Random Questions @ Friday Fives!

(Need I say more?)

Actually, yes - I do need to say more.  Because it's time for some random Q&A, by Beth McC!

Something you're OCD about:

Making sure the door is locked when I leave the apartment!  Before I walk away from my apartment, I check the knob several times.  I'm not at the point where I actually need to count how many times i attempt to twist the knob and check if it's secure, but I'm getting there! It really makes going somewhere a major pain in the arse - seriously, if i could get over this, I would be out the door and in my car at least 2 minutes faster.

Your favorite quote:

Grandpa Lou Holtz all the way! "Life is 10 percent what happens to you and 90 percent how you respond to it." I blogged about it here!

What is the farthest you've been from home?

I have yet to venture across the big blue sea, so Las Vegas it is!  I went on my honeymoon a few years ago. I was far from "home" physically, but I felt at home there - such an amazing place! No matter who you are, you feel like a rock star.  Amazing!

Do you do a real or fake Christmas tree?

Fake for now - and probably forever.  I have way too many ornaments to mess with trying to find a real tree with enough tips.  Several of my ornaments are extremely heavy.  Ornaments, ornaments, ornaments.  I am a Christmas nut!  As it gets closer to tissing the season, you will learn more about my Christmas decoration obsession! (Each year, I put my fake tree up the first weekend of November - a birthday present to myself!)

First blog you ever read?

Crazy Shenanigans!  Jennifer's blog was my inspiration, my reason for starting a life in blog land.  She and I both graduated from Marshall University in 2006 with degrees in criminal justice, so I knew her before well before I began blogging.  She kind of held my hand, told me it would be OK, and helped me set up the whole she-bang. 

Jmo blogs about her traveling adventures, good times with friends, movies and books, and the totally random crazy things that tend to occur in her life.  Be sure to visit Crazy Shenanigans as you leave! (And thanks, Jennifer!)

{Check it out!}

Visit Beth @ Just Me and My Life to play along with her weekly Friday 5's!

Have a great Friday, friends!

Getting to know me Sunday :)

1.If you had 5000.00 to spend on plastic surgery what would you have done?
Nose.  Definitely the nose! It currently has its own zip code!!!

2. Do you watch Soap operas and if so what is your favorite and why?
No to the soap operas - although, I do remember getting home from grade school just in time to catch Kelly Ripa in her younger days, on All My Children. I loved her!
3. Favorite clothing brand?
I love Gap :)  Anything and everything GAP!  
4. An afternoon shopping spree at your favorite store or maid service for a year?
Shopping Spree!  to Crate & Barrel, PLEASE!
5. would you ever vajazzle?
I had to google this - all I can say is, "WOW?!?!?!?"  Had NO idea this was a trend. Kinda like Bedazzle... for your... ahem... Ya know.  How FUNNY!

6. Favorite Disney Princess?
Cinderella :)  Such a sweet, classic story!

7. Last movie that made you bawl your eyes out?
The Last Song

8. Have you ever broken any bones and if so what?
I've never broken a bone!  Now I need some wood to knock on!!!
Link up @ Mannland5 to play along!




*Have a great Sunday!*

Friday Five - Random Questions

Once again, I'm participating in Beth's Friday Five (I just l-u-v her themes!) and this week, she's asking 5 random questions, the sneaky little thing! 


1. If given the choice to skip work for a day, how would you spend the entire day?
I actually wouldn't sleep in - I would get up early, get my workout over with so i wouldn't feel guilty for the enormous amounts of chocolate I consume throughout the day. If my day off was a hot, sunny summer day, I would spend a couple of hours baking myself by the pool (with sunblock on, of course), swim around a little, then retreat to the cool apartment.  There, I would snuggle up in some of those cute cropped Victoria's Secret PINK sweats and a collegiate tee (I own 400 of every team), read a good book, nap a little, eat a little chocolate, cuddle with my kitty, and watch a good chick flick.  This is assuming my husband isn't home - if he is, all the same stuff, minus the chick flick - Maybe. 

2. If you could start fresh, which profession would you choose?
Funny how I'm pondering this very thing day in day out - I actually hate what I chose as a college major. I am proud of my degree because it took some seriously hard work to earn, but I wish that I could go back and study something I actually had a serious interest in and was good at: graphic design, print journalism, maybe an art education, or, oddly enough, a sociology major.  maybe eventually a sociology scholar. "Why did you choose your major if you hated it so much?", you ask?  Simple.  What I thought i wanted at 18 was not what i wanted at age 21, when it was too late to change my major. 

3. What is your favorite candy or candy bar?
m&ms - 'nuff said

4. Have you ever ordered anything from an infomercial or bought an "as seen on TV" item? Plenty of times - most recently, mom bought me the SHARK handheld steam cleaner as a Christmas present, which totally rocks.  I LOVE it, and love sharking all over the apartment.  The cat is a little scared of it, though :)

5. What's the movie you always cry at?
I graduated from Marshall University, can you guess?
WE ARE MARSHALL - guaranteed tear jerker, every single time I watch it. 

So there you have it - five random things about me. 

Hop on over to Beth's and have some of your own Friday Fun!

Friday Free-Write (#5)

First things first on this Fabulous Friday... I would like to thank Brittany over @ Unexpected Surprises for featuring my blog in Spotlight Thursday! I now have lots of lovely new followers - most of which I've started following, too. Thanks to everyone who left those super sweet wedding anniversary wishes!

I'm sure you're wondering - how was the anniversary? Both of us had a great day, an even better evening. After Todd finished teaching for the day and I finished torturing myself at the gym, we exchanged gifts at home. I bought a nice sweater/shirt/tie combo from Banana Republic for Todd, which he loved. When I picked it out, I had the early fall conference he is presenting at in mind, and that is what he says he plans to wear it for (just what I thought!) The sweater is made of silk and linen, so it's very lightweight and won't be too heavy layered over the dress shirt this fall. I took a major chance with the tie - it's a microstriped peachy burnt orange - but he will look fab in it. I think he likes everything from BR, regardless of what it looks like.

What did I get? Well, for starters, Dear John on DVD because HELLO! There's an alternate ending included in the bonus features, as well as deleted scenes - all of which I'm dying to see, because there were parts missing in the movie that i thought really made the book amazing. Todd also spoiled me with Diamond stud earrings from Cornwell Jewelers, a local jewelry store that really pulls out all the stops. They remind me of a local version of a Tiffany & Co, because they use unique packaging that makes you just want to stare at the gift for hours before even opening it. I appreciate all of the special little details! And I appreciate Cornwell's Royal Purple gift boxes trimmed with a big Purple/silver organza bow. Which comes inside a royal purple gift bag stuffed with royal purple tissue paper. So classy! We had a terrific Dinner at Abrio's Brick Oven. Their dinner - and dinner rolls - are soooo good. Both of us had seafood/pasta, but had absolutely no room for dessert (I'm going to start ordering dessert first!) It's hard to believe that we're already working on the 5th year of marriage :)

Soooo... the weekend is here. Is anyone excited for a little book by Stephenie Meyer to come out tomorrow? You know... the Eclipse Novella that's supposed to tide us Twilight fanatics over... I will definitely be picking up the Short Second Life of Bree Tanner tomorrow. And I'm going to push Richard Russo's Nobody's Fool off to the side - ok, maybe off into the trash, because it has been a sucky read thus far - and read all about Bree Tanner this weekend! And our pool will finally be open - so I'll be tanning my vampire-white skin while reading vampire tales! Maybe I'll go really crazy, and while i'm tanning my vampire skin/reading vampire books, I'll listen to Vampire Weekend on my iPod! YAY for the weekend.

The sign painting continues... I just finished up one for myself last night, and I dearly love it - it looks amazing, and although it's hanging in the oddest of places (our bathroom wall, for we have zero space anywhere else), I just want to keep staring at it. (I love the pretty script font!) I know I can paint the Marshall logo, but i wanted to give another a try. The OU Bobcats logo was a huge success! I'm currently working on an Ohio State sign and it's almost impossible... very, very difficult. Not my favorite thing. Which stinks, because I live in Buckeye country, where a lot of people may possibly want a custom sign... I keep telling myself It'll get easier! I'm giving the Duke Logo and others a shot as requests come in. I'm planning to paint more WV state scenic signs, and some whimsical designs with everyone's favorite inspirational words, too. And then? Perhaps an Etsy store! All I know is, I went to Lowes and bought a ton of boards, had them chopped in to pieces, and now there are a bunch of sign-sized boards laying around the apartment with my signature chocolate brown base coat on them. I have work to do. I'll keep you posted!

MONDAY is the first day of a new Hallmark Card Contest! I have my design all worked up - I'm going to introduce Diego to the HFB on Facebook first thing Monday morning, and I cannot wait! More contest blogging on Monday. :) Again, for those of you who love drawing, designing, photoshopping, and photography - you need to enter Hallmark Card Contests! It's Fantastic FUN, I'm telling you!

Have a terrific weekend, everyone! I have to work through the afternoon, but it's ok - I feel either a Starbucks Iced Mocha or a "love it"-sized Chocolate Devotion from Cold Stone Creamery coming on once the work day is done! OOH! And Todd & I are giong to kick off our summer movie marathon by going to see Splice tonight (which is sure to gross and freak me out!)

Yep, it's gonna be a terrific weekend!!!

Friday Free-Write #1

Currently, I'm themeless. So here goes it - a rambling, random blog post with little or no structure (who really believes in that whole "Beginning paragraph, three "middle" paragraphs, and an end/conclusion paragraph", anyway)? I think I punctuated that sentence entirely incorrectly. Oops, there's some bad grammer for ya!

Here's what's happening in sunny Athens, Ohio today:

It's going to reach a high of 85 degrees. Tomorrow, 55 degrees will be the high temp. You just never know about the weather in SE Ohio!

There have been at least 12 people sickened after eating at one of the most popular local Mexican restaurants in town. I won't be eating there anytime soon! YIKES!

Todd is hard at work on his dissertation. I still don't really know what "pedagogy" is. But I know what a Hillbilly is, and I know what Appalachia is, so a dissertation about Hillbilly/ Appalachian/Critical/Pedagogy sounds like an impressive piece of work to me! He has such fabulous ideas and great support - not only from his peers @ OU, but several other schools as well. I strongly believe in "go big or go home", "give it all you've got or don't give anything at all", and "if you're going to spend 10+ years in college, you better make an impact on something somewhere somehow". I know he will do great things in his field. Our life is an adventure, and I'm ready to do the next big thing. Moving is one of them. When we decided to move from Huntington to Athens four years ago, I was scared out of my mind and cried for days because "Athens just isn't Huntington", whatever that means - of course i realize that is a senseless way to think now. It's the absolute best thing we could have ever done for ourselves at that time. I will not be crying this moving time around - maybe only happy tears. I'm ready for the next place, and I hope there's a Crate&Barrel nearby! Counting down... we have a year left in Athens.

Speaking of moving, I will really hate leaving the apartment complex that we live in - our central Air didn't feel very cold this morning, so the maintenance men replaced the filter. They're always right there, ready to help - the landscaping is wonderful, our pool is always really clean and nice in the summer, and they will come at midnight if needed. They also help with minor car issues (like giving a jump when the battery's dead = ME, stranded in the parking lot, last week!) I think that if we rent again when we move, I will select the location based on the maintenance men (not their physical appearance, their personality and availability). If we buy a home, I will cry, then go to Home Depot and buy a crap ton of do-it-yourself books. Maybe i'll watch some old Bob Vila footage on YouTube. I already have a super intimidating tool box, thanks to my brother! I know what 85% of the tools are used for. That's good, isn't it?

I'm heading to Lowes later - I need to get some boards cut for my next big project! I love being artsy and creative - its the best stress reliever, and I love making something that others love. I'm always working on a little something for somebody, but I can think of a few recent, "special" creations that were so fun, and satisfying - to myself, and to the individuals I created them for. Some of my fave projects:

Wedding Coloring Books - for my supervisor's wedding, June 2008. I drew coloring pages based off of family photos, family pets, and details of the wedding - there were pages for the dogs, the kids, the bride, the groom, and even the individual cheesecakes! The kid's table was fabulous - I remember checking it out at one point during the reception, and each kid was hard at work, coloring a different page. SUCCESS!

Baby Shower Invitations - for Todd's aunt Michele, who was getting ready to have her 3rd baby - she asked for something a little more modern and stylish than the typical invite. I took her baby's name into consideration ("Paisley") and designed a terrific set of invites. I printed them on a good quality cardstock at the local office supply store and purchased envelopes there as well - around $40-$50.00 for 50 personalized shower invites & thank you cards - beat THAT, TinyPrints! (ok... so I'm not a professional graphic designer at TinyPrints. It was my first attempt at invitations - and believe me, I was sweating bullets!

Christmas Ornaments - I truly loved/enjoyed all of the ornaments i designed for Christmas 2009 - the WV Seasonal designs, the personalized snowmen i created for friends at work, and all of the customized ornaments I painted for Addison Visitor's Center customers who wanted a little something special.

It's kind of hard to do anything about creative urges when I'm sitting at a desk 40 hours per week. I swear, I am two different people: the artsy hippie and the working gal with big career goals (whatever those are... I have 40-some.) I want to be BOTH (I don't think I can pull off wearing tie-dye @work, though.)

Wow, what a completely random post - definitely no beginning, no middle, and no end. And I still have a few random things for today!

I'm really loving Pearl Jam's song, "Just Breathe" - i've heard it on the radio so many times!

I'm meeting Mom for breakfast in Elkview on Sunday morning - I have a gift for her!

And, finally:

TGIF!

Have a super weekend, everyone! I'll be hard at work, on my "projects"... and also, trying to finish up "The Elegance of the Hedgehog", which is actually turning into a really great book!