Picture Tag

The rules of picture tag are: Open your first photo folder. Scroll down to the 10th photo. Post that photo and story on your blog. Tag three friends(or more) to do the same.

This picture was taken in December 2007.  I had planned a special date for Joe.  We were going to go to Sprinkles for a cupcake, Peets for hot chocolate, then to the Newport Boat Parade.  Our special evening was changed a little when we ran into half of our small group at the parade.  It is kind of funny, because on our first date, Joe had planned on taking me to the Cannery, but right before we were heading there we learned that some of the small group was going to be there, too.  We were "stealth dating" for the first few months of our relationship because we wanted to make sure it would work and didn't want to mess up the dynamics of the small group.

I tag Michelle, Adrienne, and Devon :)

Countdown!

I haven't been in the blogging mood lately. No reason. Just not into it. However, I cannot sleep (maybe because I slept a ton last night), so here is a countdown.

10 of my favorite things at the moment:
1. Joe
2. Buster
3. believe it or not... Kat!
4. sweatpants
5. nonfat, sugarfree chai lattes
6. Steamers
7. Love Song by Taylor Swift
8. 3/4 sleeve shirts from Target
9. long, fast walks
10. driving my car

9 things that make me laugh:
1. Joe
2.Buster
3. Kat
4. parents
5. students
6. Saturday Night Live
7. babies
8. How I Met Your Mother
9. Wii Fit

8 best memories:
1. playing in the fountain at the Spectrum... and getting kicked out
2. picking out Buster
3. graduating... from college and masters
4. getting chosen as Teacher of the Year
5. pulling pranks on people with Amy (in high school)
6. Vegas August 2007
7. New York with my dad and brothers
8. Aunt Kitty

7 things on my to do list:
1. Laundry
2. clean closet
3. figure out what time my flight leaves on Thursday
4. make an appt at the Lexus dealer
5. laundry
6. grade social studies tests
7. call PARS

6 hopes or wishes for this year:
1. To get engaged!
2. keep my job
3. buy a house
4. my parents move to CA
5. Joe's family move to CA
6. complete a marathon
5 things that are bothering me:
1. I have terrible gas... sorry, but it is bothering me!
2. my house is a mess
3. I have too much in my schedule
4.
5.
4 long-term goals, hopes, or desires:
1. wife
2. mother
3. homeowner
4. start a charitable organization or at least volunteer somewhere regularly
3 things I wish I could do but can't:
1. sing
2. travel anytime during the year
3. buy a lot of pets
2 bad habits:
1. buying clothes
2. not washing the clothes
1 confession:
1. I wish I was the next AmericanIdol

30 Things to do Before I Die

I tried to post this one before I turned 30, but I could not think of 30 things for my list. Any suggestions to help me finish? Should I do 30 Things Before I Die or 30 Thing in my 30s?

I am turning 30 in 10 days. I thought I would dread it. But I think I had my difficult birthday at 26. That was the one where I cried on the stairs and insisted that I did not want to go out to dinner. Thanks to Adrienne and Tracy for taking me anyway!



I am happy where I am in my life. It is not quite where I thought I would be, but I am not really the one in control here.



Anyway, I thought I would make a list of 30 things I want to do in my life:



Here they are, in no particular order:

1. buy a house

2. get married

3. be a mom

4. complete a marathon

5. go to Hawaii

6. go to Europe

7. publish a children's book

8. volunteer regularly at an animal shelter or retirement home

9. win the lottery

10. make a difference in the lives of others ( I am hoping I do this daily, but I am still waiting to hear back)

11. do something really helpful and wonderful for my parents

12. stay clean and organized (look, I need a bigger closet)

13. maintain friendships with the wonderful friends I have in my life now

14. think of 16 other things to put on my list

Me Mosaic

So if you feel that you want to make one also ... here is what you do!

a. Type your answer to each of the questions below into Flickr Search or just google it.
b. Using only the first page of search results, pick an image.
c. Copy and paste each of the URLs for the images into the mosaic maker. Choose 3 columns with 4 rows.
The mosaic maker is on this web address: http://www.bighugelabs.com/flickr/mosaic.php

The Questions:
1. What is your first name?
2. What is your favorite food?
3. What high school did you go to?
4. What is your favorite color?
5. Who is a celebrity you like?
6. Favorite drink?
7. Dream vacation?
8. Favorite dessert?
9. What you want to be when you grow up?
10. What do you love most in life?
11. One Word to describe you.
12. Your flickr name or last name -

What's New

I don't have a lot of words right now because I do not feel well and my neck hurts SO bad! I have never had neck pain like I currently do. I cannot even move it... this is coming from someone with a high pain tolerance. I am miserable!
So here are a lot of pictures to show what I have been up to since I blogged last. We went to my brother's house for Thanksgiving. Buster looks like a giant compared to the little poodles.

I babysat Camden last week and she just makes me laugh. Seriously, how cute is she? What a little ham!

My biggest and most exciting news is that I was voted Teacher of the Year for my school. The best part is that it comes with an awesome parking spot (and some drama). Regardless of the drama, I am really excited about this. I think it is a great honor and I feel blessed to be the TOY.

The Pinheads had our last bowling game. They want to move to softball or kickball next season. I liked bowling, though. Mainly because I had purple sparkly shoes.

Cad stayed with us. I love this dog and miss him! He used to live here. We had fun going to the park and doing big dog things. But Cad also appreciates a lazy Sunday like I do! Gotta love my oodles of poodles and doodles!

We also went to Joe's Christmas party on a harbor cruise in Newport.

It was really cold...

and fun....

and I like to dress up in fancy clothes! :)

Two People In One

So this is the last day in November and I did not nearly come close to blogging daily for the month of November, but I decided to only blog when I wanted to, so I think it is better.

Anyway, I feel like there are two people inside of me and they are constantly battling each other. One is super social and likes to make plans and spend time with all of the important people in her life. The other likes to stay home and do absolutely nothing.... I mean like hours go by and she cannot recall anything that she did.

This weekend, both of those personalities had a lot of stage time. I'm glad!

Joe has no wisdom...

...teeth.

I took the day off of work to take poor Joe to the dentist to get his wisdom teeth yanked. Who waits until they are almost 30?

Anyway, it was the world's most boring waiting room ever! The surgery took more than 3 hours. I wasn't convinced that his dentist actually knew what he was doing. Most of the awards on his wall had to do with pig jaws. Sick! But Joe survived.

Joe is already a man of few words, stuff a little gauze in his mouth and I get to hear myself talk for the next 2 days!

Here is one of my favorite stories to tell and it just happens to be about my wisdom teeth...

I got my teeth yanked when I was 21. They were super impacted and they cut into my sinus, so I had a nose bleed for 24 hours! Yuck! Anyway, I am usually pretty quiet and reserved, at least while in the company of doctors who are taking care of me. But after being put under, I will a little pill. I refused to sit in the wheelchair on the way out. When they finally got me in, I flung myself out of it as soon as I saw my dad's car. My mom then took me to McDonald's because I needed to eat. She asked if I wanted a shake or a sundae. I exclaimed I wanted them both. She went on to explain that she did not have enough cash because she had to pay for my pain killers. By the time she got to the window, I was screaming "I want a shake and a sundae and a Britney Spears CD", with blood coming out of my mouth of course. Good times.

I hope poor Joe feels better soon!