Day 49: Hopes, dreams, and plans for the next 365 days

So I’m skipping ahead because I still haven’t had a chance to get the photos taken/uploaded.  I’ll come back to days 40, 46, and 48 once I get the pictures.  So for today, we’ll do #49.  Getting these last few days done is the hardest part!

Hopes: I hope we sell our house in Augusta.  I hope for a happy, healthy baby.  I hope we can find a nice house in Charleston that we can actually afford.

Dreams:  Make digital scrapbooks for each year since we got married. Yes, this is a dream because we have almost been married 8 years now and I’m still trying to finish the baby books!  Luckily, our early years of marriage won’t be as hard to get done because we don’t have as many photos from those years (that was before Rob got his nice cameras).  Go on a cool vacation, like maybe back to Mexico or something. 

Plans:  Go camping at the Outer Banks, NC tomorrow (as long as its not raining!). Have a fun girls weekend next week while the guys take a mini-man trip.  Travel to visit family for en early Thanksgiving sometime in November (hopefully we’ll make it to Sumter and Atlanta, but the plans aren’t final yet).  Give birth to baby Bobby in December.  Spend our first Christmas ever at our own house (hopefully with some visitors here to help with Adeline and Bobby).  Not many plans after that until next June when we start looking for a place in Charleston.  Move to Charleston the end of June.  Rob starts radiology residency the first of July.  More beach trips next summer.  Hopefully a fun vacation somewhere in there as well.

Day 46: Photos of personal things in your life (pets, family, house, etc)

I’ll come back to this post once I go around and take some pictures.  I haven’t taken any pictures of our house yet at all, so I’ll definitely post some of those, but its raining right now and so I’ll wait until I can get some photos from the outside of the house too!  For now, I’ll skip this one and post the next.

Day 47: Birthday wish list

Since my birthday isn’t really anytime soon, I think I’ll make this a Christmas wish list.  This is a really hard thing for me to do every year so thinking about it now might help.  I’ll make this list as if we had the money to buy the things on it (we really don’t), but I’ll keep it semi-practical instead of making it pure fantasy :)

1.  A healthy and happy baby boy

2. New clothes…in the form of a child-free shopping spree to the outlets! (I’m already sick of having to wear maternity clothes and I can’t wait to wear real stuff again!) **This one would probably be better for my birthday since I doubt I’ll feel up to it/fit into real clothes 2 weeks after giving birth!

3.  A cool double stroller (yeah, I’m a boring mom, but like I said, I’m making this list practical)

4.  A weekend getaway (maybe to DC) before the baby is born (preferably without Adeline…any grandparents want some quality time with your granddaughter?? ;)

5.  A good hair cut/color.  This one would be best as an early Christmas gift since my hair doesn’t seem to grow when I’m pregnant, so it would take longer for any roots to grow out.  Plus, a couple months after having Adeline my hair started falling out like crazy and I wouldn’t want to spend a bunch of money on a hairstyle just to have to pull it back in a ponytail everyday (I seriously did this for about 7-8 months because if I didn’t, my hair fell out everywhere!). 

6.  Restaurant gift certificates.  Since we are working really hard on saving money and being less frivolous with our spending, we have cut back on eating out and I really miss it.  I would love to try out some of the local restaurants around here that have good reviews online without feeling guilty about spending money.

7.  Xbox Kinect.  This is Xbox’s answer to the Wii.  It is remote-free and uses a camera to sense your whole body’s movements.  It looks really cool.  http://www.xbox.com/en-US/kinect   I had to put one “toy” on my list!

Day 45: A letter to yourself a year ago

Dear Haley (Sept. 2009),

You’re probably reading this while feeding Adeline in the middle of the night.  Don’t worry, she’ll sleep through the night soon.  Take advantage of the 4 naps she takes during the day, because a year from now, she’ll be fighting you to just take one nap a day.  Also, if she falls asleep in your arms or while cuddling, cherish that moment, because she won’t do it for very much longer.  Before you know it she will be so squirmy and curious about everything that cuddling will be completely out of the question.  I know you think she’s cute now, but just wait!  She gets cuter and cuter everyday and she is learning so much, you wouldn’t believe it!  Oh, and don’t be nervous about Rob getting into a good residency program because everything works out great!  You will love living near the beach ;)  Have tons of fun with all your friends now, because a year from now you will miss them a lot.  And one last bit of advice:  Put the house on the market in January or February.  Don’t wait until March because that will be too late!  And don’t waste your time trying to sell it by owner, just go with a realtor from the start and you might have better luck.

-Haley (Sept. 2010)

Day 44: Something that fascinates you and why

****Sorry about the lack of posts for the past few days.  We were out of town and I actually wrote all the posts ahead of time and set them to automatically post, but for some reason, none of them uploaded.  So I’ll just post them for the next few days. 

I am super fascinated by astronomy.  I love to learn what I can about it and I love that there is so much that we don’t know about our universe.  It is so huge and vast and it boggles my mind to think about it.  I find it very exciting that new discoveries are being made about our universe everyday and that something that we think is true could be completely wrong.  I really like to compare what I learn about the universe to spiritual knowledge and I am amazed at how my religious beliefs go hand in hand with a lot of scientific knowledge.  I know many religions try to discount scientific evidence (or at least they used to), but I believe that God works using scientific principles and everything works in an organized manner.  I also believe that we don’t know how everything scientific works, and cannot know it all with our limited brain capacities, so that is why we have to have faith.  Its one of those deep thinking things that you can ponder for hours and never really know everything and that truly fascinates me.

Day 43: A picture of your favorite place in the world

Guanajuato, Mexico

 

This is my favorite city that I have ever visited.  It was beautiful, charming, full of friendly people, full of culture, and had enough modern conveniences to be comfortable.  Oh, and the food was INCREDIBLE!!!  True, delicious Mexican food!  If you want to read more about our trip there, check out our post on our travel blog:

http://egberttravels.blogspot.com/

If you are considering a trip to Mexico, I highly recommend stopping in Guanajuato.  Unfortunately, it is in the middle of the country, not even close to the touristy beaches, but that’s a big part of why I loved it so much!  This is a place that I would love to have a little vacation home someday, a place to get away from it all!

Day 42: A bad habit you have

Here’s today’s real post:

I bite my nails!

I am a very fidgety person and always have to be doing something with my hands, it seems.I have always had this habit as long as I can remember.  I have tried many different things to get me to stop, but nothing has ever succeeded.  I have tried using the bad tasting nail polish (this did get me to stop biting for a while, but it also got me to stop eating anything with my hands!)  It tasted horrible, but when I couldn’t bite my nails, I would pick at them and that was just as bad.  I have also tried acrylic nails, but I still bite at them and then tear them right off my fingers, then I have even nastier nails underneath, so that is probably the worst solution for me.  The only solution that works is being pregnant and taking fancy prenatal vitamins.  My nails get so strong that I can’t bite them off or pick them apart!  But this only lasts while I’m pregnant and then my nails go back to being flimsy and bitable.  Since I discovered this new “solution,” I have realized that I don’t like having long nails, so I still clip them pretty short.  I know its a horrible habit, and maybe one day I’ll find another solution that works permanently, but for now, I’ll just live with it like I always have.   

Day 41: Whatever tickles your fancy

So I am going to postpone this post (it was supposed to be from yesterday) because I wanted to post a bunch of fun pictures we too of Adeline recently (at the petting zoo, which she loved!) and some late “1 year” photos we took at the beach last night.  None of the pictures are edited yet, so I’ll post them once they’re finished!  Stay tuned…

Day 40: A deceased person you wish you could talk to

I would love to get to talk to my grandparents (all 4 of them have passed away).  My parents are both the youngest in their families and so my grandparents were already really old when I was growing up.  I grew up in Atlanta and they lived in Utah, so I only saw them every couple of years when we would go on vacation.  I’m sure they would have tons of interesting stories to tell (especially if they had their full memories/capacities).  I have very fond memories of hearing a few stories and things as a child, but I would have loved to have been able to know them when they were all younger and healthier.  Also, now that I’m more grown up, I would be a lot more interested in the things they have to say and I would love to hear about their experiences when they were younger. 

Day 39: Zodiac sign and do you think it fits your personality

Aquarius

When I tell people that I am interested in ASTRONOMY, many people get that confused with ASTROLOGY and they give me a funny look.  (Well, maybe they give me funny looks either way…)  However, I have no interest in/knowledge about astrology at all, so I had to do some internet searching to find out a little more about my sign.

Here’s what I found (It’s a long article, so I’ll bold and underline the parts that I think are true about me, for those of you who could care less about Aquarians.  I’ll put my comments in red)

Aquarians basically possess strong and attractive personalities. They fall into two principle types: one shy, sensitive, gentle and patient;(I have always been very shy) the other exuberant, lively and exhibitionist, sometimes hiding the considerable depths of their character under a cloak of frivolity. Both types are strong willed and forceful in their different ways and have strong convictions, though as they seek truth above all things, they are usually honest enough to change their opinions, however firmly held, if evidence comes to light which persuades them that they have been mistaken. (I have strong opinions, especially about politics, but I also know that I don’t have a ton of knowledge on all the subjects, so I’m not afraid to learn about something more) They have a breadth of vision that brings diverse factors into a whole, and can see both sides of an argument without shilly-shallying as to which side to take. Consequently they are unprejudiced and tolerant of other points of view. This is because they can see the validity of the argument, even if they do not accept it themselves. They obey the Quaker exhortation to "Be open to truth, from whatever source it comes," and are prepared to learn from everyone.

Both types are humane, frank, serious minded, genial, refined, sometimes ethereal, and idealistic, though this last quality is tempered with a sensible practicality. They are quick, active and persevering without being self-assertive, and express themselves with reason, moderation and sometimes, a dry humor.  (Of course, I’m not all these things, all the time)

They are nearly always intelligent, concise, clear and logical. Many are strongly imaginative (Obviously I’m not very consise when it comes to blogging, but I think the other things describe me pretty well) and psychically intuitive, so that the Age of Aquarius, which is about to begin, is much anticipated by psychic circles as an age in which mankind will experience a great spiritual awakening. The Aquarian philosophical and spiritual bent may be dangerous in that it can drive the subjects into an ivory-tower existence where they meditate on abstractions that bear little relevance to life. On the other hand it can help the many who have scientific leanings to combine these with the Aquarian yearning for the universal recognition of the brotherhood of man, and to embark on scientific research to fulfill their philanthropic ideals of benefiting mankind. When some cause or work of this nature inspires them, they are capable of such devotion to it that they may drive themselves to the point of exhaustion and even risk injuring their health.

Both types need to retire from the world at times and to become temporary loners. They appreciate opportunities for meditation or, if they are religious, of retreats. (I do like some alone time and reflective time) Even in company they are fiercely independent, refusing to follow the crowd. They dislike interference by others, however helpfully intended, and will accept it only on their own terms. Normally they have good taste in drama, music and art, and are also gifted in the arts, (I like to think this is true…)especially drama.

In spite of the often intensely magnetic, forthcoming and open personality of the more extrovert kind of Aquarian, and of their desire to help humanity, neither type makes friends easily. They sometimes appear to condescend to others and take too little trouble to cultivate the acquaintance of people who do not particularly appeal to them.  (I think this goes back to being shy and worrying about what others think of me.  I hope I don’t come off as condescending, but I know I can sometimes be like this)

They do not give themselves easily - perhaps their judgment of human nature is too good for that - and are sometimes accounted cold. But once they decide that someone is worthy of their friendship or love, they can exert an almost hypnotic and irresistible mental attraction on them and will themselves become tenacious friends or lovers, ready to sacrifice everything for their partners and be faithful to them for life. (I love you Rob, forever!) However, they are sometimes disappointed emotionally because their own high personal ideals cause them to demand more of others than is reasonable. And if they are deceived their anger is terrible. If disillusioned, they do not forgive.

Aquarians work best in group projects, provided that they are recognized as having a leading part in them. (Okay, so I don’t love working in groups, but if I am in a group, I tend to take a leading part.  I hate indecision and inefficiency, and if I have to take charge to make sure this doesn’t happen, I will).  They have a feeling of unity with nature and a desire for knowledge and truth that makes them admirable scientists, especially astronomers and natural historians. (Like I said, I love astronomy) They may excel in photography, radiography, electronics - anything connected with the electrical and radio industries - aviation and everything technical. (Did I mention that Rob is also an Aquarius?) On the arts and humanities side their progressive tendencies can be expressed in writing, especially poetry, and broadcasting, or as welfare workers and teachers. (Well, I did teach school for 5 years) Some have gifts as entertainers and make good character actors (having an ability to mimic) and musicians. The more psychic among them possess healing gifts, especially in curing the mentally sick.

Among the faults to which they are liable are fanatical eccentricity, wayward egotism, excessive detachment and an inclination to retreat from life and society, and a tendency to be extremely dogmatic in their opinions. Aquarians can be a threat to all they survey or a great boon for humanity in general. Circumstances - for example, continuous opposition to a cause they hold dear - may cause the atrophy of the openness of mind that is one of the Aquarian's most attractive traits. They may express a lack of integrity in broken promises, secretiveness or cunning. Simmering anger and resentment, rudeness or, worse, a tense, threatening silence which may suddenly burst out in eruptions of extreme temper, these are all part of the negative side of the Aquarian. This can also reveal itself in a sustained hatred for enemies that is capable of enlarging itself into a misanthropy toward the whole of mankind.

http://www.astrology-online.com/aquarius.htm

Day 38: A Photo of Your Parents

A photo from my parents’ wedding

A photo from Adeline’s baby blessing last November

Day 37: A song that you like to dance to

For a girl with no rhythm or coordination, dancing is not on my list of favorite things to do.  So I really don’t break out the dance moves very often.  You can compare my dancing skills to those of Elaine from Seinfeld (I’m actually pretty good at imitating her dancing).  Every now and then Rob will crank up the volume on his “The Way I Are” Pandora station and we’ll dance like idiots around the house (Rob definitely looks less idiotic than me).  But that’s about as far as my dancing goes, so unless you have a hidden camera in my house, you may not ever see me dance.  As for a specific song that I like to dance to, I don’t really have an answer for that.

Day 36: Some hobbies of yours

If you read my blog even semi-regularly, you will know about some of my hobbies, but here’s a recap, in case you don’t know:

Currently I love digital scrapbooking.  Here’s some examples of some of the fun things you can download to use in your books.  (There is a ton of this stuff free on the internet!)  

I also enjoy sewing.  I have a much harder time sewing lately though, because Adeline gets into everything and many times its just not worth it to get everything out while she’s napping and then have to put it all away or out of the way an hour later.

I really like video editing as well.  I have plans to make a one year video of Adeline soon (probably after I finish her scrapbook) but that will be a big project just to make sure we have all the video footage off our cameras and saved somewhere that I can find them on our computer.  (The lack of photo/video organization on our computers right now is driving me insane!  Between the 10 different cameras and 2 computers and different hard drives, not to mention which photos have been edited and saved and which have just been edited and not exported and which haven’t been edited at all, its a mess—a very confusing mess.  Maybe this could be a project that could get done soon…hint, hint, Rob!)  This is also why I will not have Adeline’s scrapbook done by my goal date of Sept. 15.  Maybe by Oct. 1????

Playing games on my iPad.  Ha ha, does this count?  I do it all the time.  Its a great way for me to relax.  I especially like playing Compression (a lot like Tetris), Sudoku (I’m getting pretty good at this now), Spider Solitaire, and Harbor Master (you have to get ships into ports in the harbor without any of them crashing).

Cooking is another hobby I enjoy.  I mostly like baking and making desserts (with chocolate, of course!).  I would love to go to culinary school someday and really learn the real details of cooking.  I love to cook for other people.  Its almost like a challenge to see what deliciousness I can create!  I love cooking with Rob and this is one of my favorite things about our marriage.  Rob also likes to cook and so it is a shared “chore” in our house.  We usually eat pretty late after Rob gets home from work so we can make dinner together.  It doesn’t get as old as it might if I had to do all the cooking.  Now cleaning up after cooking…that’s a true chore that we both hate and not having a dishwasher at our house makes it so much worse!

And my last current hobby is blogging.  I am really enjoying writing my blogs everyday (Okay, I confess—if I have a lot of time one day I may sit and write 3 or 4 at a time and then it makes it easy to still post each day when I don’t have as much time).  I really like typing out my thoughts.  I am horrible at keeping a traditional journal.  You know, I’m one of those people who has 50 journals where the first 5 pages are filled and all the rest are blank.  So blogging has become a very enjoyable alternative…with no blank pages!  After my 50 days are done I hope I will still keep updating regularly.  I love to see comments and know that people are reading my blog, but a lot of it is just for my enjoyment.  Also, I think since I don’t get tons of adult interaction during the day, blogging my thoughts is less creepy than sitting around talking to myself (but with basically the same purpose:).

Day 35: A letter to an ex

Dear Ex,

Thank you for always making me feel special. Thank you for pretending to be interested in the things I was interested in.  Thank you for all the times you made me laugh. Thank you for being one of my best friends through high school.  Thank you for being my date to all the school dances.  Thank you for not making fun of me too much when you realized how horrible of a dancer I am.  Thank you for teaching me how to be in a relationship.  Thank you for breaking up with me so I could learn to handle heart break.  And thank you for not getting over me right away after we broke up—it made me feel better to know that you weren’t over me yet either.  Thank you for giving me so many funny diary entries to go back and read with embarrassment!  Thank you for the good and the bad memories that have helped me grow in my life. Thank you for helping me realize the qualities that I truly wanted in husband (and the ones that I didn’t want :).  Even though I secretly (or maybe not so secretly) wished we would always be together, I knew we were meant for other people and I am so glad we both found our true loves.  I wish you and your wife a wonderful and happy life. 

Haley

Day 34: Your Favorite Quote

At the moment, I can’t think of a favorite quote, so I went ahead and did a little internet quote research and found a few that I like:

I would have liked to have this one hanging in my classroom when I taught school.  So many kids have bad attitudes these days and I truly believe that your attitude changes everything…“Weakness of attitude becomes weakness of character.” Albert Einstein

This one is a little scary, but it is also very true…“What luck for the rulers that men do not think.”  Adolf Hitler

“I haven't failed, I've found 10,000 ways that don't work.” Thomas Edison

…So then I got bored with looking up real quotes and I always think the kid quotes are funny, so here’s some good ones:

"If you want to be loved by somebody who isn't already in your family, it doesn't hurt to be beautiful." -- Anita, age 8

"It isn't always how you look. Look at me. I'm handsome like anything, and I haven't got anybody to marry me yet." -- Brian, age 7

"Don't forget your wife's name. That will mess up the love." -- Erin, age 8

Why People In Love Often Hold Hands: 
"They want to make sure their rings don't fall off, because they paid good money for them." -- Gavin, age 8

Melanie asked her Granny how old she was. Granny replied she was so old she didn't remember any more. Said Melanie, "If you don't remember you must look in the back of your panties. Mine say five to six."

Day 33: What you're craving right now

You’d think this would be a good one for a pregnant lady to answer, but unfortunately for you, I don’t really get pregnancy cravings.  Right now, its time for me to start making dinner and I’m kinda craving Chinese food, but that’s because Rob mentioned he was craving it, and it sounded good to me too.  Plus, now I’m pretty hungry and I’ve been thinking about Chinese food for the past half hour.

I am also always craving chocolate.  I know, that sounds so normal, but I seriously love chocolate.  A lot of people (my husband included) see a huge piece of chocolate cake or pudding or cookies or ice cream and think “That’s just too much.  There is no way I could eat that whole thing.”  That is not me at all.  I can put done some massive amounts of chocolate—the richer, the better.  It doesn’t make me sick, and I hardly ever leave even a crumb left on the plate (assuming it tastes halfway decent).  If a dessert doesn’t contain chocolate I consider it a breakfast food, not a dessert.  I will probably still eat it (have I mentioned that I love breakfast foods, or anything sweet for that matter?), but its just not the same :)  Sometimes during the day I go to the pantry and eat a small handful of chocolate chips to ease my cravings.  I can’t even blame it on the pregnancy, because I do it when I’m not pregnant too!  Chocolate is definitely a weakness for me and I’ve come to accept it.  I don’t try to fight it too much because I don’t think I eat horribly in general.  I’m allowed to have this one weakness, right? (Can you tell I’m trying to justify myself?  Is this one of the signs of an addict?)

Day 32: A photo you took

 

These are some photos I took the other day with Rob’s iphone.  He has this app that takes pictures with old fashioned filters.  I think they turn out so cute!  Of course, there are tons that Rob has taken that were much better, but these are a few that I took.

Day 31: Whatever tickles your fancy

A few things that have been going on here lately…

Rob is currently on his surgery rotation.  Surgery is considered an elective in his program, so its supposed to be really easy.  His first week was not, however.  He was super busy, working all kinds of hours.  But her really enjoyed it, so it wasn’t so bad.  His second week he got to take an “unofficial vacation” because his attending had the week off.  We bummed around the house a lot, went to the beach, went outlet shopping, and Rob brushed up on his adobe skills and learned all the new stuff for using the new Adobe Master Suite…which is really cool, by the way.  Hurricane Earl came right by us, but we barely even got any rain from it.  It was so hyped up and then nothing happened, which is definitely a good thing.  Then Rob’s parent’s came in town for labor day weekend and we went to the beach again, Adeline took her first steps (which she has yet to do again…) and we all ate lots of good food.  Which brings me to a new recipe we tried that I want to share because it was SOOOO good.  It was our first time trying homemade carbonara and it was delicious.  Just a little warning though, it is super rich!  Here’s the recipe with our changes in parenthesis:

Cinnamon Pancetta Carbonara

Giada De Laurentiis

Ingredients

• 4 slices bacon, chopped
• 4 slices pancetta, chopped (we just used 8 slices of bacon and no pancetta)
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 2 cups whipping cream (I only had 3/4 cup heavy cream, so I used that plus 1 1/4 cup milk.  We also didn’t drain the bacon grease to make up for the lack of cream)
• 1 1/2 cups freshly grated Parmesan
• 6 large egg yolks
• 18 ounces fresh fettuccine (yes, we did make fresh pasta and it was so good!)
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh chives (didn’t have any, so instead we used one small onion diced and cooked it with the bacon)

Directions

Saute the bacon and pancetta in a heavy large frying pan over medium heat until almost crisp, about 5 minutes. Sprinkle the cinnamon over the bacon and pancetta and saute until the bacon is crisp and golden, about 2 minutes longer. Cool. (This is important so you don’t scramble the eggs!) Whisk in the cream, cheese, and yolks to blend.

Meanwhile, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the fettuccine and cook until it is just tender but still firm to the bite, stirring occasionally, about 3 minutes (ours takes a little longer than 3 minutes). Drain. Add the fettuccine to the cream mixture and toss over medium-low heat until the sauce coats the pasta thickly, about 5 minutes (do not boil). Season the pasta, to taste, with salt and pepper. Transfer the pasta to a large wide serving bowl. Sprinkle with chives and serve.

Anyway, after recovering from all the horribly fattening but absolutely delicious food, we said goodbye to Rob’s parents and got back to the usual grind.  But not really.  Rob’s attending is working nights this week, so Rob basically is off all day and then just waits for a call at night.  The other night he had to go in for a couple hours, but was home by 10:30 and he didn’t get paged at all in the night.  Last night he didn’t get called in at all!  Hopefully this will be a trend for the rest of the week!  I had a doctor’s appt the other day and everything is normal and on track with the baby (except that I’ve gained a few more pounds than I was anticipating, probably due to this weekend’s indulgences!).  So that’s our lives for the past couple weeks.  I hope you all are having a great day!

Day 30: The friendliest person you knew for only 1 day

This one is hard because I guess I haven’t met anyone super friendly that I only knew for one day.  At least not enough to leave an impression or anything.  I guess we had a pretty friendly waiter at Cracker Barrel the other day.  I don’t know that everyone would find him friendly, because he was joking around and kinda making the jokes at our expense, but I thought it was funny.  It was friendly in a way, though.  Usually only your friends or family will take the liberty to joke with you like that, so that fact that he was comfortable enough to be like that around us came off as him being friendly.  I usually wouldn’t recommend this type of “friendly banter” with strangers, but it worked for this guy—probably because we don’t mind laughing at ourselves.  Not everyone is so easy-going though, so be careful.

Day 29: Your favorite color

This is a dumb one.  A 10 year old has a favorite color, but most adults are probably like me and don’t obsess over 1 specific color.  Whenever anyone asks me what my favorite color is, I say green.  I like green.  Its nice.  But not for everything.

I guess I have different favorite colors for different things.  I really like the color blue in clothing, but I usually really hate blue colored food (blueberries are more purple, so they don’t count).  Luckily, blue is a rare color when it comes to food and is mostly used as an artificial color in candies.

No one ever claims that brown is their favorite color (except Rob) but I love brown furniture, brown accents in color schemes, and chocolate.

Orange also gets a bad rap.  No one ever chose orange as their favorite color growing up.  I still don’t find orange a very appealing color, unless its in a nice sunset or something.

If you are an adult who has a serious favorite color that you love all around, I hope I have not offended you.  I just don’t see the point in having a favorite color.

Day 28: Favorite places to shop

This one will be easy!

Clothes for me: Banana Republic Outlet, GAP Outlet, Express, Ann Taylor Loft Outlet, Target.  I guarantee that at least 75% of my wardrobe comes from these stores.  Hopefully one day I’ll be able to afford the non-outlet versions and non-clearance rack clothes :)

Clothes for Adeline (and Bobby): Gymboree, Baby GAP, The Children’s Place Outlet.  I only shop the sale and clearance racks though, I will not pay full price for kids clothes.

Groceries: Kroger, but not the one here in Newport News.  Its too far away and its not very nice.  I have to settle for Harris Teeter (which is very nice, but overpriced) or Food Lion (which is not very nice AND overpriced).  I don’t mind Wal-Mart, but it is also quite a drive from my house here.

Everything Else: Amazon.  Seriously, I love shopping online.  I rely on reviews for everything and we have Amazon Prime, so we get free 2 day shipping on pretty much everything we buy.  Plus, things are usually pretty cheap.  If I see something I like in a store, I will look it up on Amazon while in the store to see if it has good reviews and if its cheaper online.  I have even bought stuff online from Amazon while in a store looking at it on the shelf.  The poor UPS people probably hate us.  They have to pack up a whole box and ship it, just to send us a pen.  Really, Rob got a delivery from UPS the other day of a pen.  Well, actually it was a pen refill, so it wasn’t even the whole pen.  But we didn’t have to search all over the stores for it or leave our house or anything.  What could be easier?

Day 27: A talent of yours

Sorry, this post is a day late.  I’ll post 2 today!

I’ve always had a thing about my talents.  I have many talents, but I’ve never really felt like I had something that I am really good at, I mean REALLY good at.  I’ve always secretly hoped that someday I will find a hidden talent that is truly MY talent—something I was born to do.  While I am above average at a lot of things, I wouldn’t call myself an expert in anything.  Don’t think I’m being a downer on myself, because my self-esteem is just fine.  It’s just that I have never really felt like I was the best at anything.  Here are some examples:

I am good at sports.  I played softball when I was young and I ran track in high school.  I was good at both, even above average, but there were always people on my team who were better.

I am a good learner.  I have never had trouble in school.  I always got straight A’s and did well in all subjects.  I love to learn new things and oddly enough, I love taking tests.  But I was never the smartest.

I am creative and artistic.  I can hold my own in most things artsy, but, again, I would never claim to be extremely artistic.

I am a good cook—but mostly because I know how to cook and I research recipes before I try them (read reviews, learn about ingredients, and read tips on cooking methods).  I am no natural born chef or anything like that.

I am musically inclined, in that I can read music and sing on key (most of the time :)  I know how to play the piano and sing harmony, but I need a lot of practice in order to do either very well.

There are a couple small things that I have been pretty close to the best in (out of people I know, at least), but I’m not sure they count as something I was born to do.  I am great at memorizing things.  I am very good at making up things in my head to help me remember other things.  I have always been able to do this.  I was also really good at lesson planning when I taught school.  I came up with great ways to organize my plans and integrated different subjects into my lessons.  That was my favorite part of teaching.  But making the plans and carrying them out are two different things.  I was better at the first part.  I always got compliments on how I did my lesson plans.

So basically, I have a lot of talents, but I guess if I want to be the best at something, I better continue working at it.  I don’t think that natural ability will be enough to take me to the top in any of these areas.  I imagine most people are like me in this way, but sometimes I get bummed out when I see people who are fantastic at something or another and can’t find that parallel in my life.  Anyway, sorry about the super long post that you have just read through.  Its a kind of a therapy/kick in the butt to write it all down.  Maybe now I’ll be motivated to develop some of these talents further! 

Day 26: Favorite books

I got a little carried away with this post, so its kinda long, but I really like hearing about what other people are reading, so maybe you’ll enjoy my quick reviews too!

#1 The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexander Dumas.  I cannot recommend this book highly enough.  It is long, but worth it.

#2 Bud, Not Buddy (a children’s novel) by Christopher Paul Curtis.  If you are looking for a quick, easy, entertaining read, then pick this book up.  I have read it a couple times on my own and a couple times with school classes, and I find it funny every time!

#3 The Many Lives and Secret Sorrows of Josephine B. (I loved the whole trilogy, actually) by Sandra Gulland.  I read these books recently and was totally captivated by the history of it all.  I am a historical fiction nerd!

#4 The BFG (my favorite book as a child) by Roald Dahl.  I love most of his books.  So imaginative and funny.

#5 The Harry Potter Series (especially The Prisoner of Azkaban) by J.K. Rowling.  When I read these books I was hooked!  It has been a while and I enjoy the movies, but after thinking about this post, I am remembering how much I loved the books. 

Other books I have read recently (in the past year or so) and my thoughts on them, in case you are thinking about reading any of them:

The Hunger Games books:  I have read the first two and loved the first.  The second was good, but not quite up to par with the first.  I am excited to read #3 now!

The Twilight Series:  Yes, I read them all, and yes, I was hooked.  I am for team Jacob.  No, I have not seen all the movies yet.  I saw the first and was so disgusted that I haven’t been able to bring myself to watch the others yet.  I know everyone says the others are better, and I do plan to watch them…eventually.

Here Be Dragons:  A very interesting historical fiction book about Wales during the time period of Robin Hood and Prince John.  I really enjoyed this book after getting through the first 100-200 pages of background history.  It was a long book but I ended up really liking it and I recommend it if you like historical fiction.

The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo series:  I liked all 3 books.  I am torn on whether or not I recommend them, though.  I was disappointed in the vulgar language and graphic descriptions of some of the scenes.  The story was very intriguing, however, and kept me reading through all the books.

These is My Words:  I really liked this book a lot.  It is another historical fiction, taking place on the trails west during the later 1800’s.  By the end, I couldn’t put it down.

The School of Essential Ingredients: Good quick and easy read.  It’s about a cooking class and tells the stories of all the students in the class.  It had me thinking about all the characters well after I finished the book.

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society:  I read this for a book club and thought it was decent.  I didn’t hate it, but I didn’t love it.  I’m glad I read it, but haven’t thought much about it since.

The Book Thief:  Loved this book.  The author writes in a very interesting style.  It is WWII fiction that takes place in Germany.  Again, I love historical fiction, so I highly recommend this book.

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks: I am currently reading this book.  It is nonfiction and had good reviews on Amazon.  I was very interested for the first half, but its kinda dragging on now.  I plan to finish it, but I’m ready to start a new book.  I have 60 pages left and need to just sit down and force myself to finish.  I don’t like only reading part of a book.

Water For Elephants:  I liked this book.  Again, I could have gone without some of the language and more graphic scenes, but I overall really enjoyed the story. 

Molokai:  Historical fiction about the leper colony in Hawaii.  I really enjoyed this book and learned a lot.  I guess that’s why I like historical fiction because its a fun way to learn about other time periods.

Nefertiti: Here we go with more historical fiction.  I have always been fascinated by ancient Egypt and this was a fun and interesting book to read.  It is told from the point of view of Nefertiti’s sister.

There are probably more that I have read, but I can’t think of them now.  Here are a few books that I plan to read in the near future.  If you’ve read them, let me know what you thought!

Packing for Mars

The Help

The Confessions of Catherine de Medici: A Novel

Mockingjay

Day 25: Someone you judged by their first impression

Someone I judged by my first impression was my freshman year college roommate, Kauti.  I had never met her before and was really nervous to have a random roommate assigned to me.  When I first met her I thought, “Oh great, I have a roommate who is really pretty and she has a cool car.  She’s going to think I’m a total loser!”  I thought she would turn out to be snobby.  She was supposed to be rooming with her friend from summer term, but something got messed up and she was stuck with me.  I figured she would just ignore me and hang out with the girl she wanted to be roommates with all the time.  Well, I was right about 2 things.  Kauti is very pretty, and she did have a cool car.  But it turned out that we became the best of friends.  I am so grateful for the mistake that made her my roommate, because she is one of the best friends I have ever had.  I wish we could see each other more, but we keep in touch through each other’s blogs.  I loved college, especially freshman year, and a lot of that is thanks to my first impression being wrong.  Thanks for being such a great friend, Kauti!   

Day 24: Time to face morph

So this is a face morph of what me and Rob’s children would look like.  Thank goodness Adeline doesn’t look like this baby!  Face morphing always looks a little creepy!

Day 23: Share one of your favorite tunes

This is technically yesterday’s post, so you’ll get a two-fer today!  I don’t know that I have a favorite song, but this is one that I’ve been stuck on lately. 

 

PS…I don’t really know how to post just a song on my blog, especially since I don’t have the mp3 or anything, so I just posted from YouTube because I actually know how to do that :)