Kind Words

Thank you all SO MUCH for all the kind words from yesterday. My world was literally falling apart right before my eyes. I'm not sure what exactly triggered it, but I was an emotional mess yesterday.

I WAS able to sleep last night, THANK GOD, and I slept like a baby. It was probably one of the best night sleeps I've had in a LONG time! Sometimes I do just need to breathe. I used to work really REALLY hard on not letting things that were out of my control bother me. I've succeeded at not always letting the little things bring me down...

but yesterday...

was a totally different story. And it's so nice to know that you can turn to a group of fabulous people within the blogging community, and get exactly what you need.

Thanks again :-)

Friendsgiving 2009

First of all, I'm sorry to all my blogger friends. I've been bumming around the last few weeks and not feeling as though ANYTHING important is going on in my life right now. Therefore, it's been approximately a month and a half since I've updated this blog. I do apologize. I've still been reading up on people's lives (sounds creeperish) but I haven't really been leaving comments either. So again, I apologize.

Now... on to the good stuff! This past weekend we had Friendsgiving. We decided that every year, for as long as humanly possible, we are going to get together with our good friends and have our very own Thanksgiving. One that starts with fried turkey, and ends after a whole night of great time with great friends. This year was our first attempt at it. And by first attempt at it I mean... first attempt at every single part of having a Thanksgiving dinner. The most coordinating I do for dinner is pushing start on the microwave when the oven says 5 minutes left. I do say... I've gotten damn good at that! ;-) Anyway, everyone brought some sides and we cooked for about an hour while the bird was frying! It was so much fun!

We managed to get the turkey cooked all the way through on the first try! (Thank goodness because Joe dropped everything to lift the bird out into the bubbling oil so... he had one shot before we were going to have to do some seriously dangerous improvising!) I got all the food on the table while it was warm! And everyone liked everything!

It's been so long since we've had all our friends together for an ENTIRE evening and it was so refreshing to catch up with them. And guess what... 7 people ate an entire 20 pound turkey. I guess everyone thought it tasted good.

This is definitely a tradition we've decided we want to continue, even after our familes start growning. What better way to spend a second holiday than with great company. I love my friends :-) I'll have to post pictures tomorrow because I CANNOT get them to work tonight. you can check them out here if you so desire though :-)

Bad News

Last night we got some bad news and I'm just beside myself.

About a month ago my sister was joking with my mom and told my mom that her entire left side had been going numb and she had even blacked out a few times on her way home from work. Obviously, my mom didn't think this was funny and immediately sent her to the doctor (by sent, I mean begged her to go... my sister is 21). She went to her regular doctor and had a normal blood workup done... fine. They sent her to an opthamologist... her eyes checked out just fine. They sent her for a more extensive blood workup... came back fine. Finally, her doctor decided that she needed to go for an MRI. One of those ones where you have the first MRI, then you drink some dye and you have the same MRI again. In the meantime of all these tests, she's had a few more episodes, but if you knew my sister, you would know she makes a joke out of everything and worries about nothing. (I obviously got the drama genes in our family!)

My sister got the tests back last night. A nurse called her and told her the news. At work. Without being able to answer any questions.

My sister has cysts on her brain. Unfortunately, we aren't sure what that entails because the freakin' nurse called, not the doctor. And... they told her over the phone. My sister is devastated and has to wait until next Friday to speak with a neurologist. That's a long time for this to be weighing on her. My sister has been through so much in her life, and I can't imagine how she is taking this news. I am in desperate need of some prayers here. I love my sister and I hope these are treatable cysts. Preferably the type that can shrink with medicine. (Wishful thinking, I know...)

TEN THINGS TUESDAY

In conjunction with my earlier post today about the heart association, and more specifically, my aunt… I’m doing reasons why my family means the world to me!

1. My grandpa is by-far my biggest fan. He traveled all over with my mom and I. We had so much fun with him and I never realized how lucky I was to have such a great guy as a grandpa.

2. My mom’s sisters are like my own sometimes. They all care so much about my sister and I. They threw me a great shower for my wedding, and I call them if I need something. I love being in a close-knit family.

3. My grandma is the most generous woman I have ever met. She raised 4 children to all be successful, as well as worked full time. And to boot, she still holds hands with my grandpa. It seriously makes my heart melt.

4. My aunt Tracy trusted me for a whole summer with her infant child’s life. I watched him everyday from 8-5 through my summers in high school. I never knew what a compliment that was, but I was really young. I got good money, had fun, and got to see my family all the time.

5. My cousin Brittany is like a little sister to me. She lives in our old house and we used to see each other on a regular basis, like daily. Now that I’ve moved away, I still make it a point to make a day of it when she does my hair.

6. My dad’s mom always remembers to send us cards for all those little occasions in our lives. She is so good and always finds the perfect card for the occasion. Sometimes I think she spends the entire day in Hallmark looking for the card, but it always puts a smile on my face.

7. I am the third oldest child on my mom’s side of the family. The first two are boys. When we were younger, my boy cousins played “Pretty Pretty Princess” with me. I don’t know if you’ve ever heard of that game, but you put on jewelry and whoever had the crown won. We have several pictures of the three of us playing it, dressed up and everything.

8. Until a few years ago, my family got together every weekend just because. We enjoyed going to see Grandma and Grandpa and loved seeing the whole family at once.

9. I still look forward to holidays at my grandparents. Not because of the gifts or the food, but because we all are in one place, and we are all there to spend quality time together.

10. And most of all, I am thankful that my family loves and accepted Joe into our family immediately. He has been coming around now for 6 years, and my youngest cousins ask where he is if I’m by myself. We truly are a package deal and my family has never made him feel anything but welcome and a part of the craziness that we call “family.”

Please check my prior post, I would really appreciate any donations for the American Heart Association. Also, the money goes directly to the AHA so you don't have to worry about your money getting to the association. And, if you are around the Akron area, October 17th at 10:00 AM is the heart walk. It is a great event, only a two mile walk, and it's for a wonderful cause!

Here's the link to Near and Dear to My Heart where you can find instructions on donating.

Thanks again!

Ten Things Tuesday

Good Morning All! This brilliant thought came to my head this morning while listening to the very much unintelligent people on the radio...


1. I am so thankful that I only have a two minute commute to work... yep you read it right, two minutes... and why I'm so thankful for that is so I don't have to listen to the stupid radio shows in the morning. Why don't they just play some freakin music. I know I know, Tricia, you could listen to a CD and not arrive every morning to work pissed. But, my dad always told me to listen to the radio on the way to and from work, to hear if there was an accident or something, now it's just habit.

2. I am thankful for the fact that I can move today. Last night I took my first yoga class and I moved in ways I didn't know my body moved. So thank you, for letting me be able to move today!

3. I am thankful that I don’t hear the radio at my work real well. Whoever set it up must love Jessica Simpson because every other song is one of hers. And, while I do like some of her songs, they haven’t been popular in a few years now. PICK A NEW STATION!

4. I am thankful that I am back in the corner, yet right by the door that everyone wants to hold impromptu meetings outside of. It makes it extremely difficult to get my work done when I am constantly trying to tune other people out while they are talking. GET A ROOM!

5. I am thankful that I get to deal with idiots regularly at my job. They make my day just a little more interesting. I really am thankful for that!

6. I am thankful that I have a day-to-day tear away calendar so I can go through and countdown to every important thing going on this year. For example, I only have 31 days until vacation and 4 days until my one year anniversary.

7. I am thankful for five fiscal week months. I get to listen to all the radio stations on internet radio and pick new songs to update my Ipod with the latest and greatest. Without these ridiculously slow months, I would have the same stuff on my Ipod as when I first loaded it, because lord knows they don’t play music on the radio in the car!

8. I am thankful for these nifty new phones we got recently at work. Now I can tell who is calling to harass me.

9. I am thankful for thumb tacks, because without them I would have an uncluttered cubicle. I would actually be able to see what color the walls of my cube are, but instead, I have all these pieces of paper EVERYWHERE telling me dates, stores, reports, writing techniques, etc. And the best part is, most of these very informative pieces of junk (oops, did I call them that?) were left for me by the previous cube occupant. AWESOME!

10. I really am thankful for my job, especially in an economy like this. However, I was feeling just a little rambunctious today and thought I would add just a bit of a smart a** spin to it!

Once again, thanks for reading. Comments are greatly appreciated, and I always return the favor!

Ten Things Tuesday

So I found this fun blog on here. It is Xbox wife's idea, you should head over to her blog sometime and check it out. Anyway, you are supposed to post a list of ten things on Tuesdays. Sounds easy enough, huh?

Today's Ten Things I'm Thankful For

1. My family is so important to me. Not only do I love my husband, but my parents and my siblings are great. I also love my in-laws. They are in support of our choices and a pleasure to be with all the time!

2. My friends are such great people. Joe and I have the fortune of sharing a lot of our friends, which makes spending time with friends even more enjoyable. We love each and every one of them and are so thankful that they are such a huge part of our lives.

3. My job. Even though sometimes I complain about my job, or my pay, or my hours... I truly am thankful that I have a job, especially in these trying times. I am able to do something I am good at, and kind of most of the time enjoy.

4. My puppy. I know, it sounds tacky. But she is our child right now. She is such a sweet puppy and I am looking forward to her growing up, much like anyone looks forward to their children growing up!

5. Where I'm from. I am thankful to be an American. Again, might sound a bit cliche', but I am so serious. I also greatly appreciate the men and women who risk their lives to keep this country the greatest on Earth.

6. Love. I am so thankful to have the experience of loving your best friend. Sounds stupid, but I wake up every morning excited to see Joe. I also can't wait to get home and tell him about my day. It truly is the best! 7. Financial Stability. In this economy, being able to pay all our bills and still have some left over money is pretty awesome. I am so thankful that we are both able to work and "bring home the bacon" for each other!

8. My grandparents. I know I already talked about being thankful for my family, but this is a different kind of thankful. I had the pleasure of getting to know all four of my grandparents. Not many people get to know them all. Although I lost a grandparent in high school, I still feel as though I got a chance to know him as well. They are all such great people!

9. Eat. Going along with the theme, I am also very thankful that we are able to eat what we want, when we want. There are so many people these days who aren't even sure where their next meal is going to come from, or even if they are going to eat. I am so thankful that I can provide for my family.

10. Joe. Joe also gets his own! Last, but definately not last (more along the lines of saving the best for last) is my wonderful husband. I have been with Joe for over six years now. It's so hard to believe that we started dating in those awkward high school days and here we are, stronger than ever. I love him with all my heart, and I am thankful everyday to be in love with my very best friend. He truly is my other half and my soul mate. I am who I am today, because of him.

Well, that wraps up my top ten for this week. Do me a favor, leave comments if you're reading it, and do one for yourself. Make it a habit for Tuesdays! And, (if I could figure out how to link her page to mine I would) make sure to visit Xbox wife's page (you can just google it!) to find out the official rules. I think I am going to just make top ten lists each week, not necessarily what I am thankful for during the week. I hope to hear from all of you! This was a fun post!