A Tribute

Today the world lost one of it's wonderful people. My best friend's Mom passed away. Donna was such a wonderful person. There wasn't any one who met her who wasn't instantly her friend. She was always smiling, always laughing, and always had a wonderful memory or story to share. My memories of Donna start in 1999, but I feel like she's been a part of my life forever. She was the "cool mom" who took us out shopping, to dinner, on the boat (although we weren't allowed to listen to any of our m-fer rap). She let us celebrate my bachelorette weekend with her. She hit on young guys in Chicago. She listened to the whole of what you had to say. She made you feel special and important and supported every decision or choice you made because she had confidence that you were making that right one. She empowered you to always be the best at what you were doing. She loved football, and food, and wine, and her idea of a good time was spending quality time with friends and family. I am truly blessed to have had her as part of my life, and although my time with her was far too short, I will always treasure the impact she had on my life.

I will always love you and miss you Donna!

Six Months

Happy Half-Birthday Harper! I cannot believe how fast time has gone by. Today, as she bent over and picked up her piano and flipped over to play upside down, because she likes it better that way...well that just goes to show how far she has come.
Milestones for her 6th month:
She got and survived her first major cold
She finger painted at daycare
She's expanded her food repertoire to include peas, carrots, and pears
She still doesn't like bananas
She zoomed all around Grandma's house in a walked chasing the dogs
She eats solids two times a day
She examines things before putting them in her mouth, like she's trying to figure out how they will taste

Keep growing my little pumpkin head.

Day 10 - Something I'm afraid of

So I thought about this a while and I came up with something I am truly afraid of...I cannot walk down stairs when it's dark.

I get freaked out for so many different reasons...I might fall...what might be at the bottom...I can't count the number of times I've freaked out even going down the three stairs in my backyard if it's too bark out. I literally have to talk myself out of a spaz attack when I have to go down stairs without light.

So there you go...It's pretty weird, I admit.

Day 9 - Picture of my friends

Here are a few of my faves.


OSU National Championship Victory in 2003


Green Bay vs. Bengals 2009

The Wolf Wedding 2008

Hocking Hills 2005

Day 8 - Places I've traveled

If I listed all the places I've traveled, this would be a very long post. So I'm taking a liberty with today's topic and putting two places I would like to travel, but haven't yet been.

NYC

That's right...this well traveled lady has never been to New York City. It's on my short bucket list of places I want to go. Who knows when I'll get there...but someday soon I hope. Top on my list to do there is a Broadway show, picnic in Central Park and shopping for knock offs.

Ireland

I'm thinking this will be a good family trip when Harper's older. If Joe gets his way, and saves up the money, we will be spending an entire summer in England in about 7-8 years, so we'll definitely have to head to the Land of the Lochs when we are there.

Day 7 - Favorite Movie

Is there a movie that magically makes sick babies feel better so their mom and dad get a full nights sleep? If so, then that is my favorite movie!

In reality, here are my faves.

Can't Hardly Wait

This is one of those movies that I know all the words to because I've seen it so many times. I think it's because I wanted to be invited to some huge party when I was in high school, but I was never cool enough. Plus, who doesn't love Seth Green

Mean Girls

This movie is one that I can put on any weekend and watch. My love for this movie began when it first came out and my best friend and I went to see it in the theater. I can remember the power going out right at the end and totally missing part of it. It didn't matter, we were hooked from the beginning. Even Joe will watch this one with me.

The Wedding Planner

This is one of those guilty pleasure movies. I don't own it, but I will watch it every time it is on T.V. I can't help but getting sucked into Matthew McConaughey movies.

Day 6 - Pictures that make me Happy

With the beautiful Fall weather, we've been taking Harper to play at the park right on the corner by our house. She loves the swing and the teeter-totter, but she's not sure about the slide yet.




She loves to play in the leaves also. She likes the crackling sound they make when she grabs them in her hands.

And of course, she likes to try and eat them too.

Day 5 - My Sistas

I have two younger sisters. I grew up as the big sister and spent a lot of time helping to take care of them. They are 6 and 8 years younger, so I had quite a head start on them. We are three very different people. Growing up it was really hard for me to relate to them. I’m happy that as we’ve gotten older, it’s gotten a little easier.

My middle sister, Melody is growing up to be a wonderful woman. She’s getting married next summer, is going to college, and works at a job she enjoys. I am so happy that she has created a life for herself that makes her happy.

My youngest sister, Brittany is still figuring out who she is. I don’t know where she will end up, but each day I hope that she makes choices that lead her somewhere great.

I love being the big sister…I’m made for it. I’m bossy and opinionated. What more does an older sibling need?

Day 4 - Parents

My parents are great people. As I’ve said before, I grew up an Air Force brat. This meant we moved every 2-3 years. Every time we moved, I began all over again…the only people I knew were my parents and sisters. If we weren’t a strong family unit, we never would have survived.

I credit my parents for all the things good about me. I’m independent, faithful, motivated, reliable, and intelligent. All these things are because of the opportunities they provided, and how they helped me to make the most of them.

A special note about my dad; he is my stepdad, although I don’t think I’ve thought of him this way ever. He married my mom when I was 5 and has been such a great influence in my life. The most recent incident when I realized how he shaped my life was Sunday when Joe was doing the Sunday crossword puzzle. The clue was “Star Trek Commander.” He gave me W _ _ F. Thanks to my fabulous father I of course knew the answer was Commander Warf. Thanks for instilling a little dorkiness in me dad! I love you even if you are a Michigan Fan.

Day 3 - Your First Love

My first Love...I could be cheesy and say it was the first boy I kissed in the 8th grade...of course we were in love, duh!

The truth is, Love is when you would rather do something that makes the other person happy than something that makes you happy, and I never felt that way until I met Joe.

We met our Freshman year at OSU. We lived on the same floor at Stradley hall. (Incidentally this is where I met one of my female "loves" Mrs. EyeCanSee) Here's his freshman year BuckID picture.

I can distinctly remember saying the Mrs.EyeCanSee "Joe's a nice guy but I don't ever see us being more than friends."

Well, almost 12 years later, I've never been more glad to be so wrong about something. I can't imagine my life without Joe as my best friend, my husband and now the father of my daughter.

Day 2 - Meaning Behind My Blog Name

When I first started blogging (and still now) I get a lot of my stories from my experiences as a teacher. So many times a day I am struck speechless by the stupid things 8th graders do and say. Thus they leave me thinking "If I could only find the words..."

Joining in the fun

Many of the bloggers I follow are participating in this fun little game. I am going to join in...I'll just be one day behind. What can I say, dare to be different I guess.

Day 1: Introduce, recent pic, 15 interesting facts.

So this picture isn't recent, but I like it...so there it is.

Interesting Facts:

1. I grew up an air force brat, so I've lived in 7 different places in my life...the one place I'd like to go back to is San Antonio. I want to enjoy the city as an adult.

2. One of my favorite websites to waste time on is Craigslist. I like to see all the weird crap people put out there for the world to see.

3. I like smoking cigars. It's not the best habit in the world, and I don't do it often, but I enjoy the buzz you get.

4. I'm addicted to Sudoku on my iPod touch...I sometimes spend way too much time "in the bathroom" trying to finish a puzzle.

5. I sometimes wish I could curse at my students...a sad admission, but seriously sometimes I just need to say "What the hell are you thinking?"

6. I love getting pedicures. It's the most relaxing thing ever...plus a guaranteed 30 minutes to myself.

7. I have read the entire Harry Potter series at least 6 times. I always hate the movies when they first come out, but the more I watch them the more I love them.

8. I have absolutely no desire to read any of the Twilight books. I try to avoid all things vampire...although The Vampire Diaries has me totally hooked. It's my one vampire vice.

9. I've had to bail someone out of jail before. A roommate of Joe's got busted for serving underage...I figured since I was one of the underage, I should bail him out...plus I was the soberest one at the time, so I was "elected."

10. I love being a working mom, although the best part is being a teacher and knowing how much time off I will have to spend with Harper. I can see how much she picks up at daycare, and I don't think I could offer the same thing staying at home with her by myself.

11. My most favorite movie of all time is Can't Hardly Wait...Aman-DUH.

12. I think the e-trade baby commercials are hilarious...nothing is funnier than a talking baby. Sometimes I move Harper's mouth and "act out" the lines with her.

13. One of my favorite things to do "with" my husband is when we are both in the basement, but I'm on the computer and he's watching dumb stuff on t.v. I love how comfortable we are with each other.

14. I have serious road rage...I have to be careful or Harper's first sentence will be "Get out of the fast lane jerk off."

15. There's nothing better in life than the realization that you wouldn't change anything about your life...I get that feeling often. That's how you know you are truly happy.

Life's Little Ironies

Here are some ironic things I've noticed lately.

1. This was totally me today...

only on the built in TV I was watching Giada cook some cheesy Italian food. There is something inherently wrong with watching a cooking show while working out.

2. The other day I was out running and a saw a woman in a Commit To Be Fit t-shirt....smoking a cigarette. I don't think she got the message.

3. While driving to a fiends house on the freeway I got stuck behind a woman driving 45mph and prominently displayed on her bumper was...

Take a tip from your car decal and step on the gas lady.