I'm a Total Sucker + Sept Goals

Even if it's not something I need or want or sometimes even like, if it's free - I WANT IT!

Yeah, I'm a total sucker for that 4-letter word.

If you're a Google fan and own an Android operated phone, you probably already know about Google Music. Well, did you know every day they feature at least one free song of the day? I've gotten some rather unusual great songs!

For today's run, I set my phone to randomly choose songs from the whole library, which led to an very interesting (read: very fun) run.

I'll do a full write-up on the run later, but as a teaser, let me just say - No knee discomfort though it is bothering me now. No shin pain. No hammie tightness. Plus fun times dodging the tourists on the Strip. Oh yeah, and LOTS of stairs and escalators.

I stopped midway to snap a pic of me at the Brooklyn Bridge the small one in Vegas bonus points if you can name the movie?

I even attempted an outdoors vlog during my cool down. Problem: It was really windy, which means lots of crackly feedback. Maybe I'll attempt to re-record the audio. Stay tuned.

******
I'm not really a huge goal maker, but as the final day of the August's Writing Challenge, I figure why not make a couple goals for Sept?

• First and foremost, FIND A JOB! I realize this is somewhat out of my control, but I need to focus and re-double my efforts. Time is ticking. I do have an interview on Monday. Yay!
• Run 60 miles. That's just like 13-15 miles a week. Totally do-able, right?
• Incorporate more yoga and stretching and strength training.
• And a couple of challenges. I think I'll try to creatively combine Fitness Cheerleader's Sept Writing Challenge with NaBloPoMo Sept Theme: Eye. Should be a challenge to combine the two challenges. I'm also hoping to join Candace by posting a picture every day on Instagram, Twitter, and/or FB. 

What are your goals for Sept? Will you be joining in on any of these challenges?
Do you ever randomly download free music?
Tweet

Saturday evening randomness

This afternoon, I went for a bike ride.

Check out that elevation profile! Naturally, the worst of the hills came at the end along with an ever-so-lovely headwind. Yikes! Next time, perhaps, I'll do the reverse for maybe a slightly easier ride.

Other than the last few miles with the headwind, this was all on city streets - not separate bike paths.

Does anyone else feel weird about just going out for a bike ride on city streets without any particular destination or purpose? Whenever I start to go fast, I think, Why? I'm in no hurry. I still try to push myself. But, I'm not gonna lie. It just feels weird.

As I pulled up to a red light, I could see the State Capitol in the distance.

In other randomness, when you visit a blog, do you check out the sidebar? I generally try to, but I'm not always the best at it. That said, I tend to expect that visitors to my blog are checking out my sidebars. Sometimes, I add something to the sidebar without ever mentioning it in a post. Now, I wonder if maybe I shouldn't do that.

So, just in case you missed them...

I've decided to join a couple different challenges for April.

First up, I'll be joining Run to the Finish for: 30 Days of Fun

I'm super excited for this challenge! Who doesn't need a little more fun in their life? I want to laugh more and try some new things. We'll be moving soon, so I've got to do this challenge on the ultra-cheap free side of fun.

Amanda also posted a calendar with some ideas. Click on the picture above or in the sidebar to see her calendar and get more info about the challenge.

A few ideas I might try yeah I stole a few from Amanda's calendar:

• run like Phoebe
• sing in the shower
• solo dance party in the living room
• bike to a friend's for a puppy play date
• Pinterest funny photos
• YouTube funny videos
• experiment with different laughs
• organize a game night
• read funny greeting cards
• do a cartwheel
• do something with a friend(s)
• stop to take more pictures when out running or cycling

If you have any other fun free ideas of things to do, let me know.

I doubt I'll post my fun every day in a blog post, but I'll try to at least share what I do on Facebook and Twitter.

The other challenge I'll be doing in April is: Amazing Arms 'n Abs April

I found this challenge via Ali Mc at Running with Spatulas, but she found it on Domestic Diva in Training's blog. I think I'll follow over at Domestic Diva primarily because there are a few exercises on this calendar that I am not familiar with at least by name.

Hopefully this challenge will motivate me enough to actually do some core work. At this point anything will be better than what I have been doing. I think a lot of my problem is knowing what to do, so this should help to solve that.

How will you be challenging yourself in April? I'll be doing the both two challenges Feel free to join me. plus continuing with my marathon training.

Do you check out a blog's sidebar? I'm not always the best at this, but I do try to check them out at least occasionally.

Ever feel weird about bike riding with no particular purpose other than exercise? Obviously, I do.

24 - Unaired Pilot back from 1994

Even if you've never watched the show 24 (I've never even seen one episode), I'm sure you'll still find this hilarious! My boss was cracking up watching it at work a few weeks ago, so she sent me the link.

It's always good to laugh at work.

Cold Enough for Ya?

I received this as a forward from my aunt in Arizona. I thought it was incredibly funny! Instead of forwarding it on to others, I thought I'd just post in up on my blog.

65°
Arizonans turn on the heat.
People in Minnesota plant gardens.

60°
Californians shiver uncontrollably.
People in Minnesota sunbathe.

50°
Italian & English cars won't start.
People in Minnesota drive with the windows down..

40°
Georgians don coats, thermal underwear, gloves, wool hats.
People in Minnesota throw on a flannel shirt.

35°
New York landlords finally turn up the heat.
People in Minnesota have the last cookout before it gets cold.

20°
People in Miami all die.
Minnesotans close the windows.

0°
Californians fly away to Mexico.
People in Minnesota get out their winter coats.

 - 10° below zero:
Hollywood disintegrates.
The Girl Scouts in Minnesota are selling cookies door to door.

 - 20° below zero:
Washington DC runs out of hot air. (Ya think? Nah.).
People in Minnesota let the dogs sleep indoors.

 - 30° below zero:
Santa Claus abandons the North Pole.
Minnesotans get upset because they can't start the snowmobile.

-40°  below zero:
ALL atomic motion stops.
People in Minnesota start saying..."Cold enough for ya?"

-50°  below zero:
Hell freezes over.
Minnesota public schools will open 2 hours late.

In some ways, I think this email forward is eerily accurate. It was relatively warm today; we actually approached 30°F!! In turn, I wore a skirt to work yesterday, and no long johns for a walk outside this afternoon. Guess I'm more Minnesotan than I like to admit. :))

Oops!

Tonight I stopped at two stores on my way home. The first stop didn't have what I wanted, so I hustled on to my next stop.

I had quite a scare while driving through one parking lot. I was on the road that runs through the lot, and a van came speeding up toward me. It did not appear to be slowing at all, let alone stopping. I thought for sure I was going to get hit.

I thought, "Come on, white van! Get a clue. It's nighttime. You need to have your lights on!"

And on I went.

As I was crawling through the parking lot of my actual intended store, there was a cop walking out of the store. He motioned to me to turn on my lights. Wait, what? My lights are totally on.

I looked down to my dash, and lo, and behold, my little indictor light was, in fact, not illuminating.

OOPS!!

Walking Log

I don't have any stats for this post, but I certainly did A LOT of walking yesterday.

It was my dad's birthday, and we decided to take our annual pilgrimage to the Great MN Get Together. We are all day fair-goers. We arrived at the fair around 7am and left around 10pm.

It was non-stop walking all. day. long.

There were a few pauses here and there as we ate, decided what to do/where to go next, and there was quite a bit of standing.

What there wasn't much of was sitting.

It was still great fun! I LOVE the fair!!

Creative outlet

Several weeks ago, I was wandering around Michael's while Jeff was picking up paint supplies.

I thought, "Hey! I want to do something creative, too."

Jewelry making? No.

Painting? Uhn-Uhn.

Floral Arranging? Nope.

Hmm... what's a girl to do?

I was wandering around aimlessly trying to think of something that would appeal to me--that I could have some fun with.

And then...it hit me...CAKES!

I'd researched fondant cakes before, and now I decided that it would be a fun creative outlet for me. I bought a few new cake pans, a cake leveler, and a fondant cutter (none of these are technical names). I was excited to give it a shot!

I made my own marshmallow fondant last week. I had intended on making some fancy cakes or cupcakes for our YW Garage/Bake Sale but couldn't ever find the energy. Instead my first attempt at a fondant cake was for my niece's birthdays. We were celebrating both Selena's 13th birthday and Susie's 7th birthdays. The cake turned out to be more for Selena, as it was decorated in her favorite colors--orange and pink!

There were definitely some flaws, but I thought it turned out really well for my first attempt. Everyone else thought so, too.

Selena wanted her picture taken with the cake. When she was posing, she said, "I want you to make my wedding cake." I was honored! I figure I have at least 6 years to perfect my cake decorating!

Journal Topic: Describe a favorite childhood friend and some things you did with him or her.

Tara Wildman
She was probably my best friend in 7th grade. We had so much fun together. I remember when we got going, we would just laugh and laugh and laugh.

We were on the softball team together in junior high.

One time, we went on a field trip in 7th grade to the cities to see a concert and go to the Science Museum. We were on the same bus on the way home, and we were just silly.

A month or so after that, she spent the night one Friday night at my house. I remember how much fun we had together.

I also vaguely remember camping in her backyard.

There was singing, I definitely remember that. We would get a song in our head and just belt it out. Two songs that we would frequently sing were “Hold On” by Wilson Phillips and “It Must Have Been Love” by Roxette.

Journla Topic: Did you have a favorite T.V. show as a child or youth? Or radio show?

Probably too many.

Here are a few that were can't miss shows for me. There were many more shows that I watched!

Made by ME!

Lucky you!

The first 5 people to respond to this post will get something made by me!
My choice.
For you.

This offer does have some restrictions and limitations:
1- I make no guarantees that you will like what I make!
2- What I create will be just for you.
3- It'll be done this year.
4- You have no clue what it's going to be. It may be a story. It may be a picture of myself, or a handmade piece of artwork for your living room. I may sew you something. I may bake you something. Who knows? Not you, that's for sure!
5- I reserve the right to do something extremely strange.

The catch?

Oh, the catch is that you must repost this on your blog and offer the same to the first 5 people who do the same on your blog. The first 5 people to do so and leave a comment telling me they did win a FAB-U-LOUS homemade gift by me! Oh, and be sure to post a picture of what you win when you get it!

LETS PLAY!

Do I have a LIFE??

I found this on my friend's blog.

Lists are fun, right? So, I thought I'd check to see how many movies on this list I'd seen. Apparently, if you've seen more than 85 (out of the 237 movies), you have no life.

Let's see how I did. I've marked the ones I've seen.

(X) Rocky Horror Picture Show
(X) Grease
(X) Pirates of the Caribbean
(X) Pirates of the Caribbean 2: Dead Man’s Chest
( ) Boondock Saints
(X) Fight Club
(X) Starsky and Hutch
(X) Neverending Story
(X) Blazing Saddles
(X) Airplane

( ) The Princess Bride
(X) Anchorman
(X) Napoleon Dynamite
( ) Labyrinth
( ) Saw
( ) Saw II
( ) White Noise
( ) White Oleander
(X) Anger Management
(X) 50 First Dates

(X) The Princess Diaries
(X) The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement
(X) Scream
( ) Scream 2
( ) Scream 3
(X) Scary Movie
( ) Scary Movie 2
( ) Scary Movie 3
( ) Scary Movie 4
(X) American Pie

( ) American Pie 2
( ) American Wedding
( ) American Pie Band Camp
( ) Harry Potter 1
( ) Harry Potter 2
( ) Harry Potter 3
( ) Harry Potter 4
( ) Resident Evil 1
( ) Resident Evil 2
(X) The Wedding Singer

(X) Little Black Book
( ) The Village
(X) Lilo & Stitch
(X) Finding Nemo
(X) Finding Neverland
(X) Signs
( ) The Grinch
( ) Texas Chainsaw Massacre
( ) Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning
( ) Butterfly Effect

(X) 13 Going on 30
(X) I, Robot
(X) Robots
(X) Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story
( ) Universal Soldier
(X) Lemony Snicket: A Series Of Unfortunate Events
(X) Along Came Polly
(X) Deep Impact
( ) KingPin
(X) Never Been Kissed

(X) Meet The Parents
(X) Meet the Fockers
( ) Eight Crazy Nights
(X) Joe Dirt
(X) KING KONG
(X) A Cinderella Story
(X) The Terminal
( ) The Lizzie McGuire Movie
( ) Passport to Paris
(X) Dumb & Dumber

( ) Dumber & Dumberer
(X) Final Destination
( ) Final Destination 2
( ) Final Destination 3
( ) Halloween
(X) The Ring
( ) The Ring 2
(X) Surviving X-MAS
(X) Flubber
( ) Harold & Kumar Go To White Castle

(X) Practical Magic
( ) Chicago
( ) Ghost Ship
( ) From Hell
( ) Hellboy
(X) Secret Window
(X) I Am Sam
(X) The Whole Nine Yards
(X) The Whole Ten Yards
(X) The Day After Tomorrow

( ) Child’s Play
( ) Seed of Chucky
( ) Bride of Chucky
(X) Ten Things I Hate About You
(X) Just Married
( ) Gothika
(X) Nightmare on Elm Street
(X) Sixteen Candles
(X) Remember the Titans
(X) Coach Carter

( ) The Grudge
( ) The Grudge 2
(X) The Mask
( ) Son Of The Mask
( ) Bad Boys
( ) Bad Boys 2
( ) Joy Ride
( ) Lucky Number Slevin
(X) Ocean’s Eleven
(X) Ocean’s Twelve

(X) Bourne Identity
(X) Bourne Supremecy
( ) Lone Star
(X) Bedazzled
( ) Predator I
( ) Predator II
( ) The Fog
(X) Ice Age
(X) Ice Age 2: The Meltdown
(X) Curious George

(X) Independence Day
( ) Cujo
( ) A Bronx Tale
( ) Darkness Falls
( ) Christine
(X) ET
( ) Children of the Corn
( ) My Bosses Daughter
(X) Maid in Manhattan
(X) War of the Worlds

(X) Rush Hour
(X) Rush Hour 2
( ) Best Bet
(X) How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days
(X) She’s All That
( ) Calendar Girls
( ) Sideways
( ) Mars Attacks
( ) Event Horizon
(X) Ever After

(X) Wizard of Oz
(X) Forrest Gump
(X) Big Trouble in Little China
(X) The Terminator
( ) TheTerminator 2
( ) The Terminator 3
(X) X-Men
( ) X-2
( ) X-3
(X) Spider-Man

(X) Spider-Man 2
(X) Sky High
( ) Jeepers Creepers
( ) Jeepers Creepers 2
(X) Catch Me If You Can
(X) The Little Mermaid
(X) Freaky Friday
(X) Reign of Fire
(X) The Skulls
(X) Cruel Intentions

( ) Cruel Intentions 2
( ) The Hot Chick
(X) Shrek
(X) Shrek 2
( ) Swimfan
( ) Miracle on 34th street
(X) Old School
(X) The Notebook
(X) K-Pax
(X) Krippendorf’s Tribe

(X) A Walk to Remember
( ) Ice Castles
( ) Boogeyman
( ) The 40-year-old Virgin
( ) Lord of the Rings Fellowship of the Ring
( ) Lord of the Rings The Two Towers
( ) Lord of the Rings Return Of the King
(X) Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark
(X) Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom
(X) Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade

( ) Baseketball
( ) Hostel
( ) Waiting for Guffman
( ) House of 1000 Corpses
( ) Devils Rejects
(X) Elf
( ) Highlander
( ) Mothman Prophecies
(X) American History X
( ) Three

( ) The Jacket
( ) Kung Fu Hustle
( ) Shaolin Soccer
( ) Night Watch
(X) Monsters Inc.
(X) Titanic
(X) Monty Python and the Holy Grail
( ) Shaun Of the Dead
( ) Willard
( ) High Tension

( ) Club Dread
( ) Hulk
( ) Dawn Of the Dead
(X) Hook
( ) Chronicles Of Narnia: The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe
(X) 28 days later
( ) Orgazmo
( ) Phantasm
(X) Waterworld
( ) Kill Bill vol 1

( ) Kill Bill vol 2
( ) Mortal Kombat
( ) Wolf Creek
( ) Kingdom of Heaven
( ) the Hills Have Eyes
( ) I Spit on Your Grave aka the Day of the Woman
( ) The Last House on the Left
( ) Re-Animator
( ) Army of Darkness
(X) Star Wars Ep. I The Phantom Menace

(X) Star Wars Ep. II Attack of the Clones
(X) Star Wars Ep. III Revenge of the Sith
(X) Star Wars Ep. IV A New Hope
(X) Star Wars Ep. V The Empire Strikes Back
(X) Star Wars Ep. VI Return of the Jedi
( ) Ewoks Caravan Of Courage
( ) Ewoks The Battle For Endor
(X) The Matrix
(X) The Matrix Reloaded
( ) The Matrix Revolutions

( ) Animatrix
( ) Evil Dead
( ) Evil Dead 2
( ) Team America: World Police
(X) Red Dragon
(X) Silence of the Lambs
(X) Hannibal

Apparently, I have no life.

Of course with only having seen 116 of these movies, I haven't even seen half the list...

That should say something, right?

Thanksgiving Humor

Recently I received a parrot as a gift.

The parrot had a bad attitude and an even worse vocabulary. Every word out of the bird's mouth was rude, obnoxious and laced with profanity.

I tried and tried to change the bird's attitude by consistently saying only polite words, playing soft music and anything else I could think of to "clean up" the bird's vocabulary.

Finally, I was fed up and I yelled at the parrot. The parrot yelled back. I shook the parrot and the parrot got angrier and even ruder.

So, indesperation, I threw up my hands, grabbed the bird and put him in the freezer. For a few minutes the parrot squawked and kicked and screamed.

Then suddenly there was total quiet.

Not a peep was heard for over a minute.

Fearing that I'd hurt the parrot, I quickly opened the door to the freezer. The parrot calmly stepped out onto my outstretched arms and said,

"I believe I may have offended you with my rude language and actions. I'm sincerely remorseful for my inappropriate transgressions and I fully intend to do everything I can to correct my rude and unforgivable behavior."

I was stunned at the change in the bird's attitude.

As I was about to ask the parrot what had made such a dramatic change in his behavior, the bird continued,

"May I ask what the turkey did?"

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

I received this in an email from my Dad.

Photo Tag

My friend Lara tagged her sister, Kristina, (and apparently me, too, but I first saw it on Kristina's blog today. Sorry, Lara!), and Kristina tagged anyone who'd like to do it. I thought it sounded like fun, so here is my 6th photo from my 6th album.

This is from my good friend's wedding in Aug 2004. Don't they look incredibly cute and happy and in love?? He's from Mexico, so they had a mariachi band at their reception. Very fun!

My Own ABCs

My friend, Lara, listed this on her blog, so I thought it would be fun to post it to mine as well!

A-Attached or Single: Attached
B-Best Friend: Jeff
C-Cake or Pie: Cake (except at Thanksgiving)
D-Day: Sunday
E-Essential Item: Cell phone
F-Favorite Color: Orange
G-Gummi bears or gummi worms: Gummie bears
H-Hometown: Alexandria, Minnesota
I-Indulgences: Facebook, chocolate
J-January or July: July
K-Kids: Not yet
L-Life is incomplete without: Jeff
M-Marriage Date: December 21, 2004
N-Number of Siblings: 11 (1 sister, 2 brother, 2 half-brother, 3 step-sisters, 3 step-brothers)
O-Oranges or Apples: Apples
P-Phobias or Fears: Falling in the shower, Failure
Q-Quote: Nothing's jumping out right now...
R-Reason to Smile: My new home--closing on Sept 30!
S-Season: Autumn
T-Tag Three: Marla, Elizabeth, Jill
U-Unknown fact about me: I share WAY too much information, so I can't think of anything.
V-Vacation destination of choice: Dubai or London
W-Worst Habit: Procrastination
X-X-Rays or Ultrasounds: X-Rays.
Y-your favorite food: Grilled Pizzas
Z-Zodiac Sign: Leo

16/100

The Big Read, an initiative by the National Endowment for the Arts, has estimated that the average adult has only read 6 of the top 100 books they’ve printed.

How did you do?
1) Look at the list and bold those you have read.
2) Italicize those you intend to read.
3) Star the books you LOVE.

1 Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen
2 The Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkien
3 Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte
4 Harry Potter series - JK Rowling
5 To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee
6 The Bible
7 Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte
8 Nineteen Eighty Four - George Orwell
9 His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman
10 Great Expectations - Charles Dickens
11 Little Women - Louisa M Alcott
12 Tess of the D’Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy
13 Catch 22 - Joseph Heller
14 Complete Works of Shakespeare
15 Rebecca - Daphne Du Maurier
16 The Hobbit - JRR Tolkien
17 Birdsong - Sebastian Faulks
18 Catcher in the Rye - JD Salinger
19 The Time Traveller’s Wife - Audrey Niffenegger
20 Middlemarch - George Eliot
21 Gone With The Wind - Margaret Mitchell
22 The Great Gatsby - F Scott Fitzgerald
23 Bleak House - Charles Dickens
24 War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy
25 The Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams
26 Brideshead Revisited - Evelyn Waugh
27 Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoyevsky
28 Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck
29 Alice in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll
30 The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Grahame
31 Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy
32 David Copperfield - Charles Dickens
33 Chronicles of Narnia - CS Lewis
34 Emma - Jane Austen
35 Persuasion - Jane Austen
36 The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe - CS Lewis
37 The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini
38 Captain Corelli’s Mandolin - Louis De Bernieres
39 Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden
40 Winnie the Pooh - AA Milne
41 Animal Farm - George Orwell
42 The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown
43 One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
45 The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins
46 **Anne of Green Gables - LM Montgomery
47 Far From The Madding Crowd - Thomas Hardy
48 The Handmaid’s Tale - Margaret Atwood
49 Lord of the Flies - William Golding
50 Atonement - Ian McEwan
52 Dune - Frank Herbert
53 Cold Comfort Farm - Stella Gibbons
54 Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen
55 A Suitable Boy - Vikram Seth
56 The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon
57 A Tale Of Two Cities - Charles Dickens
58 Brave New World - Aldous Huxley
59 The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time - Mark Haddon
60 Love In The Time Of Cholera - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
61 Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck
62 Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov
63 The Secret History - Donna Tartt
64 The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold
65 Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas
66 On The Road - Jack Kerouac
67 Jude the Obscure - Thomas Hardy
68 Bridget Jones’s Diary - Helen Fielding
69 Midnight’s Children - Salman Rushdie
70 Moby Dick - Herman Melville
71 Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens
72 Dracula - Bram Stoker
73 The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett
74 Notes From A Small Island - Bill Bryson
75 Ulysses - James Joyce
76 The Bell Jar - Sylvia Plath
77 Swallows and Amazons - Arthur Ransome
78 Germinal - Emile Zola
79 Vanity Fair - William Makepeace Thackeray
80 Possession - AS Byatt
81 A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens
82 Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell
83 The Color Purple - Alice Walker
84 The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro
85 Madame Bovary - Gustave Flaubert
86 A Fine Balance - Rohinton Mistry
87 Charlotte’s Web - EB White
88 The Five People You Meet In Heaven - Mitch Albom
89 Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
90 The Faraway Tree Collection - Enid Blyton
91 Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad
92 The Little Prince- Antoine De Saint-Exupery
93 The Wasp Factory - Iain Banks
94 Watership Down - Richard Adams
95 A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole
96 A Town Like Alice - Nevil Shute
97 The Three Musketeers - Alexandre Dumas
98 Hamlet - William Shakespeare
99 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Roald Dahl
100 Les Miserables - Victor Hugo

How about you? (I got this off my friend's blog. She said, "The Big Read is legit, but who knows if the list is, but it was still fun to see what books I'd read on "someone's" list!" I agree!)

I finally got around to finishing the scrapbook pages from when Brian & Nancy & family stopped in Minneapolis on their way to Boston.

The first page was featured in "My First Attempt." I've since created two more scrapbook pages on the events and put all three together in a slide show.

Let me know what you think.

Gas Prices

I received these in an email from my dad. I thought they were hilarious!

Fall Leaves at Minnehaha Falls

Living so close to Minnehaha Park, I couldn't resist going on a little photo shoot one Saturday evening.

Here are my 5 favorites:






If you'd like to see more, you can visit my entire album on Picasa: Minnehaha Falls

Where I've Been

A friend of mine put up a map of all the places she'd visited. I thought I'd do the same. Mine isn't nearly as impressive as hers, but here it is...

I only included states that I have actually done something in (not just driven through).



create your own visited states map

Outside of the U.S., I've only been to Canada and the Bahamas, so my world map is even less impressive. I'm not even going to bother posting something like that.

Tag...I'm it!!

I've been tagged by my old friend, Lara. She didn't seem very confident that those she tagged would follow through, so I thought I'd show her. Plus...I thought it would be fun.

What I Was Doing 10 Years Ago: Living in Rochester, NY, adjusting to life as a film student at Rochester Institute of Technology; probably working on a student film. I think this was about midterm.

What I Was Doing 5 Years Ago: Recuperating from my first marathon. It was the last Sunday in September that year, but I bet my body was still a little in recovery mode.

One Year Ago: Adjusting to life in Oregon with my husband as a student and living with my mother-in-law. Also enjoying a relaxing life without a full-time job--just trying to promote my PartyLite business and working part-time as a Classified Substitute in a few area school districts.

Yesterday: Attempted to watch General Conference, scanned in some old photos and memorabilia, napped, read scriptures, enjoyed dinner and good conversation with my family.

Five Snacks I Enjoy:
1. Homemade cookies
2. Doritos with cottage cheese
3. Chips & salsa
4. Pudding
5. Celery/Carrot sticks

Five Things I Would Do With A Million Dollars:
1. Travel the world with Jeff
2. Buy my sister a new house
3. Pay off all our debt (it's not anywhere near a million dollars, but any extra $$ right now goes to that).
4. Fight for custody/visitation rights enforcement for my step-son
5. Create savings accounts for my future children's college

Five TV Shows I Like:
1. How I Met Your Mother
2. General Hospital
3. Big Bang Theory
4. Rules of Engagement
5. Carpoolers
Those are just the ones I watch with any frequency. There are many more I would enjoy watching...but who has the time??

Five Things I Hate Doing:
1. Cleaning the shower
2. Driving
3. Listing things I hate doing
4. Making phone calls
5. Eating leftovers

Five Biggest Joys of the Moment:
1. Learning new things at my job
2. My fabulous studio apartment
3. My fabulous husband, Jeff
4. Relaxing with candlelight
5. Hearing exciting news from old friends/hanging out with new friends

Five People I Tag: Ooohh....this is a tough one... I don't think that I really get all that many visitors. Here are some random friends of mine with blogs, so maybe, just maybe, one of them will read this and respond to being tagged.
1. Rob
2. Sariah
3. Jeff
4. Jill
5. Staci