift to open. So here's what I got him...

Gore-tex gloves for target practice/hunting in Minnesota
a quilt that I am making him
Puerto Rico board game
two desk calendars
Bon Jovi CD (which I was super embarassed to be buying, by the way)
Work-out pants
Red Nalgene bottle
Rifle strap
Rifle case
Dick's sporting goods gift certificate
Fight Club on DVD
a new tie and dress socks
and a bunch of little odds and ends for his stocking

I was so overwhelmed during Thanksgiving week (decorating, preparing to have our friends over for dinner, cleaning, etc) that I decided I didn't want to make a big meal for Christmas this year. Jared was disappointed so he volunteered to do dinner so my day was pretty relaxing. We had a miniature disaster with the turkey but nothing a trip to the gas station couldn't fix. Our friends, Summer and Daniel, came over to exchange gifts/eat/play wii (oh yeah, did I mention we bought ourselves a Wii for x-mas?) and we had a lot of fun with them. I had to work at 5pm on Christmas day but we were so slow that I got sent home at 7pm and we hit the theaters to see Marley & Me (I bawled). So yeah... we had a pretty great Christmas.

My cute dog opening gifts @ Yahoo! Video

The quilt I'm making Jared

Me, not happy about being up at 7am... IT'S NOT EVEN LIGHT OUTSIDE!

Me and my presents

Jared and his presents

2008-12-24T09:14:00.001-08:00

Couple things...

1) Just wanted to wish everyone a Merry Christmas. Here's a picture of our Christmas tree this year... I didn't let Jared help decorate and I think it shows. =P

2) I went to the mall this morning (when it opened, to avoid crazy last minute shoppers) and there were an alarming number of men (of all ages) there shopping alone. Not only were they shopping but they were swarming the jewelry counters. There were AT LEAST 3 men per jewelry store.

2008-12-19T09:03:00.000-08:00

My spirits were lifted slightly this past week when we drove "Up North" for some quality time with my family and the snow. But what would a road trip be without a near death experience? We left Dayton around 6am on Friday last week after about 5 hours of sleep. Jared drove the first of five legs, I had the second, and around 12pm we switched drivers again. It was 1pm and I figured since it was afternoon, bright and sunny, I would be safe to take a short catnap. Apparently I was wrong. I guess Jared thought he knew the road well enough that he could drive with his eyes closed. We both woke up to find ourselves fishing-tailing down the highway at 70mph, crossing two lanes of high speed traffic and hitting the ditch while almost resurfacing in oncoming traffic. Is it a coincidence that this has happened before--us spinning down the highway as Jared is driving? He claims that there really was a deer last time but I guess we'll have to see that on the play-back when we get to heaven. A lot of people were pulling over to make sure we were okay and a guy from Ohio even stopped to help pull us out of the ditch. We ended up calling AAA for a tow truck and three highway patrol officers stopped to divert traffic. Matt (the Ohioan) said, "Geez, you'd think we were trying to rob a bank!" Luckily our car was still in driving condition, no one was hurt, and Champ didn't seem to care. We were also not without incident on the way back to Ohio though we weren't directly involved with the second accident. On our way to Minneapolis, we were driving behind a semi with a trailer full of logs. We came into the little town of Royalton where the speed limit changes from 65 to 45 mph. The truck slammed on his brakes, the brakes locked up, the rear of his trailer slid into the ditch and the semi nearly rolled on to its side. The driver was able to correct himself but not without spilling his load of logs onto the shoulder of the highway. Luckily we were trailing far enough behind that I was able to stop before hitting the logs. We pulled over to make sure no one else would hit the logs and made sure the trucker was okay (in case he had had a heart attack or something--he was fine, by the way). It was an interesting drive to say the least. We also got a decent start on Gregory McGuire's Wicked. We're about 100 pages from the end and I'm dying to know what will happen... there are so many loose ends!

Okay, back to the trip... Before we left Dayton I prayed for a blizzard and that's exactly what I got (well... maybe not a "blizzard", but snow nonetheless). Unfortunately it was too cold most of the week to snowmobile so we spent a lot of time indoors playing games and being goofs. No one in my family can take a serious picture, you'll see...

Mom, Jay, and Jared playing some Scrabble with Alli and Tyler hanging around

Champ gets a taste of the snow storm and begs to be let inside

Playing games with neices and nephew

Me, chillin' with a blanket

Jared and I brought crackers to share with my family. I think the kids liked them. And of course, no one can take a serious picture.

More games and silly faces

Morning walk. I LOVE blue snow.

Field mouse tracks (so cute!)

Me makin' a snow angel

Love, love, LOVE seeing the river in the early morning

Mom at Alli's basketball game

Alli being silly

Christmas gifts from mom

We got my mom a digicam for Christmas that she was happy to receive

Champ also got some presents

And on the last morning in Minnesota it FINALLY warmed up enough (-4 degrees) to take the new sleds out for some trailblazin'. My mom and brother bought two new sleds this year (now they have four total) so I'm looking forward to when we can all go out for a ride together. *sigh* Being home was bittersweet. Of course I love spending time with my family but I couldn't help but wish Dad was there to horse around with us. He would love the new snowmobiles (They're fast! The 440 feels more like a 500 and the 500 runs more like a 600--for those that would even know what that means) and he would have been achin' to get out on the trails just as much as we were.

Mississippi River

2008-12-03T09:47:00.000-08:00

I'm in a funk and I'm way depressed. =( I'm too depressed to even finish decorating for Christmas. I know! Me.... Mrs. Christmas is too sad to decorate for the only good holiday this year. *sigh* I wish it would snow...

Champ wants it to snow too...

2008-11-26T08:17:00.000-08:00

It's 11:17AM and I've already accomplished half of my to-do list! Horray! I'm off to a good start. Like the three million people who were waiting in line at the commissary, I, too, am getting ready for Thanksgiving. Hoot! We decided to stay home for Thanksgiving since we're going to see my family in a couple weeks for Christmas. Luckily, some of our friends don't have any family in the area so we've invited them over for dinner. I promised them lots of leftovers to take home so I'm going to be cooking for the next 24 hours straight. Let's hope I don't set the kitchen on fire this year. ;) Four years ago I was working at the Concho Valley Home for Girls in San Angelo, Texas and I had to spend Thanksgiving with the girls. I decided to make a grand Thanksgiving dinner for them... but my plans went awry when I accidentally started a grease fire in the kitchen. One of the girls had to run to the end of the hallway to get the fire extinguisher and I had to teach her how to use it. Luckily, it wasn't my first time having to use one. Unfortunately, this was my third time setting the kitchen on fire. =S

Anyway, here's what's on the menu:

Herb roasted turkey breasts with pan gravy
Oven roasted red potatoes with rosemary and garlic
Wild rice and sausage stuffing
Asparagus with hollandaise sauce
Cinnamon glazed carrots
Deviled eggs
Dinner rolls
Hot buttered apple cider
Liz's fruit salad
Pumpkin pie
Carmel apple cheesecake

Did I mention that I have resolved not to gain any weight during this holiday season?

More tomorrow...

2008-11-15T15:59:00.001-08:00

I WANT A ROOM FULL OF PUPPIES!!!

Live Videos by Ustream

Jared

2008-11-07T08:01:00.000-08:00

1. Where did you meet your husband? I lived in Provo, UT on 650 N and he lived on 1050 W... so just like, right around the corner. I met him for the first time at church. I went with my roommate Ashley and while she was introducing me to people, I heard some guy ask her about her new roommate. She said, "Oh this is her..." When I turned around, he said, "Hi... I'm Jared." In my mind I thought, "Hi... I'm in love." I probably stuttered a little bit but finally got out my name and a smile. That night I called my best friend, Sam, to tell her that I had met the guy I was going to marry. The next two weeks he and his home teaching companion stopped over a lot and eventually it was just him coming over.

2. How long did you date before you got married? About 8 months. It started out really slow and we broke up once for about 8 hours. I was sitting in my room one night around 8:30 and I heard a knock at the door. I went downstairs to find Jared, barefoot, on my doorstep. He was kind of out of breath (because he ran to my house!) and asked, "Hey... I was wondering if you wanted to watch a movie?" I told him I did and he said, "Okay... I'll be right back... I have to go get it." He later told me that he was just lying on his couch at home and he thought to himself, "I really want to see Chrissa right now." So he just got up and ran over to my house without putting on shoes. Anyway, when he came back we got all settled on the couch. He offered to give me a hand rub (it felt soooo good, by the way) but afterwards he just threw my hand back in my lap. He didn't even try to hold it throughout the movie. The more we hung out, the more I realized he probably wasn't my type and that he was a little too nerdy for me. The guy I was really interested in now was his roommate/home teaching comp., Ryan. So one night, Ryan came over to my house to help me change the headlight on my car. Afterwards he invited me over to his (and Jared's) house to watch the BYU football game. I said sure. Little did I know that I would spend the entire time on the couch with him while he built a model plane. I didn't even like BYU football (still don't, by the way)! After a couple hours, Jared came home from work and got really jealous that I was hanging out with Ryan. He asked me, while I was sitting there(!), if I wanted to go play pool. He asked Ryan, awkwardly, if he wanted to come too and Ryan said yes. So there we were, the three of us, going out together. Jared and I started hanging out together more and more until we finally just decided to say we were dating. We would eventually move to Alaska together and then to Minnesota where we got married.

3. How long have you been married? We got married June 28th, 2003... so 5 years and some odd months.

4. What does he do that surprises you? He surprised me this year and voted Democrat... Jared and I are so different from one another that often I am surprised when we actually agree on something.

5. What is your favorite feature of his? He has gorgeous eyes and eyelashes... though I don't often get to see them because he always wears glasses.

6. What is his best quality? I can't pick just one. He has integrity, he's honest, he's kind and giving, he lifts people up, he's a good example, and when I'm depressed (which is often) he never fails to take me out for ice cream or lie with me in bed when I cry.

7. Does he have a nickname for you? "Chris" for most of the time but "Shortcake" for when he's writing to me.

8. What is his favorite food? It's a tie between pizza and burritos.

9. What is his favorite sport? Anything BYU, I guess. I'm constantly trying to tell him to man-up and start liking REAL sports like hockey. BYU is too wimpy to even have a hockey team. It's one of their many downfalls.

10. When and where did you first kiss? An excerpt from "Our Story"...
November 3rd, 2002
I was chatting online with Amy when Jared came over. At first I wasn’t sure why he was over so late (After 10pm) but when he began the conversation “I have a confession,” I was pretty sure he had something to tell me. He came to tell me that he had seen "The Ring" without me--a movie we were planning to see together. At first I was a little relieved he had seen the terrifying movie without me, thinking I had escaped seeing a scary movie with him and he would quickly forget. I had a headache and we spent most of the night talking at my kitchen table. As I was falling asleep, expecting him to leave, he offered to massage my shoulders. I quickly began to see how good he was with his hands and requested we move to the dark living room downstairs (you know, cause of my headache and all). After the massage, we lay on the floor, each too awkward and scared to make the first move.

I really did feel bad, especially when she told me how she had been given the opportunity to go to the movie earlier and had declined – because she knew I’d have been upset. We talked pretty late and then I offered to massage her shoulders. That went well, but I could only get the top of her shoulders, so I suggested we move to the dark living room (MY idea, not hers), which we did. I gave her a massage and, of course, took the opportunity to lie next to her. It was kind of awkward – not because I wasn’t sure if she’d kiss me or not... I figured she would (a bit arrogant of me, I know) – but more a question of if I was ready to get involved with a girl. She ended up laying on my arm, with me laying behind her. I figured: okay, she’ll think you hate her, or you’re gay, if you don’t kiss her now. So I did – first on the neck, then on the ear, then she turned to face me and I kissed her on the mouth. I remember it being a good kiss and I noticed she was a good kisser. We kissed for a while, and then I walked home enjoying the dark quiet of the street.

11. What is your favorite thing to do as a couple? Our first real date was in December when he took me to see The Nutcracker in Salt Lake City. It's my favorite thing about Christmas and it's one of our only traditions we do as a couple. We've see it 4 times in Salt Lake (where we also go to the same restaurant, The Blue Iguana, and I always buy the same theater tickets), once in El Paso and once in Dayton. This year we're seeing the Moscow Ballet in either Minneapolis, Chicago, or Cincinnati. Depends on our Christmas plans. =)

12. Do you have any children? Just a dog but he's so needy I think he counts. We rescued him from a shelter in Texas. Jared was going TDY for 6 weeks and I decided I needed a companion to keep me company while he was gone. We made several trips to the shelter over the course of 2 weeks but nothing jumped out at us. Nothing until we saw DAISY!! She was a mixed breed but obviously a Pit Bull mix. I wanted her so bad! She wasn't available for adoption (or socialization) for another week so we kept on looking. Jared found a sad little guy in the corner who looked almost forgotten. He looked so sad. We took him into the socialization room but we were a little alarmed when the shelter employee had to carry him in. He told us, "this one's not so good on the leash." Great. We tried to get him to play with us but all he did was follow me around the room. He never wagged his tail, just stood there staring at the floor. Needless to say, we decided to get Daisy. So a week later when I went back to the shelter to meet her and pick her up, I asked to see her in the socialization room. Daisy wouldn't pay any attention to me. All she did was jump and paw at the door. When I tried to get her to calm down, she became even more worried and destructive. I quickly realized that this was NOT the dog I wanted. It was just me at the shelter that day (Jared was at work) so I took a quick glance at all the dogs one more time. When I saw the little black dog in the corner again, I couldn't resist. Jared had loved that dog the most and I would have loved to have surprised him with the dog of his choice. We brought him home that night but he was all groggy from the surgery so he wasn't much of a playmate. We had to laugh when we looked over from the kitchen table and found him asleep... while standing up. Over the course of the next week we found that Champ (a name we gave him to boost his poor little battered and bruised spirit) was not only a liar (he was never abused... he was just afraid of tile floors) but also a manipulator and would use his cute little brown eyes against us to get all the treats and walks he wanted. He was rambunctious, always under foot and always, ALWAYS tried to sleep on the couches or beds. He's still all those things but we still love him.

13. Does he have any hidden talents? He's a master BS-er. Ask him a question and even if he doesn't know the answer, he'll tell you something that sounds plausible. He doesn't do it as a joke to pull your leg... he just loves answering questions and coming up with solutions. He's also really good at karaoke though he still doesn't believe it himself. He also beats me at darts most of the time (which is surprising because I'm like, insanely good). He's an amazing artist. And he's also an incredible cook. If you ever come over to our house for dinner and the dinner is delicious... chances are, Jared made it. I tend to burn things and start the kitchen on fire.

14. How old is he? He's an old man. He's 30.

15. Who said 'I love you' first? He did. I had just gotten out of a terrible relationship and I told him I wasn't in a place where I felt like I could say that to anybody so I told him not to tell it to me. After we had been dating a while he said that he really wanted to tell me something. We were cuddling in my room, next to the window where the moonlight shines through the window and off in the distance you can hear the sound of a train passing by. I knew what he wanted to tell me so I finally said it was okay to say and he did.

16. What is his favorite music? Classic Rock... which I hate.

17. What do you admire most about him? He's very balanced.. something I wish I could be.

18. What is his favorite color? Blue or Gray

19. Will he read this? Probably in a couple of weeks... he hasn't been keeping up with his blog lately.

20. Who do you tag? Anyone who has a husband? Or wife, I guess.

A Little Homesick...

2008-11-06T21:06:00.000-08:00

I wanna go home. =(

Me and my BFF

2008-11-04T10:51:00.000-08:00

I love this time of year. I love the leaves, the weather, sweatshirts and mittens, hot cocoa, football and the start of hockey, Halloween, getting ready for hunting season... and now it will always be a time when I can think about and remember my dad.

My dad died about 4 weeks ago. It's amazing how fast the time has passed. Originally I had written a longer entry but I think I'd rather just keep this short. The funeral was really beautiful and it offered a lot of much needed closure. It was good to see my family again and for us all to be together. I miss them. And I miss him.

So anyway, I just wanted to let you know the reason for the blogging hiatus and to let you know that I'm doing well. Thanks for the all love, support, and prayers. =)

Next time, something a little more lighthearted...

Ah, to fall asleep to the gentle hum of generators

2008-09-19T10:53:00.000-07:00

A shot of some "typical" storm damage

Again, I only have 35 minutes to update. Why? Because we are still without power. The people who live 5 houses down have had power for 2 days but we still have no power. We're going on 6 days without power. I'm uber thankful that I recharged all of our batteries on Saturday afternoon because we're on our second and last set of batteries. But yey for us for getting our batteries to last us 6+ days, huh!? So far I've weeded the flower beds, Jared mowed the lawn and replaced one of the garage windows that Bailey busted while trying to make an escape, we cut up the tree limb and moved it out to the curb, we cleaned out the fridge and freezer, I've started reading Schulz and Peanuts: A Biography (which is fabulous, by the way), I FINISHED MY PHOTO JOURNAL, and my next tasks are to organize the garage sale for this weekend and get a headstart on a quilt I'm hoping to finish by the end of fall. I'm glad we've been given the gift of free time but at the same time... I'd kind of just like to be able to call my family and check my e-mail at semi-regular intervals.

One thing I forgot to tell you about last time was our white trash neighbors. Now, I do feel slightly guilty for calling them my White Trash Neighbors (and for capitalizing it) but after you hear what they were doing, you'll feel the same way. So we had that really bad wind storm on Sunday, right? I forgot to tell you that my neighbors and their kids were outside... ATTEMPTING TO FLY PLASTIC BAGS LIKE KITES. Not only were they trying to fly plastic bags (by tying a 5ft piece of string to plastic bag handles) but they had also cut pieces of cardboard to resemble kites to which they would later tie to the string when the plastic bags would rip and fly away. NOT ONLY THAT... but some of the kids (a boy and even a girl) were outside without shirts. Sad. For a minute there... I thought we were living in Huber Heights.

That's it for now... I promise, something with a little more substance next time. And pictures.

37 minutes and counting

2008-09-15T11:48:00.000-07:00

Forgive me for the hodgepodgedness of this entry (and also for making up words)... I have 35 minutes and counting to update but I have a few things to report.

1) I'm at the library updating because our power is out. Yes, I remembered to pay the bill. We had a wind storm here in Dayton yesterday that knocked out power for 200,000+ people. Shocking, I know. I was at work and during my lunch break I noticed that the wind was starting to pick up. When I got back to work, the lights started flickering and eventually the power went out for a minute. We got a call from a guy in Cincinnati and he said we were the first Walgreens between here and Cincinnati that was with power. Jared came to pick me up at 4pm and informed me that we were without power as well. =( Not only were we out of power but a huge limb (about 15-20 feet long) fell from our tree our front and then blew into our neighbors yard! We were extremely glad that we trimmed up that tree two years ago and cut down the limb that stretcehd over the roof of our house. We ended up driving around for 3 hours last night looking for a place to eat but also scoping out some the damage. Trees were completely uprooted, downed power lines, shingles torn from rooftops (including some from our own shed!)... it was pretty crazy. Our neighbor called the power company yesterday and they told her we would have power in 2-3 days. This morning they were saying it'll be more like 3-5 days. 5 DAYS!! It hasn't even been 24 hours and I'm already having internet withdrawls. We're just lucky that I had recently updated our 72-hour kit. I replaced all of the batteries, made sure the flashlights worked, bought new candles, and checked to see that our battery operated radio was working. As for the food... that's the rough part. Tonight we're going to buy some ice to put in our cooler so that we can keep some essentials (lunch meat, jelly, milk, etc) around until the power comes back on. This isn't a major emergency so I don't feel like depleting our 72-hour kit supplies unless it's absolutely necessary. Plus... who wants to eat MREs and granola bars for 5 days?! I also bought a ton of bottled water since our city has advised us to use water sparingly. Anyway, it's a big mess. Gas jumped up to $4.00/gallon, most places are closed because they don't have power, Wal-mart is closed, Taco Bell had a line of 20 people this afternoon and that's been pretty normal. Craziness. I'll be so glad when things go back to normal. Ugh. It's so stressful. (23 minutes left, arg!)

2) Aside from the power outage, this weekend was still pretty fun. Friday night we went to a chili cook-off and I was impressed. It was a benefit for disabled adults and children so I already felt good knowing my $20 was going to a good cause. They had unlimited chili sampling, unlimited hot dogs, unlimited soda plus casino games. We were a little bummed that none of our friends decided to join in the festivities but we still had fun. There were tons of people out for the event. After the cook-off, we headed downtown for Urban Nights. Since it was kind of rainy, most of the stages were closed and there wasn't much going on. We closed the night by heading to the Plaza for some lounge music and "dancing". We don't actually dance when we go there.... we go to watch this really cute, old couple that are always there on Friday nights. I wish I had pictures of them, you would die smiling they are that cute. Saturday we had movie night at our friend Troy's house. We played some games afterward and then headed over to Liz's house for even more gaming. Good times. (18 minutes... I may not have time to proof-read)

3) I mentioned we were at the Plaza on Friday night. One of the reasons I like to go there, aside from watching Georgina and her husband dance, is because of the music they play. Lots of Elton John, Michael Bublé, Van Morrison and... ELVIS. It has come to my attnention only recently that I LOVE Elvis. No, let me clarify... I like Elvis' lyrics, not so much his voice. (Hence the change in music) Right now I can't get "Just Pretend" out of my head. It's my new fave so check it out before you leave. (13 minutes, Eeeee!)

4) I'm at the downtown ~~homeless shelter~~ library (it's a long story) and it smells like sweaty ass. Just in case you were wondering. I'm going to have to soak my hands in battery acid after I leave here just to get the stink off.

5) I appoligize for not posting any pictures. I will when the power returns.

RE: pale blue dot

2008-08-28T08:26:00.000-07:00

I had the strangest dream last night. I dreamed that I went to see my dad in Minnesota and while I was there, we went on a sleigh ride out into the middle of nowhere. Which was weird because my parents already live in the middle of nowhere. So we're out in the sleigh (apparently pulled by magical, unseen beings) and we come across two people taking pictures of footprints in the snow... at least what I thought were human footprints (until closer inspection). Turns out there was an angry moose and bear in the area and the photographers wanted to get the two on film so they were tracking the animals through the snow. We decided it was too dangerous to be out in the sleigh at dusk so we went home. We found a hungry, stray dog on the way so we brought him home to keep Champ company. Once we were home, the dogs romped around the living room but eventually the stray found my retainers and ate them! He had to go. When we got rid of the dog, suddenly it was replaced by some superhuman mutant baby. For those of you who have read Breaking Dawn, think Reneesme. She was only like, 8 inches tall but was already cart-wheeling around and getting into trouble. She was so annoying, getting into everything the second I turned my head. I was so frustrated so I tried finding a room to lock her in while I was busy baking. A friend showed up to watch the kid so my dreamed ended with me baking green, banana muffins and singing this song... There was also a track and field meet happening with fireworks but I can't remember exactly how that all worked into the dream.

In other news... I got a job (finally). I'm working at the Walgreen's pharmacy that's a half mile from my house. It's convenient now since the weather isn't all that bad but I suppose I'll have to buy a car when January comes around. I'm gonna try to stick it out though... I really don't want to be a two car family. Oh... and I hate plastic bags too.

This month has been pretty busy so I guess that's why I haven't written much. Here's August in 30 seconds... Stranger was playing at Sharkey's, Breaking Dawn release, Dave Matthews at Riverbend, Reds game in Cincinnati, Wine & Baklava night at Dustin's, trivia on Mondays, Jared's two TDYs, The Menus at the Fraze, Jared got his braces off, The Hills new season started on MTV, Lebanese Fest at Riverscape, Brian's "Kegger", OJ's BBQ/Cornhole, mini golfing and the WYSO Miniature Golf Open. We also got the news that Jared's parents are coming to visit at the end of October so I've been busy making arrangements for that and busting my butt to get my photo journal finished before they get here. (I decided to start calling my scrapbook a "photo journal" because it's more of a journal, less of a pretty, girly scrapbook. In fact, it's neither pretty nor girly.)

So anyway... I guess that's about it. We may or may not be going home to Minnesota this weekend, we'll have to see. The state fair is happening right now (in MN) so I'm sure I'll get good pictures of me with some food on a stick and a big fat pig. Stay tuned...

god bless the greeks

2008-08-11T07:40:00.000-07:00

So if you didn't catch it last night, it's too bad because you missed the greatest race ever! Now, I'm not a very patriotic person... I don't stand for the national anthem, I don't proudly display an American flag outside my home, and I don't really celebrate the patriotic holidays (4th of July, Veterans Day, Memorial Day). But seriously... last night, I was almost proud to be an American. Almost.

from the 40th-ish row...

2008-08-05T22:10:00.000-07:00

It's hot. It's humid. There is the scent of beer, sweat, and men's cologne in the air and your pants are sticking to you in all the wrong places. It's worth it though because there's nothing like hearing 10,000 people sing "One Sweet World" on a warm August night on the shores of the Ohio River.

The concert was amazing. Dave Matthews came out and personally introduced T3 (Tim Reynold's band) and they played for about an hour. DMB took the stage shortly after 8pm and rocked until 11:30pm. Tim Reynolds (who I totally heart) did quite a bit of soloing; the trumpet player, Rashawn Ross, sang lead vocals in a Talking Heads cover; and the drummer, Carter Beauford, played a 5 minute solo during the encore. Like I said before, it was all pretty amazing. I did have one complaint though... We must have been hooting and hollering for at least 10 minutes for an encore. I was already pretty hoarse from cheering so I'm surprised I didn't lose my voice completely while cheering for the encore.

Anyway... here are some photos...

Photo of the Week (don't hate me if I don't update every week)

2008-08-03T19:53:00.000-07:00

Can you see why the dog park at dusk is my favorite place right now? *le sigh*

past posts

2008-07-31T23:30:00.001-07:00

I was going through some old blog entries and had to laugh at this one...

TUESDAY, JUNE 21, 2005
...incoherent scream
Texas is sucking up my will to live.

Is it February already?

2008-07-29T18:22:00.000-07:00

So we have a little backyard visitor. I say visitor because I don't feel like I can let him take up permanent residence. I have four options:

1) Let him stay and have tunnels in my backyard
2) Put out groundhog repellant (which I hear doesn't work that well)
3) Put up a garden fence around my shed where he and his friends have been staying (and partying until all hours of the night, mind you)
4) Or a more lethal solution.... shoot him.

I'm totally willing to let Champ kill him (or at least scare him off) but
1) I don't want him to bite Champ
2) I don't want Champ to get into killing things
3) Jared won't let me

So anyway... if anyone has any opinions...

I will get the 7-10 split, someday...

2008-07-26T19:56:00.000-07:00

So as I mentioned before, I am "celebrating" a birthday pretty soon. (Sooner than I would like *groan*) But I am not the only one turning a year older... it's also Jared's birthday tomorrow. I, of course, like to make a big deal about his birthday and I like making him feel really special. This year is no exception. Earlier this week I sent out an e-mail invitation to all his friends inviting them to pizza, bowling and cake. It really was just a gathering of friends with a slice of cake but somehow the word got out that it was our birthdays. =S But anyway, it was great and I was so glad that so many of our friends were able to come out with us. They're the best.

Left to right: Brian, Troy, James, Beth ("Meth"), Jay, Summer, me, Jared, Daniel, and Dustin at our favorite pizza joint, Jimmy's Italian Kitchen

Dustin and Troy loading up on the brewskis...

Me and Jared

Brian

James, hamming it up for the camera...

Dustin gets a turkey...

AND THEN A 4th STRIKE!! Unbelievable...

Birthday cake...

Jared brings cultured BUTTERMILK to drink instead of regular milk...Mmmmmm....

Before Jared went to bowl he told Dustin, "Now Dustin, don't eat my cake!" We all laughed but while Jared bowled, unbeknownst to the 4 of us that were sitting at the table, Dustin was eating Jared's cake!!

Ahhh, good times.

two six

2008-07-18T20:10:00.000-07:00

So, is it just me or am I the only one freaking out about getting older? I know, I know... everyone gets old. I should embrace it and own it. I should be proud to wear my life's experiences in the wrinkles on my face and in the graying of my hair. But I don't want to, dammit! I felt like this last year, but at least last year I was still straddling the fence. This year I'm going to advance to the upper twenties. Eep! What happened to my youth?!

Originally, this post was supposed to be about a couple of my favorite places. During my trip back to Minnesota, I went down to the lake to take a picture of one of those places but it was gone. Vanished. The city made updates to the park--paved a thoroughfare, built an unsightly pavilion, updated the playground equipment and completely DESTROYED my most favorite place in the entire world! One of the only places I find solace, the only place I allowed myself (at one time) to cry, and the only place I thought could resist the hands of change. But alas, everything must change at some time... I guess. The place I'm talking about used to be at the water's edge nearly hidden under the shelter of a thriving oak tree. There used to be a stone stairway down to the water where the water would lap against the edge of the rock. I used to take my dog, Luca, there to splash and play on hot, summer days. I used to go there during the fall to savour the last weeks of sun while admiring the beautiful pallet of autumn tones. Did I also mention that they tore down my high school. =( Yeah... after I went to take a picture of my favorite spot I went to go take a picture of my high school. There was nothing left to take a picture of. =( Those jerks! Stuff like this makes me want to quit life. lol.

It's depressing me just thinking about it. Moral of the story... some day your favorite place will be gone forever, wrinkles are inevitable and so are birthdays. The silver lining? We all find new favorite places, Clinique has come out with a great line of skin care products to help me say hello to great skin and today is the day I can finally start looking forward to menopause. Praise the Lord!

Everyone else is doing it....

2008-07-16T19:36:00.001-07:00

...and it seemed like fun.

1. Leave one memory that you and I had together, as a comment on my blog. It doesn't matter if you knew me a little or a lot, anything you remember!

2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. It's actually pretty funny to see the responses. If you leave a memory about me, I'll assume you're playing the game and I'll come to your blog and leave one about you. If you don't want to play on your blog, or if you don't have a blog, I'll leave my memory of you in my comments.

I heart Minnesota...

2008-07-16T18:58:00.001-07:00

So we just got back from Minnesota and I couldn't wait to post some of my pictures. I haven't gotten the film back yet (since I have yet to drop it off) but I'll post those when I get them back too. They should be some pretty sweet photos.

Champ at my brother's house in Minneapolis

Me the next morning after an 18 hour drive. Remind me never to let Jared take pictures until AFTER I've been out of bed for at least an hour...

The Mississippi River

Champ chillin' on the dock

Me and my trusty steed

The Mississippi from my parent's back porch. I heart Minnesota.

A swamp that's up the driveway from my parent's house

My cute parents

Me and Jared

And the whole reason for going to Minnesota.... Jana, one of my best friends, got married and she was having a wedding reception in Bemidji... I heart Jana too...

More water... Lake Bemidji from one of my favorite spots on the lake...

Me out golfing. Haven't been golfing since 1994 but I still beat everyone... =D

My cute parents out on the course...

On the way home we drove through Duluth, Minnesota. I'm sad we didn't get to stop and walk down by the canal but I guess that's something we can do when we have more time.

Somewhere in Michigan...

Mackinac Bridge, Michigan...

tag.... you're it...

2008-06-30T19:33:00.001-07:00

So, if you're reading this, you've been tagged. You don't have to post it on you blogs but you can e-mail me your list if you like. I like getting e-mail. =)

100 things Chrissa
1) I buy notebooks with the intentions of keeping a journal but I always end up using the notebooks for scrap paper.
2) I get immense pleasure out of washing walls
3) And toilets.
4) My dog likes to bury his head in my armpit... I know it's just because he likes to smell me when I smell different but I like to think it's because he wants a hug.
5) I have a very sensitive dog... he gets his feelings hurt very easily.
6) But he's also very forgiving.
7) I enjoy photography.
8) But I don't always see the world as a beautiful place.
9) I like Captain Crunch without crunch berries.
10) I hate Barbies.
11) My favorite movie is the new Pride and Prejudice.
12) I like to watch it when I'm depressed.
13) One night I watched it twice in a row.
14) I figure, no matter how bad I feel I'm not as sad and sorry as Mr. Collins.
15) My top three television programs are "Friends","It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia" and "Felicity".
16) I love love love popcorn. It's half the reason I go to movies.
17) I really like having someone play with my hair.
18) I am the fifth of five children.
19) They are all at least 7 years older than me.
20) When I started kindergarten, my big brother would not let me sit with him on the bus.
21) Since high school I've become somewhat obsessively compulsive.
22) I NEED things to be very clean and orderly.
23) I bought a label maker and labeled all of the slots in my CD case and I labeled all of the CDs.
24) I have to rinse my mouth out exactly 3 times after I brush my teeth. If I don't, I have to start over.
25) I like things to be geometrical and symmetrical. I often have to rearrange things when someone touches, bumps, moves or breathes on something.
26) Being obsessive is a coping mechanism I developed after breaking up with an ex-boyfriend.
27) My favorite dinner is fried chicken, green beans, Velveeta cheese and macaroni, and black cherry kool-aid.
28) I scrapbook but I hate it.
29) I am native American...Chippewa.
30) I spent my whole life trying to either blend in or be extraordinary.
31) I think I came across instead as being prideful and arrogant.
32) I like road trips but I hate sleeping in the car.
33) It's really annoying when a good song comes on the radio and then someone starts to talk.
34) I try not to be myself when being introduced to someone because I know I can be edgy and intimidating.
35) I spend a lot of time listening to other people.
36) I'd like more people to really KNOW me but most people aren't interested or concerned enough about other people to be the ones asking questions.
37) I have a very dour, caustic, witty and sarcastic sense of humor.
38) I'm funniest in the mornings.
39) I'm allergic to powder laundry detergent, fresh pineapples, Brazil nuts, cat dander, various grasses and weeds and tree pollens.
40) I would like to be allergic to dish soap, dirty clothes, lawn mowers and ice cream.
41) I probably eat my weight in ice cream every year. I really need to cut back.
42) My favorite singer/songwriter is Emerson Hart. (Like you didn't already know that!)
43) I eventually want to live in Iceland, Nova Scotia, New York City, and Alaska (again).
44) We often have "naked movie nights". I'm naked a lot but Naked Movie Night is when I force Jared to be naked too.
45) My nicknames include Sha or Sa, Chris, Gypsy and MapQuest.
46) I wish I was one of those girls who wears shoes with heels, buys purses and accessorizes.
47) Truth is, I just don't care. I'm more of a unique/folksy/eccentric/unusual/novelty t-shirt and jeans kind of girl.
48) I wish I had a yard big enough and enough money to find and adopt all lost, abandoned or abused dogs. I'd be the crazy dog lady but I'd be so happy.
49) We rescued Champ from an animal shelter and he is one of my main sources of happiness.
50) My favorite noise is popcorn popping.... especially theater popcorn popping. Hundreds and thousands of little kernels exploding into those delicious and tasty treats.
51) People, when they find out I'm from Minnesota, will typically make fun of my accent. "It's 'bag' not 'beg'!"
52) Know that I am making fun of you too, just not to your face.
53) Some would describe me as "sassy".
54) If I were to ever get plastic surgery, I would get a breast reduction.
55) I love mailing people packages and thoughtful gifts but I always feel a sense of loss after leaving the post office when I leave empty-handed. It does make me feel better when people call to say "thank you" for the gifts but not everyone does.
56) I'm about 60% introvert, 40% extrovert. Problem is, I'm always introverted when I want to be extroverted and vice versa.
57) I ordered a DVD that will teach me Michael Jackson's Thriller dance.
58) I've been doing a bit of mountain biking lately and I'm starting to think that racing could be fun.
59) I'm learning to play the guitar and I effing love it.
60) Once I get an electric acoustic I'd really like to play at an open mic night.
61) I don't consider myself lactose-intolerant but I drink soy milk because I've noticed that it doesn't upset my stomach as much.
62) I'm pretty good at everything I do so I would probably place your bet on me and not you when it comes to games of skill.
63) I've mastered the art of manipulation.
64) Jared says he absolutely cannot resist my doe eyes.
65) I'm prejudiced against people who prefer cats over dogs.
66) I spend way too much time on the computer.
67) I would rather be extremely wealthy and lonely than extremely poor with close friends and family.
68) I'm reckless when it comes to love.
69) I secretly hope the people in the "missed connections" section on craigslist find each other.
70) I am hopelessly addicted to Stephenie Meyer's Twilight saga.
71) I want to sing in an alternative rock band.
72) Right now, one of my favorite places is the dog park at dusk. I love sitting at the top of the hill on the picnic table while the sun is setting.
73) I'm an insomniac.
74) If God exists, I hope he's really as forgiving as they say.
75) I can't cook very well... I've set the kitchen on fire on three SEPARATE occasions.
76) I swear I can feel when new gray hairs sprout on my head.
77) I don't like to make a big deal about my birthday but it makes me a little giddy when someone remembers when it is.
78) I'm pretty good with numbers and dates. If you've ever told me your birthday, I will remember it for the rest of my life.
79) I still remember the phone number and birth date of my first crush.
80) My favorite game is a tie between Catch Phrase and Canasta.
81) Despite how cool it would be to own and shoot a hand gun, there is no GOOD reason to own one.
82) When I was younger I wanted to grow up and be either a doctor or a veterinarian.
83) Now, when I grow up I want to be either a ninja, a race car driver or a rock superstar.
84) I would consider myself a moderate and I will be voting for Obama.
85) I still don't understand how a person like Amy Winehouse is famous but whatever.
86) The only girlie thing that I can tolerate doing is painting my toenails.
87) I'm a little fanatical about sunscreen.
88) I have three secrets that I will take to my grave.
89) My BFF (aside from Jared) is someone that I've never actually met.
90) I'm afraid we won't like each other if we were to ever meet.
91) I really enjoy gardening but I can't keep the plants alive.
92) I have an addictive personality.
93) My favorite talk show host is Ellen DeGeneres.
94) I'm trying to be more conscious of my carbon footprint.
95) I think I would make an excellent personal assistant.
96) Music is a HUGE part of my life. I associate songs with every important event in my life.
97) I love waking up in the morning next to my best friend.
98) I hate it when he doesn't wake me up before he leaves.
99) I hate surprises because I never know what to say... especially if I dislike the surprise.
100) I'm scared of people with face paint... especially mimes, clowns and small children.

for the love of dog II

Okay... so for those of you just tuning in, I *just* got back from my around-the-world whirlwind tour. Phew! I'm tired already... maybe I'll just update later. Kidding! Ok so the day or two before I left for Minnesota to visit my parents, I bought a ticket to see Emerson Hart in downtown Chicago. Now, I know what you're thinking... "Chrissa, downtown Chicago can be a scary place, you didn't go to the concert alone, did you?!" Indeedy, I did. See, I had originally planned the trip with a friend but because of unforeseeable circumstances (I'm being generous, she punked out), I ended up traveling up to Chicago alone. With that being the case I still wasn't completely sure I was going miss out on the concert just because I didn't have anyone to go with. I already had the ticket, why not go? Emerson was counting on me... but Emerson was going to have to come with certain stipulations:

I was going to have to be able to find the concert venue without problem (Thank you Google Maps!)
I was going to have to find acceptable parking (seeing as how I had the dog)
The parking would have to be off-street parking OR on a well-lit avenue.
The path I would have to walk from the car to the concert venue was going to have to be well-lit
And finally, I would have to get there with plenty of time before Emerson got on stage.

So with all that in mind.. I set out at 3pm in order to get to Chicago with plenty of time to spare. It's a 4 hour drive, mind you. ;) With stopping for dinner, stopping for construction, doggy potty breaks and Chrissa potty breaks, we got there with an hour to spare.

The concert was AMAZING. Now, if you'll remember, I saw Emerson in Indianapolis and Louisville so I already had a litmus test against which to rate the Chicago concert. Without a doubt, it was the best concert I had seen. Maybe he just enjoys playing to smaller crowds or maybe he saw my glowing face in the audience (hey, I can dream!) but he was so personable and familiar with the crowd. It was incredible. He took mostly requests but also played off of a rough set list. He talked to the crowd between every song and even shared with us his inspirations for most songs. Again, it was amazing... he is amazing. I freaking love him. I wish I would have had someone to go with me because it was probably in the top 5 moments of my life. But then again, maybe it's in the top 5 because I was there alone. Who knows. Anyway... here are some pics...

So Emerson didn't actually go on stage until around 10:30-11pm... but he didn't get off stage until 1am!! I was so freaking psyched when I left the concert that I must not have been paying much attention to where I was walking... BECAUSE I WALKED RIGHT INTO HIM ON THE STREET! I practically ran the man over! I was so flustered and embarrassed so I just said, "Hi! I liked the concert... it was really great to see you." He said, "Aww, that's great. Thank you so much for coming..." And then he gave me that little cock-of-the-head look you give someone when you know you've met them before. Like it just clicked in his head that, yes, we had met before. And right when I thought I couldn't be more embarrassed and I couldn't have felt more foolish... he did the coolest thing and reached out to shake my hand (even though I hadn't reached out to shake his hand first). So he is officially the coolest guy ever and I will *love* him forever.

I seriously know what people feel when they get high. It's like Emerson is my drug and I'm the crack whore. LOL. Okay, I think that phrase is hilarious so I had to use it.. but SERIOUSLY! I got to see Emerson for a third time, he played my favorite song, I got to meet him again, AND HE SHOOK MY HAND!! So yeah, I was on a bit of a high.

But back to the trip... I got to Minnesota the next day. Here are some snap-shots I got while driving through...

Lucette--Paul Bunyan's Girlfriend
We're weird in Minnesota, what can I say?

Part of Leech Lake

Another Part of Leech Lake

More about Minnesota tomorrow.... =D

Subject to Change

2008-05-11T13:56:00.000-07:00

I know I said I would post pictures of my Colombia trip soon but I saw this one on a friend's blog and thought it would be fun... So deal!

If your life were a movie, what would the soundtrack be?
So, here's how it works:
1. Open your library (iTunes, Winamp, Media Player, iPod, etc)
2. Put it on shuffle
3. Press play
4. For every question, type the song that plays
5. When you go to a new question, press the next button
6. Don't lie and try to pretend you're cool...

OPENING CREDITS Stone Temple Pilots - Plush
WAKING UP Mana - En el Muelle de San Blas
FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL Alanis Morissette - Wake Up
FALLING IN LOVE Sting and the Police - Can't Stand Losing You
FIGHT SONG Rocco Deluca and The Burden - Swing Low
BREAK UP SONG Sublime - What I Got
PROM Mazy Star - Fade Into You
LIFE Shakira - Inevitable
MENTAL BREAKDOWN Fiona Apple - Slow Like Honey
DRIVING Tonic - Let Me Go
FLASHBACK Joan Jett - I Love Rock 'N' Roll
WEDDING Tonic - Sugar
BIRTH OF A CHILD Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers - An American Girl

Now... since I don't like leaving things up to chance... here would be my picks...

OPENING CREDITS Rocco Deluca and The Burden - Colorful
WAKING UP Emerson Hart - Vanity
FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL Eminem - My Name Is
FALLING IN LOVE 6-way tie between:
Cat Powers - Sea of Love
Colors - No, No, No
The Cure - Just Like Heaven
Dashboard Confessional - Stolen
Emerson Hart - When She Loves You
Shakira - The One

FIGHT SONG Eminem - Lose Yourself or Fiona Apple - Fast as You Can
BREAK UP SONG 7-way tie between:
Emerson Hart - If You're Gonna Leave
Lenny Kravitz - Can't Get You Off My Mind
Matchbox Twenty - Bed of Lies
Matchbox Twenty - You Won't Be Mine
Sarah McLachlan - I Love You
Shakira - Que Me Quedes Tu
Sublime - Santeria

PROM Mindless Self Indulgence - Get It Up
LIFE Natasha Bedingfield - Wild Horses
MENTAL BREAKDOWN Matchbox Twenty - Unwell
DRIVING Sugarcult - Los Angeles
FLASHBACK Pearl Jam - Yellow Ledbetter or Emerson Hart - Green Hills Race for
California
WEDDING Natasha Bedingfield - Put Your Arms Around Me
BIRTH OF A CHILD This wouldn't be part of the movie

For the love of dog...

2008-05-08T10:40:00.000-07:00

I just heard about the Furry 5kurry this weekend at a local park in Dayton... It's a fundraiser to help benefit the Humane Society of Dayton and I really want to help. This is where you come in.... Just click on the button below and you can help me to donate $$ to this great cause. It's no secret how much I LOVE dogs... especially rescues so this organization is very close to my heart. Please... go out an donate!!

And if you need to be guilted.... Here's a picture of my lovable rescue... =D

On the road again...

2008-03-31T19:25:00.000-07:00

Like Trisha, I won't be around for the next few weeks to blog stalk you... I'm going on 3 week vacation.. WOOO!! Here's my itinerary..

April 2-9 Minnesota, visiting my family and dropping the dog off with them (Plus I'm
stopping at TWO Emerson Hart concerts. Count 'em! ONE... TWO!!)
April 10-15 Bogota and Cartegena, Colombia, visiting Jared
April 15-23 Utah, visiting Jared's family and possibly going to St. George
April 23-24 Back in Minnesota to pick up the dog
April 24-26 Driving home to Ohio.

Anyway... have a great month and I look forward to catching up on all your blogs when I return.

Enjoy the new tunes. =)

Emerson Hart rocks my world

2008-03-23T21:56:00.000-07:00

So the last couple of weeks have been pretty exciting because I got to see my favorite band/singer in concert TWICE. How lucky am I!? I'll tell you the story of how he came to be my favorite...

When I was in high school I had a friend named Lee. Lee had a band (I don't actually think I know the name of the band). Lee and I went to different high schools so the only time we could hang out was when he was rehearsing with his band. The summer before senior year they lost their lead singer so sometimes I would get to sing with them. After I had been their band groupie for a while, I eventually started writing songs for them. It was all pretty cool and pretty much since then my dream has been to be the lead singer in a band. (I've always said I would LOVE to try out for American Idol and pull a Chris Daughtry.) Anyway.... before I started writing songs for them they did a lot of covers by a sweet little band named Tonic. I was hooked. Throughout college and the last 5 years or so Tonic has always been on my playlist. I love their music and I love their lyrics. Well a couple years ago Tonic broke up and my heart has been broken ever since... Until Tonic's frontman, Emerson Hart, went solo. You may have heard of him, his first single was called "If You're Gonna Leave." It's been playing for the last year or so. So I was checking out Emerson Hart's MySpace page a couple months ago and saw that he had been on tour for the last few months and that he only had two tour dates left. One was in New York City and the other was in L.A. I flipped out. Emerson's music has been the soundtrack of my life for the last 10 years. It moves me. It inspires me. It comforts me. It helps me understand myself. How could I not go to his concert? I was prepared to drive to New York if that's what I needed to do. So just DAYS before I'm getting ready to book tickets to fly to New York, Emerson posts new tour dates and one was only 2 hours away!!

So it's the night before the concert and I realize two things. 1) Since Brian is kind of a new member of our group, we never asked him if he wanted to go to the concert with us (me and Lisa). 2) I crashed my car 4 days prior and I didn't want to rent a car or ask Lisa to drive us 2 hours to Indianapolis for the concert. She suggested I ask Brian to take us to the concert. Luckily he was happy to come with us and also willing to drive. The day of the concert came around and, just like murphy's law, and the weather man was forecasting 4-6 inches of snow. *le sigh* Luckily Brian was driving and he owns a Jeep SUV so we got to the concert without any problems. Now, I'm not exactly new to the indie artist concert scene (smaller venues, smaller crowds, and more personal performances) so I thought ahead and brought my CD cover, my Sansa (to record the concert), my camera, and two Sharpie markers (just in case I had to catch Emerson on his way out to the tour bus I needed to be prepared). The concert was AWESOME and I totally fell in love with Emerson Hart's music all over again. After the show we waited around for him to come out to meet the crowd but he was a no show. I was pretty disappointed but, in his defense, he was getting over the flu and probably didn't feel well. The drive home was pretty rocky but we made it home safe and sound. (This was the night that it didn't snow 4-6 inches like the weather forecasted.... it snowed 15 inches!) The whole drive home I kept thinking about how Emerson was my lyric-writing soul mate and how bummed I was that I didn't get his autograph. I really wanted to drive up to Cleveland that night to make the show the next night but the snow and the fact that my car was wrecked prevented me from going. Alas! Let down again! Then... just as I was beginning to give up and was starting to think that all hope was lost.... a glimmer of hope. Emerson was playing at the Hard Rock Café in Louisville, Kentucky in 2 weeks. How could I not go!? It was going to be the last chance I was going to be able to see him in concert and my last chance to get his autograph. (I'm starting a collection of autographed album covers, so it was really important to me.) I remembered that Emerson said during the show that he answered his MySpace messages personally so if I was going to get his autograph at the next show, I was going to need to send him a message.

So Friday afternoon, Brian, Lisa and I drove down to Louisville for the concert. Before we left I told them, "I don't care how long we have to stand outside waiting or what we have to do... I am going to get that autograph!" My friends were pretty supportive. So we get to Louisville with about an hour before the show. We order some food and I can tell I'm starting to get anxious. Suddenly, at the other side of the restaurant I see Emerson and he's posing for pictures with one of the Hard Rock employees. After the picture, Emerson ducks behind a wall and, of course, my curiosity got the best of me..... where did he go? is he just sitting there watching the show? is there a back exit or something? So I get up to go to the bathroom. On the way back I see that he didn't duck behind a wall... he went outside! And I could see him sitting there having a beer with the same employee he was taking a picture with. It was just the two of them. No crowd. No security. Just the two of them... sitting there... talking. That could be me! I immediately tell Brian and Lisa and they coerce me into going out there to meet him. I was so nervous. I suppose it was a lot like how some people feel about meeting God or when they meet their role models or something. So anyway, I do it... He was super nice (I was afraid he was going to be bugged) and he was really smiley. I wondered if he recognized me from my picture on myspace (since I had written him a note a week prior to the concert)? Anyway... he signed my album cover and I was so giddy. Then, back at the ranch... The concert was so-so. He used all the same songs and same intros so it wasn't anything new to us and the crowd was really lame. Hardly anyone was clapping or getting excited or anything so apparently they weren't compelled enough to do an encore. After the concert Emerson and the rest of the guys came out to sign album covers and to take pictures so of course we had to get in line. I can't believe I didn't ask him for a picture earlier that night! I would have been so bummed if I got to meet him but forgot to get a picture. Anyway... he was really gracious and was even like, "Did the picture turn out? Should we take another one?" *le sigh* He's really nice and sweet and seems, like, unaffected by fame and is really down to earth and personable.

So yeah.... Now all I have to do is hang with Emerson Hart and do a jam session with him and I can die happy. lol. Here are some of the best pictures from the concerts....

Crash

2008-02-27T19:04:00.001-08:00

So this week started off with a bang....

I crashed our car Tuesday night =( Our group of friends go out every Tuesday night to a place called Bar Louie to get burgers for a dollar. It had been raining/snowing the whole day and that night everything turned to pure ice. I exited the parking garage the normal route (a downhill exit) and slid straight into the car ahead of me that was parked at a red light. *le sigh* Unluckily, I got into an accident. Luckily, for me, the guy I slid into was my friend (I hope he's still my friend) James. He was really pretty cool about the whole thing though I totally know he's a little ticked off. My car took the brunt of it and his car looks untouched except for 6-7 scratches and paint smudges on the corner of his bumper. I was hardly moving and I just slid all the way down the hill. I didn't even have enough traction to turn the car... otherwise I totally would have jumped the curb or something crazy like that.

I can't wait until this week is over. :*(

Welcome to the Fam!

2008-02-23T00:00:00.000-08:00

We have a new little nephew!

Look at his cute little spikey hair!!

October Shayne Taylor

Feb 21st, 2008

Craziness

2008-02-15T13:19:00.000-08:00

Well, I can't believe I'm doing this but....

I'm starting another quilt.

I have a feeling... actually I KNOW this one is going to take me MONTHS but it will be SOOO worth it when I am finished. Again, I can't show you updates on my progress because the person I am making it for has access to this blog but I promise to post lots of pictures when I am done. =D

I don't really have much news for you. Jared is in Colombia now. Champ is laying on the floor. And I spend my time watching movies, scrapbooking, hanging out with friends and cleaning. I'm always looking for visitors so feel free to make a trip!

All of God's Angels Come To Us Disguised

2008-01-30T17:44:00.000-08:00

So, I've been contemplating writing this entry. If I wrote it, it would mean making a private issue public. If I didn't write it, it would be like denying how important it is to me. It wasn't until I saw Marci and Dan writing about it that I realized it was somewhat appropriate to spell out my feelings on the matter. So, here it goes...

My sister-in-law, Lora, passed away on January 21st, 2008 and I've been out in Utah this last week with Jared's family. Lora was diagnosed with neurofibromatosis when she was 7 years old. Sometime last year (2006) she discovered that one of the tumors in her neck had turned cancerous. As the tumor would grow, it would slowly compress the spinal cord. She would lose the ability to walk, possibly even the ability to breathe on her own. She struggled with lots of pain this last year, the loss of motion on the right side of her body and finally permanent paralysis. There were times when she could not speak and she would constantly have phantom sensations in her arms and legs that would often make her feel confused and very frustrated. When we flew out to Utah for Thanksgiving Lora was still somewhat mobile. She got around in a wheelchair but could still (kind of) use her left hand and could still, with assistance, stand on her feet. The day we left she completely lost the ability to hold herself up and she was to be bedridden for the remainder of her life. A few weeks later we were able to take a couple more weeks off to fly out for the holidays and were grateful for the time that we were able to spend with her. Just before Christmas, Lora lost the ability to speak and we thought, for sure, that she would pass before the New Year. Lora just kept hanging on. Every smile, every sentence, every breath was a feat and by the end she was just exhausted. It was during those times when she couldn't speak, when she was unconscious, that I started to realize how much I would miss her. It was hard to be in the same room with her. The more I was with her, the more I loved her. And the more I loved her, the more I knew I would miss her when she was gone. During her last few days with us she asked if the family could have a fast on her behalf to pray to Heavenly Father that her burdens could be lifted and that she could be free to pass from this life to the next. We held the fast on the 20th of January and on the morning of the 21st, she was gone.

Lora has always been a source of light in my life during the five short years that I've known her. She was sweet and mild, loved everyone, was a hard worker and had faith stronger than anyone I've ever met. She was the kind of person you would think was sent here as an angel in disguise. I met her in the fall of 2002 in Provo, UT. I had just started dating Jared and he suggested that we have dinner with his little sister. At the time I didn't know much about Jared's family and I was surprised to hear that he had a little sister and that she only lived like, 10 blocks away. We had dinner at my apartment after which we watched a movie, played a game and enjoyed homemade fruit smoothies. In 2004, I spent the summer living at the McPherson's while Jared was off at Officer Training School in Alabama. My idea of a summer vacation was sleeping in til noon, staying in my pajamas most of the day, and relaxing while enjoying the sun. I quickly found that Lora had a different idea of what vacation meant. She was usually out of the house before 9am. She arose early, had a healthy breakfast and retreated to the garden where she would spend most of the morning pulling weeds, picking vegetables or planting flowers. She would come inside for lunch (usually a sandwich and a bowl of grapes) and then off she would go to exercise or work on some other task for the afternoon. In the evenings Lora could be found doing the dishes, sweeping the floor, crocheting in the family room or playing the piano. I used to love to lie down and listen to her play piano and I think she enjoyed the company. She was always the first one to bed and the first one awake. In those three short months, I quickly found that the best way to get to know Lora (for me) was just to dive into whatever she was doing. Some of the best conversations we ever had were while doing the dishes together in the afternoon or in the car while we were on the way to the gym. She told me about her struggle with anorexia and how she was able to overcome anxiety. We talked about boys she liked, things she had learned about in her fitness classes at BYU and memories of growing up in the McPherson family.

When Lora got sick last year I felt really helpless. I wanted to make sure she knew how much we loved her and how much we were thinking about her and praying for her. If I was out shopping I'd often pick up little things like cooling face masks or CDs to send to her. Jared started writing her letters every week so I would make up and print out stationary with cute pictures and comics. When I heard that Lora could barely close her dresser drawer because of all the letters we had been sending her, I bought a 3-ringed binder and one night Jared and I sat up making a front cover that said, "Letters to Lora" so that she would have a special place to put all of the letters. In October 2007, she found out that the tumor in her neck had tripled in size and that she was going to need an emergency surgery to remove some of the tumor. I spent an hour on the phone trying to track down where I could send a bouquet of balloons (because it was a surprise and flowers weren't allowed in the intensive care unit) so that when she woke up from the surgery, she would know that Jared and I were thinking about her.

When I heard the news that Lora had passed away I felt at peace. I'll remember that day because it was the only really sunny day we had had in Dayton all winter. It felt like the sky and the sun were celebrating, saying, "Come on, it is a beautiful day and you should feel happy for Lora!" So, although I felt peaceful and happy, I also felt very troubled. Troubled and sad that Lora's life was cut so short and that for most of her life she's had to deal with difficult trials. I was sad that she missed out on so much of what this life had to offer her. Sad and even a little angry that I only had five years with her. But then I remembered her smile and how she always seemed to have a good attitude through bad situations. When life gave Lora lemons, she didn't just make lemonade... she set up a lemonade stand. I remembered how much faith she had in Heavenly Father and in Jesus Christ and I know that she is rejoicing in heaven. I was still in bed when Nancy called so I immediately got up to start making plans to fly out to Utah. How could I not go? Jared (who is in Colombia) was also planning to be in Utah for the funeral so everyone assumed that I was going to Utah just to see Jared. That was an upsetting thought. I would have gone whether Jared was there or not. Lora was my sister. She may not have been my real sister, but I loved her as if she were, maybe even more so.

We had the funeral on Friday last week and it was bittersweet. It's always hard to bury someone you love. The fact that she had died didn't really sink in until I got to see her body. It gave me hope. I know that's a weird thing to think when you're viewing someone’s dead body, but that's exactly what it did. When I saw her lifeless body lying there in the casket I knew that her spirit was some place beyond the scope of my vision. I knew that her body was merely a vehicle in which she was able to uplift us and bless us with her love. Even though her body had failed her, her spirit still lives on in each and every person whose life she touched. Somewhere, Lora is dancing with angels. She's waiting and preparing for the time when we will all meet again. I love Lora and I miss her. But I am so grateful that I got a chance to know such a wonderful person and I know I will see her again.

Project Finished

2008-01-13T17:09:00.000-08:00

I checked my blog today and realized that it has been a month since I really updated.

Our Christmas vacation was fantastic! We spent 5 days in Minnesota with my family and it was an absolute treat! Since my brother (who lives with my parents) has been living with a friend the last few weeks, we had the whole house to ourselves. And, by ourselves, I mean me, Jared, my mom and dad. It was so peaceful and quiet. My parents live out in the middle of nowhere on a the most gorgeous plot of river shore property that I've ever seen.

The week wasn't too eventful-which was nice because we got to do a lot of unwinding and relaxing. My other brother and his family were up for 2 days to exchange presents and visit. My nieces and nephew were over for a day as well. It was really nice to all be together before the holidays.

Here's Champ checkin' out the river and playing in the snow. He should have been a sled dog.

We flew to Utah a few days later to visit Jared's family. Compared to other Christmases at the McPherson's, this years was very simple and unplanned. I say that because it would be tough to go to the McPhersons, on a normal day, and find yourself with free time. There are always family members to see, parties to attend, treats to make and deliver, Christmas carols to be sung (their family still does carolling to all the neighbors and friends), cheesy bread to bake, and late nights of staying up playing games with brothers and sisters. This year we only had 5 parties to attend (2 family Christmas parties, 2 friend reunions, and 1 baby shower) which is still 3 more than normal but because we didn't do all that other jazz this year, it wasn't anywhere near overwhelming.

We ended up having to come home early due to some mix up at Jared's work. For those that don't know, Jared was supposed to deploy on 06 Jan but didn't get orders. We ended up having to use our return tickets to Minneapolis on the 5th, drive back to Dayton on the 6th and he had to go to work on the 7th. Oh yeah... did I mention we found this out at 5pm on the 4th? Yeah, it was a pretty hectic week. So we get back on Monday and Jared finally got his tickets to leave for the 8th.

It's been pretty lonely at the house. At first I thought, "Meh, 6 months, no big deal. I'll be able to get so much done while Jared is away." I'm starting to second guess that. I have started scrap booking. I've done like, 12 pages and 40 photos and have probably 800 more photos... AND... I just finished printing off 450 more photos at Walgreens. So like, 1300 total. Yippy. Oh well... I figure that should keep me busy for the next 10 years or so.

Also on the agenda is a trip to visit my family. (Sorry McPhersons, I haven't planned a trip to visit you yet but I'm workin' on it.) I'm going up for Easter and... check this out... I'm going to see the Avril Lavigne concert! Wooo! I convinced my mom to buy tickets for my niece's birthday in March and that I would take her to the concert. Not only that but it looks like my trip to Colombia is looking to be on schedule for early April. I won't know for another 2 weeks how everything is going to work out, but that's the plan so far. It all depends on how well Jared can impress his boss and when he can get the time off work. Keep all your fingers crossed!

Anyway... I'm done bringing you up to date. Here are some fun pictures from our trip. =)

Us playing some cribbage. We probably played 150 games of cribbage while we were on vacation.

And here's the snowman I made for Lora the morning we left Utah. It looked like this for about 5 minutes before it started to melt and it became a cyclops snowman.

OH MAN!! I can't believe I forgot to mention!! Remember back when I said I had started on a new quilt? Well I finished it while we were in Utah on vacation. Here it is!! I made it for Jared's sister Heather who is having a baby boy in February.

Merry Christmas!!

2007-12-25T11:39:00.000-08:00

Don't worry... I'm stronger than I think...

2007-12-13T06:59:00.000-08:00

I sometimes, jokingly, say that I have Reverse Seasonal Affective Disorder. Of course I've never been diagnosed but I think that's what it is... my depression is linked directly with the weather and the calendar months. I'm sad when it's sunny and happy when it's raining/snowing. *Cue Shirley Manson* Some people have been asking me lately why I am so sad and I'd like to say this is why... but it's not. I usually thrive during the winter months, especially around Christmas. But this year I'm carrying so many extra weights on my shoulders that I can feel the impending depressing trying to sneak it's way in months ahead of schedule.

In AA, they tell you it's one day at a time. Not like I've ever been to AA but I think it's good advice. I just have to remember that most of my problems will be solved in the next 206 days. In 206 days, Jared will be home from his deployment. In 206 days I will have finished our taxes. In 206 days I will have the money to get our house fixed. In 206 days a family member will not have to suffer with a terrible sickness. I should be out of the woods in 206 days.

We're ready for Christmas....

2007-11-28T11:53:00.000-08:00

Are you?

Thanksgiving

2007-11-25T15:22:00.000-08:00

We just got back last night from Utah. We went on a last minute vacation to see Jared's family in Fruit Heights and we had the best time ever! We played games, had lots of food, hung out with Lora and the rest of the family, and decorated for Christmas. It was a lot of fun and I can't wait to go back for Christmas. Especially since we'll get to stay 10 times as long. =D Since Jared will be deploying directly after our visit in Utah, I am going to check into getting my plane ticket changed so that I can stay in Utah a little longer than we were originally planning. I was going to do that today but apparently Orbitz's website is down so I guess that'll have to wait until later.

Anyway... just wanted to say that I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

bah!

2007-11-18T08:56:00.000-08:00

Judging by how many people commented on my last entry, I know y'all are just DYING to find out what happened next...

We got skunked the next two days and ended up driving home empty handed.

Anyway.. on to better things like my Christmas Wishlist!

DVDs

Home Alone
Home Improvement (TV) - any season
ER (TV) - any season except 1 & 6
Beauty and the Beast (Disney)
The Ugly Daushund (Disney)
Swiss Family Robinson (Disney)
That Darn Cat (Disney)
Miracle on 34th Street (newer Disney version)
Brother Bear (Disney)
Beauty and the Beast: The Enchanted Christmas (Disney)

Board Games (nothing electronic or DVD)
Curses
True Colors

Misc.

Large stock pot with lid
Kenmore Progressive with Direct Drive 35922
Minnesota Gophers sweatshirt as seen here, size XL

A big fat miss...

2007-11-07T15:57:00.001-08:00

We drove up to Minnesota last week for deer hunting opener and we had a BLAST! We left Tuesday night after my night class and drove the 18 hours to Northern Minnesota. So not to bore you with all the details, I'll give you a quick overview. We got there on Wednesday afternoon, took it easy, relaxed and hung out with the fam. Thursday morning we went grocery shopping for the week and ate at the Super Buffet formerly known as The Great Wall Buffet. Don't even DREAM of telling me you've had good Chinese food until you've eaten at The Great Wall. Friday morning my brother Kevin got into town and we all went out for some target practice. I didn't do too shabby either. My first hit at 100 yards hit about 5.5 inches below the target.

We had used an empty bottle as our second target and I got about 2 inches from breaking the bottle (again, at 100 yards). I hadn't held a gun since I was like, 14 so I would consider my hits pretty respectable.

Saturday was the big day. The day we had all been waiting for. The day we had all been bragging about. Saturday was mostly uneventful. There were A LOT of hunters out and no deer. Not until 5 o'clock anyway. We came to this little spot in the woods where the road came to a "T". My Dad and Jared went left and my dad told me to sit and wait on the tailgate of his truck. After about 20 minutes I decided to take a walk up the right side of the 'T'. The trail went about a half mile and bent around a large thicket of young, white poplar trees. The thicket was so dense with trees that you could barely see in it 5 feet. The trail was very angular and you could only walk about 50 feet before the trail would turn a sharp angle and you would have to walk quickly but slowly just to see around the bend. On the left side of the trail was the thicket and on the right side of the trail was a red pine plantation. It was really eerie walking alone in the woods while attempting to stalk a wild animal. I didn't know what I should be more afraid of--the rifle in my hand or the wild animal. About halfway down the trail I decided to stop and turn around. But then I saw a small tree that had fallen and was bent over the trail. It was about 30 yards away so I decided to walk up to the tree, see what I could see, then turn around. There wasn't a sound in the woods and there wasn't any movement...not even from the wind. When I reached the bent tree I could see the end of the trail--it came to an abrupt halt at the edge of the poplar thicket. Just then, up from the right, two HUGE doe sprang up from their nestling place about 50 yards away from me and bounded toward the thicket. Now, if you haven't seen a Norway plantation before, this is pretty much what it looks like. If you're at the wrong angle in on the plantation, you won't see anything.

When the two deer sprung up I had about 3 seconds to shoot. I had my gun up, I had the safety off but by time I went to squeeze the trigger they were gone. Skunked!

Will Chrissa make the big kill she's been gunning for? Or will all the trash talk she's been spreading be in vain?

Stay tuned for more hunting tales...

AAAARG!!!

2007-10-30T12:03:00.000-07:00

So... Jared just got tagged a couple of weeks ago to go on a 120 day TDY. That's all fine and dandy... that's a lot of per diem cash in our pockets AND since I got my passport (Jared's TDY being the reason I got it) I'll be able to visit him while he's gone.

What's so bad about that, you ask? They (being the retards in charge of the whole operation) didn't tell him that he would have to spend a month in Florida before AND AFTER the TDY to do "training." ARG! So instead of being away 4 months... he'll be gone 6 months. I shouldn't complain seeing as how he's not deploying but geesh! He's going to miss our anniversary AGAIN. =( Also... since he'll be gone on TDY through June... looks like we won't be moving to Utah at the end of spring like we were hoping. :*(

C'est la vie.

Feel free to come visit me while he's gone.

Not-Your-Brother-Cole's-Chili

2007-10-27T11:38:00.000-07:00

It has been a pretty darn good week! The highlight of the week was on Thursday when our ward had their Annual Chili Cook-off and Ward Trunk-or-Treat party. Last year was our first year and, of course, I made my famous chili. We had high hopes of placing but didn't even get an honorable mention. =( The grand prize (a NICE ladle set) went to Brother Cole--a guy who has ended up becoming a pretty good friend of ours. We were jealous of his new chili making set so we set out to kick his butt this year. We only found out about the chili cook-off 4 days ahead of time and that didn't give us much time to prepare (especially with me finishing up clinicals last week and Jared being extra busy at work). On Sunday after church I was sure to let Brother Cole know that he wasn't going to take the chili cook-off this year and that he would have competition. He seemed over confident and that's when I knew I had him beat. I knew that my usual chili recipe just wasn't going to cut it so I decided to head to the net. I went to the International Chili Society's website to get some tips and possibly some recipes. I found one called "J.R.'s Rough and Ready Chili." The ingredients were things I normally keep stocked in my pantry and the recipe didn't call for timed stirring and such. I figured I wouldn't have a lot of time to put into this chili and that an easy recipe would be what I would need this year. Thursday afternoon after my dental appointment I went shopping for the best tri-beef tip and spices I could find. Unfortunately, my butcher was all out of tri-beef tip and wouldn't be able to get it for a couple of days. I decided to go with 2 types of gound beef instead. I didn't think one chili pepper would be enough to give my chili the depth (or the heat) I felt it needed so I added a serrano pepper in addition to the one pepper the recipe had already called for. I ended up using different spices and chili powders then the recipe had originally called for so I feel pretty confident calling this chili recipe all my own (though next time I think I'll try to alter the recipe to be more tomato based in stead of broth based). We sat around before the chili cook-off trying to decide on a name for our chili. If you've been to a cook-off before then you know that all the cooks have personalized names for their creations. Shotgun Willie Chili, Road Kill Chili, Dog Breath Chili, etc... The best name we could come up with was "Not-Your-Brother-Cole's-Chili."

SO ANYWAY.... we mixed up the chili and brought it to the party. Our friends Hannah, Daniel and Summer came along with Jared's friend and co-worker, Saad and his family. Their kids came dressed as a Lady Bug (Zak) and a Spider (Faiza). The kids said they had a blast. Faiza even won one of the costume contests for the Scariest Dressed Girl. They said they had more fun at the Halloween party than they did when they went to the zoo (which, apparently is a HUGE deal). Everyone seemed to be having a good time. That's when they decided to judge the chili competition. There were 5 categories: Best All Round, Best Tasting (I don't see how that's differnt than Best All Round but whatever!), Hottest Chili, Most Effort, Most Popular (Again, how is this different?). Brother Cole won Best Tasting but mine..... drum roll please.... won BEST ALL ROUND!

Nevermind that little flippy thing my hair is doing...

My first chili cook-off win. We didn't get as nice of a prize (compared to the prize last year) but I felt pretty satisfied with my victory considering we beat the pants off of Brother Cole's Chili. After the party Jared saw Brother and Sister Cole in the parking lot. Sister Cole spilled the beans that Mark was nervous about his chili not taking the win. Just goes to show... grown men do cry. =P

ps... my prize will grow to 600 times it's size when submerged in water. WOO!

WOO HOO!

2007-10-22T12:48:00.000-07:00

Just a quick note....

I GOT MY PASSPORT TODAY!! I only applied for it 12 days ago so I wasn't even expecting to see it until sometime in December. How exciting! Now I'll be able to visit Jared abroad when that time comes AAAAAND we can finally visit Lamont and Jenn in Italy. I'm excited. I now have all freedoms afforded to me... I can buy cigarettes (not that I would), I can buy liquor (again, not like I would), I can buy porn (and again, not like I would), I can rent a car without paying an extra fee, AND... I can travel to other countries. Woo!

Now I just need a gun.

Cruise Control

2007-10-21T18:45:00.000-07:00

For those people who truly know me, they would know that I am a very depressed person. And if you REALLY knew me, you would know that my depression, for the most part, is seasonal. Not your typical seasonal affective disorder, in fact, just the opposite. Reverse seasonal affective disorder. I get depressed when the snow starts to melt (or when I don’t have any snow at all) and any amount of sunshine makes me feel so lethargic and melancholy. All the blistering hot weather of the summer months makes me pine for winter, for snow, warm blankets on cold nights, holiday movies, time well spent with family, and ultimately…. Happiness.

I think a lot of that comes from my childhood. I lived several miles from town and from all of my friends and the summer months were often torture. We didn’t have air conditioning and we didn’t have cable TV so there was much to be left to the imagination. Summers were filled with hours of boredom unless we were going to the lake or having a cook out. During the winter, I would spend literally hours outside building snowmen or forts, going sledding, snowmobiling, or just lying in the snow looking up at the cold, gray sky watching the snowflakes dance slowly to the ground. A typical winter day would consist of me sleeping in until late morning. When I got up I would get some cereal and suit up for a day in the snow. The world was my playground. After a few hours my mom would usually make me come in for some lunch and hot cocoa but then it would be off again to the freshly fallen, untouched canvas of snow. In the middle of the winter in Northern Minnesota, evening comes very early. You know when it’s time to go inside when the snow turns from white to blue and when the bread bags inside your boots make you sweat so hard that there are puddles of sweat in the soles of your boots. (Since I would spend HOURS outside, my mom would make me put bread bags on before I put on my socks so that my feet, after being outside for 4-5 hours, wouldn’t be soaked from the snow… how embarrassing.) At our house we had a board set up near the furnace in the basement where we could hang our wet clothing to dry. When I came inside my mom would often be cooking dinner. The scent of venison in the frying pan, wild rice in the stock pot and freshly baked fried bread flooded my olfactory and I knew that Dad would be home soon from hunting. When dad came home my mom and I would run out to the garage to see what he had brought home. Often times it would be a deer, ducks, grouse, and even the occasional rabbit. If my mom hadn’t started dinner yet, my dad would butcher the animal right there in the garage and bring it in to be cooked for dinner. I realize these don’t sound like typical childhood memories but it’s one of the traditions that I suppose has been happening in my family for generations. And family traditions are some of the things that bring me the most joy and happiness.

I’ve kind of strayed from the points I was trying to make. So, as I’ve mentioned in previous entries, I’m starting to get excited for autumn and the holiday season. I feel like I’m waking up for the first time and that I actually have something to live for and things to be excited about. I realized that my life has kind of been on cruise control for the last few months while I’ve been wallowing in depression. I’ve noticed that I don’t have a set routine for daily happenings. I don’t always eat breakfast. I normally sleep until my body will not let me sleep any longer (usually anytime between 11am-1pm). I usually skip lunch and dinner is eaten over the kitchen sink. I don’t get regular exercise and I don’t sleep very well. I spend most of my time clicking away at the computer trying to find places on the internet to waste my time. I’m just starting to feel like I need to get my priorities back into order. (Mostly due to a post Jennifer made a few weeks ago.)

I made a deal with Jared two weeks ago that I would go to the gym at least three days a week. If I fail, I owe him $50. If I succeed, he owes me $50. If I can’t make it to the gym one day then I can substitute a 45 minute work out with an hour-long walk with the dog. So far I’ve done pretty well and I actually feel really good (despite the unseasonably warm weather we’ve been having). I’m hoping that I can increase my workout days to four or five days a week instead of doing the minimum of three.

In addition to the change in my level of physical activity, I’ve also made some other goals. Bets, really. I challenged Jared to a race to see who can read the Book of Mormon TWICE before the end of the year. So far he’s winning but since I’m rearranging my priorities, I should make some great progress in the coming weeks. I plan to spend less time on the internet and more time doing something more constructive. That was one of the reasons I started making a quilt. I plan to actually DO some of the work that needs to be done around here. For instance, we need to finish the garage (we’ve only paneled half of the walls) and we’ll need to get it cleaned out before the snow starts falling. (Ahhh, snow. =))

Most importantly, I need to de-clutter my life. Physically and mentally. Today I was reading an article in the Ensign (by Elder Daryl H. Garn) that talked about remaining clean and pure to attend the temple but I’ve kind of extended the meaning to apply it to other areas of my life. He was told that when the Church builds a new temple, the construction companies that bid on the project are given very strict guidelines in how the temple should be built. Every day, “construction workers would be expected to keep the construction site uncluttered and must stay clean and organized.” He then went on to say that “we must not allow the ways of the world to clutter our lives […] Too often, worldly things keep us from our prayers, scripture reading, and Church duties.” Too often depression keeps me from doing a lot of the things I need to be doing. I feel like I have to make a decision…a conscious decision to do the things that weigh me down when I’m depressed instead of sitting around being depressed about the things that weigh me down. I guess I don’t really sit around being depressed about stuff but having things that I should be doing doesn’t really help me get out of depression.

So anyway… blah blah blah. It’s not the most eloquent ending to a blog posting but I’m tired of typing now and there are other things I’d rather be doing. I don't like making resolutions so let's just say I hope to follow through with these things.

Ahhh, Autumn

2007-10-12T20:55:00.000-07:00

So, I got the "Bah, update!" comment from Jared tonight so I suppose I should fill you in on what's been going on in these parts.

I started quilting again. I really shouldn't have since I have two unfinished quilts in my "to do" basket but I couldn't help myself. I found a really awesome pattern and I couldn't resist. Although I can't post the pictures here (since the person I am making the quilt for has access to this site) I will leave you with a little teaser. =)

This week has been pretty relaxing. I took a week off of clinicals to regain my bearings and I feel extremely rested and ready to start forging ahead with the work I have to do for this quarter of school. I've also gone ahead and started making appointments that I've been meaning to make for the last six months. I finally had that root canal finished off this week, in two weeks I'm getting a couple of other fillings replaced, I have an orthodontist appointment to get my retainer reshaped and I'm also in the process of getting myself an eye appointment. I also have to call the vet to get Champ an appointment and I should probably schedule a physical for myself since I didn't get one last year. Things seem to finally be shaping up. I think it's because fall seems to finally be upon us here in Dayton and, for me, fall is always such a time for a renewal of energy. The year is winding down and it's a great time to start scurrying to finish all those projects you started that year, just before the holidays set in. Soon all of our lawn furniture will need to be put in the shed, there will be leaves to rake and it'll soon be time to clean out the garage so that we have a place to put the car once it snows. It's about this time of year that I start thinking about Thanksgiving dinner menus, Christmas shopping, visiting with family, cuddling up on the couch on a cold, winter night with a warm electric blanket and a holiday movie.

I'm pining for winter but I am also thoroughly enjoying the cool autumn weather we've been having. Can you tell?

Probably more than you wanted to know...

2007-10-06T20:55:00.000-07:00

So I had a root canal last week because I had a toothache. As it turns out, the toothache was the result of an infected root. It became infected because of a filling I had replaced last year. Apparently the evil dentist drilled the hole for the filling too deep, got too close to the nerve and damaged the root. Compared to the pain I was in before I went in for the root canal, the root canal itself was rather enjoyable. But the root canal isn't the worst part, if you can believe that. It's not even the money that I have to pay for the root canal and crown. The worst part is.... and here's the part where you get more information than you wanted to know... I'm on such a high dosage of antibiotics that I have a yeast infection IN MY ARMPITS. I'm so itchy. =( It's my first yeast infection and let me tell you something... I am dang glad I don't get them in, ahem, other places. My sympathies go out to those of you who do.

ouch

2007-10-02T12:59:00.000-07:00

When was the last time YOU had a 1-1/2 inch

endodontic file grind out the root of your tooth?

Me... I had mine done today. =*(

PUMPKINS!!!

2007-09-30T07:47:00.001-07:00

We went to Young's Dairy this weekend for their Annual Fall Festival and boy, did we have a blast! We ended up taking Champ since there's an incredible state park out near the dairy but since there were so many people at the festival, we didn't get time to go to the park before sundown. Oh well.... he's going camping next weekend so he shouldn't complain too much.

We got out to the dairy around 5pm and went straight for the pumpkin launcher. I hit the wagon once and got another one in the wagon. Jared hit the top of the wagon but I think the pumpkin bounced out. We won two free ice creams and $5.00 off our dinner. You can check out the video... (you can go to Jared's blog to see his pumpkin launcher video...)

After the pumpkin launcher we went to the corn maze. It was pretty neat but not as spooky as one might have hoped. We entered the maze and were given quarter sheets of paper that had pictures of barns. We were to enter the maze, find our way throughout while looking for mailboxes that contained animal stickers. We needed to find 4 different stickers for each barn in order to win $1.00 off mini golf.

By the time we got done at the corn maze it was getting pretty late so we decided to grab some grub. We went to the Jersey Inn and had ourselves some home cooked food. It's almost exactly like the Cracker Barrell except all the decorations are of cows and barns. The food was probably better too.

Anyway... just wanted to post some pictures of this weekend.

I got bored...

2007-09-26T17:13:00.001-07:00

1. What I was doing 10 years ago.
Ten years ago I was still in high school. I had just started the 10th grade and was probably really excited about starting driver's training classes. I was in band and a member of the colorguard. Oh yeah.... we were also probably getting excited for homecoming and the school dance. =D Those were fun.

2. What I was doing 5 years ago.
Five years ago I was living in Provo while in the process of getting a job at the Utah State Hospital. I had just met Jared and we were spending lots of time playing pool, hanging out at the library, watching movies, and eating at Wendy's. That was also about the time that he stood up me and my world famous chili in order to watch a BYU football game.

3. What I was doing 1 year ago.
I wasn't doing anything a year ago. We had just bought a house and we were keeping busy with all the yard upkeep, planting flowers, trimming up trees, etc.

4.What I was doing yesterday.
Yesterday I woke up at 8am in order to get to work by 9. I worked in the pharmacy until 3pm. When I got home I tried desperately to relax but couldn't because I had a test in my night class. At 4:30 Jared and I left for class. We got there at 5pm but apparently my class didn't start until 5:30. I had a little extra time to study. I spent two hours feeling up my classmates' arms looking for arteries, veins, tendons and nerves. We came home afterclass and watched half of "Mobsters and Mormons." I took some sleeping meds so that I could get to bed before midnight so I could get up today and do it all over again.

5. Five snacks I like too much.
Caramel apples, onion rings, buttered popcorn, Cool Ranch Doritos, & chocolate chip cookie dough.

6. Five things I'd do if I suddenly had $100million dollars to spend.
I would pay the obvious bills, buy all the land my parents' house sits on (40 acres on the Mississippi River that is owned by 8 different people who can't decide on who gets which part) and then put the rest in a "high yield money market account."

7. Five location I'd run away too.
Alaska, Maine (in the fall), Turkey or Syria (or both), or I'd try to get lost in NYC--change my name, the whole she-bang.

8. Five bad habits.
I don't always change the toilet paper roll when it's out, I never do the dishes, I nearly always forget to clean hair from the drain after showering, I don't like to take things out of the car when I get out (so there are like, books, coats, sweaters, and garbage in the backseat like, all the time) and I am way too critical of other people.

Sounds like I'm a slob, huh?

9. Five things I like to do.
Hang out with friends, play games, bike, take Champ to the dog park, and travel.

10. Five T.V. shows I like.
The Hills, Home Improvement (Yey Nick at Nite!), Jeopardy, Dr. 90210, Law and Order

11. Five things I hate to do.
Laundry, dishes, speak in public, going shopping or calling someone on the phone.

12. Five biggest joys at the moment.
Jared, Champ, looking forward to the fall and the upcoming holidays, rewarding "job", and "the crew"

Pics from the weekend

2007-09-24T15:00:00.000-07:00

We had some friends over to play games this weekend. I think we all had a really good time and we'll probably do it again for Halloween. Weeeeee!

Oh yeah.... these are our BFFs who can make fire...

explanations...

2007-09-23T18:53:00.000-07:00

So I guess it's time to do some explaining...

About a year ago I discovered myspace and thought, "I should probably delete my blogger blog because I never use it." So right after I dumped blogger and we went through this huge break up (lots of late night calls, the returning of favorite CDs and t-shirts) blogger decided to get cool. So apparently you can add videos to your page now? Plus, so many people in my life were like, "Chrissa, you were so much better off with blogger. Blogger has always been good to you and myspace just isn't fulfilling your needs. You need to get back together with what was meant to be."

So here I am. I'm on my knees... please blogger, forgive me and take me back. I know I was two-timing you with myspace but now we can just be honest about it. It's out in the open.

2007-09-20T19:25:00.000-07:00