10 unfinished projects hanging over my head

1. Refinishing the red coffee table in the craft room. It’s red and needs to be white.
2. Complete my honeymoon scrapbook. We just completed our third year of marriage… four months ago.
3. Organize the basement storage room. Seriously, I can’t find anything! We need to get some kind of organizing system going on.
4. Clear my closet of items I haven’t worn in over one year, per my 101 list.
5. Sell the old Saturn coupe and get it out of our parking lot.
6. Create the “hit by a bus” folder so Husband would know how to run the household, just in case something happened to me. Depressing, yes, but still, something that needs to be done!
7. Re-title the new Saturn Ion in our names. Waiting on the probate court to do whatever they need to do. Silly courts.
8. Mending. Patch a hole, fix the hem, sew on a button. Stuff like that.
9. Scan all our printed photos from our collection and the in-laws to the external hard drive as a back up.
10. Finish my 101 in 1001 days list.

Things that make me fearful…

I am scared that I’m going to wake up one morning and my husband won’t be there.

Or that we’ll be without a home.

Or a way to support my family.

Waking up to find out that I’m pregnant would also fall in this category. Which is odd, because every time I hear someone announcing that they’re expecting or see a baby, my uterus literally LEAPS.

I want to hold my own child so badly…

And yet, I know it’s not the right time.

But will it ever be the RIGHT time? With everything going on in the world, do I really think it’s a good idea to bring a baby in to the world, no matter when that may be?

I’m not sure… I don’t have the answer… and so every month around that time, I breath a sigh of relief. But there is always a part of me that is depressed at the same time.

There are so many things that make me fearful of the future… and it seems like there are more now than ever. I wonder why that is.

Photo Credit.

Hello, my name is Jessica and I am a podcast addict

I have a problem.

I love podcasts.

Seriously, there are over 1000 unplayed podcasts on my iTunes.

ONE THOUSAND.

That’s probably hundreds of hours of podcasts. HUNDREDS of hours. I have no idea how I’m going to get through them all… because every time I open up iTunes, more are downloaded.

Mostly, they’re Disney podcasts. Here’s a list of what’s currently downloading:

• Be Our Guest Podcast
• Betamouse
• Communicore Online
• French for Beginners
• Inside Disney Weddings Radio
• LaughingPlace.com Disney Podcast
• Mouse Travel Tips Podcast
• NPR: Car Talk
• NPR: Wait Wait… Don’t Tell Me! Podcast
• Straight Talk and Magical Moments with the Disney B
• Stuff You Missed in History Class
• This American Life
• Those Darn Cats
• WDW Today
• WEDway Radio
• What Really Matters

Isn’t that ridiculous?

Here’s the other problem… I have this obsession with listening to a podcast from beginning to end. So if I like a new podcast, I spend some time downloading ALL the episodes. That includes all 700 episodes of WDW Today. Which is kind of crazy. The first 400 aren’t available in iTunes so I’m going to have to figure out how to get them from the website and then import them so I can take them along in my iPhone.

So yes, most are Disney-focused. I love hearing about the World when I’m not there. It makes the time in between vacations a little bit easier, don’t you think?

Photo credit.

Sometimes, you just have to unwind...

After a long day of work, I stayed late to help conduct a volunteer
orientation. Then I led a tour of the building. And then answered lots
of question about our upcoming events.

Hubs is at class until 10 and since we carpooled this morning, I
figured it was silly to go home and waste the gas.

Hence, me at the college coffee shop tasting a Pimms Cup for the first
time. That plate used to hold a yummy beignet. :)

Weekend Wrap Up

I love the weekends. I always leave the office at Friday at 5 pm with a loooooong list of to-dos – both for me and hubby.

For us this weekend, Hubby had promised me that we’d concentrate on cleaning up the third floor. The guest bedroom next to our master bedroom has recently become a bedroom/office for hubby. That means that we had to do some organizing and rearranging of things. There were still lots of boxes from the move, so we spent most of the day clearing those out.

That left us with three bags of trash, a bunch of empty boxes, and a pile of paper about six inches tall that I need to file away. It feels good, but there’s still so much more to do!

But more importantly this weekend, I got to spend a morning going to Mass and brunch at City Diner at the Fox with a good friend from college and his new fiancee. They were in town for something else and managed to fit us into their busy schedule; actually, they were leaving town after brunching with us.

I was just glad to see them! I got my traditional vanilla coke and promptly fell in l.o.v.e with their biscuits and gravy. YUM. I know it’s absolutely horrible for me, but I don’t scare. It was worth every calorie.

I love that my 101 list has really reminded me of lots of things I should be doing… I feel like I’m making a dent in that list. :)

Five Question Friday

1. Do you have any nicknames and if so how did it come about?

I used to be called "Shortie" by all my friends in high school. I'm only 5'1.5" and apparently that's short. My dad also used to call me "Duckie" because I loved ducks when I was a kid. I kind of like that one. :) Husband still calls me that sometimes, because he thought it was cute.

2. What is your birth order amongst your siblings?

I'm the oldest - I have a younger brother who's going to be a senior in college this year. I'm not sure how we both got so old, but there you are. We celebrated his 21st birthday last December. Boy, buying your younger brother a drink - weirdest feeling ever.

3. In a movie of your life, who would play your significant other?

Husband would be played by someone quirky, handsome, and funny. Gotta be funny.

4. What is currently your favorite song?

Right now, I loving anything from the Glee soundtracks. I cannot WAIT for the fall TV season to start. The Defying Gravity duet was pretty awesome.

5. Are you saving your money for anything right now? Big or small purchase?

Oh boy, what AREN'T we saving for? Life, in general? We've got a trip coming up with my family, Husband has a study abroad trip for his MBA and we're in the market for a new washer and dryer (I don't want to pay to rent them anymore). So yeah, lots of things!

Works for Me Wednesday – Tithing Online

A few weeks ago, I was sitting in Mass, waiting for the service to start. I was reading the bulletin to see what’s going on in the parish, and something caught my eye.

There was an ad for ParishPay.com – a website that allows you to donate to the parish of your choice by debiting your credit or debit card every month. You can even do the special collections or one-time donations on it.

There’s a small portion of the donation that has to go for processing, but the vast majority of the money goes directly to the parish. According to their website, based on 10+ donors, only $1 and 1.5% of my donation goes to ParishPay for the administration of the collection. So most of it goes to the parish and I don’t have to remember my checkbook.

This is such a great idea for those of us who HATE writing checks and really want to help our parish with a little bit of our “treasure” and can never remember to have cash for the collection every week.

Supporting my parish with automatic tithing – that works for me!

*I was not compensated in any way for this review. I simply think it’s a neat idea.*

W is for Weariness

This is the next movie on the never ending Netflix queue. I was so excited because I thought for sure that Husband would like to watch a war flick with me! Finally, I found a movie that we could watch together.

Boy, was I wrong. He refused to watch it with me! Hmph. Men.

I’m intrigued by these code talkers. Every code that the Allies came up with during WWII was broken by the enemy. Someone finally stumbled upon the idea of a code based on the Navajo language. They were able to embed these soldiers with all the commands and get encoded messages around from camp to camp without being broken.

In all the years that the code talkers were used, the code was never broken. That’s pretty incredible when you think about it.

So when I heard of this movie, I was so excited! I really thought it was about how the program was started and Nicolas Cage was just the star power behind it.

Turns out that it’s a full blown war movie. The action is set in the Pacific (part of the war I tend to forget about when I think about WWII, actually) and so feels a bit more like Vietnam than WWII. There’s lots of blood and gore, which I usually don’t mind.

But this one? There wasn’t really a story – other than a messed up soldier (Nicolas Cage) who was trying to get back into heat of action after being injured in a battle where his entire command was killed – plus some kids from the reservation in Arizona. The one plot point? Cage’s character was supposed to protect the code at all cost – not necessarily his Navajo code talker. Should push come to shove, he was supposed to protect the code and not let it fall into the hands of the enemy. Hence, he’d have to kill the kid if it came to that.

Yup, that’s the plot.

Maybe I shouldn’t have been expecting so much. But seriously? I love good war flicks but this just left so much to be desired.

This is part of my 101 in 1001 project. I didn’t think I’d get a hard letter crossed off the list so early!

It’s the little things in life…

Have you heard of LiveWriter?

Michelle over at {So Marvelous, So Wonderful} recently posted about discovering LiveWriter.

I commented on her post that I had been using LiveWriter for a while and absolutely LOVED being able to write a bunch of posts and add the pictures exactly where they need to go, and not mess with the Blogger interface.  Um and did I mention it’s free? Perfect.

But she mentioned that there’s a watermark feature built in. I had no idea!

It was so simple – I can’t believe I had never heard about it!

Once you add a picture to the post, make sure the picture is highlighted and it will bring up the editing screen. There are a few tabs there, and the advanced tab has the watermark option. You can change the font, size and location. LOVE IT.

Not that any of my pictures are exciting enough to be stolen, but better safe than sorry. :)

To show my new watermark, here’s my most favorite-st drink ever – Thin Mint alcoholic milkshake. :)

Groupon got even better

Remember my most favorite deal site, Groupon?

I just found out they have a referral code. Click here and go to the website to see what deals you can get for your hometown.  There are even some deals that are redeemable online – and so anybody can buy ‘em!

Seriously, this site is really good. I’m excited to see what they come up with next! If you’re going to check it out, would you please oh please click through my referral link? :)

An Untypical Friday at Work

1. Wake up late [not so untypical].
2. Hurry to look somewhat presentable for the speech you'll have to make at the staff meeting.
3. Be at the office in time to accept the breakfast delivery for the staff meeting.
4. Set up the food for the staff meeting.
5. Have a yummy Asiago cheese bagel and ignore the caloric intake.
6. Sit through the staff meeting, worrying about your events presentation.
7. Rush through your presentation because we're running late and you gotta get back to work.
8. Check email for the first time during the day.
9. Noon - time for staff luncheon! Celebrating the international theme, yummy burgers and fajitas await you on the patio.
10. Back to the desk for an afternoon of attemptiong to be productive.
11. Four pm - staff happy hour featuring Coronas and margaritas.
12. Head to the hinterlands for a show at a theatre company I've never heard of.
13. Sleep.

All in all, a Friday the Thirteenth at work doesn't appear to be so bad, after all.

I love a nice delivery in the middle of a work day

To be overcome by the fragrance of flowers is a delectable form of defeat.  ~Beverly Nichols

Flowers are wonderful. I received these for an external event we did at work last week. The client was happy and sent us these mini calla lilies. Wasn’t that nice of them?

I have them sitting on my desk, next to my daily calendar and a pic of me and my dad. It’s like he’s looking over me every day at the office. I just love looking over at the picture – makes me smile every time.

Just another reason why I made it a goal to have flowers around me at least once a month!

Works for Me Wednesday – Leave the Cell at home!

Last week, Husband was going out to the ole college bar for the big drinking night. The bar offers big pitchers of beer for only a penny for a refill – needless to say, it’s a big hit with the college crowd from across the street. I tagged along with Husband to see kids we haven’t seen in a while.

But here’s why my tip comes in – I forgot my cell phone. Yes, my beloved iPhone was left in the charger in the master bedroom and I only had my ID with me. Husband had the keys and the debit card so we could get to the bar and pay for our drinks.

BUT.

I couldn’t take pictures of my drinks for this blog. I couldn’t take pictures of the kids playing flip cup. I couldn’t check in with FourSquare and get points for it. I couldn’t check my email… or Twitter..or Facebook.. or play Words with Friends.

I thought I was going.to.die.

And then I got over it.

It was actually quite liberating!

So what works for me? Leaving my cell phone at home to concentrate on having fun with friends. :)

Declutter-ing Craziness

Graceful Creative had a post recently about the 50 things decluttering challenge. I haven’t had a chance to read the book where she got her idea from but I think I want to take on this challenge.

The crazy thing about the challenge? You count every GROUP of things you give away as one thing – stack of magazines? One item. A bunch of shoes? One item.

SCARY.

Husband and I spent some time on Saturday morning clearing out the pit that is the storage room. Here’s what came out and went to a MBA friend of Husband’s [she has a new place and wanted stuff to fill it!]…

One - One foldable dorm room coffee table….

Two – one trash can…

 

Three – a shoe organizer…

 

Four – a drawer organizer…

 

Five – two Pyrex glass bowls…

 

Six – a teakettle…

 

Seven – two African-inspired masks that just did not fit our house’s theme…

Eight – cloth bowl thing that was used for decoration at the wedding…

Nine – two baskets…

 

Ten – two ice trays…

Eleven – two angel pictures that again, didn’t match the theme of the house once we decorated…

Twelve – two red pillows from the college years…

Thirteen – two striped pillows from the post-college apartment…

My apologies if any of these items we decluttered were presents, Mom or Nina. Seriously – we didn’t have the room for them!

This may take a while.

Getting to know you on a Sunday

1. Do you think mustaches are sexy?
I have never dated someone with any kind of facial hair – I just realized that. So no, it doesn’t really do it for me.

2. What's the last concert you've been to?
I haven’t gone to concerts in a while due to budgetary reasons. The last one was Husband’s friend’s band that played at a local pub. Other than that, the last big one I attended was probably a country one back home in Texas.

3. What was your favorite 80's sitcom?
Oh there are so many! But Full House holds such a special place in my house.

4. Were you named after anyone?
Mom always told me that she got the idea of the name from a local news broadcaster but that I wasn’t actually named after her.

5. When you buy new clothes, do you wash before wearing?
Um, no… should I? I only do that when I buy things from a thrift store or yard sale.

6. If you didn't blog, what would you do with your spare time?
I’d read a lot more. I should probably stop blogging as much and do that, actually…

7. What is your favorite department store?
I love Nordstrom’s Rack – adorable clothes but at a reasonable price.

8. If you were to get Laser Hair Removal..where would you get it?
Um… everywhere? But most especially legs and underarms so I wouldn’t have to shave anymore. Rumor has it that as I get older, I’ll have to get it on my upper lips – thanks to the family’s genes! Thanks, Mom!

How did I miss The Gooners as a kid?!

The mailman dropped off that wonderful red envelope a few weeks ago. That’s what usually happens, I get the Netflix envelope and then wait a bit before watching whatever disc is in there. One Friday night, I insisted that Husband and I sit down and watch The Goonies so I could send it back and get another movie. That’s why we’re paying to have Netflix, after all, right?

Let me just say - Awesome! How did I miss this CLASSIC when I was a kid? I think I was thrown off by the name. I thought it was some kind of weird movie that I wouldn’t like. Honestly, I have no idea why I never watched it.

I’m so glad I put it on our Netflix list. With Sean Astin, Josh Broland,  Jeff Cohen and Corey Feldman teaming up to beat the bad guys to a hidden treasure, what’s not to love?! I had a smile on my face the WHOLE movie. I think I even cried a little bit when the kids get reunited with the parents at the end.

What a great movie to add to my 101 List.

Words, words, words – Hamlet knew what he was talking about

flickr - tipiro

"Ask God's blessing on your work, but don't ask him to do it for you."

~Dame Flora Robson, English thespian

I sign my emails with this one.

I’m in love with quotes, but what made me chose this one?

First off, it’s a thespian… an actor… a fellow lover of the stage.

According to Wikipedia,

“Dame Flora McKenzie Robson DBE (28 March 1902 – 7 July 1984) was an English actress, renowned as a character actress, who played roles ranging from queens to villainesses.”

I don’t think I’ll ever become a lady, but to be a famous character actress – that’d be pretty amazing.

I haven’t been on the stage in almost one year. It’s been eleven months since this brief stint across the boards.

I’m itching to have some work to ask God’s blessing for. I try to apply this quote to my day job as well, and that’s why I sign my e-mails with it. It reminds me constantly to keep Him in sight and know that there is more than the daily grind.

Do you have a favorite quote? I love hearing other people’s favorites!

The never-completed honeymoon scrapbook that is now two years overdue

I sat down a few days ago and continued on the honeymoon scrapbook.

Originally, I told myself that scrapbooking was going to be my big hobby once the wedding had come and gone and was no longer taking up all my time… in 2007.

Here we are, three years later, and we just celebrated our anniversary a few months ago. I had thought I would finish by my first anniversary. Well, not so much.

Here are a bunch more pages in the scrapbook… we’re getting closer!

Page One

“We spent the weekend in the country – so we had to take the train! The countryside was beautiful and the trip so peaceful.”

Page Two 

Page Three

Page Four

“Angers, France”

Page Five

“Saumer Castle – Unfortunately, under construction, so we didn’t go inside”

“But what a view!” 

Page Six

      

“The perfect side street…”

Page Seven

“On a side street in Angers, France, we found a little museum with a big secret…”

“A relief sculpture featuring the American founding fathers… and an ancestor of my mother’s mother – Robert Morris! How crazy is that?!”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I think there are around four more pages after this. Almost there!

Wordless Wednesday - European Dreaming

... in 148 days, I'll be in Paris for New Year's Eve.

:)

They like me… they really like me!

1. Thank and link back to the person who gave you this award.

Thank you Very Best Housewife! You’re the best!

2. Share seven things about yourself.

3. Pass this award along to fifteen bloggers who you have recently discovered and who you think are fantastic for whatever reason!

4. Contact the bloggers you’ve picked and let them know about the award.

7 Random Things about me: 

1. I love red licorice. But you may already have known that.
2. I could have a massage every single day of my life. Really.
3. I follow WAY too many blogs. I seriously spend way too much time going through my RSS reader.
4. I used to sleep with a sleep mask but once I got married, I found out I didn’t really need one any more.
5. I love reading really bad chick lit. Love it.
6. I was a cheerleader in high school and could do the splits. That was a LONG time ago.
7. I am never happy with my hair – no matter the hair cut or the way I style it, I don’t ever think it’s right.

And the 15 blogging ladies I'd like to pass this onto...

1. Megan, the Unintended Housewife
2. Amber at Young, Fabulous and Newlywed
3. Natalie at the Bobby Pin
4. Laura at Our Crazy Adventure
5. Katie at Loves of Life
6. The Doctor’s Wife
7. Mrs. Dawktor
8. Jen at After the Alter
9. Sonya at A Day in the Life
10. Lauren at Walk with Me on this Journey Called Life
11. Melissa at New Girl On Post
12. Crystal at Brunette on a Budget
13. Sarah at Classy and Fabulous 
14. Kate at Diary of a Manhattan Actress
15. d.a.r. at Just Another Day in Our Midwest Paradise

Now it’s on to laundry…