More Birthday photos...

Here are some more of the photos from yesterday... Leah, Stephanie, here are photos of Grandma opening her computer and card. She cried, she was so over joyed. :)

Grandma's 90th Birthday Party

Todd's Grandmothers 90th Birthday was yesterday and we had a family get together... It was so much fun to watch the joy in her face. The entire family purchased a computer for her, it is what she wanted, and we look forward to sharing our lives with her.

Danielle and Glen hosted the party and it was absolutely terrific!!! Thanks to you and your family. We love ya!!

Grandma,

We love you so much!

I have been tagged!!

Hi Everyone! I fell off my computer for over a week and not on purpose. :) I am nearing the final phase of school and have had several appointments to meet with different Universities and so on. This is taking so much time on top of trying to stay on task in all of my classes.

Today was Todd's Grandma's 90th Birthday and his family had a wonderful celebration for her. It was just great!!! All of us in the family bought her a computer, she wanted one and I think everyone is excited to have her online. Family, I will post some pictures tonight.

Here is what I have been "tagged" on... How I got engaged.

This is a "new age" story. :) Todd and I met online, that is right, online. I lived in Wyoming and he lived here in Arizona. We emailed each other and chatted on Instant Messaging for 2 years before meeting. We really got to know each other in that 2 years. We both had been married before and we both had our lists of what we would not except and what we wished to have. Although our conversations never really were about getting married ourselves, or to each other, it was more in general. Plus, we didn't think we would ever meet. :)

Well, I went home to California to help my Dad with my Mom and when I told Todd this we made plans to meet in Lake Havasu. (My Grandparents have a home there and Todd had access to a place to stay himself... plus if you ever met my Grandpa you know I would have been safe. :)) Those plans got changed and I took a leep of faith and met him in Tucson.

It was like meeting my best friend and it felt like we had known each other forever. A few weeks past and we were having one of our phone conversations and he said to me that he did not want to live without me in his life. The conversation progressed from there and he asked me over the phone in May of 1999 to marry him... of course!! :) I felt the same exact way and we were married that December. (There was so much more to it, but that is it in a nut shell.)

2 years getting to know someone through mail, email, and phone conversations, well, it was better than I could ever imagine... I really knew who he was, my true love, Todd. :)

Now I am suppose to tag 3 people myself...

Christina
Audrey
Bobbie

This was fun!!

Question of the day. :)

VS.

Ok, it might not be the question of the day, but it is my question for today. I was just asked this question in my Human Geography Class and the answers are very interesting. So, I thought, "it would be interesting to hear from my blog friends on this topic", cause I do consider you all to the most intelligent and amazing people. :)(Really I do!)

Q. Which do you believe has a greater impact on diffusing popular culture, television or the internet, and why?

I will post my answer and a few of my classmates this evening... very interesting. :)

Have a fabulous day everyone!

What kind of flower are you?

I am a Nigella What Flower Are You?

Who Knew?!

I am on top of it with being so far from it... :) This is a subject that is on everyones minds, but mark Oct. 15th and post a little something about helping our World.

This Great Universe

Crystalline Chapel, located in Chihuahua, Mexico. Discovered in 2000; some of these crystals are 36 feet in length, this cave is 950 feet below the surface, it is a whopping 120 F, the heat and water have allowed the gypsum to form into massive moon-white beams.
Article: Neil Shae Photo: Speleoresearch & Films, La Venta

Circular patches of barren soil on the edge of the Namib Desert. "Cryptic Desert Dimples" these circles are also so known as "fairy rings". Biochemist Carl Albrecht is close to proving what other scientists think these are: Termites are to blame.

Photo: Richard Du Toit

WOW!! It has been a few days since posting... I have missed so much. :) I can not come up with any profound words, hey, having problems even spelling it, so I will leave you with this...

Gone Greeen?

If you have implemented any "Gone Green" ways in your life, please share with us. :)

* I found these 2 photos in this months National Geographic... I absolutely love this magazine and just as my Dad shared it with me, we love sharing it with Hannah (she just loves it too!). Something else... I better not!!! The end! :) I wish you all could see my face as I am conflicted about this, to post or not, that is the question?! LOL I think I have finally lost it!!

9/11... Remembering

Like the Sea

By Tammy T. Cundiff

Remembrance

The day has come to join our hands

and thank God we live in this land

Look at your neighbors with different eyes

Open your ears to hear their cries

Open your souls to defend our rights

To terror that comes like a thief in the night

Hold out your hand to help your brother

Kiss your children hug your father and mother

Freedom is something we should all hold dear

and never let it go because of fear

open your heart to those in need

This is a message we should all heed

Pray for those who lost their lives

Pray for all their husbands and wives

Pray for the children left behind

Pray for the souls we cannot find

This is a day we will always remember

As freedom is attacked the 11th day of September

Never forget that we are one

We must stand together the day has come

For united we stand divided we fall

God bless America God bless us one and all.

How is everyone doing?

Good Morning Ladies,

School has taken over my life again. That hour block I set aside for blogging has been taking over with all of the reading I have to do. YIKES! Just this weekend I had to read 400+ pages and read with Hannah, which was much more enjoyable. Enough of that! :)

I wanted to check in and see how everyone is doing with their eating. :) I have lost 5 lbs, not sure where from, probably my big toe, but hey, it is 5 lbs gone. I have been such a slacker with posting recipes and I will hopefully this coming up weekend. :)

Exercise seems to be the hardest thing for me... I am at the point where I just have to do it, even if I don't want to!! I thought I could read while I walk, lol, what was I thinking I slow down to a step a minute because I am concentrating on what I am reading. LOL

Here is a tip from the "Biggest Loser" website (I find this show, or the people on the show, inspiring.): I know we all move, but could we move more... I know I need to!

What you can do now: Find an activity that you would choose
without knowing it’s good for you or something you would miss doing if you no longer could. After completing it, journal how it felt to move and why you’re grateful for the ability and opportunity.

Have a most fabulous week and I look forward to hearing about your progress!!

Say a Prayer, please.... :)

I have an interview at the college today to work the front desk a few hours a day. I so hope I get this position. I have enough on my plate, but this will fill the 4 hours in between my classes and the best part, I get paid to study. I can do my course work and answer the phones. Please, oh please, let my schedule be the one that fits their needs!! ;)

Thank you!

Coffee anyone?! :)

How do they do this?

You Are a Plain Ole Cup of Joe

But don't think plain - instead think, uncomplicated You're a low maintenance kind of girl... who can hang with the guys Down to earth, easy going, and fun! Yup, that's you: the friend everyone invites. And your dependable too. Both for a laugh and a sympathetic ear.

What Kind of Coffee Girl Are You?

Thank you Christina for sharing this with me... It was fun!

You Edit how this would read... :)

An English professor wrote the words:
" A woman without her man is nothing"
on the chalkboard and asked his students to punctuate it correctly.

Your turn... post how you would punctuate this. :)

Have fun!

Fish out of water, that is me!

I am no where proficient with use of that graphic pen. I have to learn to hold and press and push buttons and ... well, you get the drift. :) I also need to learn about Photoshop. Hopefully through Debi, Rima, Neda, and Bobbie, I will do just that.

You can tell, by my cut out, that my hand isn't the steadiest, but what fun. Once I get the hang of it, watch out, ill be cutting everything out and copying and pasting. I also need to get Photoshop for dummies. I am getting lost and keep referring back to steps from your blogs. Thank heaven someone knows what they are doing. :)

This is what I wanted to do with this one, picture it... the mermaid Debi made (beautiful!), but cut her arms, pasting them close to her mouth, adding a flute, having the fish jump out of the water towards the music notes, and the flower (all from Debi's blog) as the sun. Then I would need to figure out shadowing to lead the light of the sun to the mermaid. Oh if I only new how to do all of this!! Practice... Practice!

Thank you Debi, I hope you didn't mind me using your art work...

She gets it tonight... :) SSShhhh, it's a surprise! LOL

Todd stopped at Fry's Electronics on his way to the office to come home and he bought Hannah and my Dad Samsung S630's. I have to say... what a Dad! He was saving up to get his Slip Yoke Elminator (?), jeep part, but did this instead. LOL

So, we are going on a little road trip this weekend, or as I like to call it, Photo Safari Time, and we will get to view the trip through Hannah's eyes. :) How much fun this is going to be. I love 3 day weekends!! In Todd's case 10 day weekend. He will be taking 3 extra days off to turn it into a 10 dayer... Oh my gosh, to think we will get done in that 10 days, school work and more school work. ;)

Thank you all for your advice on the camera thing for Hannah and I hope this one will be a good one for her.

Really, I am not all that dumb!!

Ok, I was just re-reading some of my post... I sware I use spell check, maybe not all the time, but I try. I think I nailed it when I said my brain works faster than my hands... I am typing the wrong words is all. So please excuse my grammmar and hopefully you get the gist of what I am trying to say. :)

Ssshhh, I am going to take a nap here cause no one can see me. LOL

The pole is up.... YAY!!

How fun is this!! I loved plyaing tether-ball in Elementary School, and now I get to play with Hannah.

Digging the hole...

Hannah and David digging the hole for the pole... How exciting, a tether-ball court!

Having fun while building our tether-ball court...

He is a thirsty boy... Charlie was having fun helping.

Her let's try this David. The look on Charlie's face was priceless... He was watching them and to know what he was thinking.

This was such a cute moment!

Dad's Art

I absolutely love this one... Far out dude! ;)

This one... oh you can't see the colors in the ground etc., oh, I will have to try the opening shade.

Some of the art my Dad is working on... The lighting really isn't all that good, but maybe next time I will open the shades and get some natural light coming in. :)

Fridge Art / Papa Art

Well here you have it.... Hannah has been watching my dad work at this ship picture all weekend and this is what she came up with in Art at school yesterday, her version of his picture. :) Dad is not yet done with his picture and Hannah made sure that we save her picture so she can add to it. I have to say, this is what I have always dreamt of, my Dad and Hannah have a close relationship and artistic ability to rub off on her. :) How sweet it is...

The lighting for the pictures isnt the best, you just have to see it in person.

Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogoch

Anyone know what this is? Well, reading for my Human Geography class brought this to my attention. This is a name of a town in Wales. How would you like to write that on a letter.

The 58-letter name means "the Church of St. Mary's in the grove of the white
hazelnut tree near the rapid whirlpool and the Church of St. Tisilio near the
red cave."

When the railways were built in the 19th century, the people of the town decided to change the name... It would intrigue people to stop when they saw the signs in the stations. Now, isn't that a hoot. (Before the railways the name was only the first 20 letters.)


For all of my long time friends and for the new ones as well... I am a proclaimed people observer. This world and the people in it amaze me and I love to learn why people and places are what they are. I have been doing a lot of soul searching this past year, as far as where I want to go with school. I have gone back and forth and sideways...


Sociology is where I thought I would go first. Then it was off to nursing (midwife, still a possibility, just a lay midwife). Then there was Elementary Ed., hmmm, not a good choice for me right now. I have fallen in love with Geography again, So, am I any closer to making a decision? You bet, Secondary Ed. Social Sciences with a minor in Geography. There you have it!! I only need 3 more classes to receive my AS in Geography and 2 more years for my seconday Ed. teaching. I am on the top of the Mountain looking at my future... WWWWooooohhhhoooo!!! I have never been more sure of what to do and oh am I excited.


Who would have thunk taking one class could do it for, but this class has. Truth be told, I should always go with my gut instinct and go with my first choice, which was Secondary Ed. Social Sciences (that is what I declared my major to be when I started to school.). Looking at it though, I am glad I have done my exploring now and have made my decision.


A P.S. to this... Culture Diversity Class, well after this semester, let's just say, I wont be the same. :) I know that is what college is suppose to do for you, change you, make you more aware, and boy had it done that! (Like you all needed to know that...) :)

Hannah making eggs...

OOoopppsss!!! I forgot these were on the camera. Todd loves showing Hannah how to cook, he is so patient with her and loves showing her all the ropes. So this last weekend she made herself scrambled eggs. How exciting!! :)

Holy Moly Guacamole

Woohooo!!!! I am going to like this thing. The UPS man brought my package today and I have never been so thankful to have a class get cancelled. :) Above is something I did in paint and it is going to take some time to learn the pen, but watch out!!!

All of you would love this. I can take notes if I had Vista, which may have to be my next purchase. I am going to let Hannah play with it for a while and then post a few more photos. Oh, this was not good... I should have gotten this during the summer. I will be good though and this will be my reward, as well as Hannah's. Homework done we can play with the Graphic Tablet. Holy Mole Guacamole, this is the most awesome computer gadget yet. Now if we can get Grandpa to use one, the possibilities are endless.

Posting... I only have few minutes. :)

Hello Blog'n friends!! Well it has been the usual first week at school... double billed for my books (ouch), one class may be cancelled, trying to figure out what to take in its place, trying to stay on top of it all, including Hannah's spelling... and so on.

I at least wanted to post about my eating out for dinner yesterday, still haven't made it to the grocery store and a friend invited us. I think, no, I know I am going to conquer this this time. We went to our favorite Mexican food restaurant for dinner. Oh no you may say, but it was easier than I thought to make a good choice. I had their small chicken salad... shredded chicken, lettuce, lots of lettuce, tomato, guacamole and vinegar and oil dressing. It was in a shell, but that is easy not to eat. It was yummy and filling. I usually would have had the big one with shredded beef, but since we are staying away from beef I refrained. Anyways, I felt triumphant and very excited to go shopping in December... ;)

So again, thank you for all of your encouraging words this last few days and to Antigone... you can do it sista!! :) We are here to support and love ya!

Exercise is coming... Now that I am settling into classes and a schedule I will add exercise this weekend. Can you feel the excitement?!

Have a most fabulous day and here is to eating healthy!!

The first day... So far so good!!

First, Thank you to all of you supporters!!! Your words of encouragement are pulling me through. :)

Boy, did I improvise today... First day of school and about an hour behind. I had a banana and an apple with a little peanut butter. It actually held me until lunch. For lunch, well, I did make good choices. Subway is right down the road from the college and I had lunch there. A 6 in. chicken and cheese on honey wheat with bell peppers, tomato, spinach, with vinegar and oil. It was tasty and satisfying. I brought almonds for a snack today and that should work. :)

I am realizing that Mondays need to be my day of rest from exercise or I need to find, nope, Mondays are just going to be a school day.

*Here's a tip... count how many times you chew a bite, it slowed me way down and I felt fuller when I was done.

Ok, done with my lunch time get away and now I back to solving those pesky math problems.
Thank you again for all of your support!!

Adopting a new eating life style!

Here is the first day menu... Now with school I might have to re figure Monday and Wednesday a little, but it can be done!! Debi had a great idea... posting every Monday what your goals are for that week and your last weeks progress. Fabulous!! This is going to be fun!! I am thinking, for all of you who are going to participate, why don't we start off by posting what our goals are and why. This way we can have a little insight for encouragement purposes. :) Thank goodness I haven't done my 6 months shopping yet. :)

Are any of you a Dr. Weil fan? I need to read his book again, always helps to get me on track.

Breakfast

1/3 cantaloupe
1 slice whole-grain toast
2 tsp peanut butter
1 apple

Lunch
2 cups fresh spinach salad
2 ounces grilled chicken breast
1 tbs. olive oil
1 tbs. vinaigrette
1 small whole-wheat pita
1 apple

Dinner
5 ounces fish (cod, halibut, etc.)
1 small sweet potato
2-3 cups broccoli, carrots, peppers, onions sauteed in garlic and olive oil
1 cup fresh fruit

Snacks (mid morning or mid afternoon) - 1 small handful of nuts (almonds, peanuts, pecans, walnuts, etc.)

Good Luck and God's Speed!!

Shedding those pounds...

Ladies... Ok, I have set a goal to loose 30lbs, yes count them, 30lbs. Who wants to join in the challenge? :) Tips, stories, advice, it is all welcomed!! I will be journaling every day and would love the support of all of our Blog'n friends. :)

Todd and I are going to slowly adopt a Mediterranean style of eating and up our exercise as much as possible. Todd thinks he is getting old and really wants to make sure he is healthy and stays healthy and wants to teach Hannah more on this subject.

So day 1 is tomorrow (I need to go grocery shopping) but I will add a day of walking today. So whose in? :) Anyone, anyone.... hehehehe

Also, goal is, going to Mississippi for Christmas and I would like to get some new clothes!

You have to be kidding me, right?

Here is the scenario... I walk into some "Big" stores, and I find out that really even though they work there, they don't know what in the bleepty bleepty they are doing.

W, "I was wondering if you carried the Wacom Graphic Tablet?"

C, "Sure we have graphic tablets, they are on the last isle over by the paper there."

W, "You do know that I am not talking about paper, right?"

C, "No. I thought you wanted a Graphic Tablet and that is paper right?"

W, "Um, no, they are a tablet and pen that you use with your computer to take notes, edit pictures, draw.

C, "That sounds cool! Are you sure they make something like that?"

W, "Are you kidding me? May I speak to your manager, please?"

C, "Sure, hey Bill (on his headset thingy) there is a lady looking for a graphic tablet and it's not paper, it something for the computer, do we have that?"

B, (he doesn't come up to me. he speaks to C over the head set thing), I just checked our internet site I guess they do have them, but only online."

C, Sorry Ma'am (hey, I am not a ma'am) :).

W, "Thanks for your help and (oh, did I want to say this, thanks for the lesson in ignorance, but Audrey appeared in my thoughts and I was not sarcastic.) have a fabulous day!" :)

This continued on to two other stores, they all sent me to the paper isle. The last store I tried, did have them and weren't as dumb founded when I asked for it, but, yet again, I could only order it online. :)

Todd's input was this... They know now! :)

So, the best price I found for the Wacom 6x8 was at Amazon.com and I will receive it Wednesday. I am having an instant gratification moment and I want it now! hehehe :) I was going to say, at least I don't have school on Wed., but I do! Dang it all!!! Well, there is next weekend to play with it. Hannah is just as excited and I can't wait to see here pictures. Oh this is going to be fun!!

Thanks for listening!

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Can you search for a blog? I am totally having a step away from the computer moment!!! Help!