Visiting in AZ

Well, dad and I embarked on a journey on Saturday to Phoenix by way of Tehachapi, CA and Route 66. It has been a great trip full of laughter and fun! Yesterday we arrived in Chandler where we are staying for the next 5 days to see the Brewers in some spring training games! I can’t wait. I will also get to see Ruben, Stacy and the boys!

Enjoy some photos from our trip so far…

Tehachapi: We went from Tucson to Tucumcari last year… and this year was Tehachapi to Tonopah.

Victorville, CA : Where we started our Route 66 journey.

Inside the bar at the Oatman Hotel and Cafe. Dollars signed by lots of people and hung on the walls. They estimate around $80,000 hangs on these walls!

The Snow Cap in Seligman: If you ever travel Route 66… you have to stop here… even if you don’t eat here, it is an awesome little place and the people are great!

Flagstaff: The Museum Club: Look this one up and read all the history. It’s pretty cool. Used to be a taxidermy museum, now it’s a country bar. Even still. Lots of neat history.

Off to Phoenix Municipal Stadium to see the Brewers battle the A’s this afternoon!

Tags: adventures, excitement, family, happiness, journey

2012?!

Can you believe it is 2012?? I surely can’t.

Here I will start a new tradition…. I, for the first time, am going to fill out the year in review!!  (Thanks Mel)

1. What did you do in 2011 that you’d never done before?

Got a speeding ticket!!

2. Did you keep your new years’ resolutions and will you make more for next year?

I did not make 2011 resolutions… I am not sure I like the idea of resolutions… but I think I will give it a try this year.

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?

Dave and Dayle welcomed Owen

4. Did anyone close to you die?

No, thank goodness!

5. What states/countries did you visit?

Well considering I drove home from AZ, I stopped in a lot of places! Pennsylvania in April, and of course my trip to Disneyland in October.

6. What would you like to have in 2012 that you lacked in 2011?

Positivity.

7. What date from 2011 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?

June 24- the day I got in the car to leave behind AZ and come home to WI!

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?

Getting a full time job (to be started in February)

9. What was your biggest regret of the year?

Stressing about all the little things

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?

Just the normal seasonal cold

11. What was the best thing you bought?

A Milwaukee Brewers 20-pack

12. Whose behavior merited celebration?

Jacki!

13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?

Someone who shall not be named here.

14. Where did most of your money go?

Bills, house

15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?

Moving home and being home for the little things

16. What song will always remind you of 2011?

I don’t really have a song….

17. Compared to this time last year, are you:

i. happier or sadder? neither

ii. thinner or fatter? fatter

iii. richer or poorer? poorer

18. What do you wish you’d done more of?

Looking out for me

19. What do you wish you’d done less of?

Putting all my eggs in one basket, letting the little things get to me.

20. How will you be spending Christmas?

I spent Christmas Eve at mom and dank’s, Christmas morning there also, and traveled with Mike to Ixonia Christmas afternoon.

22. Did you fall in love in 2011?

yeah…

23. How many one-night stands?

none

24. What was your favorite TV program?

The Sing Off…. though I enjoy The Biggest Loser also

25. Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year?

no hate

26. What was the best book you read?

Heart of the Matter by Emily Giffin

27. What was your greatest musical discovery?

hmmm…. I don’t think I really discovered anything new…

28. What did you want and get?

A refinished basement

29. What was your favorite film of this year?

Fast 5 (there are some amazing looking men in this movie!) or Mr Poppers Penguins…. (hilarious)

30. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?

I turned 29… met some friends out and had some beverages

31. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?

Not letting the little things get to me so much.

32. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2011?

Scrubs for work…. and casual, cute and comfy….

33. What kept you sane?

Jacki, sewing

34. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?

Paul Walker, Vin Diesel, Dolvett

35. What political issue stirred you the most?

I don’t like politics, I try to stay away from them.

36. Who did you miss?

Gramma

37. Who was the best new person you met?

I didn’t really meet any new people…

38. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2011:

Patience, honesty, and communication will help you move forward.

39. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year:

This is not easy….

“Love starts with a toothbrush, a bic razor and a dixie cup,

a little splash of aftershave before you leave for that first date

Seeing stars in both your eyes after that first kiss goodnight.”

~Brad Paisley “Toothbrush”

Day 11

Day 11:

Put your iPod on shuffle and write 10 songs that pop up.

1. Michael Buble – How Sweet It Is

2. Rascal Flatts – Break Away

3.Marc Broussard – Come Around

4. Sara Evans – Saints and Angels

5. Gretchen Wilson – Good Ole Boy

6. Fergie – Glamorous

7. Miley Cyrus – The Climb

8. Hunter Hayes – Storm Warning

9. Carrie Underwood – Undo It

10. Bucky Covington – I’ll Walk

That’s quite the list.

Days 7-10

I am really going to try to do a better job of keeping up with this challenge…

Day 07

Your zodiac sign and if you think it fits your personality.

I am a cancer. Read about cancers here. I think that for the most part, I fit the Cancerian well…. here are a few snippets I find exceptionially true…

“They are often over-imaginative and prone to fantasy, sometimes trying to shape their lives to fit some romantic ideal.”

“They are appreciative of art and literature, and especially of drama, where the spectacle and ebb and flow of action and feeling particularly excite them.”

“They love unreservedly, giving much and asking little in return – in fact, one of the most important lessons they have to learn is to receive gracefully.”

“They are too easily influenced by those they love and admire, and swayed by the emotion of the moment.”

Do I fit the cancer mold? Let me konw what you think.

Day 08

A moment you felt the most satisfied with your life.

Hmmmmm…..this is a most difficult statement to respond to. There have been many times that I have been satisfied with my life… but the most satisfied? To be honest, I don’t think I am there yet. I don’t think I have hit the most satisfied moment… I have a lot more life to live, and someday I will hit that moment!

Day 09

How you hope your future will be.

Here’s hoping my future is filled with love and happiness… and some little rugrats running around (and that’s all there is to say about that)

Day 10

Discuss your first love and first kiss.

My first love…I would have to say was in 8th grade. Now, did I really love him? I don’t know, I was far too young to really know, but I sure thought I did, and was absolutely devastated when he no longer wanted to be my boyfriend. He was also my first kiss. In the stairway at the front of the school, I was going outside to wait for my parents to pick me up, and he was on his way to catch the bus. How strange that I can remember this as if it were yesterday.

 

Happy Monday!

Day 6

Write 30 interesting facts about yourself.

I don’t know if there are30 interesting things about me…..

1. I have never broken a bone.

2.I wuold like to open my own practice someday.

3. My favorite color is yellow.

4. I love writing lists.

5. I love the accomplished feeling when you cross something off the above mentioned lists… so much in fact, that if I do something not on the list, I write it down just to cross it off.

6. I have been to 10 major league ballparks.

7. I love surprises…

8. … but I don’t like the unknown.

9. I feel all emotions on a very deep level.

10. I do not like confrontation.

11. People have told me that I am too passive.

12. I am almost always late… and if I am not late, I worked extra hard to be on time.

13. I love any chance to get dressed up.

14.  I would rather make you mad than disappoint you.

15. My mind is always about 43 steps ahead of what I am currently doing.

16. I don’t have a favorite drink. I like just about anything.

17. I would rather have 3 good friends than 25 acquaintances.

18. I often put everyone else’s need ahead of my own.

19. I enjoy doing things for other people just because I can.

20. Fall is my favorite time of year.

21. I want kids more than anything in this world.

22. I believe that my family members who have gone before me are my angels in Heaven watching over me!

23. I am a sucker for girly movies.

24. I dream of living the “happily ever after”

25. I hate assumptions.

26. Music is my outlet.

27. I love to shop. For anything.

28. I make most of the presents I give.

almost there…..

29. Sometimes my dreams come true… and then I get a weird sense of deja vu!

30. I believe in Santa.

 

Well there you go, I hope you found at least some of them interesting.

Tags: adventures, facts, me, random

Days 3, 4, and 5

Wow, I’ve already fallen behind. This is not as easy as it seems. There is this thing called life, and it happens!

 

Day 3:

Your views on drugs and alcohol.

Drugs and alcohol…. well I am not a proponent of any kind of drug. I think it is foolish to use drugs for recreation. Though some would argue that alcohol is indeed a drug… hmmm. I enjoy alcohol, in moderation. I don’t think there is much out there that I don’t like, but this does not make me an alcoholic. Maybe I see them differently because alcohol is legal and drugs are not. I see nothing wrong with meeting friends for a beverage or two, but would never think twice about meeting friends to shoot up/snort/smoke any kind of drug. So there it is.

Day 4:

Your views on religion.

Another tricky subject for some. Am I spiritual? yes. Am I religious? sometimes. I don’t necessarily like organized religion. I believe in God, and I pray… but I am not so sure that I have to have a building to go to in order to do this. Do I like going to church? sometimes. Sometimes I like to have other people’s perspectives on things, but not always. I think that everyone has a right to a belief. Nobody’s beliefs are right or wrong or better or worse. Whether it is how you were raised, or what you were influenced by, or how you react to what happened in your life, your thoughts are your thoughts. Who am I to tell you that they are wrong? Nobody.

Day 5:

A time you thought about ending your own life.

Yeah… pretty sure I couldn’t do that. Sure, I have been down sometimes and there doesn’t seem to be a light at the end of the tunnel, but I don’t think it’s ever been that bad. I can’t imagine doing that to my family either. My mom and dad don’t deserve the heartache because I felt things weren’t going my way. Life isn’t always fair, but sometimes you have to look at the silver lining in the black clouds….. life goes on.

 

Alright, I am going to get back on track with this thing now…

Tags: adventures, journey, life, unknown

Friday, my friend…

… we meet again!

 

Oh how I love Fridays! And this weekend is looking to be fantastic! It all started with a Brewer game with dad yesterday (even though they lost, we had a good time). Tonight is Mulvs’ 50th Birthday Party. I can’t even believe it. It’s at the Holler House, and it is going to be a damn good time!

Tomorrow is some stuff around the house (can’t neglect the house and the animals all weekend!) followed by Sam’s birthday party.

Sunday… well Sunday is Ren Faire. Have I mentioned how much I *LOVE* Ren Faire? cuz I do! There will be drinking, eating, and laughing, and having a grand ol time!

Monday is canning salsa, dilly beans, and garlic at Mom and Dank’s followed up with dinner.

Alas, it will be Tuesday and back to work. I have a feeling Tuesday is going to come far faster than it should!

 

Enjoy the extended weekend friends!