95 Miles

Valentines Day 2011

2011-02-14T21:33:00.002-05:00

To me, Valentine's Day is just... Silly. I'm supposed to love Matt (and show it) every day, not just on special occasions. Society has picked a day and told me that I am supposed to show my love more on this day than on any other.

But let me tell you -- When I think of the times my husband has truly shown his love for me and been extra thoughtful, I don't think of the time he surprised me with roses(2008) or set up a romantic display (2010) like every significant other in America...

I think of the day, out of the blue, when he found my favorite donut (that most DD's don't carry any more) and bought it for me. I think of the time, when I had worked hard all week, when he said "sit down, I'll clean."

I know my husband loves me not because of the effort that gets put into a holiday that requires a show of affection, but by the affection he shows when it isn't expected of him, and he does it anyway.

Flat Tires

2010-08-15T17:35:00.002-04:00

Well, it seems that flat tires follow me. I've gotten 3 in the past few months... This is what happened today:

We were driving up to my parent's house to visit my mom for her birthday (HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM) when Matt sped up and the car started making a funky noise.

Me: your car needs to shift
Matt: no it doesn't
Me: Look at your RPM's, you almost at 4. It needs to shift.
-- at this point, the car shifts, but funky sound continues --
Matt: something's wrong.

So we pull over, and there's a flat. I say, no big deal, there's a donut in the trunk.

Matt's trunk doesnt open. There's half a key broken off in the lock, and the button to open it from the front doesn't work.

So I squeeze into what has to be a 2x2 whole in the backseat and manage, after a few awkward minutes, to force the latch open from the inside.

And when I say awkward, I mean, I could fit through this whole up to my hips. So my bottom half is stuck in the backseat and my head and arms are in the trunk.

Next is getting the tire off.... One of the nuts is stripped. I really have to use the bathroom. So I leave Matt to wait for help to walk to the hotel about a mile ahead. A lady stopped and offered me a ride, but I refused. It ended up being further than I thought, but I made it in time. The lady at the front desk was SUPER nice and let me use the bathroom and even take some ice back for the cheese that was getting warm awful quick in the car. She offered me coffee and water and said I could stay as long as I liked to wait for help to arrive. But the cheese was getting warm. So I headed back --

And as it turns out the Maine Turnpike has tow trucks that just drive around and look for stranded people! And this guy managed to get the stripped nut off of the car and put the donut on, but the tire is ruined.

So we go to a local VIP to see if we can get a new tire real quick and still manage to make it up to see my mom. This guy says he had NO TIRES that were the right size, and that he would have to special order a nut -- odd for a tire store, to me.

Saco to Summersworth, we finally get 2 new tires (keep the treads even) and a rim to put the tire that wasn't ruined on for the future.

$200 later, we have a fun story, but we missed my mom's birthday and my friend's baby shower ...

Interesting day, to say the least.

Best. Husband. Ever.

2010-08-10T23:30:00.003-04:00

Where's the practicality, you ask?

The entire house was spotless, as well.

Two of a Kind

2010-04-18T00:03:00.005-04:00

Hey, Laura here on Matt's login, simply because I'm too lazy to log out and back in again.

Anywho, this is a picture series I've taken that I've titled "Two of a Kind." Whenever I see my kittens posing the same way, I take a picture. Now, this is a common thing for photographers, but pardon the quality, as I took every single one of those pictures with my fancy pants 2.0 megapixel LG EnV2 phone. Lol.

Our Honeymoon: Part 4

2010-03-17T14:35:00.002-04:00

Monday, 2/1/2010: Cozumel, Mexico

Let's see... I seem to have misplaced the "Fun Times," which was a daily activity sheet. I highlighted everything we did/wanted to do, which made this job easier.

Alright. Let's see how much I remember.

Mexico was a blast! My favorite port by far! We left the ship early to do some shopping before our excursion that day. Everyone was friendly, but not overly aggressive. There was a nice man who ran a cart who Matt attempted to hold a short conversation with in Spanish, and he sold us some very nice souvenirs.

Then we went BACK through security to drop off our goodies in the hotel room and changed into our bathing suits and back to Mexico we went for our dolphin adventure! It seemed to me that the people working for dolphin cove were very rehearsed. Their favorite word was "okay." "Okay swimmers, okay?" Haha! On the ride to the cove the guide said that they had 4 baby dolphins, but we wouldn't be swimming with them. However, our pool, (we were split up into groups) swam with two adults and a baby. The water was cooler than I thought it would be, but it was ocean water... If I had to guess I would say it was 78degrees. Which I suppose is warm for the ocean, but colder than I expected. We all took turns hugging the dolphins, petting them, giving them a kiss, and then finally they pulled us across the water on their bellies! I was one of the first to get a belly ride, and water splashed in my face the whole way down, so they let me ride again. Matt must've been a pro, because he didn't get any water in his face. Oh well, I got to ride twice, so it was worth the water up my nose!

After the dolphins, we got lunch at the cove and went back to the ship. They actually had shuttles so we could have left any time we wanted before like 5pm or something. I wish we had stayed longer, because there was a shopping area about 8 blocks from the cove that we could have walked to, and we could have experienced a more authentic Mexican shopping experience (lol) than the stores right off the port. But swimming with dolphins was tiring, so we went back to the ship. Turns out it was a good thing too, we weren't allowed to wear sunscreen into the pool with the dolphins, and I forgot to bring some to the cove so Matt got a little sun-burnt. Not bad, but it would have been if we had gone shopping.

Back at the ship we did a little more of the usual (hot tub, ice cream, buffets, ect.) and then went to our couples massage! Neither Matt or myself had ever gotten a massage from a trained professional (hopefully it will become a regular occurrence now with Chelsea's current career choice *wink, wink*) but we both loved it. It was relaxing, but painful where my neck meets my shoulders. Those muscles had been bothering me months before the cruise, and now, two months later they are starting to bother me again. But the massage helped for a little while. It wasn't cool after, though, because they tried to sell us some $40 massage oil or something. I think all together the products they recommended we purchase came to $200, which we passed on.

This may or may not have been the day I passed out so early I missed dinner (served at 5:45pm....) Or it might have been the next day.

Tuesday, 2/2/2010: Fun Day at Sea
Wednesday, 2/3/2010: Fun Day at Sea

The day's at sea all seemed to mix together. We ate, sat on beach chairs, lounged in the hot tub, did some cruise planned activities, mostly trivia...

Even without the Fun Times, I'm pretty sure that Tuesday and Wednesday were pretty relaxing. And that's about it!

My Loving Husband

2010-03-16T21:10:00.002-04:00

So, sometime in January Matt said something that was just too funny not to share.

I decided that that happens a lot, so I've started a journal with all of the funny/random/stupid stuff my husband says. I call it "My Loving Husband."

One of my recent favorites is this:

"a book can't be that great unless it's got some crazy psychotic dragon fight in it."

Now, normally I like the feeling better when it's read out of context, but the reason this is a favorite is because of the background story...

There's a book I've been trying to get Matt to read. I read it, and I thought it was right up his ally. So, of course, I've been talking it up. He finally borrowed it from the library, and read the first thirty or so pages. I was, once again, talking it up. He then said the statement quoted above. The reason I thought he would like the book so much? It's got dragons in it. LOL. Furthermore adding to the funny, is the reason he had dragons on his mind: apparently he had a dream the night before that there was a dragon and he was about to be manly and save me when I told him, "It's okay, I got this," and a fireball came from my face and slay the dragon.

Yeah.

2010-02-20T09:41:00.002-05:00

Hailey: Let's play puppy dog! I'm the puppy, you're the mommy, and Uncle Matt's the daddy!

Me: Okay.

Hailey: Woof!

Me: Good puppy! *pats on the head*

Hailey: Woof!

Uncle Matt: Puppy, go in your kennel!

Hailey: (sadly) Woof?

Our Honeymoon: Part 3

2010-02-14T07:29:00.001-05:00

Sunday, 1/31/2010 Fun Day at Sea

After falling asleep at 6:30pm the previous night, I woke up all ready to go at.... 2:30am. I quietly unpacked and made things look nice in the small stateroom, and wasted time until about 3:30. I thought for sure everything would be closed at this hour and that I wouldn't be allowed to roam around. But after looking at the Fun Times (the daily activity booklet) I saw that the Internet Cafe was open 24 hours. So I went out into the quiet ship, and much to my surprise NOTHING was blocked off! You could go outside, watch the ocean pass by, get ice cream... You couldn't swim in the pool, but pretty much every place accessible during the day was accessible during the night!

But I can't find the internet cafe. I finally ask the lady at the service desk, also open 24 hours, and she tells me I have to go to floor 5, walk across the ship, and then go down to floor 4. Which I tried. For about a half an hour. Finally I get really smart and start looking more closely at the deck plan, which shows that the casino is the closest to everything that I CAN'T find. Lo and Behold, it's all on the other side of the casino... Where I find not only the Internet Cafe, but about 4 themed lounges, a sushi bar, and a coffee cafe.

So what do I do? I go wake Matt up at 5am. Yes, I'm a horrible person. But once the grumpiness wore off he was excited to see the other half of the ship that we had missed the previous day. He especially liked the piano room. Everything was piano themed, from the chairs and tables to the walls!

Fast forward a couple of hours and we go outside to see the sunrise!

The rest of the day was pretty boring to talk about, we lounged around in the hot tub, ate at the buffets, and did some of the ships events... Like playing sudoku (where we both got our butts kicked by that stinkin' puzzle) that the ship provided, attending a spa seminar, watching an ice carving demonstration, and going to this weeklong muder mystery game. They had daily puzzles for you to solve, clues that the suspects could give you, the whole shabang. But we didn't really participate after that because we had never done the type of puzzle before and we sat there staring at it for like 30 minutes before giving up.

Dinner that night was elegant night, which surprisingly Matt was looking forward to. Unfortunately I had my first bout with motion sickness that night (which for me is just a headache and nausea) and the Dramamine kicked in too late. Add the fact that I was still kindof a sicko, I fell asleep before dinner. 'Cause I'm that cool.

Matt said he tried to go to dinner, tried to go to the show, but couldn't stop thinking about me (the sap shoulda just done it, lol) and came to bed a couple hours later.

Our Honeymoon: Part 2

2010-02-13T23:23:00.000-05:00

Saturday, 1/30/2010: Port of Miami.

So. I wake up way too early, way too excited. So I wake Matt up. We go out to the beach not 500 yards away and almost get killed by seagulls. So we run away and go back without muffins. The beach was nice! We spend maybe 2 waking hours in Miami near the hotel before calling a cab, who I think may have taken the long way to the port of Miami :-\.

At the port, people are already swarming. I thought for sure we were way too early, but apparently EVERYONE is really excited and anxious to spend a week in the Carribean. We go through customs and they hand us this paper asking us a bunch of questions about coughing and sneezing and sore throats. Being the honest person I am, I got to be checked out by the on board nurse... Who happened to have an emergency at the exact moment that I got pulled out of the boarding line. So we sat in an office behind the scenes for like 45 minutes, Matt unable to sit still and me reassuring him that we JUST saw a doctor at the ER and it's nothing they can keep us off the ship for. SO I bring out my entire library of puns and riddles to keep him amused before the nurse comes... To take my temperature. Wow. That's it? The only symptom I HADN'T had was a fever, and even she seemed unsure why I needed to be seen by the nurse.

BACK TO THE SHIP! We were escorted to the front of the line, as our boarding number had already been called, and we boarded!

The rest of the day was pretty simple. We walked around, exploring, wishing we had our bathing suits (our luggage didn't get delivered until later on, which is normal.) Around 1:30 we were able to go to our rooms, get changed, and go in the hottub!

Then around 3ish we had a safety breifing, required by the cost guard, which consisted of... Too many people in too small of an area, and too much information spoken too fast, too quietly. But it was okay, since we already knew how to put on a life jacket, lol!

We bummed around some more, until dinner time at 5:45pm, where we felt COMPLETELY underdressed, although we were following the dress code. We got used to it eventually throughout the week. The food was AMAZING! I had steak, but I don't remember what Matt got.
After dinner, we went to bed. (following the theme from our Valentines Day post, lol.)

And Thus ends Day 2. En Route to Cozumel!

Happy Valentines Day!

2010-02-12T23:18:00.003-05:00

It may be a couple of days early to the rest of the world, but today Matt and I celebrated Valentines Day!

We watched a couple episodes of Heroes together, went bowling and went out to eat.

Bowling was fun, our scores were kind of sad though, except Matt's score in the second game.

Game 1
Matt: 87 Laura:86
Game 2
Matt: 148 Laura:96

And then, like the old married couple we are, we went to bed.

The End.

Our Honeymoon: Part 1

2010-02-09T11:42:00.002-05:00

Forgive me in advance for the seemingly long and boring posts to come, but I want to record all of the wonderful memories from my trip before it's all just a blur.

I also plan on uploading some of the pictures we took from the trip, but there are factors that are keeping me from uploading them right now, including the possibility that my computer will crash if I try to do ANYTHING besides browse the internet.

Friday, 1/29/2010:
Although our travel didn't start until noon-ish, our journey started at approximately 2am. I had a terrible cold the past two weeks, and in the early morning hours at work I was feeling... Well, it was like when you've been sitting or laying down for a long time and then stand up really quick so the blood rushes to your head and things start going black... Matt said he's never felt that feeling before, so maybe it's just me. Knowing that I had limited medical access on the ship and feared that I wouldn't get better without antibiotics (and the fact that I felt like crap) I left work early to go to the emergency room. Turns out, in my hypochondriac state, I was diagnosed with a viral infection. AKA: a cold. And I actually felt much better now that I got to sit down for a while.
Skip past a precious few hours of sleep that Matt and I were not expecting to get (he left work early and met me at the ER as well) and we're counting down the minutes! We were packed, the cats were fed, and the house was spotless. Finally, we can't handle it anymore and go to the airport about 3 hours early, which actually was the amount of time the airport reccommends! Turns out we could have gotten there like 15 minutes before the flight left and been fine, haha!
Random side story: I was wearing all my jewelry for formal night on the ship the day we left. I didn't feel safe with my nice jewelry (particularly the diamond tennis bracelet my aunt got me as an engagement gift) in either the checked bags or carry on luggage. Turns out the bracelet would have been safer in there. because a link broke in the airport, and by a series of fortunate events, I happened to see a good samaritan hand something to a security guard, which prompted me to check my wrist and notice my bracelet was missing! I probably would not have even noticed until later that night had I not seen him hand the bracelet to the guard!
Okay: Now to takeoff. It was windy, so there was a lot of turbulence at the low altitudes and takeoff was sooo scary! Our seat had a perfect view of the wing, so I could REALLY see how much the plane was bouncing aaaand yeah. Not my cup of tea. Matt was fine. I think. At least he didn't grab my hand in fear! LOL
Throw in a delay in Newark, and we get to Miami around 11pm. It's 72 degrees, and although it wasn't HOT, it was humid. And nice. The palm trees were gorgeous. Everything was green! Floridian drivers are insane. I've never heard anyone use their horn as much as our shuttle driver did, lol! Hotel is decent. Nothing to blog about it really, I used my credit card points and got the hotel room free for the night, and it did it's job.

Cruise

2010-01-15T09:59:00.000-05:00

Matt and I will be taking our honeymoon cruise in just TWO WEEKS.

I am beyond excited.

Thinking Positively

2009-12-11T04:25:00.003-05:00

Ladies and gentlemen,

Have you ever had one of those days where you find it very ...how do I put this... arduous...

Definition: Difficult, hard to endure - Synonyms include: backbreaking, burdensome, exhausting, fatiguing, formidable, grueling, harsh, heavy, labored, laborious, murder, no picnic, onerous, painful, punishing, rigorous, rough, severe, strenuous, taxing, tiring, toilsome, tough, troublesome, trying, uphill

...to stay positive. You try to keep a straight face, not let people realize how you are feeling, because the moment someone does, "Oh, are you alright? Can I help you? That must be tough?" You either 1.) Let 'em have it (they become your emotional punching bag) or 2.) Hurt their feelings and tell them to screw off and leave you alone. I can handle this on my own... Which reminds me of a Jeff Dunham joke, Jeff was conversing with his puppet, Walter...

Jeff Dunham: Ya know, your birthday wasn't to long ago, did your wife get you anything?
Walter: Yeah, she got me a book on reincarnation.
Jeff Dunham: Oh, do you believe in reincarnation?
Walter: Hell, I don't know.
Jeff Dunham: Well if reincarnation happens, who would you come back as and what would you do?
Walter: I'd come back as my wife and leave me the hell alone.

...at least he's honest...
Everything on these particular days, seems to look and feel "negative". It would be easier to hide under the sheets and forget everything that happened. I apologize to those who don't enjoy reading this rant, but lately it seems like this is the only place I can reason to do it. My wife already has a lot on her plate, the last thing she needs is another large serving of worry. (Not that this post will help that.) I must be lucky though, because the world seems to be full of idiots, and I don't have any of them for friends. So, to all of you who are reading, thank you for being sane.
So, to end this rant I give you the random picture of the day...

Time to introduce my kitties!

2009-11-22T04:59:00.004-05:00

This is Cloud. When we first got the kittens, she was so traumatized by everything that she hid under the couch for a week! Now, she has become the more cuddly of the two, such a lap kitty (whenever she winds down enough to cuddle...)If we have guests, she might hide for a little bit, but only for about 20 minutes, and then she gets too curious for her own good.
She seems to be the leader of the two, and I have no doubt because she is a whopping 10 or so ounces heavier than Cathryn (which is alot when you only weigh 3-4lbs!) I catch her grooming and taking care of Cathryn often.
Cloud is a very special kitty... Even though she might be the leader, that also means the leader of the mischevious type! She is ALWAYS getting into trouble! She pees on the carpet, scratches my cork board, and chews on the mini-blinds. She has also done a couple mad dashes to the bedroom (forbidden area) when she knows shes about to be punished because she can hide in there. I had a tub of pepperoni out once, looked away for no longer than 10 seconds and she managed to snatch one right out of the bucket without me noticing.
Cloud is techinically Matt's cat, he named her, and its quite obvious.... Matt prefers dogs, and lo and behold... She might as well be one! She's always begging for our food, chasing her tail for 20+ minutes at a time, and drinking out of the toilet whenever we leave the seat up, even if she has her own water. But we love her.

This is my baby, Cathryn, or Cat for short. I love cats and when I was little wanted my name to be "kitty." I thought it would be cool to name my kid Cathryn (cat for short) but there are two things that made me name my kitten the name I love instead... 1: everyone who has the name Catherine/Kathryn hates it. 2: I do not have the heart to knowingly name my child "Cat Stevens." :(... Anyway, back to the kitty!
This picture does not do her justice! She is completely adorable, the vets assistant could not stop commenting on how adorable and beautiful she was! You cant see in this picture, but she's got patches of color on her white little legs, and the patches of color have stripes just like the upperside of her body! They drive me crazy with cuteness!
While Cloud is more mischevious, Cat has always been the more playful kitty by far! She's always running around finding something to play with and nipping on your fingers and attacking your toes! Never once was she a shy kitty. She likes to be held, but only if you're standing up. She is reluctant to cuddle on top of you, but will happily ball up a few inches away. (Cloud would happily fall asleep in your arms if you held her like a baby... cutest thing ever...)

Yes, Cat has her naughty times.... Which is pretty much daily they both get the squirt bottle! But they've gotten better. They still wait outside the bedroom door, but don't try to hard to get in (at least with me, because I immediately put my foot out and push them away.) They also don't try to get on the table nearly as much.... When I'm looking. They don't try to sneak into the cabinets or fridge, which is a relief! But they do unroll toilet paper, knock over the bathroom trash can whenever they can, move every rug in the apartment that's not stapled to the floor, knock whatever they can off the desk, and try to steal human food whenever they get the chance.

But I love the little beasties.

RANT! Aka: Paper Plate Revolution!

2009-10-06T01:19:00.004-04:00

Good evening ladies and gentlemen and welcome to the Matthew Stevens rant. Well, what's been happening? I'll tell you WHAT, life has been happening... my problem now is, I'm not sure where to start.

1.) DISHES!
-They suck
-They smell funny
-They never seem to end
-They have friends (fruit flies)
So, in the end, dishes suck, and should be abolished! May the paper plate revolution begin!

2.)Married Life
As Laura said, we have been married for a little over a month, and I am absolutely enjoying it. She completes me. I've never been this happy in my entire life. She is the best cook ever, lemon chicken, steak tips, lasagna, pizza peppers... Man, I love her

To Be Finished...

One Month

2009-09-29T06:09:00.002-04:00

As time would, life has been flying by way too fast.

Matt and I have been married one month today, and I just would like to briefly go through the craziness of this past month...

After the wedding, we came home that night, but left for North Conway the next morning. I don't really have any pictures, but I did take some video footage with the video camera we got as a wedding gift.

In North Conway, we stayed at the adventure suites. We went for the simple room (we really just wanted the jacuzzi bathtub) but for our one year anniversary we would like to go back for a weekend in one of the larger themed rooms... Probably the cave. We spent most of our time in North Conway relaxing in the hotel, but we vowed to eat only at non-chain restaurants. We ate at some place with a moose in its name, Peaches, and some other Italian restaurant. One day we did go out and walked the line of shops and we picked up a couple of sovineirs (less the traditional turtle.)

Since then, we've been adjusting to married life, trying to work out some sort of balance between work, school, together time, apartment maintenance and church. I've been promoted to full time at work, which I'm not sure yet if I like or not. Yes, every cent we can put towards school loans and saving for a house, but I find it hard to keep up with my homework and keeping the apartment clean. I already had benefits (less dental) as a part time associate, so that isn't a big deciding factor.

As far as school, I am so glad I have a two year degree, and whenever I'm watching lectures or doing homework I try to imagine my future... Five years from now, when I'd be done with school, I don't see myself wanting to work full time. In five years, I want to have children and I don't want to spend 40 hours a week away from them, especially if they're not with either Matt or myself for that time.

I don't need a BA in Accounting to stay home and raise kids or work part-time if that needs to happen to make ends meet. And I don't want to spend the rest of my time as a non-parent in front of a computer explaining to the teacher why or why not Kant would have a moral problem with sweat shops in third world countries.

Do I regret spending a lot of time getting my associates degree? Not at all. I know I would regret NOT getting it. I just don't see the practicality of me staying in school to get a BA.

As far as Matt's education, I know he would really love to get into computers, and I really want him to have a profession he loves. Where there aren't really a whole lot of small businesses left, I do see a lot of small, privately owned comuter repair shops. I would prefer putting my energy that I now put into schooling into taking on more household responsibilities so he could focus on doing whatever he needs to do to get into his chosen profession, whether it be college or a certification course or hands on experience. (Right now Matt helps out a lot with the cleaning and dishes.)

As for work, I'm still at Walmart, but not happily. I don't mind the work that I do all that much, but they're understaffed and a lot of time I have to do other jobs that require a lot of heavy lifting (one night I stocked a literal ton of sugar) and my body just can't take it. Not to mention the constant battle between management contradicting each other and themselves and just being all around unprofessional enough to scream someones name in an empty Walmart when you want to find someone. But it pays the bills, and hopefully I'll gather my courage and enough time in the very near future to do some job hunting.

As for living with Matt, I love it. Sometimes I wonder how I would go a week or two without seeing him and have it be "normal." Now I miss him even just on the days where he's working and I'm home. I just can't seem spend enough time with him (not that we don't spend a lot of time together, just that I always want more!)

And lastly, to end this obnoxiously long post, I have gotten wedding pictures!

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=151851&id=599723064&l=fe18cfb439

That's the easist way for me to share them, haha!

August 29th, 2009

2009-09-02T01:43:00.003-04:00

Well hello all, for those that are unaware, and I doubt many of you are, we were married on August 29th, 2009! So, this is my commemorative post to all you out in internet-land to inform you of how everything went this weekend!

1.) It was very x 1000 busy!
2.) It was quite fun, from the party the night before, to the day of, everything went fantastic.
3.) The ceremony went quite smoothly, and with the ambiance of dimmed lights some even said that it was quite "romantic", which was our theme all along!
4.) The reception went well, and thank you all for those that attended!
5.) No. Conway was a blast, Adventure Suites were great, we had a fun time there!
6.) We are now home, spending time with our babies, Cathryn and Cloud, our two female kittens, and relaxing from a very busy weekend!

Thank you all for your prayers, we love you all!
Matthew and Laura Stevens

So many endings, so many beginnings.

2009-08-15T02:35:00.003-04:00

I can't even begin to explain the emotions that I am feeling. I'm officially no longer living with my parents. It's kind of scary. I suppose every older teenager looks forward to this day, as I have, and now that it's here, I don't know how to feel about it.

I'm kind of a quitter. There are a lot of things I started, but I quit because I got too scared. There were three or four times when I started looking for jobs and/or apartments around the area I'm living in now, but I chickened out. This time, I wasn't scared. I finally felt like it was the right time to move. (kinda don't really have a choice at this point, but I still had peace about moving/marriage/all that jazz)

So, consider this a toast to all the lasts:
The last day at my first job;
my last day at augusta walmart;
my last day living with my parents;
etc.

And a toast to all the firsts and firsts to come:
the first time I'm living on my own;
The first time I'm responsible for my own bills;
The first time I'm living less than 95 miles from Matt;
And soon enough, the first time I will cleave to someone other than my parents.

I graduated high school, and didn't feel any older.
I started college and working non-stop, and didn't feel any older.
I turned 18, and was immediately responsible by law for any actions I were to take, felt the same.
I got a college degree, and still felt the same.
But the day I got engaged, I felt like I was becoming an adult.
And that's what I am. It's a weird feeling, with emotions I can't begin to explain.

Forget the pictures

2009-08-13T00:06:00.003-04:00

So,

an update post, with a lack of pictures.

I have had three, yes three bridal showers.

One with the bridal party, one in New Jersey with my Jersey family, and a Jack and Jill party with some church buddies.

Matt and I have gotten an apartment and have moved most of our stuff in. I move in on Saturday, and Matt joins me after the wedding.

I have transferred my job with Walmart to Sanford, ME. I will be working as an overnight receiver. It's not the best job or the best hours, but my pay rate goes up for working overnight and I can be with Matthew more (and since hes the one with the primary income at this point in time, it works well.)

My dress is completely altered and ready to be worn :)

My new budget for the apartment and that stage of my life is up to date and right where it should be

We have all the furniture for our apartment, less a few odds and ends and dressers.

We have two honeymoons booked: one right after the wedding at the Adventure Suites in Conway NH for two nights. The second will be the first week in February, and we are taking a week long cruise to the Western Caribbean!

And while any day God gives me life is a blessing, circumstances have made life exceptionally exciting these past few weeks, and I am looking forward to what life has in store for Matt and I especially these next few months, but altogether for many years to come!

Printer Woes!

2009-07-10T11:21:00.001-04:00

I think I had a dream that I had posted this post, and maybe that's why my posting is behind. Because subconsciously, I had thought I already posted!

Anyway, so after already procrastinating on the invitations, I finally go to print them out, and my printer keeps giving me this bogus "out of paper" error. It's a bogus error because I did have paper in the printer. So I call up customer service, but because my printer is a year and a half old, it's no longer under warranty. (Keep in mind, I hardly use it. Like, under a dozen times I've printed from in in the past year and a half.)

So they give me my options:
Pay a bunch of money to have them diagnose it, additional fees apply if I have it sent in to be repaired.
Pay a larger bunch of money and I can have all my problems for three months diagnosed (or something like that)

I could pay the first amount twice, and get a brand new printer. Plus, I needed one ASAP 'cause my invitations were already late. SO -- my mom gives me an early bridal shower gift: a new printer! YAY!

I'm all excited, I set it up right away and test it out... Only to have it give me an "out of paper" error.

[pause for dramatic effect.]

At this point, I'm freaking out. It wasn't even the same brand printer (after non-quality printers plus lousy customer service, I changed brands.) The only thing I can think of is that it HAS to be me, but at least I could return this one! So I read the instructions carefully again "place paper to the far right." I look, and it's placed to what I had originally, in my haste, determined to be the "right" side. Well, the right side was the wrong side, and I had placed it to the left!

Mission Invitations: Complete.

Oh, how the posts pile up.

2009-07-09T19:45:00.000-04:00

I have about 4 different post topics, and everytime I was like "Oh, I could blog about that!" another thing happened and in the little sense of order I have, I felt the need to write them chronologically.

And yes, I'm taking up a whole post to post this pre-post warning.

For the love of BLOG!

2009-06-19T01:16:00.003-04:00

Ah,

while I had imagined I would blog more now than ever before, I find myself with nothing to blog about. I haven't taken out my camera in months, probably out of spite. Yes, I love being able to carry around my point and shoot, but I find myself wanting something with a little more creative flexibility, although I know nothing of the sort is in my near future.

At my Aunt's wedding in.. 2002 (?), she had a disposable camera at every table. Alas, they were underused, so I took it upon myself to use up the remaining pictures on the cameras. Probably a couple hundred pictures. I never saw those pictures, but from then on I had dreamed of photography. I went out, and bought a decent digital camera, for the time. This was when digital was just emerging as a common item for one to own, and I was the first out of everyone I knew to have one. This lasted for about a year, then digital became REALLY popular around just about everyone I knew. And EVERYONE was interested in photography. For what became a lack of uniqueness, I backed out of photography.

While being a really good professional photographer would have its benefits, I know that's not in my future, but would still like to learn some decent skills so that I can take pictures of my own kids the way I want without paying like, a million dollars a session, which would refrain from me taking my kids to get their pictures taken which would result in me having mediocre pictures. Run on sentence much? (And yes, I responded to a run on sentence with a sentence fragment.)

And this, my friends, is why I haven't blogged. Because I have no pictures. Because my childhood dreams were crushed. Just kidding. But this is blogging, right? Letting the words form from my mind to my fingers to the keyboard to the screen.

Woah. Form from. Say that ten times fast.

P.S. I totally picked the title for this blog before I even knew what I was (not) writing about. It totally fits though :)

Life...

2009-05-18T12:12:00.002-04:00

Hey all!

Its the weird guy that the girl seems to talk about all the time. Lets see, where to start, I really miss her, this new job schedule really doesn't give us much time together, pray God opens doors for both of us so we can be together more often, especially after the wedding, I couldn't imagine barely seeing her. Last Monday, 5/11/09 I had a sleep apnea test, well, I was supposed to, until I passed out and had a seizure. I bring this up for two reasons, one not all of you knew about that, secondly, a week from tomorrow (5/26/09 at 8:30pm) I redo the test, with more trained staff, pray God keeps me calm, and we don't have a repeat attack. Finally, to close our this session of the random guy rant I leave you with a new song I just wrote, please leave your opinion of these lyrics:

Your love is raining over me
It splashes like a river, it renews me
Your love is like a raging fire
it ignites my soul forever, it consumes me
Your love helps me to grow
like an evergreen, it strengthens me
Your love is like the sun in the sky
its my ray of hope, and my song

Compassionate Lord
Teach me Your Word
So I may flourish in Your Kingdom
Compassionate Lord
Lend me Your Word
So I can influence the nations
Compassionate Lord
Show me Your Word
So I can forgive myself
When I fail

Love never stops pursuing
Love persists even when others resist
Love is an action, my motivation
Love is a language, and i'm gonna scream it out loud

Booked!

2009-05-15T17:59:00.002-04:00

I am excited to announce that school is OUT FOR THE SUMMER!

But my workload has yet increased. I stared a second job on 5/5 and have been working 45+ hours a week the past two weeks. It's exhausting. I will never understand how people can regularly work 60 hours per week.

Sheesh. I thought I had more to talk about. Oh, here:

I found out today that approximately 30,000 Americans per year experience what is called "Anesthesia Awareness." While they are "under anesthesia" they are somewhat aware of what is going on, ranging from just remembering a few words uttered during surgery to a complete recollection! As in, the patient was completely aware of what was going on while they were being operated on, but they are paralyzed from the anesthesia.

Read one woman's experience here.

This is me as of recently.

2009-04-22T23:22:00.001-04:00

Chelsea (11:21:52 PM): you seem to over think.

Chelsea(11:21:53 PM): Life

Updates

2009-04-14T17:23:00.002-04:00

After a longer-than-normal feeling week, I had an exciting Saturday. My Davids Bridal appointment went from three bridesmaids and a flowergirl, to five bridesmaids and a flower girl. We got a dress picked out (of course, we find the most expensive one...)

Easter was typical. Church, dinner, sleep, bloody nose... Okay, maybe the last one wasn't so typical, but whatever ;).

That night Matt and I watched "Seven Pounds" with my parents. I liked the movie, Matt did not. It wasn't a perfect analogy, but it definitely had some parallels to the Easter story. It's funny how that was the netflix movie that was sent to us, and we watched it that Easter. I won't tell you how it relates for spoiler reasons.

Matt and I just basically had an awesome time Sunday night after the movie and Monday morning before I had to go to work. After being so busy almost every weekend this year, I forgot how fun it can be to just hang out and talk and laugh.

Refreshing :)

two things

2009-04-07T10:37:00.004-04:00

Two things I knew were inevitable happened within the past two days.

I got sick (after months of saying I hadn't been sick since last march, I knew it had to come)

And Tiger had to be put down. He was somewhere between the ages of 11-14. I've been noticing recently how "old" he has become. Walking slower, sleeping more, being more cuddly instead of playful... I did think that he would last until after I got married, but I knew that his end was coming soon.

He came inside this morning (he was outside all night) crying and not moving, and panting like a dog does (tongue out, drool and all) and so we petted him and comforted him and the rest of my family went to work and I went back to bed. He'd cry once or twice an hour, but then around 9:30am he just wouldn't stop crying so I rushed him to the vet where they told us he most likely had a blood clot blocking the blood flow to his back legs which is very painful. The last successful surgery was 16 years ago and because of his age they recommended he be put down.

Long, yet busy, weekend.

2009-03-31T20:52:00.005-04:00

So last weekend started on Wednesday. A long weekend is always nice, but it also usually means I'm not working much, as is the case. Anyway, to start, we had a birthday party, a funeral, and an ordination to go to this weekend, not to mention a list of other things!

Which we only completed about half the stuff on our list.

We managed to go shopping! We haven't done that in a while, but it needed to be done. Also, Matt and his parents moved last weekend, so there was quite a bit of stuff still left in Matt's old apartment. A lot of which wasn't his. So we went through everything, packed up everything we needed, and will hopefully be moving the stuff into storage.... In May? (Every weekend in April is booked solid!)

Here's the only interesting picture I took: Tim's birthday cake!

Props to PA for the whipped cream "smokestack."

This is basically my lifesong right now.

2009-03-22T23:43:00.001-04:00

Don't laugh:

I've got the joy, joy, joy, joy down in my heart

Where?

Down in my heart!

Where?

Down in my heart!

I've got the joy, joy, joy, joy down in my heart

Down in my heart to stay

And I'm so happy

So very happy

I've got the love of Jesus in my heart

Down in my heart

And I'm so happy

So very happy

I've got the love of Jesus in my heart.

I've got the love of Jesus, love of Jesus

Down in my heart

Where?

Down in my heart!

Where?

Down in my heart!

I've got the love of Jesus, love of Jesus

Down in my heart

Where?

Down in my heart to stay.

And I'm so happy

So very happy

I've got the love of Jesus in my heart

Down in my heart

And I'm so happy

So very happy

I've got the love of Jesus in my heart.

I've got the peace that passes understanding

Way down in the depths of my heart!

Where?

Down in the depths of my heart!

Where?

Down in the depths of my heart!

I've got the peace that passes understanding

Way down in the depths of my heart!

Down in my heart to stay

Dress

2009-03-19T12:47:00.002-04:00

CHECK!

I'm making cake right now, because I wanted cake... And I wanted to try out a frosting recipe. I don't have enough butter, so there's going to be some margarine in it... (I would use shortening, but the shortening we have is old and tastes funny. It's ruined any other frosting I've tried to make with it)

And then VN this weekend! I'm so unprepared!

Test tonight! I'm so unprepared (but I'm working on that tonight)

And the weekend after next I'm making a cake for Tim's birthday party! I'm confident about it and nervous at the same time. Luckily, it's vacation week so I'll have lots of time to make it properly while Matt's at work (which is when I usually catch up on homework)

I love using (parenthesis) ...

I've always wondered...

2009-03-12T17:16:00.002-04:00

"no news is good news."

Does that mean that news in itself is bad,

or that not hearing any news is a good thing!

P.S. my "a" key has something stuck underneath it. I have to click it twice most times to get it to work :(

woah!

2009-03-11T17:04:00.000-04:00

Today I came home from tutoring a student to finding 20-30 turkeys 10 feet away staring at me!

We Have a Date!

2009-03-06T18:48:00.002-05:00

August 29th, 2009 =D

I also got some invitations today,
A photo album for myself and two for our parents,
and some nifty ribbon for favors.

We've also got a DJ and Photographer picked out, we just need to sign contracts.
We also have a reception hall booked, and a chapel location.
I'm going with my mom for my dress on the 15th,
and bridesmaid dresses sometime in April.
And we know someone who will probably make our cake when we ask.
If they decline, we have a backup.

I'd say we're doing pretty good.

2009-03-02T11:34:00.003-05:00

I am so blessed.

If I'm complaining about anything, I'm just being stupid.

I really like the word 'Really'

2009-02-27T11:10:00.003-05:00

In the past 3 hours...

2009-02-25T18:56:00.002-05:00

I have looked at 23 different photographers websites.

The one I would have chosen in a heartbeat due to quality and price is booked on the day that will probably be my wedding.

How many other top choices will be booked?! I need to set a date NOW! lol

Out of those 23 I've picked 10 top contenders, of which 7 I can really choose from (due to booking and pricing.) And I don't know the availability of any of those photographers and I don't know the prices for 5 out of those seven.

I have a feeling this photographer picking thing isn't going to be easy.

Oh, the Irony!

2009-02-24T21:36:00.002-05:00

In the "about us" over in the side you'll read that although Matt and I knew each other and were friends prior to Camp Agassiz, it's right after camp that we really got to know each other. What you don't know (and what Matt didn't know until today) is a dream that I had at camp. It's so funny to look back now.

It was maybe the second day of camp, and Matt had been really busy thus far and we didn't really hang out that much, but that night I had a dream that we were at that camp, and his dad married us! There were some other things, I don't really remember the dream that well now, but I DO remember what I thought of when I woke up: "What am I crazy, Matt and I would never get married! Heck, I probably wouldn't date him even if he asked!"

... Two weeks later, our relationship started.
... Two years later, our wedding planning begins!

Oh, the irony.

: D

2009-02-22T22:02:00.002-05:00

Matt and I have had a lovely weekend so far!

We haven't really done anything special, but we've just been enjoying being with each other.

Tomorrow we're going to be calling a few possible reception places. Hopefully we'll have a date soon enough!

Yay! I've been so giddy this weekend!

Mother of Pearl!

2009-02-20T10:14:00.001-05:00

Or my mother's pearls...

They can and will be repaired! Yay!

My Favorites

2009-02-19T10:50:00.006-05:00

Pastor Anthony (Matt's dad) took some pictures of us the day after Valentines Day -- Here are my favorites.

The Story

2009-02-18T21:44:00.004-05:00

So, if you didn't already know or didn't guess from the two previous posts,

MATT AND I ARE GETTING MARRIED!

Yep. And you all want to know how he did it. Well. I've had a couple requests.

The night before Valentines Day Matt asked if I wanted to get up early to see the sunset (yes, he said sunset, but I still said OK.) And so at 6:42 we rushed all the way there because Matt was convinced we wouldn't make it there in time for the sunrise (which is SO unlike him). We went to the top of Garrison Hill Tower in Dover, NH (you can see the picture in the previous post) and watched the sunrise! Shortly after the sun was fully up this is what my memory retained as far as conversation:

Matt: *says something sappy*
Me: You're a sap!
Matt *responds with something about how I love that he's a sap*
Me: *Says something about love or whatever*
Matt: More than you know *get's down on one knee* Will you marry me?
Me: ....
Me: You're a sap!
Me: *nods head, hug, smile*
Matt: I'm glad you said yes!
Me: What would you have done if i said 'no?!'
Matt: I would have jumped off the tower (which is like 6 stories)

And before you ask: I was half-way surprised. I was reserved about expecting it, but I had a few tip-offs.

Wordless Wednesday

2009-02-18T08:20:00.002-05:00

Valentines Day

2009-02-16T09:27:00.005-05:00

6:00am...............Wake up
6:20am...............Leave for Garrison Hill Tower
6:42am...............Watch the sunrise
6:44am...............Say "Yes"
7:00am...............Buy batteries for my camera
7:30am...............Get directions to the train station
7:45am...............Get breakfast at Dunkin' Donuts
8:00am...............Leave for Boston
10:00am............Arrive at the Boston Museum of Science
10:15am.............Check out some really awesome butterflies!
10:30am.............Look at some really cool exhibits
11:30am.............Watch "Fly Me to the Moon" in 3D
12:00pm............Explore the rest of the exhibits
1:15pm...............Discover I lost my camera
1:20pm...............Find a really cool guy looking for someone who lost a camera :D
2:00pm..............Watch some street performers do some break dancing
2:15pm...............Eat an early dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe
3:00pm..............Get car-sick on the subway and head home!

Happy Post #200! Pictures to come!

My Favorite Story

2009-02-11T23:58:00.001-05:00

Let me try and actually write this in story form, and not the ramble on type of writing that I tend to use in the blog...

I love staying out late during the early summer; even though the sun is gone, it's warmth still remains. If I could chose the weather, I would make every night like that night. I would always sleep under the stars.

That's just what I did that summer night. I slept under the stars with my two best friends. Now, I could lie to you. I could tell you that this was the perfect summer night: clear as Crystal with every star plainly shining back at us. But that would be a lie.

The only weather related perfection about that night was the temperature. Just maybe it was those pesky clouds blocking our view that was incubating Central Maine, keeping it at that perfect 68 degree weather all night long. However, that was not our focus that night. We talked of God, creation, and just how small we felt next to the distant stars that we could not see. If only the clouds would part, if just for a minute, so that we could see their magnificent beauty, we said.

We talked of some other things as well. Nothing I can remember, I suppose we talked of boys and church and school (and all the drama that comes with being a teenager). But the conversation was not what makes this my favorite story. We whispered and giggled, every so often hearing my brother talk to his computer in the house some 3 dozen feet away. During these mundane moments, a miracle happened.

No one was raised from the dead, no fatal illnesses were cured. No one trekked across the surface of the pool, and no one slayed a giant with a single stone. But God gave us an everyday sized miracle, just for us. The rest of the world probably did not notice, and the rest of the world probably did not care. The rest of the world was not looking, but we were. We watched as the clouds parted. They did not part completely; but a perfect circle had formed directly above where we lay. God exposed to us His glory, along with the moon and the stars that we so longed to look at that warm summer night. And then it was over.

As quickly as the clouds parted, they swept back together revealing only a dim glow where the moon reflected the sun's light behind the clouds. It was okay though; It was enough. The brief glimpse, the perfect circle... I suppose that if the clouds completely dissipated, this would not be my favorite story. That night the Red Sea parted for us; typical teenage girls living a life that seemed so mundane. What I know now is that there is no such thing as a mundane life.

My faith is the reason I know there was a miracle that night, and it is the miracle that night that keeps my faith alive. That's why this is my favorite story.

Nothing Interesting

2009-02-05T19:24:00.002-05:00

Things have been carrying on as usual.

Class.
Homework.
Lack of (but some) work.
Dance Classes.

I find myself being more intolerant of intolerance. I'm a hypocrite.

Classes seem to be assigning more work than ever, but I'm not working very much, so it is very much handle-able.

I HAVE NOT BEEN SICK! I think I'm the only one left in the US. All of my family and all of Matt's family (including Matt) has been sick except for me. I haven't been sick since last March.

Boredd

Boogie Down

2009-01-27T23:49:00.002-05:00

I don't remember whether or not I mentioned my Christmas gift to Matt... But anyway, it was dance lessons.

I told my mom, and she was thrilled (she's always wanted to take dance lessons, but my dad doesn't want to)

I told my co-workers, and they thought I was nuts! They were convinced that Matt would hate it. They laughed even harder when I told them we would probably be taking salsa. It was then that I really started to worry that he might not like my gift!

Although practicing times come few and far in between because we only see each other on the weekends when we have lessons anyway, I'd say they've been really fun! We've only had two lessons, since one was cancelled due to snow, but we're really learning a lot -- enough that it's fun to dance! Yay salsa (& meringue and bachata)!

A Whole Lot of Nothing

2009-01-21T22:34:00.002-05:00

Life has been passing on as normal. Nothing to blog about.

All I can say is that I'm transforming into a geek. We just got netflix, and I've been watching Heroes on my computer. Matt has always loved it, but I couldn't get it on my TV. The storyline is basically the same as X-men, but as the name suggests, all of the non-villain characters have an inherent urge to be a hero.

I've been cooking like crazy!

Steak Bits,
Bacon Wrapped appetizers,
Mystery Bread...

Check out www.thepioneerwoman.com/cooking for those recipes, plus a bunch more that I'm determined to try someday.

I think I'll make Banana Split Pie/Cake/Whatever the heck it is later :)

12 hours too late.

2009-01-14T19:57:00.004-05:00

My first class was on Tuesday at 7, so Tuesday afternoon I patiently wait for 6:45 to roll around so I can go into the classroom... Except, when I go to my class, I see that the schedule has nothing posted for this time slot in this classroom. So I check my schedule online, and funny enough (not at the time) my class was scheduled for Tuesday at 7... AM.

Yeah. I dropped the class. Instead I have a class on Thursday, and yes, it's 7pm this time. I double checked. I'm hoping to have a Mon-Fri day job soon, so a class that early in the morning wouldn't work. Luckily I found a class I needed that still had all the requirements I was looking for: It was needed for my degree, started after 5pm, and was ITV, so if I have to relocate during the semester, I won't have to drop the class or travel to take the class.

Wow, I'm a boring writer. I can be funny in person, really!

Bunny Suicides?!

2009-01-14T12:01:00.002-05:00

Apparently there is a book called "Bunny Suicides" in which 100 different bunnies find different ways to commit suicide. The article can be found here.

This book is in a school library? This book exists?! My small town school suffered from 4 or 5 student/former student suicides in like a year and a half. That might not sound like a lot to people from larger schools, but my senior class had like 80 students. I'm pretty positive that this book isn't going to help prevent any suicides, but from the looks of it, it appears to mock this tragedy.

What's worse, is when I voted on the reader opinion poll that the book should be banned, only 34% of readers agreed with me. I really can't believe that this book is actually in a place where a 13 year old could easily get it and laugh about it.

I'm sorry, but humor and suicide should not mix.

P.S. Here are some comics from the book. Maybe I'm the only one who feels this way about how awful this really is, but I'm gonna warn you that they're semi-graphic. Ex: A bunny using a corkscrew on his head.

Ahh, Relaxation.

2009-01-09T10:12:00.003-05:00

I'm enjoying the calm before the storm. 2 weeks after classes ended I was still quite busy, with Christmas and New Years and all. Although, I definitely liked the holiday stress more than the finals stress. I had two days off in a row this week, and I did absolutely nothing! I sat in front of the TV, worked with pictures on my computer, and started reading a book.

Alas, classes once again start up on Tuesday. I'm not sure how ready I am. But this whole sitting around doing nothing thing is getting old faster than I thought it was.

In more interesting news... (at least more interesting to me..)

I was setting up Valentines day decorations, cheap gifts, and classroom handouts at work a week or so ago, and I was just amazed by the... "Cheapness" of it all. Cardboard heart cutouts, sweetheart candies, and heart shaped cookie cutters... I'm really starting to "develop" a style, so to say, and that is not it. Decorating with paper and glitter just doesn't appease me [I just looked at my New Years post... Decorating MYSELF with paper and glitter is OK. Just not my house]. And then I got to thinking about the whole gift giving scene that comes along with valentines day... Matt's more into it, but I would rather just go out on a date.

Anyway, down to the point.... I brought up the idea to him of (in lieu of giving each other presents) we each save up a little money and take a day trip to Boston! Boston isn't my first choice of somewhere to travel, but it's the only place that's really close enough to go without having to spend the night somewhere.

I wanna take the train there, for two reasons...
1: It's just more FUN!
2: I hated driving through Boston when I had to, and if Matt was driving I'd have a heart attack (I already get nervous enough when he drives through Portsmouth!)
And we'll go out to eat while we're there...
And maybe go to the Museum of Science? I really don't know what Boston has to offer..

Any ideas?

Picture woes

2009-01-06T17:15:00.002-05:00

I am currently in the process of uploading all my pictures onto the web. Just in case my computer peters out and the backup CD's i've burned get lost in a house fire... Or something of the sort.

Let's just say, when you have about 3GB of pictures on your PC, there is a LOT of uploading to do. and a lot of praying that you won't have to pay to upgrade with that many pictures!

Festivities is RIGHT

2009-01-06T15:49:00.001-05:00

Family resemblance?

we nuts.

No, wait... Karen's nuts!

Two cameras. Both flashed at the same time.

Matt the model

There she is with that tongue!

Chelsea played "princesses" with Hailey, and was therefore: her best friend.

Happy 2009!

Oh, how I missed thee

2008-12-30T14:42:00.002-05:00

my laptop has been out of comission for the past week or so, and it's so nice to have it back (I had other computers at my disposal, but this is the only one that has all my pictures and budget information...

I must say though, I had a lot more free time without it!

Ta-da!

2008-12-27T20:28:00.002-05:00

well... I finished one of them in time for Christmas. :-\. It's got it's quirks, but it's one of the quickest paintings I've ever done (took me about 2 days)

Christmas Picture

2008-12-27T20:19:00.003-05:00

These are my very select favorites.

They are select because I chose them out of about 90... :-D

Super Long Weekend :D

2008-12-21T23:10:00.002-05:00

Ahh, the art of relaxation.

Unfortunately, I've been getting minimal hours at work.

Luckily, I have been able to take what I consider to be a Christmas vacation to spend with Matt. Thursday morning to Monday night... We've spent 90% of our time with all of our friends, just having a good time. And staying off the roads most of the time! Half my visit it has been snowing... Accumulating probably about 2 feet since I've been here! This shouldn't be surprising considering the massive amounts of snowstorms last winter... But last winter we also had little to no snow before Christmas.

Matt and I got to enjoy a nice time with his family Friday night. We were supposed to drive to be with some extended family of his, but the weather was not permitting! It was nice, since I'm not going to be around them for Christmas, we had a mini-Christmas thing. Now I feel like Christmas has already passed, but I still can't wait to enjoy the holiday again with my own family on the 25th!

Pictures to come.

P.S. I finished 1/2 of my holiday art projects, and hopefully I can sneak a picture of it before I leave tomorrow night so I can share it with everyone :)

Art Update

2008-12-16T14:16:00.001-05:00

I'm currently working on two Christmas gifts.

I'll put pictures of them up after Christmas.

Oh, yes. The anticipation builds.

This picture made me laugh today.

2008-12-16T08:46:00.003-05:00

It's hard to believe that this picture was taken over a year ago already...

7pm on Tuesday.

2008-12-12T13:31:00.002-05:00

The Christian radio station I have been listening to since it first aired in my area around July is Air1!

This entire week they've been picking a winner every hour to win BarlowGirl's new Christmas CD "Home for the Holidays!"

7pm on Tuesday I won! They haven't contacted me, but Matt's friend heard my name on the radio, and I'm pretty sure I'm the only Laura Gallo in my town!

Air 1 is 93.9fm in the Augusta/Lewiston areas (I've listened to it as far south as Wells and as far north as Waterville, but I think it goes more north!)

Or, I've heard it on 106.5fm from Wells, where 93.9 drops off to about Portsmouth, NH, but I'm pretty sure it goes farther than that!

A full listing of the stations throught the US can be searched here, or you could just listen online :) No commercials!

Silver Bells....

2008-12-11T11:06:00.000-05:00

Or wreath! I saw this wreath at Target the other day and fell IN LOVE with it!It's completely silver, with silver sparkles and those little dark spots you see are mirrors (it looks much prettier in person!) It only had two problems with it: it had glitter (which worked on this piece, but in general drives me insane) and it was $30.

Now, maybe that's not a crazy price, but I'm on a budget and can't afford that much for a decoration. So I decided to make my own! I spent $7.50 at the craft department at Wal*mart: berry garland ($5), silver spray paint ($1.12), and sparkle pieces ($1.44).

At home, I assembled the garland in a wreath like form, and added some dried vines that I cut from the grape plant in our front lawn using some craft wire. I then spray painted the whole thing silver, and added some mirror pieces with hot glue!

It's not exact, and it's not as full, but I think it's just as pretty if not prettier! The berries which are not present in the Target wreath create a great reflection because of their shape, and it totally makes up for the lack of glitter!

I wish I had taken some in progress picture, but that's what I always seem to forget!

P.S. this post was written like 2 weeks ago... I was just too lazy to add the pictures at that time!

Wait....

2008-12-09T15:05:00.000-05:00

I have a blog?

Oh yeah.

Look for me tomorrow.

Or the day after.

Forget Turkey...

2008-11-27T09:34:00.003-05:00

We're roasting the cat this year!

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!
<3 Matt&Laura

It IS possible to train a cat!

2008-11-23T22:37:00.005-05:00

This picture needs no narrative.

2008-11-20T08:33:00.001-05:00

Cake number 3!

2008-11-19T12:28:00.005-05:00

Okay, so I seem to be on a cake kick. This one we did the good ol' fashion way though! Store bought box mix and store bought frosting! I actually did make frosting, but the cream cheese i used was um... Not quite fresh, so the whole thing got thrown in the trash! It's sad too, I used a LOT of powdered sugar and it was all wasted. :(

This cake was red velvet: Matt had never tried it before, and I was just craving it! It turned out typical for box cake mix: good, but nothing to blog about... Wait?

Like Father, Like Daughter...

2008-11-14T21:33:00.002-05:00

*Daddy and Laura are on the 4 wheeler. At 9 at night. In November. Just browsin' through the trails.*

Laura: Daddy, I feel like singing a song. Wanna know what song?

Dad: What song?

Laura: Good Vibrations (anyone who's ever been on a 4wheeler would get this pun)

*later on, still on the 4 wheeler, discussing trees*

Daddy: Look at all the beach trees! They're nice and straight! Not growing 5 in one inch...

Laura: *observing trees*

Daddy: There's another one! Oh, and that one there, that could possibly be a son of a beach; seeded from one of the bigger trees.

We're so punny!

Surprisingly Peaceful

2008-11-14T20:18:00.003-05:00

This past weekend I was at Vida Nueva until Sunday around 5.
I worked Monday morning.
Class Monday night.
Work Tuesday morning.
South Berwick Tuesday night.
YAAY!!

After a week and a half, I finally got to see Matt. It was nice, because I got to spend three nights there (one was just so I didn't have to drive in the dark) but any visit for the past 2 months has been like one night...

Yes, it had it's stresses. Matt can tell you about that if he wants to, but I'm surprisingly peaceful right now.

I totally forgot what I was going to blog about!!

OH! I'm totally paranoid and so I use this spreadsheet I made to track my grades even before my final grades get out... So I know if I need to work extra hard to bring up a final grade, or if I just need to carry on the way I've been going. Right now I've got a 95 in one class! Yay. Taxation? Not so much. But I've only taken one test, and thats ALL that is going towards the grade. It will hopefully be more accurate once I get a couple more projects passed in.

Ninja's and Pirates

2008-11-08T10:54:00.000-05:00

So, recently I was trying to describe my friend Mark to my mom.

"He's weird [he has long hair, so to my mom, that is weird] and he likes to talk like a pirate."

Can anyone else imagine the response/look I got from her at that point?

"Well. Not talk like a pirate a lot, he just says 'arrgh' a lot."

Well, just recently I had told Mark this pick-up-line that involved ninja's, and he loved it... Of course, because of the ninja. He then proceeded to tell me the difference between the two:

(forgive me, Mark, if I slightly misquote you. My memory isn't perfect)
"Well, most people know I tend to favor pirates, but they're all... Grow long hair, get drunk around campfires and on ships and sing songs obnoxiously off key... But ninjas, they have their place. They're more slick and shaven... Stealthy and suave... They're more [trying really hard to remember the word he used... I'm gonna use classy.] classy. Sometimes, it's just nice to be classy. It would be wrong of me not to recognize the ninja, although I am partial to pirates myself. Most of my friends are ninjas though, it's kind of funny."

After this portion of the conversation ended, we proceeded to talk about black and white socks, among other things... But that I'll save for another day!

Disclaimer: Permission for use of conversation was granted by the conversationee.

Special Air

2008-11-07T10:45:00.003-05:00

I have two shoe boxes in my hand for the Christmas Shoe Box ministry, empty at the time, when Karen approaches:

"Whatcha got there?"

"Shoe boxes."

"What's in the shoe boxes?"

"Air."

-pause, as I decide to say something funny-

"But it's special air! Wanna whiff?"

"Yeah!!"

-I open the box quickly near her nose. She at this point gets greedy with the air, and steals the box.-

"Stop! That air is for underprivileged children! STOP IT!! You're the reason Americans have a reputation to be greedy. THIS IS WHY AMERICANS ARE OVERWEIGHT!"

... I guess you had to be there.

Cinnamon Buns!!

2008-11-06T10:47:00.003-05:00

Yesterday I was just CRAVING a Cinnabon cinnamon bun. I think anyone who has had a Cinnabon can understand. Unfortunately, the nearest Cinnabon is an hour away :(. So I searched AllRecipe and found a "clone of a Cinnabon" recipe.
(I didn't take that picture, but it's a picture from the same recipe. By the time I remembered to take a picture, they were all gone!)

Oh, how I want another one right about now. If only they weren't so darn delicious, maybe my family would not have eaten so many and I could have them all for myself. Wait.....

New Music

2008-11-05T22:36:00.003-05:00

Hey guys, its me, well lately I've had a lot of new music coming to me, so here are a couple of new songs that I've felt God inspired me with. One of those spur of the moment, "WOW, this sounds good, lets write it down kinda songs." The first song is one I wrote for a friend of mine named Brittany during a difficult time in her life just after her finding Jesus Christ! (w00t!) The second song is about freedom, and the fire in my heart to represent him.

Comfort
Lyrics: Matthew Stevens
Dedication: Brittany

Even though troubles may come at you
Even though hardships make you feel like no one cares
Christ does, and he will comfort you
He will comfort you
Call to him during your desperation
And know that you're His precious creation
He will be there with you
He'll be there with you

Christ cares through the good times
Christ cares through the bad times
Even though man may fail
Jesus Christ will always prevail
Christ cares through the lonely times
Christ cares through the sad times
Even though man may fail
Jesus Christ will always prevail

Freedom
Lyrics: Matthew Stevens

Land of darkness
Shrouded in mystery
Have we forgotten our history?
Land of despair
Are we fallen on our knees?
Lord, will you hear our pleas?
For Freedom

Shine your light down on this nation
Before we fall into desolation
May we, the people, represent Christ
Because He paid the ultimate price
For freedom

Land of hope
Misguided in our way
Have we all forgotten how to pray?
Land of tomorrow
Restore us, dear Lord, once again
This I pray, Amen

Freedom
Lead us to the kingdom
Lord of Heaven
Lord of Earth
Give us freedom
Holy
You are Holy
King of Kings
Lord of Lords
I worship you

Pumpkin Carving: Part 2

2008-11-05T11:04:00.003-05:00

On to Sunday afternoon! On this day, we had a visitor: The Meesh. Unfortunately, she is in none of the pictures because she took 90% of them.

Matt's pattern was too large for the pumpkin, but since it was a fairly simple design I just drew the symbol onto his pumpkin and he traced the marker line. I proceeded to use the more tedious pinhole method. He finished carving his entire pumpkin before I even finished punching out the pattern!

Let me create a visual: Matt. With a seraded knife, much like a two sided saw. If you don't know Matt... Just imagine a 7 year old boy... Excited, but impatient. He was sawing it so fast that he accidently pulled the knife out of the pumpkin while sawing and jabbed it in a totally different place 3 times.

20 minutes later, Matt's masterpiece is finished. Rough, but finished. Meesh cleaned it up a little bit after that.

2 hours later, my masterpiece is finished. My hands are cramping, but my masterpiece is finished!

P.S. I wasn't really sure how to go about roasting pumpkin seeds until after I had already left them in the oven at 425degrees for about 25 minutes. (The recipe said 300degrees) About 5 seeds were eaten, but the spices weren't all that great that I chose anyway, so they're now going to become part of a landfill. Yay me!

P.P.S. ITS A ROSE! Not a cabbage, not a snail, not a one eyed pig. ITS A ROSE!

Congratulations, Barack Obama

2008-11-04T23:47:00.002-05:00

I feel the need to say this somewhere, anywhere.

I did/do not completely agree with Obama on a number of issues, but there were also issues on which I did not agree with McCain.

This was my first presidential election. I voted, and vowed no matter the outcome, I would not be angry or spiteful.

Guess what people: Obama is the new president as of 1/20/09. Some people are ecstatic, and some are already bad-mouthing him. But he is the president.

"Submit yourselves for the Lord's sake to every authority instituted among men: whether to the king, as the supreme authority, or to governors, who are sent by him to punish those who do wrong and to commend those who do right." 1 Peter 2:13-14 NIV

"Show proper respect to everyone: Love the brotherhood of believers, fear God, honor the king." 1 Peter 2:17 NIV, italics added.

Obama is the president. God knows what He is doing. I will submit myself to Obama's authority by God's command (providing his authority does not go against any of God's other commands), and show him respect. He did, after all, just make history.

P.S. GO MCCAIN for an awesome conclusive speech.

Pumpkin Carving: Part 1

2008-11-04T20:53:00.000-05:00

Here's the gist of my conversation with Matt on Saturday night.

L: Okay, time to carve pumpkins!
M: I don't wanna carve. Let's just carve your pumpkin together...
L: So basically - I carve and you watch?
M: TOTALLY!
L: No.

*discussing pumpkin carving*

L: But the pumpkin seeds have to dry overnight!

*discussing pumpkin seeds*

The art of compromise: We began our pumpkin adventure with just gutting them on Saturday night!

Me: Woah, this stuff is so gross, I love it! *up to elbows in pumpkin goo*
Matt: I'm supposed to stick my hands in there?!
(I used my hands, he used primarily tools, and washed his hands at least three times)

I'll lay your guts out on a table!"

The inside of my pumpkin after about a half hour

The inside of Matt's pumpkin after about a half hour... Slacker.

Mah-velous

2008-11-03T16:51:00.002-05:00

Matt and I had a marvelous weekend together. The highlights were pumpkin carving (more to come later) and probably Friendly's.

The first night we went to Wal*Mart (I bet Matt and I have spent like half of the time we spend together there) and we got some toys and stuff for the Christmas Shoe Box ministry. While we were there, we happened to see some shirts (womens) for $1 each! I bought 5, but I'm thinking I should have gotten more.

Sunday night, we went to friendly's for ice cream. It was fun, but I just really enjoyed the ice cream. A banana split with 2 scoops of cake batter ice cream and 1 scoop of apple pie ala-mode ice cream! Delicious!

3 Tests down...

2008-10-31T14:38:00.002-04:00

So I just completed the 3rd test of the semester, and after having 2 not so great scores, I'm finally feeling halfway confident about this one. We'll see how that goes.

In other news: there is none.

So... How about a story!!

The other day at work, we all had our faces painted as some of the guys on the higher part of the hierarchy of management were gonna show up, and we wanted to look spirited... Ally and I got the same design (mirrored) so that we were like each other's half. But then we didn't take if off, and hung out around augusta, and got some interesting looks. Ally tried on a kids size dress, and surprisingly it ALMOST fit! Umm.. we got slushies. We made them pretty. :)

Here's a couple of pics:

Neverending

2008-10-29T15:36:00.002-04:00

I have TONS of homework! It's so backed up.. It might possibly have a little to do with procrastination... But there really is just barely enough time to pull it all off :(.

Matt and I will have a short visit this weekend (which is different from the past month and a half how??) but we've got some plans involving pumpkins and steak....

Also, I REALLY want to do just a pencil sketch soon, but my goodness I have no time! Hopefully I'll have one within 2 weeks.

:)

Alright!

2008-10-23T22:42:00.004-04:00

I admit it! I'm a sucker for a good hug... I broke down and ended up driving down to South Berwick for less than 24 hours on Tuesday/Wednesday. I left after work, arrived shortly before 6pm, and left SB at 3pm the next day, going straight back to work. It was fun though, we settled my stuff in a little, and then went to see FIREPROOF: Okay, so we're not married, but it was still an awesome movie that any couple could learn from. Matt has the book "The Love Dare," so he tells me, and I'm itching to buy fireproof the book. Like any non-hollywood movie, the acting could have been better, but after about 10 minutes you don't even notice. We're all spoiled if you ask me. All in all, it was an awesome movie that would make any woman with normal tear ducts cry. As I did. It was quite funny though, because although this really is like a chick flick, it's also a "couples" movie, so everyone in the theatre had a partner. Whenever there was a scene that warranted tear flow, you could hear the guy's laughing at their spouses. And the fact that the other guys in the audotorium were laughing only made the guys laugh even harder, because they all knew what the others were laughing about!

After that we got in some long awaited hugs and special matt/laura alone talking time, and I slept, he worked. I now have an air bed rather than the couch to sleep on, and it's so much better on my back, but the heat isn't as warm as it has been previously, and add that with the fact that an airbed doesnt absorb heat and is always cold... Then figure in the fact that I'm a walking icicle and used 2 comforters and a nap blanket all SUMMER (add in a down comforter in the winter)... And you've got me freezing my butt off! Note to self: pack extra blankets! (I only had one that night)

The next day we got my oil changed... ate at pizza hut.... and napped. It was a short, and other than the movie, it was an uneventful trip. But well worth the gas money, in my opinion. I really needed some hugs!

Why am I not...

2008-10-22T09:01:00.000-04:00

Part Indian-American?

I could use the massive amounts of scholarships they get. I've given up hope on finding any for myself at this point.

Aren't we cute?

2008-10-21T04:34:00.000-04:00

I think....

2008-10-20T15:44:00.003-04:00

That law firms just watch for products to be recalled so they can find people to pay them to sue the company that made the recalled product.

It sickens me.

Happy 34th Anniversary!

2008-10-19T15:46:00.002-04:00

To my parents!!

I hope I will make it to 34 years someday!!

So, Matt and I can't see each other this week, but we surely did something interesting last week, so I thought I would post about that!

I made a new friend at work, so Matt and I got together with her and her fiance. Their names are Ally and Derek. We went to a Thai place, and after waiting 1 hour to order (we wouldn't stop talking long enough to read the menu) we had a lovely meal and I tried some fish-less sushi. We decided it was too early to call it a night, so we went to Dairy Queen and had some ice cream and played frisbee in the parking lot. Then we went geocaching. At 9pm. In the dark. In the woods. I was so afraid people were gonna hear us and call the cops thinking we were up to something bad, but we survived... Although we didn't find the cache :(.

Yeah, so I just spent the last 5 hours cleaning the house for my parents anniversary... I hope they can see/smell the difference when they get home!

Extraordinary

2008-10-16T13:00:00.002-04:00

"Some of the most ordinary days for some people, ends up being an extraordinary day for others."

Etch a Sketch is taking a break. I'm still going to post my pictures, but I'm not going to hold myself to a timeline, I just don't have enough time in the week. I'm happy with the way the whole thing went though, I did like 10 straight pictures, which is more than I've ever done in that short of a time, and it has done it's purpose, which was to get me to draw more, and I plan on drawing/painting at least another 3 pictures before the end of this year, so I promise you'll still have something to look at! This blog is pretty boring without it! :-p

I feel a need to say something profound right now.... But nothing is coming to mind, so you'll have to live with the quote at the beginning of the post!

Cake pt. II

2008-10-13T13:25:00.003-04:00

Here is our humble little cake. I have no idea why Matt randomly decided he wanted to put a picture of it on here.

CAKE!!!!!!!!!!

2008-10-13T11:16:00.002-04:00

YES PEOPLE WE ARE MAKING A CAKE!!! w00t! More details to follow with pics!

Huzzah for cake making!

Picking Up....

2008-10-10T19:36:00.003-04:00

Work has certainly been picking up lately. I know a lot of people at work are getting really stressed (it's pretty obvious) but I mean, it's usual Halloween stuff. Not saying I like the season, or its quirks... but geez people it's not gonna fall apart...

ok enough about silly work...

I bought some oil paints today, excited to try something new (I've been using acrylics thus far)

And I'm starting to think about Christmas!! I'm excited. I love Christmas.

Ranting 101

2008-10-10T16:23:00.004-04:00

Yes, ladies and gentlemen, it has begun, every week from this point forward I will have a rant blog on all the good, bad, and ugly going on in my life! So, where to start...

Generation Christ night went amazing, I sang with a shot voice, Brian drummed for the first time live, Jason finally played Bass live, w00t w00t! I sang... very very scary, I haven't been that nervous in a long time. Apparently it sounded alright (on my part) though everyone said the band sounded great, I was very glad to hear that.

Work... yep, this subject again, well I almost got canned last night cause of a situation that I can guarantee will never happen again. Long story, but it happened last month. I also was upset cause I get in a lot of trouble if I don't pitch the Add-Ons verbatim (word for word), and I found someone who made up their own script for it and ultimately, due to USA laws is considered credit card fraud, I tried to help him, he wouldn't hear me out, so I informed my manager of the situation and now I feel like a rat, and some people who called me "friend" now say they lost a lot of respect of me cause of that... I'm doing my job, does that make me deceitful? Am I throwing him under the bus cause of my "bad day"... I don't know anymore, I'm so confused and upset right now that I don't know what to say. But, whatever, whats done is done. I really believe I need to get out of this job and go somewhere else, its getting really bad. Please pray for me...

Sleep is still a no go. Went to bed this morning at 10..ish and woke up to my phone ringing at 12pm, and after that laid in bed till 2..ish unable to fall back asleep. And I have to work a really long shift tonight, due to missing some hours. Blah...

...And... I'm completely broke, so I won't be able to see Laura this weekend. At this point, crying sounds like a great option... I'll bring the cheese if anyone would like to join me.

Overall, this weeks been rough, and this is my rant, sorry for all the bad news, hopefully next week will be better!

God Bless
Edit: We worked it out, I am going to be able to see her for a little while, that makes things a little easier.

Weekend

2008-10-09T11:24:00.002-04:00

So Matt and I had a... Post weekend weekend visit.

It was my first visit to South Berwick in like... 3 weeks.

We... Played Zelda.

Saturday was pretty cool. I made a new friend.

Um...

No picture this week. I finished my painting like Monday morning (frame and all) and left for South Berwick, and this is the first time I have had anytime to work on it... and I have homework due tonight, and I have to work tonight... SOOOO... Yeah.

Portland

2008-10-06T11:10:00.000-04:00

So yesterday Matt and I had a nice little trip to Portland.

We browsed the mall. Ate. And talked. That's about it.

I got some really cool scrapbooking stuff, a pair of capri's for next year, and some wedding wrapping paper.

Matt got a card, some dress shoes (50% off!!) and... Oh, a birthday gift for his mom.

We're gonna see each other again late tonight, until Wednesday afternoon. :-D I'm excited.

P.S. I think Matt will be doing a little more posting from now on -- Thanks Amanda ;-)!

Proud

2008-10-05T09:32:00.001-04:00

SpiritSword33 (9:29:40 AM): mhm, BLOG!
LrLsGll9656 (9:29:50 AM): what about the blog?

SpiritSword33 (9:29:55 AM): look

SpiritSword33 (9:30:55 AM): see

SpiritSword33 (9:30:58 AM): I can do it too

Apparently Matt is very proud of his cute little post.

Done!

2008-10-04T14:59:00.003-04:00

Not too, bad. Sorry it's a couple days late. I had some major reworking to do. As it is, the eyes are still a little too high (and perhaps a little too big), the edges are a little rough, and my blending could use some work.

This is a shot of it with light behind it (it's also backwards). Everywhere that the sun can't really shine through has taken 2+ layers of paint. I'd go as far as to say some portions of the painting have 5+ layers of paint. Check out how dark the lips are, which I have redone probably 4 times. The eyes, too.

Blogging...

2008-10-04T09:16:00.002-04:00

...and procrastination kinda go hand in hand. Well guys, bet you didn't expect to hear from me, cause after all, this might as well be run by Laura since shes done all the work, and yes guys, she is all mine! Be jealous, be very jealous. I'm honestly just typing the first things that come to mind. Well, work is going well, ...I suppose... My Add-Ons (sale offers that each one is a $2 commission) are going up which is great. Sleep, well, I'll put it this way, what is it? Cause lately I can't seem to get any, any suggestions please let me know! Kyle, a close friend of Laura's apparently writes lyrics, and I'm psyched, cause we started working on his song "Pray For You" and it has an AMAZING piano riff that I really enjoy. Generation Christ band practices are going good as well, we are almost ready to record three songs as a whole band, Brian (Drums), Jason (Bass), Isaac(Lead Guitar), George (Percussion, Bongos), and myself (Piano, and currently vocals)! Which also means setting up a Gen Christ MySpace band page so people can hear our sound! w00t! Umm... i'm going to the Fryeburg Fair today with my family, so I'm very excited, so guys, have a great day! I'll talk to you all later! God Bless!

Frustrating

2008-10-03T23:22:00.003-04:00

Alright, as I already mentioned, I have a little bit of a different position at work, which requires a more irritating schedule.. lol... Basically, I seem to need to work every Saturday night and Monday morning... Which is really hard when you have to drive 95 miles one way to see your significant other.

Let's just leave it at that. It'll be over Oct. 31st.

I have so much to do, but I've gotten really good at procrastinating...

I used to procrastinate, but not this much.

Etch a Sketch Thursday: Week 16

2008-10-02T13:20:00.004-04:00

AHA!

You thought I forgot all about it....

Well, there was the Bekah Picture on Thurs 9/11

I did a cake the next week (it was artistic, it counts!)

And, remember, it takes 2 weeks for a painting!!

*crickets*

Ok, so maybe it's not done, but once I finished I just HAD to fix all it's quirks. It should be done tomorrow. Here's a preview:

Hurricane

2008-10-01T09:19:00.001-04:00

So, according to the Official 2008 Hurricane Names, Hurricane Laura is next! Now, having a hurricane named after me is one thing, and there will be another in 7 years, but the previous hurricane this year was named Kyle, which happens to be the name of a blogging buddy of mine. You should check out his blog, Your Captain Speaks ;). Thanks, Kyle, for letting me know about this hurricane name phenomenon... If only Matthew came next... Matt has to wait until 2010 for his hurricane to wreak havoc!

I thought it was ironic :)

Creepy Cutie

2008-09-30T11:07:00.000-04:00

this somewhat resembles the face that Matt made when we were hanging out in my room (in the basement, with one small window) when there was a funky noise outside. It was a sqeaky, scratchy kind of sound, the exact sound you wouldn't want to hear on a dark, wet, foggy night like that night was. I already knew what the sound was, but I decided to play along.
"Matt! There's something at the window! Can you check and see what it is?!" "No way, that's wicked creepy!" "Please, Just trust me!"

It was my kitty, when she wants to come in she paws at the window, and the pads on her paws squeak. It was hilarious. This was after she came in, but whatever.

P.S. These are awesome pictures for a camera phone, btw, aren't they? 2.0mexapixel... not too shabby.

Parmesan

2008-09-29T08:14:00.000-04:00

Mom: *labeling her chicken Parmesan* How do you spell Parmesan? Is it "parmesean?"

Me: I think it's "Parmasean" Hold on, lemme check.... *checks packaging* it's "Parmesan"

Mom: Haha, I win! I was only one letter off, you were two!

Me: Oh, no Mom, because you didn't even use Parmesan cheese, you used Romano!

Oh yes, I win.

Kitty Story!!

2008-09-28T08:55:00.000-04:00

So once, many moons ago... Like years... I suffered from nightmares. I still do sometimes, but not quite as frequently. They were so frequent then that I taught myself how to wake up from dreams (I only failed once, and it totally freaked me out cause I thought my dream was real). Anyway, since then I have lost that ability but that's not the point. This is a prelude to a story:

I was fast asleep, and Tanya was sleeping at the foot of my bed. I started dreaming about Tanya, and in my dream she was falling off of a cliff, holding on by her two front paws! I kept trying to save her in the dream, but all she was doing was scratching up my arms and I couldn't pull her up... So I forced myself awake... I looked down by my feet and Tanya was clinging to the end of the bed by her front paws... As a result of my kicking.

Matt got a kick out of that story when I told him last week, and I thought you all might enjoy it as well!

Cute

2008-09-27T07:02:00.000-04:00

"Missing someone isn't about how long it's been since you've seen them last or the amount of time since you last talked. It's about that very moment when you're doing something and you wish that they were right there with you." :)

Money Order

2008-09-26T21:27:00.002-04:00

I had my first ever encounter with a money order today. I never knew such a thing existed!!

I bought my first Christmas present today. I better get crack-a-lackin', with my budget it may take me a while since I seem to have a hard time saving money that isn't for bills.

I love Christmastime.