Happy Anniversary!

4 years ago today (well yesterday since its after midnight), I took a huge leap into adulthood and moved to Columbus. I never thought I'd make it here longer than a year. It was so much different from where I grew up. I didn't think I'd ever fit in here. Now, I honestly feel at home in this city. I don't know if we'll stay here forever but I will definitely be sad to leave.

Long overdue....

I've been too busy since my birthday to update what happened. D. took me to a restaurant called Barcelona. It was really yummy. I managed to find a skirt to wear at Macy's and I found a pair of dressy boots to wear. That girl that R. was supposed to bring cancelled at the last minute. I guess she forgot about a birthday party that she was supposed to attend. R. got me a few silly presents: reindeer antlers (which they tried to get me to wear), a slap braclet with bells, a "mad cow" keychain (that's fun to annoy D. with) and a shotglass with a pig on it from Iowa. And I got a free dessert b/c they told them it was my b-day.

The next night, the 3 of us went to see the luminaries in German Village. Just as D. and I were parking the car, it started to snow. It made everything even more beautiful. Here's some pictures from the night:



This is the bridge that crosses the little pond:


This is the main sidewalk that leads up to the statue in the middle of the park:



Here's me:

Merry Christmas....

...from the Monkey House to yours!

Holiday Questionaire

1. Egg Nog or Hot Chocolate? Neither

2. Does Santa wrap presents or just sit them under the tree? Wrap


3. Colored lights on tree/house or white? House has white; tree has white and purple

4. Do you hang mistletoe? No, cats would eat it

5. When do you put your decorations up? Whenever I get around to it

6. What is your favorite holiday dish? Ham

7. Favorite Holiday memory as a child? Nothing special stands out in my memory

8. When and how did you learn the truth about Santa? 10 or so, I think. I heard Mom wake up in the middle of the night to put presents under the tree.

9. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve? Yes, that's when Donni's mom has Christmas

10. What kind of cookies does Santa get set out for him? I don't remember. That was a long time ago.

11. Snow! Love it or Dread it? Love it.

12. Can you ice skate? I have trouble walking some days. You want me to try to move on thin blades? I don't think so.

13. Do you remember your favorite gift? My first bike

14. What's the most important thing about the Holidays for you? Getting a day off work.

15. What is your favorite Holiday Dessert? Cheesecake (not really a holiday dessert)

16. What is your favorite holiday tradition? I don't have any traditions. Unless everybody trying to avoid Grandma at my aunt's house counts.

17. What tops your tree? a silver bow

18. Which do you prefer Giving or Receiving? Giving

19. What is your favorite Christmas Carol? the hippopotomuses song

20. Candy Canes! Yuck or Yum? Never excited me

I hate surprises

I have always hated surprises. I have this need to know exactly what is going on at all times. In the words of my father, "what's the plan?" D's taking me somewhere for dinner tonight to celebrate my birthday. He won't tell me where. All I know is that its somewhere I've never been and he hasn't been in a couple of years. And that I have to dress up. There are so many restaurants in this town that I couldn't even try to guess. I don't have a clue what to wear. I don't have that many nice clothes. D. said to wear a skirt but I only own short skirts and its a little too cold out for a short skirt. We're going with our friend R. and this girl he's been on one date with. So I'm not only worrying that I won't be dressed properly for this restaurant, but I'm worried how I'll look to this other girl. I know it shouldn't matter, but I want this to work out for R. and I don't want her to wonder what kind of friends he has. Plus, I'm shy around new people. In the back of my head, I know I'm going to have fun tonight but its not helping me stop worrying. I'll let you know about tonight later.

Happy Birthday to me...

Happy Birthday to me
Happy Birthday to me
Happy Birthday dear me
Happy Birthday to me.

: )

Brief Update

Nothing exciting has been happening around here. We got a couple inches of snow the other day. Our road was completely covered but the main road was fine when I went to work. Our road is still covered in spots today. D's been having fun making his car slide around on it (men!).

We hung some garland on the front porch today. Its lighted but we haven't figured out how we're going to plug everything in yet. There aren't any outlets outside so we'll probably have to run an extention cord inside (but we do have an old phone jack on the porch; go figure). I got the tree up Saturday night and put one strand of lights on it tonight. I need to put one more strand on and tie the tree to the wall before we start decorating it. The cats are already messing with the tree so I hope the tree can last until after Christmas. Boots demolished my first Christmas tree by himself. Now he has 3 partners in crime to help him.

I can't get into the holiday spirit anymore. I used to love decorating for Christmas and now it seems like such a chore. Last year, I didn't do any decorating at all. I got a little more excited about it this year since we have the house and all but I think the excitment lasted a day or so. Just call me the Grinch.

Its supposed to snow....Start panic mode NOW!!!

The weathermen are calling for snow tomorrow night into Friday. According to them, we might get 5-7 inches. This has been one of the top stories on the news for the past 2 days. Do the news people get some kind of sick pleasure out of making such a big deal out of this and the ensuing panic? All I've been hearing at work is "OMG, its going to snow." We live in Ohio people. It's been snowing here for centuries. Yes, it's a pain to have to clean off our cars and to shovel our sidewalks but its no reason to panic. I wouldn't be surprised if we didn't get much snow at all. They forcast a bunch of snow, people panic and we get nothing. We were supposed to get a couple of inches this weekend and I woke up to none. And what is it about snow (and rain for that matter) that makes normally good drivers turn into idiots. I will admit that I've never had to drive in snow very much (and my father would never teach me) but come on. Its called "SLOW DOWN." It seems pretty self explanatory to me. I hate driving during bad weather b/c of the other drivers, not the actual weather conditions.

My only complaint about the upcoming snow is that its supposed to come overnight. I love watching the snow. There's something calming about it. There's nothing better then cuddling up on the couch with a blanket (and my sexy monkey now that he's done with classes for the quarter) and watching the snow fall. It seems like all the good snowfalls happen overnight.

Oh well. Rant over.

I did it, I did it...

I finally worked on a scrapbook layout tonight. I haven't done any scrapping since before we moved in August. I've been in the mood but just couldn't get motivated on anything lately. Hopefully, I'll be able to get more done in the coming days b/c I'm sooo far behind on all my pictures. Here's tonight's masterpiece.

Boring...

I haven't posted anything in awhile. Nothing exciting has happened. I'm trying to get the house decorated for the holidays. I haven't gotten very far. I got a wreath on the door and the stockings hung. I'm trying to get the tree up today but I'm not feeling the greatest so not sure if that's going to happen today. D's finals are this week so he's busy trying to finish up work for his 2 classes. It's been really cold here so we're just trying to bundle up and stay warm.