29...

Boy that's almost 30 - holy shit I'm almost 30 - how the hell did that happen!!! Where did my 20's go??? Oh My God - 29! Okay - Okay I'm over it.

I had a great time celebrating my birthday. I had some awesome visitors to celebrate with me (that came in to surprise me - and pulled it off well because I was totally shocked). It was so wonderful to have my mom and aunt barbara here. I also went out to dinner at Gengi the Japanese Steakhouse the night before my birthday with some of my very best friends (who got me some of the coolest gifts - I seriously cannot put down my new gameboy). My oldest friend in the world got me the most beautiful Chloe bag (still can't believe that she did that), Heather got me something I've been wishing for - a dvd player for my scrapbook room and Mike not only took me to a fabulous dinner at Ocean Club but he also got me my coveted lens - the Canon 17-85 with the Image Stabilizer (he really - really didn't want to get me this lens considering it costs more than half the price of my camera but since he knows how much I adore my camera and use it like crazy he knew this would be a gift that would get great use). And how could I forget what my little guy e got me - a wonderful googely eyes "birthday boy" card, a bag of candy, and a beautiful Cinderella change purse. Just love - love - love that he picked everything out all by himself.

I truly feel like one of the most luckiest girls alive. I could not ask for a better life - even though things are rough at times I feel extremely fortunate - thank you everyone for make me beyond thrilled! I love you all more than you could ever imagine...

Enjoy...

I (Heart) Books!

I (Heart) Books

I stole this from http://www.angiekajfasz.typepad.com/ - angie's blog who got this from Ragan's blog.

Look at the list of books below:
* Bold the ones you’ve read
* Italicize the ones you want to read
* Leave blank the ones that you aren’t interested in.

1. The DaVinci Code (Dan Brown)
2. Pride and Prejudice (Jane Austen)
3. To Kill A Mockingbird (Harper Lee)
4. Gone With The Wind (Margaret Mitchell)
5. The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King (Tolkien)
6. The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring (Tolkien)
7. The Lord of the Rings: Two Towers (Tolkien)
8. Anne of Green Gables (L.M. Montgomery)
9. Outlander (Diana Gabaldon)
10. A Fine Balance (Rohinton Mistry)
11. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Rowling)
12. Angels and Demons (Dan Brown)
13. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Rowling)
14. A Prayer for Owen Meany (John Irving)
15. Memoirs of a Geisha (Arthur Golden)
16. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone (Rowling)
17. Fall on Your Knees (Ann-Marie MacDonald)
18. The Stand (Stephen King)
19. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (Rowling)
20. Jane Eyre (Charlotte Bronte)
21. The Hobbit (Tolkien)
22. The Catcher in the Rye (J.D. Salinger)
23. Little Women (Louisa May Alcott)
24. The Lovely Bones (Alice Sebold) - a fantastic book!
25. Life of Pi (Yann Martel)
26. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (Douglas Adams)
27. Wuthering Heights (Emily Bronte)
28. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (C. S. Lewis)
29. East of Eden (John Steinbeck)
30. Tuesdays with Morrie (Mitch Albom)
31. Dune (Frank Herbert)
32. The Notebook (Nicholas Sparks)
33. Atlas Shrugged (Ayn Rand)
34. 1984 (Orwell)
35. The Mists of Avalon (Marion Zimmer Bradley)
36. The Pillars of the Earth (Ken Follett)
37. The Power of One (Bryce Courtenay)
38. I Know This Much is True (Wally Lamb)
39. The Red Tent (Anita Diamant) - my favorite book of all time!
40. The Alchemist (Paulo Coelho)
41. The Clan of the Cave Bear (Jean M. Auel)
42. The Kite Runner (Khaled Hosseini)
43. Confessions of a Shopaholic (Sophie Kinsella)
44. The Five People You Meet In Heaven (Mitch Albom)
45. The Bible
46. Anna Karenina (Tolstoy)
47. The Count of Monte Cristo (Alexandre Dumas)
48. Angela’s Ashes (Frank McCourt)
49. The Grapes of Wrath (John Steinbeck)
50. She’s Come Undone (Wally Lamb) - just finished - fantastic!
51. The Poisonwood Bible (Barbara Kingsolver)
52. A Tale of Two Cities (Dickens)
53. Ender’s Game (Orson Scott Card)
54. Great Expectations (Dickens)
55. The Great Gatsby (Fitzgerald)
56. The Stone Angel (Margaret Laurence)
57. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (Rowling)
58. The Thorn Birds (Colleen McCullough)
59. The Handmaid’s Tale (Margaret Atwood)
60. The Time Traveller’s Wife (Audrew Niffenegger)
61. Crime and Punishment (Fyodor Dostoyevsky)
62. The Fountainhead (Ayn Rand)
63. War and Peace (Tolstoy)
64. Interview With The Vampire (Anne Rice)
65. Fifth Business (Robertson Davis)
66. One Hundred Years Of Solitude (Gabriel Garcia Marquez)
67. The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants (Ann Brashares)
68. Catch-22 (Joseph Heller)
69. Les Miserables (Hugo)
70. The Little Prince (Antoine de Saint-Exupery)
71. Bridget Jones’ Diary (Fielding)
72. Love in the Time of Cholera (Marquez)
73. Shogun (James Clavell)
74. The English Patient (Michael Ondaatje)
75. The Secret Garden (Frances Hodgson Burnett)
76. The Summer Tree (Guy Gavriel Kay)
77. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (Betty Smith)
78. The World According to Garp (John Irving)
79. The Diviners (Margaret Laurence)
80. Charlotte's Web (E.B. White)
81. Not Wanted On The Voyage (Timothy Findley)
82. Of Mice And Men (Steinbeck)
83. Rebecca (Daphne DuMaurier)
84. Wizard’s First Rule (Terry Goodkind)
85. Emma (Jane Austen)
86. Watership Down(Richard Adams)
87. Brave New World (Aldous Huxley)
88. The Stone Diaries (Carol Shields)
89. Blindness (Jose Saramago)
90. Kane and Abel (Jeffrey Archer)
91. In The Skin Of A Lion (Ondaatje)
92. Lord of the Flies (Golding)
93. The Good Earth (Pearl S. Buck)
94. The Secret Life of Bees (Sue Monk Kidd)
95. The Bourne Identity (Robert Ludlum)
96. The Outsiders (S.E. Hinton)
97. White Oleander (Janet Fitch)
98. A Woman of Substance (Barbara Taylor Bradford)
99. The Celestine Prophecy (James Redfield)
100. Ulysses (James Joyce)

I just love to read - and I mean love - love - love to read (I don't feel complete if I'm not in the middle of a book) and if I'm in the middle of a really great book I will carry it with me everywhere and read it every chance I get (even while I'm sitting in the car for the stop light to change from red to green).

I am very disappointed in myself that I haven't read as many books from this list as I would have liked (and even that there are a ton I've never heard of). I think I will make a mini list from this list of books I would like to read this year - outside of our book club books - just on my own for my own education!

Have you ever...

Stole this from a blog called http://alifeunrehearsed.blogspot.com/ If you're looking for a good blog to read I highly recommend this one...

Have you ever....? Things you have ever done -My "have-you-ever's" are in pink. {meaning I've done them!}

By the way I'm tagging...1. Kelly 2. Angie. Sarah. Marianne

1.Bought everyone in the bar a drink.
2. Swam with dolphins
3. Climbed a mountain.
4. Taken a Ferrari for a test drive
5. Been inside the Great Pyramid
6. Held a tarantula
7. Taken a candlelit bath with someone
8. Said "I love you" and meant it - definitely!
9. Hugged a tree.
10. Bungee jumped
11. Visited Paris - in 5th grade
12. Watched a lightning storm at sea
13. Stayed up all night long and saw the sun rise - in high school on the beach
14. Seen the Northern Lights
15. Gone to a huge sports game - quite a few
16. Walked the stairs to the top of the leaning Tower of Pisa
17. Grown and eaten your own vegetables
18. Touched an iceberg
19. Slept under the stars - in high school
20. Changed a baby's diaper - too many times to count
21. Taken a trip in a hot air balloon
22. Watched a meteor shower - for Astronomy in college
23. Gotten drunk on champagne
24. Given more than you can afford to charity
25. Looked up at the night sky through a telescope - in Astronomy in college
26. Had an uncontrollable giggling fit at the worst possible moment
27. Had a food fight
28. Bet on a winning horse
29. Asked out a stranger - a guy in college (same guy I had the one night stand with)
30. Had a snowball fight - as a kid
31. Screamed as loudly as you possibly can - when angry
32. Held a lamb
33. Seen a total eclipse - once when I was younger
34. Ridden a roller coaster - use to love them - not so much anymore
35. Hit a home run
36. Danced like a fool and not cared who was looking - while I was drunk
37. Adopted an accent for an entire day - whit and I spoke "french" for a day when we were kids!
38. Actually felt happy about your life, even for just a moment - daily
39. Had two hard drives for your computer
40. Visited all 50 states
41. Taken care of someone who was s*** faced - mike and girls in college
42. Had amazing friends - and still do...
43. Danced with a stranger in a foreign country
44. Watched wild whales
45. Stolen a sign - on behalf of my dad for eli's birthday party
46. Backpacked in Europe
47. Taken a road-trip - many times
48. Gone rock climbing
49. Midnight walk on the beach - in high school
50. Gone sky diving
51. Visited Ireland
52. Been heartbroken longer than you were actually in love
53. In a restaurant, sat at a stranger's table and had a meal with them
54. Visited Japan
55. Milked a cow - in 4H and at the state fair
56. Alphabetized your CDs - during my neurotic phase
57. Pretended to be a superhero - when playing with eli
58. Sung karaoke
59. Lounged around in bed all day - before kids
60. Posed nude in front of strangers - okay didn't pose but did strip for strangers at a strip club so I had to say yes...
61. Gone scuba diving
62. Kissed in the rain - of course
63. Played in the mud - as a child
64. Played in the rain - as a child
65. Gone to a drive-in theater - growing up
66. Visited the Great Wall of China
67. Started a business
68. Fallen in love and not had your heart broken
69. Toured ancient sites
70. Taken a martial arts class
71. Played D&D for more than 6 hours straight
72. Gotten married - to the love of my life
73. Been in a movie - you don't want to know...just kidding!
74. Crashed a party - in college
75. Gotten divorced
76. Gone without food for 5 days
77. Made cookies from scratch - mom's homemade cookies
78. Won first prize in a costume contest - creating keepsakes convention
79. Ridden a gondola in Venice
80. Gotten a tattoo - two on my back and would love to go for another
81. Rafted the Snake River
82. Been on television news programs as an expert
83. Got flowers for no reason - gotta love my husband
84. Performed on stage - a couple of times through my school years
85. Been to Las Vegas - and LOVE it
86. Recorded music - in high school in one of those amusement park recording studio's
87. Eaten shark
88. Eaten fugu (pufferfish)
89. Had a one-night stand - in college
90. Gone to Thailand
91. Bought a house - and still living in the first one I ever bought
92. Been in a combat zone
93. Buried one/both of your parents
94. Been on a cruise ship - on my honeymoon
95. Spoken more than one language fluently
96. Performed in Rocky Horror Picture Show
97. Raised children - still raising them
98. Followed your favorite band/singer on tour
99. Taken an exotic bicycle tour in a foreign country
100. Picked up and moved to another city to just start over - Mike and I to DC
101. Walked the Golden Gate Bridge
102. Sang loudly in the car, and didn't stop when you knew someone was looking
103. Had plastic surgery
104. Survived an accident that you shouldn't have survived
105. Wrote articles for a large publication - for NAEYC
106. Lost over 100 pounds (45.5 kilograms)
107. Held someone while they were having a flashback
108. Piloted an airplane
109. Petted a stingray - in the cayman islands
110. Broken someones heart - my fiance before marrying mike
111. Ridden a bike - who hasn't
112. Won money on a T.V. game show
113. Broken a bone - my arm in elementary school
114. Gone on an African photo safari
115. Had a body part of yours below the neck pierced
116. Fired a rifle, shotgun, or pistol
117. Eaten mushrooms that were gathered in the wild - in restaurants
118. Ridden a horse - while in 4H
119. Had surgery - wisdom teeth out
120. Had a snake as a pet
121. Hiked to the bottom of the Grand Canyon
122. Slept for more than 30 hours over the course of 48 hours - in college
123. Visited more foreign countries than U.S. states
124. Visited all 7 continents
125. Taken a canoe trip that lasted more than 2 days
126. Eaten kangaroo meat
127. Eaten sushi - would eat it daily if I could.
128. Had your picture in the newspaper
129. Changed someones mind about something you care deeply about
130. Gone back to school - just recently
131. Parasailed
132. Petted a cockroach
133. Eaten fried green tomatoes
134. Read The Iliad and The Odyssey- in high school
135. Selected one important author who you missed in school, and read
136. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
137. Skipped all your school reunions
138. Communicated with someone without sharing a common spoken language - while in france and at times on the phone with agents
139. Been elected to public office
140. Written your own computer language
141. Thought to yourself that you're living your dream - definitely most recently
142. Had to put someone you love into hospice care
143. Built your own PC from parts
144. Sold your own artwork to someone who didn't know you
145. Had a booth at a street fair
146. Dyed your hair
147. Been a DJ
148. Shaved your head - the back of my head
149. Caused a car accident
150. Saved someones life

my view 8:30-5pm...

This is my view everyday - can't really complain though because I sit across from/next to one of the

coolest girls at work - seriously!!!! Not only does she make my day so fun and interesting but she's pregnant too - meaning that I get to munch on the cravings she has that day! We definitely had an immediate bond and a day doesn't go by where we just have to look at each other to share a thought!!! Same thought - same time - just look up at one another!!!! Thanks Monica for making my days full of laughter and so much fun!!!

where does the time go...

Holy Cow - Can't believe the last time I posted was back in February. Seriously where does the time go... Well since it's been so long I'm gonna post just tidbits going on in life right now!

1. Went back to school full time - huge changes here!!!! Am attending The University of Phoenix online full time and am actually loving it!!!! Takes a lot of work and A LOT of time but I know once I get my degree it will be totally worth it (although thinking right now that it was REALLY - REALLY stupid of me not to finish when I was attending Ohio State). The program is a 2 year program meaning that I would graduate in Feb 2009 (which also means that I attend school non-stop from Feb 2007 to Feb 2009) but am currently in the process of having my credits transfered so hopefully that will change. So if I've been mia or am mia - you now know why!

2. Work is going fantastic - truly love my job (best part is the great people I work with). Have really met some great girls and feel really lucky for that - working with cool people make all the difference in the world. Also love working with Sarah - so nice to work with one of your best friends!!! And of course - I'm loving working with Heather - before this I only saw her a couple of times a month so it's so nice to be able to catch up with her daily!!!!

3. Just found out that Mike's parents are moving back to DC - bummer but totally understand that it's best for them! Just hope they know how much they will be missed. I do love the fact that we will be able to now come to DC for visits again!

4. Busy - Busy month (also my birthday month) - between work parties; baby showers; bridal showers; garage sales; and bachelor parties we are going non-stop this month! Can we do it - yes we can!

5. Trying to start to get ready for CKU - lots to do here! Haven't even started my week yet - am hoping to do that next week but with all the craziness we'll see! Also gotta touch base with the girls to get a move on our dorm stuff - this is coming up sosososo quickly.

6. Am currently reading She's Come Undone by Wally Lamb for book club and have to say - I'm loving this book. Am reading it just about every night - if you haven't read this book I HIGHLY recommend it!!!

7. Took eli bowling this past weekend - check his blog tonight for pictures!!!

I promise I'll try to blog more often...