Comments (63) Today is our three year wedding anniversary!
It amazes me how much our love and relationship has grown in just this short amount of time. I thought I knew Steven really well when we got married, but as we have gone through some of life’s hardships and joys together, I have discovered even more about the amazing person he is. That’s pretty cheesy, but it’s the truth.
Aww.
Thank you for your comments yesterday on the family emergency. We have a family member in severe condition and I appreciate your thoughts!
I had to drive from Round Lake, IL to Kansas City, MO yesterday. Instead of going straight there though, I made a few stops on the way (the trip ended up being 570 miles) – in Evansdale/Cedar Falls to see my parents and sister, and in Ames to grab dinner with Amanda, from Vegacious.
I find it amusing that I don’t mind talking on the phone with a blogger and look forward to meeting with them for the first time, but that I don’t like doing that sort of thing for work. Is anyone else like that – are you more comfortable with meeting/talking to other bloggers than you are in other social situations?
I’m not saying I am a social misfit (well, that much), just that I find myself more comfortable talking to bloggers – probably because I already know a bit about them.
Anyway, back to the point. I found Amanda’s blog about two weeks ago through the “blogs by location” function on Healthy Living Blogs. I was looking at bloggers in Iowa, and was excited to see one in Ames, where I went to school. I started commenting, and even won a giveway on her blog. So when I was driving through Ames, I thought, “why not meet up for dinner?”
Meeting with Amanda went like many of the other blogger meet-ups I’ve done. You talk and talk and don’t want it to end! Unfortunately, I did have to get on the road, so I hope I will get to visit with her again someday! She’s really down to earth and excited about life… which I love.
So why the post title? Amanda took a few pictures of our food with her new Canon Rebel, then we had the waitress take a picture of us together. From Steven’s Canon Elph (which I use):
From her Rebel:
Ugh. Those DSLRs take amazing pictures! So much clearer! Look at the pictures here she took of our food. It looks like it is from a magazine.
It would be fun to play around with one of those cameras someday.
Last year, after the vet showed us how awful Data’s teeth were, we shelled out the big bucks to get them cleaned. He came home with wonderful breath (although he was a bit loopy from the anesthesia) and we immediately bought a little cat toothbrush and toothpaste kit, promising ourselves we would keep his teeth clean.
Ha. Ha ha.
It’s over a year later now, and we are both noticing how awful Data’s breath is. You don’t want to sit within a five foot radius of him, in case he yawns (the same could be said about me and my stinky feet*). So we busted out the teeth cleaning kit for the first time this Sunday, after we had already tortured him by clipping his nails.
Data looks very enthusiastic, doesn’t he?
Steven started by holding him and attempting to use the brush. When that didn’t work, he resorted to using the finger brush and pinning Data on the floor.
I gave Data a big kiss this morning and his breath seemed better! Maybe it’s all in my head though.
What do you do to keep your pet’s teeth clean? Does your pet require any other special treatment?
*But maybe the radius should be extended to 10 feet? What do you think, Steven?
CSN Stores has been really good to me – offering me a few giveaway and review opportunities! I almost always take them up on the offer because they have so much in their stores to choose from (dining room sets, workout equipment, and even pet supplies*). I have to let you in on a little secret though – I let Steven pick out the review items! He knows what we need around the house, and is really good at finding things online. So, should I be surprised that the last time I sent him an email telling him to pick a few things out within a certain price range, that he came back with a list of 12 product ideas, some with options? He was surprised to see that CSN sells equipment racks (we could use these for our AV shelves), rolling metal tool shelves (is this a birthday gift hint, Steven?) and extension cords (apparently, there is a lot to know about them).
Hmm. We’ll have to wait on a few of those items!
Of course, we decided to review a few more things that we need in the kitchen – the Pyrex Smart 6 Piece Mixing Bowl Set (for more bread making activities):
the Pyrex Four-Cup Measuring Cup with Plastic Lid (we only have one-cup measuring cups):
and a candy thermometer.
And I have my eyes on this waffle maker. I have another CSN review I can do, so maybe I will pick that!
I know we will love these items, especially the first two, since I already am a devoted Pyrex user.
Do you think you could use one of the items listed above? I would like to give one reader an item of their choice (from the three above) as well!
Giveaway Rules:
*Sorry Data, maybe next time!
Is it totally dorky that I am super excited my sister, Christina, is in NYC and was on the Today Show this morning?
That’s her, holding the “Wake up in the morning feeling like Al Roker” sign – Ke$ha was there, so it’s a spin on her Tik Tok song. You can see her at the 2:30 point in the video below (if you are in reader, you may have to click through to see it):
I have been excited ALL week to watch the Today Show today! I even woke up earlier than my alarm this morning, I was so excited.
Unfortunately, I had to sit through an AWFUL interview with Linday Lohan’s mother (wow – she is f*cked up) to watch for Christina. But it was worth it! I had tears in my eyes when I saw her on screen! Ha. I’m so lame.
Have you ever been to NYC?
I went there in February of 2005 for an architecture trip (pictures here). Christina is there now for an interior design trip! I loved it NYC, and knew she would too! She is having such a great time, I am so excited for her.
I really want to go back to NYC. Especially to visit Gina!
Side note: that vid was available on the Today Show website a few minutes after the performance aired – how cool is that?!
*In the audience!
Even though the official end of summer is more than a month away, there are a few things that make me feel like summer is ending:
Is there anything that makes YOU feel like summer is ending?
Ha. You know what ISN’T making me feel like summer is ending?! These RIDICULOUSLY hot days.
And believe me, I will ride summer out for as long as I can… it just feels like it is ending.
Here are some pictures from the concert we attended last night. The singers/musicians stand up on this circular platform, and people sit/stand/dance all around them. The group last night was called “Libido Funk Circus.” They played/sung a lot of popular songs – even some Lady Gaga. Ha!
Last night 3500 people attended!
We sit far away since we smell… interesting after running.
Our view – the band is in the very back of the photo.
Steven made yummy sandwiches. And we stayed as long as we could until the mosquitoes ate us up. Aww. I will miss these free concerts. Until next summer!
There was an interesting article about sibling relationships in USA Today last week titled “Having a sister can be good for your emotional health.” The information in the article was not earth-shattering, but it did make a few interesting points:
So, basically, this is an iteration that we learn from the environment that we grow up in. Again, not earth-shattering, but interesting.
I am nosy curious, tell me about your relationship with your siblings. Did/do you feel any influence from them? Did you get along growing up? Do you now? If you are an only child, do you think you were influenced by your parents or peers more?
And we love polls…
Loading ...I have two brothers (older and younger) and a sister (younger). We mostly got along growing up, except for the occasional fight and relentless teasing of my younger sister. I definitely feel like I picked up a lot of cues on how to act from them. Not that we are at all the same person, but we do have some similar traits (hot temper, stubborn, giving, helpful, fun-loving, laid-back, etc.).
This picture is from 2007, but that’s the four of us – Anthony, me, Nick and Christina.
Now we all live completely different lives, so their influence is gone. It’s weird that you live with these people for however many years, and probably interact with them on a day to day basis, then once you move out of the house, you rarely see each other/communicate (and in my situation, that is just because I live in a different state than the three of them – they all still live near our hometown – I wonder what it would be like if I still lived in Iowa).
What does Darth Data need to complete his costume*?!
These Darth Data photos are from October 2005
A lightsaber!
Erin gave me a catnip-stuffed felt lightsaber for my birthday! She got it on the Etsy shop “GEEKitty Gear.” I definitely recommend checking out this shop if you have a cat!
The little lightsaber is so cute (even though it’s a bit phallic) and detailed. I love it! Thank you, Erin!
And who knew that it comes with sound?
Okay, not really, I just had to demonstrate what big of dorks Steven and I are (he has his iPhone in his hand and is using some sort of lightsaber application).
What kind of toys does your pet like?
Data loves anything felt. He also loves these little foam balls, jingle bells and feathers.
*He does have a Darth helmet, he just does not have it on in these photos.
The best thing about hotel rooms is that they have blackout shades – you pull those sweet babies closed at night, and you could wake up at 3:00 in the afternoon and still think it was the middle of the night. The room is pitch black (as long as you turn off the annoying alarm clock lights!).
Photo from here
I stayed at a hotel the last two nights for a work conference. I was really hoping the blackout shades would help me sleep better. I have not been sleeping well lately. I wake up every few hours and have crazy thoughts running through my head that sometimes make no sense but keep me awake, such as:
You get the idea. I start thinking about something and cannot stop.
And the blackout shades did not help, obviously (if I was thinking about someone breaking in to my room?). I still woke up about 4 times each night, and only one of those times was to use the bathroom.
I have tried to cut back on drinking too much water in the evening, so I won’t have to get up during the night. I try to relax before bedtime. I try not to eat too much junk. But I am still waking up frequently. For about two months now.
I wonder if it is because of my early wake-up call of 4:30. Maybe my body is confused? Or maybe I am just subconsciously stressed out about stuff and think about it during the night.
Either way, it sucks. I hate waking up, because I feel like I cannot fall back asleep, even though I eventually do. And when I wake up, I feel like I am in the middle of a deep sleep.
Have you ever dealt with sleeping problems like this? How did you deal with them? Do you have blackout shades in your bedroom?
*Mom, I think this thought came to me because you told me the story about Nick’s friends and they guy harassing them in their hotel this weekend.
Like I said, I don’t normally write weekend recaps, but, I want to document my awesome birthday weekend, and share some photos with you!
First of all, thank you for all of the birthday wishes on Saturday! You are all too kind to me.
Warning: this reads like a “Dear Diary” post, so feel free to skip it!
So, our fun weekend began on Thursday night when Erin and Jason surprisingly showed up in our driveway! We drove from Round Lake, IL to Guttenberg, IA and got in to town after 9:00 pm. My parents only have one guest bedroom in their cabin, so we stayed in the “Blue Cabin” – the spare cabin my grandparents own for people to sleep in (my grandparents and aunt also have cabins/houses in Guttenberg). We dropped our bags off there, then hung out with my parents for a bit at their place. (Unfortunately?*) My dad figured out how to put old photographs on to a disk and watch them on TV, so Erin and Jason had to sit through that a bit (sorry).
We woke up early the next day to get a head start on the fun… but it was raining. So we sat around, eating food and playing Phase 10 until the sun sort of came out and we all went to the beach (at 4:00!).
We showed Erin and Jason how to drive jet skis – they never had before!
Erin and I swam a bit, but we got cold (the temperature was something lame like 70°) so we decided to climb up a big sand hill with my mom to warm up.
We may have been acting a bit goofy.
The guys eventually climbed up.
Then we went back, because my sister and her boyfriend had arrived. We took showers, and hung out and ate dinner with everyone and my mom’s parents.
Erin and I got up early the next day to go running. While we were running, my mom and dad went to the beach to set up a tent and claim their spots. It gets really crowded on the weekends. We went to the same beach on Friday and Saturday – I think there were 3 boats there on Friday and 10 or more on Saturday.
Thanks for setting everything up, Mom!
We lazed at the beach most of the day. Thankfully, it was much warmer, in the 80s! Erin tried tubing for the first time! My aunt and grandma came, and my brother showed up with his family, some friends and his ridiculous boat.
My aunt, me and my grandma
My brother’s crazy boat
I somehow ended up giving jet ski rids to these random kids at the beach who really wanted to ride on them. I also gave my nephew and aunt a ride.
We left the beach a little after 4:00, cleaned up, and made a ton of awesome fried stuff for dinner – falafel, cauliflower, and zucchini. And of course, there was cake (and more photo viewing – sorry, again).
I’ll admit, when I saw this cake that my grandma made me, I thought “WTF is up with the frosting?!” She did it that way because the frosting has cream cheese in it, but the rest is vegan. Yum. I could almost eat that whole vegan half… I didn’t (this year).
Alright, you still with me? We stayed up quite late after eating cake. Steven, Erin, Jason and Christina’s boyfriend Will played Phase 10, while Christina and I sat on the couch being obnoxious and loud while making inappropriate jokes (my mother joined us later on).
We ate brunch with my parents and Christina and Will the next day, then went back to Round Lake. I was sad saying goodbye to Erin!** After she left though, we almost immediately turned around and drove down to Chicago to meet Gina and Steve!
I thought I would be too beat to engage in coherent conversation, but my energy came back as soon as we meet them, and we had a wonderful time! (I will not mention going to bed at 1:45 and feeling like ass the next day, though).
I would love for every weekend to be this fun.
I know this was all boring, so thanks for reading!
Does this look like your definition of a fun weekend? Would you want to go to a place like Guttenberg? Have you ever been jet skiing or tubing?
*Just teasing, dad.
**She was probably happy to get home and back to some sense of normalcy.
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Hi! I'm Kim, a 26-year-old living in a Chicago suburb with my husband, Steven, and our cat, Data. I work in the design industry (architecture), follow a vegan lifestyle, and am addicted to running (currently training for the Chicago Marathon)! I write about a variety of topics, and consider this a "life" blog - a place I can share anything that's on my mind. Please visit "About" and "100 Things" to get a better idea of who I am! :-) If you have more questions, please contact me!
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