For those of you that still care...

My life has been kind of crazy lately. Actually it seems like life has been crazy for a lot of people these days. With the world going to hell and all.

After we left Canada Keith and I were both broke and unemployed. We knew going into the whole Canada adventure that we'd be unemployed after it was over, but the plan was to be the opposite of broke. Theoretically we should have left Canada with most, if not all of our short term debts paid off and have money to spare. But Canada screwed us over. Keith's friends screwed us over. But, back to the point. We were unemployed. We both got jobs fairly quickly, which is kind of amazing given the economy. Keith is working at Countrywide again and is doing quite well. He has a better job than he had before we left. That was definitely a blessing.

For the first few months we were back I was working two jobs at Pier 1 and The Grill on the Alley. I quit Pier 1 right before the holidays and am currently just working as a hostess at The Grill - and upscale steak and seafood restaurant in the Galleria. I really like, it just doesn't pay what I should be making as an educated 27 year old. But through it I've gotten to meet Roger Staubach, Jessica Simpson, Chad Hennings, Dooce McAllister and a couple of other semi-celebrities.

I had to drop out of the Art Institute when we left for Canada. The plan was to re-enroll once we got back, but financially it just didn't make sense. So I tried to enroll at UTA, but because I owe the Art Institute money, they wouldn't release my transcripts to UTA, and therefore UTA wouldn't process my application. It was quite enfuriating and you should probably consider yourself lucky that I didn't go off on my normal tangent about that whole ordeal. So, I've had to put Art School on the back burner until my life is back in order and all of my debts are paid off. It sucks, but it is the responsible decison that I must make at the moment. I 100% plan to go back someday because it is my passion and what I want to do. But it'll be a few years I'm sure.

Meanwhile, I've decided to pursue an alternative certification to teach 4th through 8th grade math. I took my first content exam last week and am just waiting for the scores to be posted. If I passed that then I can start applying to schools. Please pray that I passed! Luckily I know a lot of teachers and school administrators, so I feel very blessed with hook-ups in a lot of districts in DFW. I'm really excited about this next chapter in my life. I think I'll be a really great teacher and I think it'll be a great fit for me. (Thank you Monica for all the advice and support!! Its been very helpful!)

So for the time being, Keith and I are still struggling to make ends meet and to make up for the debts that have accrued as a result of the Canada ordeal. Such is life, you learn from your mistakes and use your lemons to make lemonade.

Please keep praying for me and for us!!

I love America!

Yeah, so sorry for the lack of updates for the last few months. One of these days I'll have the time and energy to tell the whole story, but for now I'll just say that Canada was a bust. We're back in Texas, and have been since September 28th. Canada screwed us over. But I am very happy to be home. There are lots of things about the Canada experience and my life at this moment that suck. But there was one wonderful thing that came out of us leaving Canada two months before we were supposed to, and her name is Iggy...

Canada is very cold. Its in the 50's today. I think I've been cold for a week straight. I'm looking forward to experiencing a real winter and the beginnings of a white holiday season, but I know I'm in for a bit of a shock. Keith brought the only heavy jacket he has - a leather jacket. They told us that he'd have to get a new one because once winter hits as soon as he walks outside, the leather will crack instantly.

We finally got to move into the guest house, otherwise known as the A-frame. The place is a lot bigger than I thought. There are two bedrooms and two bathrooms downstairs. There is also a huge loft area upstairs that has four more beds. Its really cool. Its very rustic and woodsy. Its really nice, but it was built in the 60's so it has all of the problems of an old place - it creaks a lot at night, there are mice living in the walls, and it is quite drafty. But I like it so far. Its a little scary to be here alone at night. There is a sliding glass door and two windows that don't have curtains or anything on them. At night it is pitch black when you look out them. And of course they are in the middle of the living room where I use the computer and watch TV. It's a little creepy, but perhaps it'll toughen me up.







It was rainy out today. It makes for beautiful scenery. It also makes it quite cold.




We haven't really done much other than work. We've been working 6 days a week, which is exactly what we intended to do - make money and save money. We also spent one evening playing poker with Natalie and Stosh. I've really tried to avoid learning to play poker. I'm not really sure why, I guess just to be stubborn. Keith loves to go play. But I learned, and I'll admit it was quite fun.



Keith and I also drove into Dryden on one of our nights off and had a date night. That consisted of Chinese food and a trip to Walmart. The food was alright. I wouldn't really call it Chinese food. There wasn't a single Chinese person working there or eating there. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't great. And it cost us $50.

We've been making good money and saving a ton. I'm definitely glad we decided to do this. I think it will really give Keith and I the fresh financial start we need. We're having fun and getting to experience a new lifestyle. But I am getting really homesick and I'm glad we won't be living in Canada permanently. I miss my kittens so much. And I miss my bed, my new Dallas apartment and all my friends and family.

Keith and I have been in Canada for a little over a week. As I'm writing this, this is the view I'm looking at. (I haven't quite mastered the art of taking scenic pictures on my camera, so its a little dark, but I'm working on it.) The weather has been pretty amazing. It looks like it could rain today. I walked out on the porch to take a few pictures of the sky. I was wearing some old Nike running shorts and a t-shirt and it was too cold. I had to go back in and put pants on. I'm not sure what the temperature actually is since everything is in Celsius up here. According to weather.com it is 63 degrees out. I've been meaning to post about all the happenings since we set out on our journey, but every time I sit down, I just can't bring myself to do it, so here goes...

We left Dallas last Monday. Of course it was raining and we still had errands to run, so instead of leaving at 8:30a.m. like I had hoped, we finally got on the road at 11:30. We made a lunch stop in McKinney at Taco Bueno, figuring we wouldn't see many more Bueno's as we went further north. It rained the entire day, all the way through Oklahoma and Missouri. The most exciting thing that happened on Monday was at our dinner stop. Around 5:30 we stopped in Vinita, Oklahoma at Clanton's Cafe. According to Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives if you go to Clanton's you have to eat their Calf Fries. Perhaps Keith and I are just not well enough educated in southern foods, but neither of us knew what they were and the waitress wouldn't tell us. So she brought us a sample. Some of you may be laughing at us at this point. It turns out Calf Fries are Bull testicles. Yeah, I'm serious.


The rest of our drive was pretty uneventful. We stayed a night in Des Moines. We saw lots of cows and corn fields. It was a really beautiful drive, but rather boring. I really never realized how beautiful Minnesota is. I guess its since I'm from Texas and never get a chance to see rocky hills and fur trees, but Minnesota was exceptionally nice. We stopped at the Wienery and had Drive-In Dogs and fresh cut fries. They were delicious! If you're ever in Minneapolis, you should try it out.


We finally made it to the border around 10:30 on Tuesday night. Keith made me drive through because he wasn't sure if his license was valid. We had no problems at customs and made into International Falls without trouble. I was surprised it was so easy since we had an entire Jeep full of luggage. From the border we had a two hour drive ahead of us. We switched and Keith drove the rest of the way. Our drive from International Falls to Vermilion was somewhat frightening. It was absolutely pitch black and there were no street lights. The road was a narrow one lane high way and the only other cars out were 18-wheelers, and they were usually coming from the opposite direction. Let me tell you, there are very few things more scary than an 18-wheeler coming at you, going 70 mph on a dark narrow road. At one point, the road turned from a well paved highway to a gravel road. And there were still 18-wheelers coming at us going 70 mph! Keith and I were both having panic attacks. He was trying to drive slowly, but we were still sliding around on the gravel and when the 18 wheelers would pass they would throw the gravel up on us. Keith was so scared that when it was all done his brand new Jeep was going to be covered in large dings. But we arrived unharmed and Keith's car has no damage. We got to the house at 1:00a.m. and went straight to bed.

The next day the people we're staying with (Stosh and Natalie) showed us around town, or rather the surrounding towns of Dryden (30 minutes away) and Kenora (1 hour away). The city we're living in is Vermilion Bay. Approximately 300 people live here. The town consists of lots of lakes and camp grounds. During tourist season (which is apparently almost over) tourists come to stay in the camps and go on hunting and fishing expeditions. There is also a gas station, a grocery store (or co-op as they call it) and a few restaurants. The nearest Walmart is in Dryden so if we need anything beyond the basics we have to drive 30 minutes. The first evening we were here our hosts wanted to take us into Kenora to see a movie. (The nearest movie theatre is in Kenora.) All three cities (Vermilion Bay, Dryden, Kenora) are on the same highway which is undergoing major construction. So if you try to go somewhere there is a good chance you'll have so sit for at least 15 minutes while they close down your lane and let the other side pass. It took us an hour and a half to get to the movies and when we got there, it was sold out. So we turned around and came home.

It is so surreal to be here. It is beautiful and a nice change of scenery, but it is just so weird to be in such a small town so far away from the big cities I'm used to. Growing up I though Kennedale was a small town, but compared to Vermilion Bay, Kennedale is Manhattan. I have never experienced a place like this. Everybody knows everybody. The nearest major town is Winnipeg and it is 4 hours away.

So far all I've really done is work. Which is good because thats what we came here to do. I had forgotten how exhausting waiting tables is. I'm getting a pretty good work out and making good money. So is Keith. And the good thing is, there is nothing here to spend money on, so we won't be tempted to spend what we make.

I miss home so much! I miss my kittens terribly. I miss my bed and my city apartment. By the time our stay here is up I am going to be so home sick!

3 Things I like About Canada:
1. The weather
2. The scenery
3. The unpolluted breathing air

3 Things I Dislike About Canada:
1. The lack of cell reception
2. You are not here
3. My kittens are not here

WAAAAAHHHAAAA

The complete Canada post will come tomorrow. I promise.

I'm in Canada! I'm a bit exhausted so I'm not going to do a full post now. It is beautiful here and I think we're going to have a great time. Pictures will come soon.

Sorry about the double posting on a few things recently. I tried to use YouTube's automatic posting, but it didn't appear to work. So, hence the double post of Kim Zmeskal.

I already miss my kittens so much. Its actually to the point where I found one of Murphy's hairs on something and I kept it. I don't know how I am going to last three whole months without them. Kareah, I miss you too!!

Kim Zmeskal the Great!

The Olympics are one of my favorite things. Particularly the Gymnastics. When I was younger, my favorite gymnast was Kim Zmeskal. When I googled her today I found out that she now owns a gym in Coppell which is about 20 minutes from my apartment. I may have to stop by sometime and catch a glimpse of one of my childhood idols. And you better believe when I have daugthers I will do my best to make them Olympic stars. (Not in a bad way.) Take a look at this video of Kim's beam routine. Such control. It's amazing!!

When I was younger and my dreams of Olympic gold were still alive, Kim Zmeskal was my favorite gymnast. In the early 90's she was IT. She was the gymnast to be. I loved watching her and wanted to be her. She's been retired since 2000, but she is still my favorite. Check out this beam routine from the 1991 Worlds.



After googling her today I found out that she now owns a gym in Coppell, not 30 minutes from my apartment. You better believe that when I have daughters I will try my hardest to pass on my love of gymnastics to them. Maybe one day they can train under the great Kim Zmeskal and my dreams of Olympic gold can be passed onto the next generation.

This montage of Kim is also amazing. She sticks everything perfectly. It gives me chills. And her whipback tumbling passes are incredible.



Oh, to be young and in shape again.

A few months ago I got a speeding ticket. I won't bore you with the story, but lets just say I got screwed over by the city of Dallas. I had to pay $275 for the ticket and today I've been doing defensive driving on-line for an additional $25. I'm thinking the other 10 people who were pulled over on the side of the road with me are probably doing the same thing. If there are that many people pulled over in the same spot, wouldn't you think the city might say to itself "Perhaps the speed limit in this school zone is not marked very clearly. Perhaps we should fix that or at least give these poor people a warning instead of a $275 ticket." BUT NO.

Anyhow, today while doing my defensive driving I did learn one interesting fact: If a police car (with lights and siren), a fire truck (with lights and siren), an ambulance (with lights and siren), and a postal vehicle all arrive at a four-way stop intersection at the same time, who has the right-of-way? Because they are conducting official United States business, under federal law, the postal vehicle has the right-of-way.

With that, I leave you for the weekend. I hope that your weekend is relaxing and enjoyable. At least 4 hours of mine will be spent finishing defensive driving.

Canada, oh Canada! Let's leave today!

It's official! Keith and I are leaving for Canada on August 18th and returning home sometime around Thanksgiving. After much reserach, we figured out it will be a lot cheaper to drive instead of fly. So we're taking a road trip through Oklahoma, Kansas, Missouri, Iowa, and Minesota. If all goes as planned we should arrive in Vermilion Bay late Wednesday night.

We have recently become addicted to "Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives" on the Food Network, starring the wonderfully cocky Guy Fieri. I have planned our route through the US so that we can have meals in at least three of the diners featured on the show. We'll actually drive past 12 so I've been having a tough time narrowing it down.

Right now our day 1 itenarary includes a nutritious breakfast of Egg McMuffins at McDonalds, lunch at Clanton's Cafe in Vinita ,Oklahoma and dinner at 39th Street MaMa's in Kansas City, Missouri. We'll stay for one night at the La Quinta in Des Moines, Iowa. (No we will not be eating at the Denny's next door.) Day 2 will probably begin with a complimentary hotel breakfast and then a lunch at The Wienery in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Truth be told, The Wienery was the deciding factor in my decision to undergo our adventure to our neigbor to the North. Last Sunday Keith and I were watching the Burgers and Dogs episode of "Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives" and The Wienery was one of the featured dives. I decided I absolutely had to have a specific hot dog that includes cole slaw and there homemade chili sauce. Normally that kind of thing wouldn't sound good to me, but this looked amazing!! So I said "Keith, thats it, we're going to Canada. I MUST have that dog."

I'm not sure what we'll do for dinner that evening. There are five or six diners in Minneapolis, but none any further north. So I had tentatively scheduled a stop in Duluth at Hell's Kitchen, a restaurant that I found on-line. But Duluth is only about two hours north of Minneapolis. We won't really have made enough progress in our drive to warrant a stop, nor will we be hungry. I can't find any information about any of the cities further north. Its mainly small Minnesota towns. So, at this point, I'm thinking we'll drive till we hit the Canadian border and go through customs, and surely there will be something near there suitable to eat. Rest assured, I will take LOTS of pictures to document our journey.

Meanwhile, I have about a million things to do between now and when we leave. It's one thing to move to a different city for a few months, it's quite another to move to a different country. I know Canada isn't that different from the US, but there are so many logistical things that have to be taken care of. We need international travelers health insurance. We need to figure out how we'll get money into our US bank accounts. I have to find a home for my kittens while I'm gone, which, to me, is like trying to find a home for my children. We have to arrange for people to pick up our mail and check on our apartment periodically. The list goes on.

Bottom line, I am SUPER EXCITED and I cannot wait to leave!

"Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also." (Matthew 6:21)

The writer of this verse probably wasn't referring to physical possessions when he wrote this, but it definitely applies. You can learn a lot about a person by knowing what they hold dear to their hearts. Here are three things that mean a lot to me.

My Kittens. Most of my friends don't like cats or are conveniently allergic. I think cats get a bad rap. It is true, they are not at all like dogs. But to say that cats aren't loyal, playful, or loving is a straight up lie. Ellie (left) and Murphy (right) are two of my best friends. They have personalities and are genuinely loving creatures. Sometimes they can sense that I am having a bad day or am upset and they will sit with me or curl up in my lap. At night they sleep next to me. Often I will wake up and Murphy will be snuggled up under my arm so that I am spooning with the cat. They provide me with an unmeausurable amount of joy and entertainment. Almost every day at work I get on Craigslist and read through all the adds of people who are trying to find new homes for their pets. It breaks my heart to see how many people are simply getting rid of their animals. Just giving them away like you would an old pair of pants. I cannot fathom how people are willing or able to do this. There is not a thing in this world that could make me get rid of my kittens. I would risk my life to save Ellie and Murphy. They are my family, my friends, my babies and I need them just as much as they need me.



My Aggie Ring. If you're not an Aggie, you probably won't get this. Most colleges have class rings, but very few students actually ever get one let alone wear it. At A&M you count down the days until you are able to get your Aggie Ring and once you have it, you wear it forever. There are very strict rules about who is able to purchase one. You have to have a certain number of A&M hours, a certain GPR, etc. When you can finally order your Aggie Ring it is a HUGE deal. The Association of Former Students throws a big party at the Clayton Williams building on campus. Numbers and stickers are handed out, people wait in line for hours, family comes in town to see the big moment. (My family did not. I'm the red headed step child. No bitterness.) Its an important moment in the life of an Aggie. Every Aggie Ring looks the same. You have three choices: white or yellow gold, antiqued finish or not, and diamond or no diamond. Every detail of the Aggie Ring has significance.

The Aggie Ring is so important to the Aggie family that each year in the A&M Alumni magazine a whole issue is devoted to it. It always includes stories of miraculous ways Aggie Rings have been returned to their owners after having been lost. Stories of soldiers losing their ring on the battle fields of World War II or Vietnam, only to be returned to them decades later. I got my first Aggie Ring on September 22nd of 2004. Yes, I said first. Somehow I managed to lose my first one. I think it was accidentally thrown away inside a rubber glove when I was working at Bernie's (a coffee shop.) At a little over $400, it took me over a year to save up the money to buy the second one. I'm hoping one day my story can be featured in the A&M magazine after my first ring finds its way back to me. There is also the Aggie tradition of "dunking" your ring. It involves dropping your ring in a pitcher of beer and drinking it as fast as you can, ending up with your ring between yoru teeth, while your friends watch on. (Or hold your hair back while you barf.) Some people do a certain number of shots, a pitcher of soda, a huge ice cream sundae, but most do beer. Stupid...absolutely, but a priceless memory I will never forget! My Aggie Ring represents 6 years of my life (the best I've had so far,) the wonderful friends and memories I made, all of the life and academic lessons I learned, and the school that I love so much.



Charlie the Bunny. In 1999 a devastating tornado hit the Oklahoma City area. A group from my church youth group went on a mission trip to help clean up after the disaster. We took two vans full of teenagers and stayed at a church in Oklahoma. We brought sleeping bags, toiletries and work clothes. All of the girls and women slept in one giant carpeted room and the boys in another. We got up every morning at the crack of dawn and did hard manual labor all day. I spent one day in a field picking up debris - anything from pieces of houses to paper trash. (Did I mention this was in the dead heat of summer.) Another day was spent in a huge warehouse separating clothing donations that people around the country had given. And I spent another day in a food shelter packaging frozen blueberries. My hands were stained blue for several days after that. The work was hard and it was exhausting, but very rewarding. In the evenings we would go out to eat and hang out with all of the other youth groups that had come to help. It was just an all around great time. We had a blast. On the trip home to Arlington we stopped in an outlet mall and did some shopping. It was there that I saw Charlie. The name given to him by the Ty corporation was Hippity, but I named him after the cute boy I had spent that week swooning over. I haven't seen that boy since that trip and actually didn't even remember that he was my bunny's name sake until I was writing this. I slept with Charlie the Bunny every night until I moved in with Keith. Now he sits beside me on my bedside table. Charlie has been on many trips with me, stayed with me through out college, through break ups and crushes, and through times when I didn't really see the point of going on. He is a very snuggly friend and I will keep him forever.

Today is one of those days where I'm wondering "Whats the point?" Actually, its been one of those weeks. I'm overall frustrated with life. I'm a sad panda, if you will.

#1. I'm really happy that I'm back in school studying something that fascinates me. I'm excited about my future as a designer. However, I'm not excited about my present. This quarter I'm taking Life Drawing I and History of Art and Design. I am the opposite of excited about these classes. So far we've spent two classes drawing skulls and skeletons. I'm not very good at it, so its been 6 hours of utter discouragement. Do you know what its like to be forced to spend long periods of time doing something you're not good at? Its kind of like someone repeatedly kicking you in the stomach. On top of that, its so damn expensive. At the Art Institute it costs $437 per credit hour. Each class I'm taking this quarter is 3 credits, 6 total. So thats $2622 in tuition, plus about $200 for books and probably another $150 in supplies. That is so much money that I don't have. I'm willing to take out the student loans for the end result. But right now, it is grueling. AND, on top of it all, I feel like there is no end in sight. I'm in my 4th quarter now. I'm taking 6 hours per quarter, because that is what I can "afford" and that I can handle, time wise. I started with 37 transfer hours from A&M. The program I'm in is 180 hours.

So...

180 total credits needed
-37 transfer

-24 credits earned

119 credits still needed

At this rate...

6 credits per quarter

4 quarters per year

24 credits per year

4.9 years left of school!!

I'll be 31.4 when I get out. I know, I chose this. And I really am excited about it. But right now I'm overwhelmed.

#2. Keith and I are in one of those seasons where we are getting on each others nerves constantly. I feel like he doesn't help me out enough around the house, he's bad with money, he's not motivated to change his dissatisfaction with his job or his financial situation, he's never going to grow up and stop wanting to go out with his friends and drink all the time, and he will never want to marry me. He feels like I never want to do anything or be social, I sleep too much, I complain too much that he doesn't help me with things, and when he does help I complain about how he does them. I'm condescending, I nag him about money, I'm pressuring him to get married. I'm sure there are a million other things he could say. I'm at a standstill and I want change. But I don't know how to get it. It takes two to tango and I'm the only one who wants to dance.

#3. I started this "new" job on May 21, 2007. I had my one year review today. The whole reason I got this job was because I wanted to move to this part of the metroplex so that I could be closer to Keith so that we could see each other more thinking that would lead to marriage. Nope. Originally I was a Project Manager. I started out with a huge pay increase from my previous job and excellent benefits. About 4 months in I decided that I wanted to go back to school. A few months after that I decided that it was way too hard to juggle school and working full time. I approached my boss about decreasing my hours. I explained the whole situation to her. This was in March of this year. She offered me a new position as an Assistant Project Manager where I could decrease my hours to 32 per week. This decreased my pay by 20% which is the percentage I was decreasing my hours per week. Totally fair. What she didn't tell me was that due to this change I would not be eligible for a raise at my one year review. In fact, she did say "You do have a review coming up." Which made me think she was saying "I realize we're decreasing your pay quite a bit, but with your one year review coming up, you'll likely get a raise which will make up for the $8000 less a year you'll be making." I was wrong. They told me in my one year review that because of my change of position I would not be getting a raise and that I am actually over paid.

Again, I chose the change in position and decrease in pay. I know this. The decrease in hours is awesome and I'm not sure how I'll ever go back to working full time. But I was really counting on getting a raise of some sort. Its so disheartening. Keith and I can barely afford to eat.

I could continue on with the compaints, but I'm too sad to do so. I need a nap, a good cry, or a strong drink.

I am very much looking forward to this weekend. It is 4:30 now and I am finishing up the last few things I need to get done at work. (Billing my time in "Web Time Sheets", cleaning up my office, etc. You know, the really fun stuff. Ugh.) The day has been dragging by. If I can just make it through one more hour...

Tonight Kareah is coming over and we are going to watch the new MxPx dvd she got in the mail this week. We are both pretty psyched. MxPx was one of our favorite bands when we were in high school. We went and saw them several times and were always so stoked when we would actually get to talk to or even stand near one of the band members. I had a particular infatuation with Mike Herrera. In fact, I still do. He's on my top 10 list!


Saturday I'm meeting my dad at his apartment at 10:00 am. Which is a little earlier than I'd like to be up and moving around on the weekends, but thats okay. I know at this point you're thinking that 10:00 am is so late, and that I'm spoiled. But I'm unmarried and have no kids and that is one of the luxuries I have for "choosing" to be 26 and "alone". You get to claim children on your taxes, I get to sleep late. Anyways. I'm meeting my dad at his apartment and then we are meeting my uncle Jon and two cousins, Jessica and Elizabeth, at Wet N' Wild!! (I refuse to call it Hurricane Harbor. It will always be Wet N' Wild to me.) I'm super excited about this. I haven't been to Wet N' Wild since....well, since it was called Wet N' Wild, which was when I was still in high school. Kareah and I used to go somewhat frequently. And my friend Amy and I spent a good portion of the summer of 99 or 2000 there. When your 17ish theres nothing better then spending the hot summer days in the Lazy River being hit on by the boys who would stand on the little bridges waiting for girls to float by. Those were the days. I'm exceptionally excited this time though. I rarely get to hang out with my cousins. They are about 11 years old and are just the sweetest things! I know when I was 11 I enjoyed hanging out with older girls and young women, which is the category I think I fall into. I'm young enough to where they still think I'm cool, and I'm glad that I can share in some of their happy child hood memories.

This picture was taken during Christmas of '06. We were all showing off our new watches. My uncle Jon is the man in the picture, Jessica is in the red shirt and Elizabeth is in the black shirt standing in front of me.

Saturday night Keith, Lou, Mike and I are going to see the Dark Knight. I have been looking forward to this movie for months!! I have been counting down the days ever since I saw the first preview (a few weeks before Heath Ledger passed away.) I am still really sad about Heath being gone and I really hope that the Academy will honor him with recognition for his role as the Joker. Granted, I haven't seen the movie yet, but from what I hear he is supposed to be incredible.

I defy you to tell me that that is not one of the most beautiful men you've ever seen.

Chaos

I know I've been on a bit of a blogging hiatus lately. This is why...

I like moving, but man is it a lot of work.

Picture of the Day, July 8th

Beauty for beauty's sake. Because I need a little in my life right now.

The mind does strange things to the body...

A few weeks ago I was packing up the mass quantities of books that Keith owns and I came across one that looked interesting to me. A couple of days later, as I was home alone, I decided it would be a good time to start reading. It is called The Night Stalker by Phillip Carlo and it tells of the murder spree, capture and trial of Richard Ramirez (aka the Night Stalker) in the Los Angeles area in the mid 80's. It is a true story, it is terryfying and yet it is so interesting that I haven't been able to put it down. I won't go into any detail because I know that one of the few people that actually reads my blog is my cousin Kareah and she doesn't need to hear any of the scary stories that have kept me awake for the last week.

On Friday night Keith and I were doing the last minute packing and disassembling of things so that we could move the following day. We disconnected all of the TV's, DVD players, computers and radios. He had to work the next morning so he went to bed around eleven o'clock and I stayed up to get some more things done. Keith was in the next room sleeping and I was scurrying about the rest of the house in absolute quiet with no TV or radio to keep me company. Our old apartment has two large sliding glass doors whose blinds don't close all of the way and three windows whose blinds I keep partially up so that the cat can look out the window. A few hours earlier I had read several chapters in my book and was a bit on edge. In the middle of packing a box I heard a very loud bang which sounded a lot like someone kicking in my door. I jumped about three feet in the air and I swear to God my heart stopped beating for three whole seconds. My darling cats had chosen this time to chase each other around the house causing chaos and knocking into the door. The adrenaline was pumping through my body so intensely that my chest literally hurt. I calmed down a bit and got in the shower, poking my head out of the shower curtain every few seconds to make sure there wasn't a serial killer in my bathroom. I barely slept a wink that night.

Over the weekend Keith and I were together pretty much every second of the day and night so I had little time to be scared. But as he left me at home alone yesterday to go to work and again this morning, I couldn't help but feel afraid. I jump at every noise at night and triple check the locks on all the doors and windows. As the elevator doors open up into the parking garage I get in ready mode in case there is someone waiting to attack me. But I still can't stop reading. It is amazing to me that the mind has so much power over the body. The things we read about or watch on TV really can take a hold of us if we let it. It makes me realize how important it is for parents to not only take an active role in what their children allow into their heads, but also effectively teach them how to deal with the bad things that will inevitably get in. Perhaps if Richard Ramirez's parents had done that, he wouldn't have killed so many people and I wouldn't be reading a book about him today.

Picture of the Day, July 3rd

In 2005 I went to a reunion in Collge Station with my best friends. We had a blast reliving old memories and drinking too much. This picture was taken the first night we were there at the Chicken. It reminds me of good times and happy thoughts. I think its the perfect send off into a holiday weekend.

Todays the day the teddies will have their picnic!

In a few hours I get to pick up the keys to my new apartment. I am psyched!! I have a vision for this new place. A decorating vision, that is. Now if I can just come up with the money to make it happen. It won't take much, but as I've mentioned before, I don't have much. I've been watching a lot of HGTV and other decorating shows lately and I have some good ideas. Stay tuned and I'll eventually post some pics of the new pad and the decorating process.

FYI, I still haven't talked to my dad. I will do it soon and I'll let you know how it goes.

Picture of the Day, July 2nd

I wish I were there instead of at work. Actually, I just wish I were on a beach, not necessarily this one in El Salvador. Perhaps Fiji, Hawaii, Australia or California.

At Any Given Moment

If you flip through the top 40's/pop stations on the radio you will hear at least one Justin Timberlake song. It could be NSync, a collaberation with Nelly Furtado or Madonna, or perhaps one of his solo songs. It could be from 1998 or 2008. The man is everwhere and I am a big fan. Go ahead, turn on your radio, try it out. It is truth.