Wednesday's Word

Apocryphal / uh-POK-ruh-fuhl / adjective
1. (Bible) Pertaining to the Apocrypha.
2. Not canonical. Hence: Of doubtful authority or authenticity; equivocal; fictitious; spurious; false.

Apocryphal or not, the anecdote contains at least a grain of truth.
-- Caroline Fraser, God's Perfect Child

In 1959 he told Walter Gutman that he first started writing when he was three years old, but that his sister threw away all his childhood writings one day when she cleaned out the attic. This sounds apocryphal as it is unlikely that he could read or write at that tender age, and if he could he would certainly have told us.
-- Barry Miles, Jack Kerouac King of the Beats

He always told romanticised apocryphal stories of his ancestry, sometimes a bastard grandfather, brought up on the parish, sometimes "a weaver, half poet and half madman."
-- Kathleen Jones, A Passionate Sisterhood

Good Reads?

I love reading the blogs that I follow. But now, I'm looking for some more good reads. Which blogs do you follow where you just can't wait until their next post? Which blogs can make you laugh out loud? Which blogs teach you new and interesting things? Which blogs would you be saddest about if the author stopped blogging?

Leave a link in the comments or send me an email. Thanks all!!

Nine Months

How to Make Me Happy

It's my first time getting tagged and I am so excited!!

Here are the rules to this tag:
1. Mention and link back to the person that tagged you. (I was tagged by Dana at Sweeping Through Life. Thanks Dana!!)
2. List 6 little things that make you happy.
3. Tag 6 other bloggers and let them know "They're it".

There are a lot of things that make me happy in life. It was seriously hard to narrow it down to just 6. However, I prevailed! So without further ado, the top 6 things that will instantly bring a smile to my face.

1. My husband, Drew
I know, cliche right? I don't care. He makes me happy! I could not ask for a better best friend. We've been going through some rough times with situations that have arisen that are beyond our control and he has proven to me that I can always depend on him. He has been my rock lately, and I am so grateful. I love how we can be silly and playful with each other. I love how we strive to bring out the best in each other. I love how we are comfortable and ourselves with each other. I am so honored that he chose me to spend the rest of his life with.
2. Our furbaby, Simon
We adopted Simon from the local animal shelter in August 2007. I never thought that I could love a pet like I love Simon. He will instantly brighten my day. Drew gets so jealous that Simon will snuggle up with me over him. Drew will grab Simon to make him lay with him and Simon will squirm away and come lay with me. Poor Drew!! I'm actually watching him hunt flies right now. And he catches them too! I can't imagine our life without Simon. He certainly completes us and will remain our "baby" until we have a child.

3. Dancing

I was on the dance team from 6th grade until my senior year of high school. That's 7 years of dancing. I still love to go out and dance with friends. In fact, my one request for my bachelorette party was that we go and dance somewhere. I frequently plug my iPod in and dance around in my underwear while I'm getting ready in the morning. Sometimes, I even do some hair brush singing. But mostly, it's just dancing. And I love watching dancing on tv. I would love to take a dance class again before I get too old to move like I should.

4. Reality TV

I get so sucked in to reality tv. I love it all! Everything from The Hills to American Idol to The Bachelorette. It's probably my guilty pleasure. I think that I like reality tv so much because it's an escape from my own world and my own drama. And goodness knows that I have plenty of drama. I like to forget about mine for that half hour or hour time slot and get completely wrapped into a world where their drama is so much more interesting than mine.

5. Going out to dinner (especially Chili's)

Going out to dinner is one of my most favorite things to do. There's just something about sharing a (hopefully) good meal with the people that you care about. I constantly get teased because I usually order the same thing (chicken) whenever we go out, but I still love to enjoy a nice meal that neither one of us had to cook. And, somebody else does the dishes!!

6. Friends and Family

Again, cliche, I know. But it's the truth. I have THE BEST friends and family that a girl could ask for. My family is wonderful. And then I got blessed with marrying Drew and getting more wonderful family to add to mine. Our friends bring us so much joy. Whether we're hanging out at someone's home or going out, we always have a blast. God has truly blessed us by surrounding us with amazing people.

I don't have too many followers and I don't follow a ton of blogs yet, but here are the 6 fellow bloggers that I have chosen to tag:

1. Jessica at An Atlanta Bride

2. Jennifer at Life With the Landgrens

3. Ashley at Ruby Baby

4. Hannah at That Girl

5. Kate at The Misadventures of Moose and Squirrel

6. Brittany at The Wilson's

Wednesday's Word

Glabrous / GLAY-bruhs / adjective
Smooth; having a surface without hairs, projections, or any unevenness.

This species has a bluish-tinged body completely covered in white flecking in the typical species, though completely glabrous green variants are also seen without any of the body flecking.
-- Kevin G. Belmonte, "The woolly Astrophytums", The Philippine Star, June 6, 2009

We offered to the rebarbative Senator Patrick Leahy's demands on us amused resistance and the promise to buy the glabrous old boy a proper hairpiece.
-- R Emmett Tyrrell Jr., "Jumpin' Him Jehoshaphat!", The American Spectator, July 1, 2001

Tour of Charlotte

Today, we went for a tour of Charlotte. One of our first stops was Davidson College. Davidson has had an impressive basketball team for a couple years with help from a young man by the name of Stefan Curry. Ring a bell to anyone?
Then, we went to lunch at Sonic. Now, I know what you must be thinking. Sonic? Of all the places for you to go on vacation. Sonic? You see, Sonic commercials get shown here a ridiculous amount of times. And the closest Sonic is over an hour away. Kinda cruel, if you ask me. So when I found out that they had Sonic close by, I was all over that.


After lunch, Drew took us by the Lowe's Motor Speedway.

My one and only picture with Emma. You would think that with the number of times I fed and changed her, I would have at least 2 pictures or something. Nope, just this one. But I'm not bitter or anything.

Now, we're home. I already miss our friends and family. But home is still a great place to be. And I can't wait to see them again at Christmas. Emma will be 6 months old by then and I can only imagine how big she'll be.

Quality Time with Friends and Family

Eric and Jess came back to Drew and Jen's house this morning before they headed back home to Georgia. There are always jokes going around about who has to have a baby first. Drew's parents are extremely anxious for grandbabies. Too bad they'll be waiting for one from Drew and I for a few more years.

After Eric and Jess left to go back home, the rest of us pretty much lounged around until Drew's baseball game. Yes, baseball! And my Drew sure did get razzed by me for him just playing softball and the other Drew playing baseball.

After the game, we all went back to the house and fired up the grill to make some ribs! We ate some dinner then played "Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader" on the Wii. Tomorrow is our last day in North Carolina.

North Carolina Cook-Out

Today, we traveled back to North Carolina. Once we got back to Drew and Jen's house, Drew and I immediately went to the guest room and took a nap. We slept until Eric and Jess showed up. We hung out with them and worked on getting things ready for the BBQ that Drew and Jen were having.

Guests were scheduled to arrive at 6 PM and let me tell you, people in the South know that 6 PM means 6 PM. We cooked out and enjoyed everybody's company.

Someone brought a Bags set, also known as Corn Hole, and Drew is an avid Bags player. Some of the boys started playing Bags and Jess and I watched with amusement. Soon, a neighbor kid and his friend, who were both about 10 or 11, decided that they wanted to play too. They thought that they were THE coolest things ever because they were getting to play with the "adults". Jess and I were rolling in laughter over some of the things they were saying.

Poor Jen wasn't able to have a very good time at her party because Emma had some trapped gas that was causing her a lot of discomfort. She spent a good portion of the night trying to soothe her. I felt horrible, and thought about trying to help, but some of Jen's friends were already with her so I figured it would be best if I just stayed back.

We don't really have any plans for tomorrow, so we'll see what comes up.

I've Touched the Atlantic Ocean

Today, we woke up bright and early so that the boys could go on a deep sea fishing trip. I watched little Emma while Jen ran the boys to the dock. When she got back, we grabbed some breakfast from the lobby and then got ready for our day. Us girls went to the Tangier Outlets and did a little shopping before Jen picked the boys up. Here's some pictures from their trip.

The guide told Drew that it's not too safe to be swimming right now because there is a shark for every 3 cubic feet of water! Count me out of that!!

Drew refused to changed diapers... but he would feed little Emma. I can't wait until he's a dad.

After the boys got back, we all laid around and did a little napping. Hello... early morning 2 days in a row! After some naps, we headed to the beach. I. was. stoked!!!

Look!!! I'm in the ocean!!!

Um, hello, gorgeous!!!

There was a storm blowing through, so it was incredibly windy. That's the sand moving from the wind.

After the beach, we came back to the hotel and cooked dinner. Tomorrow is another travel day as we head back to North Carolina. That means we have to be up early again. What kind of vacation is this??

Long Travel Day

We woke up this morning at 3:00 AM!!! Our flight was at 7:00 AM, and we were flying out of the Milwaukee airport, so we needed to leave our house by about 4:00 AM. Yes, I am a morning person, but I still don't like being up that early. But hey, I got to watch the sunrise. And this picture, this is the reason why I love flying.
You can't tell me that that's not gorgeous. That's Lake Michigan in case anyone is wondering.

And since we've always taken a picture on the plane, we needed to keep the tradition alive.

And, I honestly think that I've worn that sweatshirt every time we've traveled. It's my baby blue NIU hoodie and I love it, even though Drew hates it. I know that I wore it on the cruise, but not quite sure about the honeymoon. I'll have to try to dig that up.

Then, I had to take a picture of the rinky dink plane that we flew in. We were all waiting for a gate to park at. One never opened up, so we actually had to disembark the plane by using the stairs. Definitely a first for me.

Charlotte is home to the Lowe's Motor Speedway, so this guy was in the airport.

Jen and Emma picked us up at the airport. I guess that Drew had some problems at the rental car place, so they were running a little behind schedule. We were originally supposed to leave straight from the airport to Hilton Head Island, South Carolina. Instead, Jen brought us back to their house.

Drew and Jen live outside of Charlotte, so it was a quick little jog back to their place. Their house is so cute. They live in a beautiful neighborhood of new construction homes. Once we arrived at their house, we got a quick little tour and then packed up the rental car to head to SC, which was about 4 hours away.

Little Emma did well on the car trip. She slept most of the way. This picture is of the Sound as we went over the bridge to HHI.

We arrived in Hilton Head mid-afternoon and immediately went to check into our hotel room. We booked a suite with a kitchen so that we could eat dinner in there on night to limit our dining out expenses. It was a loft style room, so there was a bed with a bathroom upstairs.

We got everything inside and settled, changed our clothes (well actually, I think that was just me) and then went to go find dinner. We knew that we wanted to go out for seafood since we were on the ocean. We drove around for quite awhile, and eventually ended up in the Sea Pines area of HHI. Let me tell you about the homes in this part of the island. Goodness gracious, they were huge!!! And they were all surrounded by lush landscaping. Oh, what I wouldn't give to have a home there. In case you were wondering about prices... anywhere from $500,000 to well over $1.5 million.

We were going to eat at Salty Dog, but the wait was over 2 hours and we were pretty famished, so we decided to eat at Land's End Tavern, where the wait was only about half an hour. While we were waiting, we snapped some pictures.

Dinner was tasty, and I even tried alligator nuggets. For the record, it tastes just like chicken. After dinner, we drove around a little bit more, then headed back to the hotel. Drew and I are exhausted after traveling all day, plus the boys are going out on a deep sea fishing excursion tomorrow. Us girls? We're going to do what we do best. Shop!

Wednesday's Word

Bestow / bih-STOH / transitive verb
1. To present as a gift or an honor; confer.
2. To apply; use.

He bestowed on him a pension of a hundred crowns a year.
-- John Richard Green, Short History of the English People

In 1933...a hurricane bestowed a bonanza on Ocean City by cutting Fenwick, the island on which its sits, in two, offering new, easy access to oceangoing boats.
-- "Shifting Sands", Washington Post, July 11, 1999

Nature has bestowed many gifts on the earth that need to be treated with respect.
-- Brought to you by the 3rd Generation Prius

Weird Dreams

I don't dream very often, or at least dream where I remember it in the morning, but when I do remember my dreams in the morning, they are generally very bizarre. This morning was no exception.

I dreamed that I had twins. (As a little background, my brother and sister are twins and therefore, everybody seems to think it's hilarious to say that I'll have twins. It's not funny. Nobody should wish multiples upon somebody! It's a challenge.) I had to have a c-section, but instead of having just one incision on my abdomen, I had two. Apparently, one for each twin. When I arrived home, I discovered that the doctors hadn't stitched me up too well and my bandages were pretty meager, so I was bleeding a lot. I simply changed my clothes though in my dream. I remember that I didn't really have a lot of pain associated with the incisions, just discomfort and I couldn't move well at all.

There were people that were over at our house working on the outside of it and one of Drew's friends was painting. Drew came inside and laid on the couch and I told him that he better get outside and help his friend. He didn't, so I went outside to scope out what he was doing to paint our house. He saw me there and then grabbed me and started painting me with the paint roller. I told him to quit painting me because I was cut... see?? And I then showed him my incision.

And that's when I woke up. Weird, huh??

Countdown to Vacation

There hasn't been too much going on, hence the lack of blogging. Mike, our tenant, left for training yesterday. Becca seems to be taking it fairly well. I don't think it's really sunk in yet. I can't imagine having to go through what she's going through. I am fully appreciative of all those men and women that serve our country. But, I am so grateful that Drew stays home with me.

We're gearing up for vacation, which we leave for on Thursday. We're visiting the Daughtry's in North Carolina. We leave bright and early Thursday morning. My wonderful husband scheduled our flights for 7 AM!!! I'm not so stoked about that. But, we do arrive in Charlotte at about 10 AM, where we will leave directly for Hilton Head Island. I've never seen the ocean, so I'm super excited to be able to see the Atlantic and stick my feet in there. Hopefully, the weather will be nice. When I checked the weather at the end of last week, they were calling for scattered thunderstorms. So, the next couple of days will be a flurry of cleaning, laundry, and packing. The fun parts of going on vacation!

I'm going to try to blog through vacation, like I did on our honeymoon. I can't make too many promises, because I'm sure to be kept pretty busy. Plus, there's little Emma that I am totally excited to snuggle with. I'm sure that she's not going to help the baby fever one little bit.

1 Year of Blogging

Today is one year since I've started this little blog. I honestly can't believe it!!!


At the time of my first post, all of the big things were booked for the wedding and it was only the small details left. I had just picked up our wedding bands. I was excited because I was only 26 days away from doing Drew's wedding present, and we were only 105 days away from the wedding. At that time, the wedding seemed sooooo farrrrrr awayyyyyy!!!! Time felt like it was standing still, yet rushing at me all at the same time. We (or I depending on how you looked at it) had so much to get done still.

I would, honestly, give anything to go back to that time. I absolutely love being married to Drew. But, I miss the planning. I miss the anticipation. I'm sad that there were things that I wanted to do or make, and I never did. Hindsight is always 20/20 right?

I enjoyed blogging through our house hunting journey. I didn't post all the houses that we looked at because I probably could have created a separate blog just for that. We eventually found our first home and moved in, although not very easily.

So, here's to one year of blogging. And here's to many, many more years with many more exciting events as life continues to fly by. Cheers!!!

Wednesday's Word

Apogee / AP-uh-jee / noun
1. The point in the orbit of the moon or of an artificial satellite that is at the greatest distance from the center of the earth.
2. The farthest or highest point; culmination.

But in retrospect, this period would prove to be the apogee of O'Sullivan's career, although he always felt bigger and better things were on his way.
-- Edward L. Widmer, Young America

Aurangzeb ended the family tradition of building architectural masterpieces that had reached its apogee when his father, Shah Jahan, built the world's most beautiful tomb, the Taj Mahal.
-- Anthony Read and David Fisher, The Proudest Day

When the moon is at its farthest point from earth, its orbit has reached its apogee.
-- Brought to you by the 3rd Generation Prius

Not Defeated For Long

A few weeks ago, I applied for an HR position with a local company. I was ecstatic when I got a call to schedule a phone interview. Ecstatic I tell ya! The phone interview went pretty well. I felt that I answered her questions well, and I had good questions for her. She said that she wanted to move along quickly with the hiring for the position, so I would hear from her the early part of the following week. That week came and left and I didn't hear from her.

Just when I had lost hope, my phone rang and she was asking for an in-person interview. Cue happy dance! ::Happy dance, happy dance:: The interview was the following Monday and I felt that I had a very good interview. I was qualified and I felt like I possessed the qualities that she was looking for. I left with a very, very positive feeling. She said I would hear by the end of the week.

The end of the week came and I didn't hear anything. I thought that it could have to do with the holiday, so I held out hope.

I got an email this morning that she was pursuing a different candidate.

I'm crushed. Heartbroken. Defeated. Numb. I feel like a failure.

I have been searching for a job since I graduated; for over a year. I really felt that this was the one. I keep waiting and waiting. I feel like God is trying to teach me patience. And I'm trying really hard. I know that God will send the right job along when he is ready and when he knows that I'm ready. But, I'm ready. Do you hear me God?? I'm ready!! I'm waiting!!

I still have faith that God will send me the right job when the time is right.

I spent my lunch break crying to Drew. And most of my work day wanting to come home and cry. Do you want to know what I did when I got home? Sent more resumes out! That's right! I got right back up and back on the horse. That's the only way that I'll find my dream job.

Things That Make You Go... Hmmm

I can see what some people search for before they land on my blog. I can't tell you the number of times that "fireproof wedding cake" is searched for!

I never, ever, ever thought about a fireproof cake for my wedding. Is that a concern that people really have?

Hmmm

1001 Day Project Update

1. Take Drew to Arizona
2. Read the Bible
3. Visit the Daughtry’s in North Carolina
4. Visit the Landgren’s in Colorado
5. Make dinner every night for a week
6. Go to church at least one Sunday a month
7. Take a dance class
8. Move out of our apartment
9. Buy a house
10. Start our family
11. Pay off all credit cards (0/4)
12. Go to a Cubs game with Drew (Here and Here)
13. Watch at least 5 Cubs games each season with Drew (and not complain about it) 0/15
14. Learn sign language
15. Learn to play the piano
16. Go on a spontaneous overnight trip
17. Go snowboarding or skiing
18. Don’t drink pop for an entire week
19. Go to Florida
20. Read 5 books that have turned into movies (1/5) (Twilight)
21. Watch the movies too (1/5)
22. Do a drastically different hairstyle (Here)
23. Get braces
24. Read the Twilight series (4/4)
25. Organize the closets
26. Host Christmas Eve for my side of the family
27. Go to bed before 10PM at least 60 times (4/60)
28. Go on a second honeymoon
29. Organize address book
30. Find 4 new recipes to cook for dinner (1/4)
31. Start a family tradition with Drew and me
32. Find a family doctor
33. Have 8 girls’ night (0/8)
34. Take a yoga class
35. Get a massage
36. Go to Starlight Theatre three times (0/3)
37. Clean out Drew’s clothes
38. Pick and print out wedding pictures for frame
39. Go to the movie theatre with Drew
40. Try 5 new restaurants (1/5) (Granite City)
41. Stay off the computer after work for one week
42. Get a job in my field
43. Take a cooking class
44. Put my feet in the Atlantic Ocean
45. Put my feet in the Pacific Ocean
46. Go golfing
47. Make a new friend
48. Teach someone something
49. Play hookie with Drew one day
50. Play a video game with Drew
51. Pick apples from the apple orchard
52. Plan a big surprise for Drew
53. Make dinner for my family
54. Make dinner for Drew’s family
55. Spend a day with my brother
56. Let Drew teach me something new
57. Learn one new word a week and blog about it (26/143)
58. Put at least $20 into my savings account every two weeks (13/71)
59. Eat dinner at the Signature Room again
60. Volunteer anywhere
61. Be a Chicago “tourist” – Go to the Museum of Science and Industry
62. Be a Chicago “tourist” – Go to the Shedd Aquarium
63. Be a Chicago “tourist” – Go to the Field Museum
64. Be a Chicago “tourist” – Go to the Hancock Observatory
65. Be a Chicago “tourist” – Go to Adler Planetarium
66. Go to Navy Pier
67. Stay at a Bed and Breakfast
68. Go to Brookfield Zoo
69. Go on a picnic
70. Go camping
71. Read “What to Expect When You’re Expecting” when I become pregnant
72. Take a photography class
73. Cross stitch a picture
74. Set up a 401k
75. Get a physical once a year (1/3)
76. Pay off bills as soon as they come in rather than waiting until they’re due
77. Host Thanksgiving
78. Throw a surprise party for someone
79. Send out birthday cards every month for a year (0/12)
80. Completely clean bathrooms every week for a month (0/4)
81. Recycle
82. Completely clean the tables off every night for a month (0/30)
83. Vacuum and dust every week for a month (0/4)
84. Don’t swear for a week
85. Go skydiving
86. Become known for making or doing something
87. Take a ballroom dancing class
88. Take an acting class
89. Research getting an MBA
90. Drink only water for a week
91. Splurge on a spa day for me
92. Splurge on a spa day for me and a friend
93. Encourage at least one other person to make a list like this one
94. Purchase a china cabinet
95. Purchase 5 new pieces of clothing and DON’T feel guilty about it (5/5)
96. Host a game night with our friends
97. Clean and organize garage
98. Do something I don’t want to that will make someone else happy
99. Preserve my wedding gown
100. Donate $5 to a charity for any uncompleted items on this list
101. Make a new list at the end of 1001 days and include any items I didn’t complete on this list

Wednesday's Word

Penury / PEN-yuh-ree / noun
1. Extreme poverty; destitution.
2. Absence of resources; insufficiency.

Charles regretted his departure, and the penury of his treasury, but trusted that God would favour him in his struggle against the king of France.
-- Henry Kamen, Philip of Spain

He was a cooper by trade, a native of Rio de Janeiro, where he would have died in penury and obscurity had he limited himself to the work of barrel-making.
-- Joaquim Maria Machado de Assis, The Posthumous Memoirs of Bras Cubas

That sovereign of insufferables, Oscar Wilde, has ensued with his opulence of twadle and his penury of sense.
-- Ambrose Bierce, Wasp, March 31, 1882