30 Day Blog Journal = Epic Fail

Although I was so on a roll, it's unfortunate that because our Internet went out at home, I got behind..... then I started posting from my Droid Phone (which by the way was a PITA).... then I gave up altogether.....

Now that our Internet is fixed and our WiFi signal is strong, I'll have to resume my 30 Day Blog Journal Posts.

Day 15 ~ Your Dream House

Your Dream House

Here's the criteria I would LOVE:

Definitely a tri-level home

Definitely have a living room with an open wall and view of the ocean with a swimming pool which tapers right up to your living room!

Definitely have an amazing kinda spiral sort of staircase

Definitely 6 bedrooms, including a Master Suite

Definitely 4 bathrooms, including the Master Bathroom in the Master Suite

Definitely have a Loft area which would be an office/den with another amazing view of the living room and ocean

Definitely an amazing Kitchen

Ah, yes...one can dream huh?!?

Day 14 ~ A Non Fiction Book

A Non Fiction Book

I liked "The Blind Side".



  Those who know me know I'm all about sports. Football in general.  And "The Blind Side" was a wonderful true story about football!!

I learned a lot from reading that book.  A ton of football statistics I wasn't aware of, and a few that I already knew.

I learned a lot about inner city youths who are very athletic, yet growing up in poverty, trying to make something of themselves.

The one main story in this book opened my eyes to multiple stories and predicaments that goes on in the world we live in EVERY.SINGLE.DAY.

I've seen the movie as well, however, as I mentioned in a past post, I love the books more than the movies.

If you haven't read the book, you should most definitely do so!! It's soooo good!!

Day 13 ~ A Fictional Book

30 Day Blog Journal

A Fictional Book

The most recent book that I've read which I enjoyed was Nicholas Sparks' "The Last Song". My 13 year old read the book in one day and was so into it that I just HAD to read it as well.

While i know that the movie had been released, I didn't want to see it until I read the book. Of course Elyssa immediately watched the movie on her Lap Top while I was reading the book.
It goes without saying that the movie was NOT the same as the book. Some things were left out of the movie that was in the book and some events that was in the movie did not happen that way in the book. Needless to say I still haven't seen the movie. Quite frankly I don't even want to see it.

Anywho.... "The Last Song" was a great novel! Beautifully written and yes, as with many Nicholas Sparks novels, I cried. There is NO WAY you'll read this book without shedding a tear! If you get a chance, get your hands on this book, curl up with a glass of wine and enjoy!!! It's a great read!

Day 12 ~ Something You're OCD About

First of all, let me apologize for the lack of photos that will appear in this post (and perhaps a few more in the near future) as I am without internet at home due to the technical difficulties AT&T seem to be experiencing which has resulted in them not being able to resolve the issue without having to send a technician out to take care of said technical difficulties. Oh, did I happen to mention that the first available appointment they gave available is NEXT WEEK WEDNESDAY???

Back to the topic at hand.

Something You're OCD About

Although I have many "pet peeves" that bare boderline OCD characteristics, I have to say there are two things that I possess OCD traits with. The first one is basically a 'glorified' pet peeve ~ and that's......drum roll..... the ever controversial UNDER or OVER way to correctly place the toilet paper roll!! Yeah, I'm just gonna say in my opinion ~ which by the way is the CORRECT way, is OVER!!!!

Now, for my real, true to life OCD problem. I seriously have a problem with WASHING MY HANDS. Yes....a problem alright. As in washing them at least 50 times a day. No joke. And that is a minimum. MINIMUM. There are days where I'm sure I wash them way more times than 50.

I don't know what it is it why, but I seriously have an OCD when it comes to washing my hands!!

There you have it!!!

Day 11 ~ A Photo of You Recently

A Photo of You Recently


Well, I have photos of me that were recently taken at our Wedding on Catalina Island in April and a few that were taken at our Minnesota Reception in June.


This was walking thru the cruise ship down to the boat that would take us to Catalina Island.

Here I am, waiting for the elevator on the Carnival Elation.

This photo was taken in June at our Minnesota Reception.

Day 10 ~ A Photo of You that was taken over 10 Years Ago

A Photo that was taken of you over 10 years ago

This photo was more than 10 years ago...it was taken approximately 24 years ago.

There is so many things wrong in this photo.....In fact, here's a list of some that come to mind:

1. What's up with the earrings?
2. Can you tell this is when the "Swatch Watch" was in;
3. Check out my sandals;
4. What the heck was I wearing ~ looks like something I made in Home Economics;
5. Apparently I'm signing someone's yearbook;
6. Evidently we were in the office and not a classroom;
7. I have a ring on my left hand, on THAT finger;
8. I used to 'feather' my hair;
9. I sooo don't remember having this photo taken of me!!!

So, go ahead, laugh while you all have the chance!!!

Day 9 ~ A Photo I Took

A Photo I took

Well, I'm not a photographer, not even as a hobby, but I LOVE taking photos! I take the most random photos ever! I love my phone on my camera, it comes in handy and I love our digital camera. Nothing fancy at all, but just a nice little Kodak Easy Share!

My husband will be the first to tell you all (well, actually, I was the first..) but I take photos that are totally random! Sometimes he thinks I'm weird, but hey...you've got to capture the moment when you can... ANY MOMENT!

So, let me share with you some RANDOMNESS!!

Duke and our Target Dog, "Harley"

Mmmm..White Chocolate with Strawberry, Peanut Butter M&M's

Strawberry Cupcake Kabobs

Brian frying the bacon when we went camping

Evidence that we DID have visitors in the middle of the night!!

Brian and my bag of sand I needed for our Message in the Bottle Wedding Invitations!

My Margartia...Mmmmmm

Random dinner photo ~ A concoction with Fresh Green Beans

Brian Hula Hooping in the aisles at Target

Janette getting some beer!!

Day 8 ~ A Photo that makes me Angry/ Sad

A Photo that makes me Angry/Sad

I have two photos that I want to share. One photo that makes me 'sad' and one photo that makes me 'angry'.

Here's the photo that makes me 'sad'.

It's a beautiful photo of my mom's Gravesite in Hawaii. This specific photo was one taken the day of her funeral. Very pretty flowers, and a very pretty Urn. Clearly, it makes me sad. It makes me 'sad' for multiple different reasons. Sad everytime I think about her, sad everytime the Holidays come around, sad everytime one of my children hits some sort of achievement in their lives, sad everytime I think about how much she would so LOVE Brian to death. It's been 6 years since she passed away and I still miss her so very much!

Now, for the photo that makes me ANGRY! At first glance, this picture (in ordinary circumstances) you might be thinking.... "hmmm... it's a photo of a wedding party, what could possibly make her 'angry'?"


Well, this photo is of Brian's oldest daughter at her wedding, along with their family. (Brian's children and his ex-wife along with her sister and family. ~ Brian's children are the ones standing in the back row on the left: Jared, Jaclyn, Jenni and of course, the bride, Jessica) Do you see one thing missing? Perhaps like BRIAN?

Yeah, well, some of you know the story behind this one and boy is it a freaking doozy. For those of you who don't know the story, I'll cut out all the details and get to the jist of things.

Basically, Brian's daughter decided AT.THE.LAST.MINUTE (like less than 20 days before the wedding) that she would like her mother AND her father walk her down the aisle and she ASKED Brian's opinion. Brian was honest with her and shared that he'd been looking forward to this moment for 27 years; walking his daughter down the aisle and he would like very much for him and her to share this special moment together, just the two of them. Well, daughter said she'd get back to him about it, and several days later, decided that if he didn't do what SHE wanted, (because after all, you know it's HER wedding) then she didn't want him to be a part of the wedding and would un-invite him. Brian struggled with his decision and felt that if he went along with her demand, it would #1) continue to let her manipulate him and get her way as she has always done since he and her mom had divorced (mind you, she had already graduated from high school at that point ~ an adult herself) and #2) he would feel miserable the entire time knowing that the ONE thing that he wanted throughout this entire wedding process was taken away from him. A couple of phone calls from the ex-wife, TELLING HIM HE'D BETTER DO THIS, along with his thoughts alone, he decided he needed to stick to his guns. So, when she called him to find out if he changed his mind, he told her he hadn't. He explained to her how much it meant for him to spend that three minutes or less with her walking down the aisle, reminicing from the day she was born until that point. He said that the only part of the wedding he was a part of was paying for the Alcohol / Reception and paying for their Honeymoon in Greece, and that her mother was able to go with her to pick out the dress, pick out centerpieces, flowers, cake tasting, etc. All he had was walking her down the aisle.

None of that meant anything to her. She told him that he was un-invited from the wedding and that she didn't want him to be a part of her life going forward. JUST.LIKE.THAT. Oh, but, she let me know that I was still invited and was more than welcomed to the wedding. WTF?!? Um... no, I don't think so.

So yeah, this is the one photo that makes me SO.VERY.ANGRY. Knowing that Brian should be in this photo!

For what it's worth, her childish antics didn't end there; she took it upon herself to immediately email all of her wedding guests and said: "Due to circumstances beyond our control, Jessica's father will no longer be attending the wedding and has withdrawn his financial support, therefore there will be changes to the Reception and Alcoholic Beverage choices..." she went on to state what the changes were, etc. but GIVE ME A BREAK... why would you email your guests?!? It's none of their business!!

Oh, there's more, but I'll leave you all with that.

Day 7 ~ A Photo That Makes Me Happy

A Photo that Makes me Happy


There are many photos that make me happy, but today, as I write this post, there's one particular photo that makes me happy every.single.day continues to do so everytime I see it or think of it!

Right before being transfered from Minnesota out to California with Target, (we're talking about a month or so) Brian was re-united with his daughter whom he hadn't seen in about 20 years. Since their reunion, they have been close despite the fact that he moved 2,000 miles away so soon after.

I can't begin to tell you how much having her in his live has made him such a happier person, and we were estatic over the fact that she was able to be apart of our wedding!

This photo was taken on our Wedding Cruise of Brian and his daughter and I think it's the most beautiful photo ever!!!

Day 6 ~ 20 of My Favorite Things

20 Of My Favorite Things

(In no particular order)

{one}
The love of my life

{two}
My Sony Reader and reading in general!

{three}
Starbucks Caramel Frappucinno with Caramel around the Cup!

{four}
Baking

{five}
Pittsburgh Steelers

{six}

Dim Sum & Chinese Food


{seven}
Vacations in Minnesota, especially the Mall of America


{eight}
My puppy ~ Duke


{nine}
Motorcycle Rides on Sally


{ten}
Shadowbrook Restaurant in Capitola


{eleven}
Blogging


{twelve}
Tastefully Simple


{thirteen}
My Droid Eris ~ I just love my phone!


{fourteen}
My Family


{fifteen}
Friends

Including my BFF, Maura


{sixteen}
Cruising!


{seventeen}
Our Welcome Bags we gave our guests who cruised with us for our Wedding

{eighteen}
Margarita's ~ Blended with Salt ~ Yummy!!!

{nineteen}
Patron Silver


{twenty}
Christmas!!