A List of Sorts.

One thing they say not to do in the blogging world is make LISTS.
But I like lists.
They make me feel somewhat organized.
And happy.

This also makes me happy:

An oldie, but a goodie.

So, without further ado, here is a list of random things..... (I'm such a blogging rebel):

What is your favorite kind of food? Mashed potatoes and gravy. Please and thank you.

White bread or wheat bread? White (wheat is good too). So I guess my answer is both. Geez, I'm bad at this.

What is one song or that you’ve listened to over and over again in a very rough period of your life? The Kry - Take My Hand, Watermark - Glory Baby, It Is Well With My Soul.

What is one major quality you look for in a significant other? Honesty and a sense of humor. I found both.

Would you ever be on a reality show? If yes, what kind? The Amazing Race. Or a game show (I used to love The Price is Right when I was a kid).

What age of your life would you want to revisit, given the chance? 13-15. The summers of family camping at Cran Hill Ranch, running around playing capture the flag, no bills and no debt. 

What’s a phrase or saying you say a lot? Woot woot!

What do you love about where you live? The weather, the people, the small town feel, the view.

How do you cheer yourself up when you’re feeling blue? I used to play the piano and write music, but I don't have a piano at the moment. These days - take pictures, read, hang out with my kiddo (she makes me smile the SECOND she does ANYTHING. It's crazy).

What was your first job? Besides babysitting...I'm pretty sure I worked at this country club by the pool. Serving rich people food.

What’s the nicest thing that anyone has ever said to you? When I found out my first daughter wasn't going to make it, doctors suggested I terminate the pregnancy early - just get it over with. A gal named Lydia asked me if I had picked out a name yet and I said, "Well, if she was going to be normal, we would have named her Lyla." She looked at me and said, "Then I'll be praying for Lyla EVERY day." It doesn't sound like much, but it reminded me that even though my baby wasn't perfect, she was still my BABY and she was perfect to me. It was at that exact moment that the thoughts I was having about possibly terminating the pregnancy early were erased from my heart and mind.

What is your first memory? Getting in trouble when I was 4 years old for walking alllllllllll the way to my sisters elementary school and saying hi to people. I don't know what I was thinking.

What is your favorite sound? My daughter cracking up and when it's pouring rain.

What is your favorite board game? Settlers of Catan, Sorry, Stratego, Shoots and Ladders.

If you won the lottery what would you change about your life? Our debt. 

Where did you go for your honeymoon? Door County, Wisconsin. They have goats on the roofs there. Strange.

If you were to start your own restaurant, what would it be called? The rockstar and I actually discussed this. It would be called Mac n Cheese. And there would be a stellar variety of different mac n cheese dishes. It would be a cozy place that served cozy food. Sometimes when we make a really yummah dish, one of us will say, "That one's going on the menu."

Most hated chore on the chore list? Laundry. Only because our closet is the size of a peanut. I wish I had a bigger closet. Amen.

What is your idea of heaven? Beautiful beyond words, no pain or suffering, full of love.



Ahhhhh.. something about that was very refreshing. You should try it sometime.

Cell Phone Sunday. Woot.

You would THINK I would run out of photos.
Or run out of ideas maybe?
But it's not happening.
My family/friends/neighborhood/life is too silly.
Therefore, I give you my: iPhone photo taking maddness!

The proof, of course, is in the photos.

See here:

...proof that my kid reeeeeeeeeally loves Elmo in all forms. THIS is her Elmo dvd.

...proof that we have a funny friend named Nancy that sticks her head in her freezer to clear her sinuses.

...proof that my neighbor rocks. Major.

...proof that this portable dvd player SAVED MY LIFE when my kiddo and I FLEW to AZ.

 ...proof that I like to play Cribbage. I may or may not have been winning.

...proof that people have a lot of time on their hands...and jellybeans.

...proof that my child is very flexible AND hilarious. I gave her a plate of of Cinnamon Toast Crunch and THIS is how she decided to eat it. Look ma - No hands!

...proof that she also likes to help clean whenever possible.

...proof that I do paint my toenails from time to time...and go out on docks...and take random feet pictures.

...proof that my little brother actually fell asleep in this position. Who does that???

...proof that she's my favorite.

Once upon a-Ooo! That guy singing with the tight rockstar pants is cute!

Tomorrow will be 6 years of wedded craziness.
Blissfulness.
Silliness.
Making up musicals in our kitchen-ness.
But I must go back a bit.


When I met the rockstar, he looked something like this:

What a babe, huh?

We met at my house, on a roof-top that my roommates and I shared with several neighbors.
He invited me to his solo show.
...promised their would be singing and guitar strumming.
I didn't go to said show.
I wasn't 21 yet.
Bars didn't like me.
He and his pals left the roof top that night.


We met again at my house, 6 months later (in those days, my roommies and I always had people coming and going, which can also be interpreted as parties. Don't judge me and my younger self).
He called me Heather.
I corrected him.
He and his pals left (NOT because I corrected him).


We met AGAIN, 3 months later at a bar (hooray for the age of 21).
We danced.
He was/is a funny dancer.
He and his pals left (they left a lot).

This time though, he came back.
He walked up to me and said, "We keep running into each other. Maybe we should hang out sometime. Can.......I have your number?"
I said yes.


By this time, his hair was a little longer and may or may not have had pink in it.

Two days later he called me (yes ladies, he waited the appropriate two days to call the girl).
I didn't answer.
I remember his voicemail being cute (rockstarishly cute...and yes, I just made up a word). He left me his phone number to return his call and repeated his number the sllllloooooooooowest I have EVER heard anyone leave a number in a message. I think this was done so I couldn't use the "not calling" excuse: I couldn't catch your number - OR - You said your number way too fast.
I called him a week later.
No, wait.
I realized it was a week later and thought, "Oh man! I really need to call that guy or he's going to think I'm a jerk."
In any case, I called him a week later.
Oh yes - and the first time I called him on the phone, he just so happened to be in the recording studio, with his new band.
Recording an alllllllbum. Ooooooooo.
So VERY cool.
SUCH a rockstar he was.
(he LOVES that part of the story - which is why I embellished it with the Ooooooo's and spicing up the word album).
We saw each other the very next day.
And the day after.
And probably the day after.

He introduced me to his band.

He's the guy second from the left.
He played their allllllllllbum for me.
I said I liked it.
He called me pretty.
I probably blushed.
He asked if he could kiss me good night.
I said no.

One night, as we sat in his living room, he serenaded me with singing and guitar strumming (MY favorite part of the story).
I was hooked, but I didn't let on.
A couple weeks later, he told me he had written a new song - wanted me to hear it.
Again - the singing and guitar strumming, but this time it was slightly different.
He was nervous.
And the song had my NAME in it (no wait, THIS might be my favorite part of the story).
Yea.
I was TOTALLY hooked...and maybe I let on a little.
He asked if he could kiss me goodnight.
This time I said yes.

I called my mummy and told her all about this cute rockstar boy I had met.
I may or may not have emailed her the first picture in this post.
She thought he was handsome.

She came to visit.
And took this picture:

One of my favorites.
My ma said, "Can I take a picture of the two of you together?"
I remember groaning, "Awww mom!" and whispering to the rockstar, "Why don't we just kiss instead of looking at the camera."
I'm not sure why I told him that.
And he didn't object.

We were smitten.
And our little adventure began.
We dated...
and made out
and laughed
and ate food
and talked
and danced
and dated some more...
and made out again, I'm sure...
and got engaged.

We got engaged in May and married that July.
It was perfect.
We wanted a small and simple wedding.
We didn't want to be in debt.
We just wanted to get married and live happily ever after.
So, my rockstar decided to design the wedding invitations and we made them ourselves:

Hilariously, wonderfully perfect.
Nice touch with the cute little hearts, rockstar. Nice touch.

And the day came:

Simple, yet beautiful.
Man and wife.
US began.

And so far, it has been quite an adventure.
We've lived pay check to pay check.
We've moved across the country.
We've loved and lost.
We've gained and rejoiced.
We've laughed and cried.

And we've done it together.

My life has been
 sillified
more fulfilling
more spontaneous
filled with WAY more laughter
made brighter...

My life has been changed...
...since he's been in it.

6 years - going on 60.
Oh, happy day.
I think I'm in love.

The DAD Who Came To Visit

My dad.
THE Dad.
Dad.
The Dad-meister.
The RAD-meister.
The Dad-ernator.
Pops.
Sometimes known as Daddy.

He came to visit.
He lives far, far away in a state that looks like a mitten.
The Mitten State.

*On a side note - don't you think Oklahoma kind of resembles a baking dish? Maybe it's just me.

He and my little cutie (doesn't want to go to bed at night these days) patootie hit it off right away.
They sang songs.
Played with toes.
Swung on swings.

I'm not quite sure who liked who more.
I love this picture.
I love my kid.
I love my dad.
I think as I've gotten older, my love and appreciation for my dad has grown.
Don't get me wrong, I've always loved the guy...
I can't really explain it without sounded utterly sappy.
Let's just say -
I'm glad he's around.
I'm glad he is who he is.
I'm glad he's my dad.
I'm glad he's my friend.
I'm glad he loves my kiddo.
And he's so COOL.


 Three of my favorites:

 I wish the dad on the left, with the super cool beard lived closer.
Also, I love the dad on the right, with the super cool hair.
And the cute tiny person in the middle - she's amazing.

But alas, his trip has ended.
Back to the land of the mitten.
And I probably won't see him for a year or so.
Plane tickets are pretty expensive - and who wants to fly 4 hours with a 2 year old?
I LOVE her, but it's not on my top 10 list of favorite things to do.

Miss you already, pops...
a.k.a.
Daddy.

Leo and His TV.

I used to live in a city you may or may not have heard of called Chicago.
You should visit said Chicago.
It's fun.
I used to be a waitress there.
I met many strange/silly/quirky/interesting/hilarious people whilst at work.
Specifically speaking, a pal named Leo.
I sometimes called him Luigi.
I'm not sure why and he probably doesn't even remember that.
He and I catch up from time to time, via the world wide web (which you may or may not have heard of) on this up and coming social networking site called Facebook. Ever heard of it?

I find Leo to be humorous.

I recently learned that Leo (a.k.a. Luigi) is moving to L.A. to pursue L.A. things.
Because of this, he needs to sell his belongings, like his TV.
He posted the sale of said TV on Craigslist.
He then posted the said Craigslist ad on Facebook, in hopes to get the word out.

I do not have an interest in purchasing Leo's TV, but I thought I might take a look at the said ad, because...well...Leo WROTE it. And Leo is...well...LEO.

This is what I stumbled upon:


The Journey of a 50” Plasma TV - $700 (Wrigleyville)

---

Date: 2010-07-15, 2:13AM CDT
Reply to: sale-jcf49-1843891157@craigslist.org ^{[Errors when replying to ads?]}

---

The Journey of a 50” 1080p Plasma TV

You might be asking yourself, what have I stumbled upon this day? The answer to all inquires will all be revealed…RIGHT NOW!!! It is my pleasure to present to you, dearest reader, the story of this 50” Insignia 1080p Plasma TV. This to you might seem like a classic Man makes TV, Man buys TV, Man sells TV, Man buys TV again story but you would be seriously mistaken. This is an epic journey through space and time…but mostly time because this TV was never in space…or was it??!?!
This Journey begins in the late cretaceous period about 68 million years ago. One day during a casual morning walk a single father, who happened to be a T-Rex, stumbled across a lone egg on the ground. Being curious and still very emotional from his recent divorce from his wife, he decided to take it home to his recently purchased condo. Moments after he returned, the egg began to hatch. He was bursting with excitement to welcome someone or something to this world that would teach him to know true love again! The Egg finally hatched and much to our T-Rex’s surprise a 50” 1080p Plasma TV was born! At first he was taken back and angry, but over time he began to love this 50” 1080p Plasma TV for its incredible contrast (30000:1 dynamic) and Ultra slim design (3" deep).
This though was not the happy-single-father-T-Rex-adopting-an-insignia-TV ending you expected. It turns out, it was just the beginning. Months later our T-Rex passed away due to that whole extinction thing (Lets please take a moment to mourn our loss of our dinosaur friends). The 50” 1080p Plasma TV thought it would forever be alone with no one to share its Built-in HDTV tuner, 16:9 widescreen aspect ratio or his High brightness (1000 cd/m²) with.
The 50” 1080p Plasma TV continued along through life working some remedial jobs just to pass the time. It worked at a Men’s Warehouse selling suits for a short period of time showing off its 3:2 pulldown for accurate reproduction of film-based sources. It was especially good at DJing for weddings due to its two 10W stereo speakers. It finally found its calling modeling, because in the photographer’s words, “I have never seen such an amazing 3D Y/C digital comb filter or an outstanding wide 160° horizontal and vertical viewing angles.” While modeling in a local retail store a little over 8 months ago, it caught the eye of a curious customer. I was that curious customer and I didn’t know the marvel that lay before my eyes! I had to have it no matter the cost.
For the past 8 months I have helped pull our 50” 1080p Plasma TV out of a deep depression due to the death of his adopted T-Rex father over 68 million years ago. I gave it the job it does best, being a perfect viewing vehicle for our entertainment! I have shared a growing friendship and love for this 50” 1080p Plasma TV. I have cleaned it once a week and made sure nothing hurt its perfect 1920 x 1080 pixel resolution or its 50" screen measured diagonally from corner to corner, but like most things in life, it must end. I have not told it yet but I am moving and cannot take it with me. You might be thinking this is the end of the journey for our 50” 1080p Plasma TV, but you couldn’t be more wrong. I am looking for the right person to adopt this TV for $700 OBO and usher it to greater heights and continue its epic journey! Will you be that person?

• Location: Wrigleyville
• it's NOT ok to contact this poster with services or other commercial interests

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It's quite possibly the most insane, yet hilariously odd Craigslist ad I have ever seen.
And coming from Leo, it doesn't surprise me.
By the end of it, I was hoping the TV could find a loving home!
Wait...what?

In fact, I think he may have sold it.

That is all.

Cell Phone Sunday: Late Night Edition

It's 11:30pm and I'm still awake.
I know - crazy.
Normally I'd be half way to dream land by now.
But I couldn't sleep without iPhone Sunday-ing...
Hip-hip Hooray!

Here's the proof of my silly picture taking obsession.

...proof that babies think I'm funny.

...proof that this weird thing grows in my front yard. After a little research, we discovered it was some type of puff mushroom.

...proof that where I live, some places serve drinks in glasses that look like toilet bowls.

...proof that she's too cool for school.

...proof that my dog likes the air conditioning.

...proof that Costco isn't just for groceries. $1.50 gets you a jumbo hot dog AND a drink. Woot.

...proof that I'm in love.

...proof that I know some strange animals. This particular dog likes to run around his yard carrying a bowling ball. And stick his giant head THROUGH fences.

...proof that I REALLY need to remember to take the package of baby wipes out of the crib after I change her diaper before nap time. *sigh*

Thankful

I am thankful for:

1. Salted peanuts in the shell.
2. Music and dance parties in my living room.
3. My WHOLE family. Mom, dad, step 'rents, sibs, sib's spouses, their kids.
4. My little family of 3.
5. And the dog and cat.
6. Good cries.
7. Recipes.
8. Blue Cheese Dressing.
9. Cheese, in general.
10. Awesome neighbors (a.k.a. neighberrrrrs).
11. My pillow.
12. Home grown corn on the cob.
13. Trees that stay green in the winter.
14. Children's books.
15. Love.
16. Sunshine.
17. Rolled down windows.
18. My long distance friends.
19. Joy and laughter.
20. Those 23 minutes I will never regret and never forget.

What are you thankful for?

Cell Phone Sunday!

Me + iPhone = pictures to the max.

Here's the proof:

...proof that the rockstar has cute shoes.

...proof that Buckley likes his bone. A lot.

...proof that the rockstar STILL likes texting me random pictures of himself.

...he also likes reading in the yard.

...proof that he can take better pictures with the iPhone than me. Woh!

...proof that my girl loves her Gramps. And he loves her.

...more proof.

...proof that she's very very sweet.

...proof that my pops is a good helper.

...and a great gardener.

...proof that I think we may have the same feet.

...proof that I DO show up in pictures every once in a while.

Party Time

This sweet cutie patootie is turning 1.
Her hobbies include: Hugging her bear, swinging and looking adorable.

Just you wait, cutie patootie's mom. Pretty soon your little gal will be in college.
Happy 1st birthday Rylee!