Martini's anyone?

So I was extremely bored this afternoon and a little over worked since I didn't get out of work until 5:30. Complete suckage!!!

As I was driving home I decided to check out TJ Maxx for some ski stuff such as socks, gloves and all the little extras that makes life easier when skiing. And, of course, I found a great buy....TWO pairs of socks for $5 each. Now, normally I would find that expensive but when you are talking about specialty ski socks with padding and everything that is a still. Especially since retail can range from $20-$35 a pair. I KNOW! EXPENSIVE.....Anyway I thought a pair for $5 was a steel.

They are the ugliest things I've ever saw but no one ever sees your socks when you ski...so who cares!

Anyway down the street from TJ Maxx is Half Priced Books and because I'm on the hunt for a book selection for my October bookclub I decided to swing in there and check them out. Once in the store I headed straight back to the clearance section where everything is $3 or under....I'm such a bargain shopper.

As I was perusing the fiction books (which I purchased 5, each for $1) I notice out of the corner of my eye a small book with a Martini glass on it and a RED sticker that said SUPER BUY $3.00. I dove in (about knocked this lady out of the section...LOL) Anyway it is a guide to 500 classic martinis.

MEMORY FLASH BACK
Mitch and I attempted to make dirty martini's a few years back and unfortunately they were pretty wrong tasting. I'm not sure what we did wrong...maybe eyeballing the ingredients was not the best idea in the world. But at that time I didn't have anything that would measure 1oz. So we guessed. Anyway they didnt turn out at all.

So there I was today standing front of a book that has over 500 recipes for Martini's...I couldn't pass this up...I purchased the darn book.

Now, I'm sitting here with a book that I wonder if I will ever use because I don't drink Martini's...at least not at home. So the most brilliant idea came in my head....Hold a Martini party!!!!

So I think I'm going to invite everyone over on some warm summer night, have eveyone bring one ingredient ( I will provide a list of ingredients) and mix martini's for everyone. Could be an interesting night for everyone.

So Martini's anyone?

Rain rain go away!

Wish it would stop raining. Wish it would freaking warm up and dry out. I guess I could still run in this gloomy weather but I htink I 'm going to just jump on the treadmill. It seems my last few weeks of cookie and brownie indulgence has not been in agreement with my waiste line....LOL

So when I was with my personal trainer yesterday we ran up this really steep hill but the problem was my nice layer of fat jiggled more then I like. Of course some of my puffiness is from all the sodium I inhaled at lunch yesterday (yummy yummy chinese!!) OK, Im not going to rehash all my food...just know that my body is a little jiggly right now....kinda like jello. You know those jiggle wiggle commercials....yay, that would be me.

Anyway, off to the dreaded treadmill and a happy three miles I go!!!

Sealions, Walrus's and Dolphins Oh My!!!!

So Mitch, me and my brother went to the Zoo to meet my sister in-law for a dolphin and walrus pet.

First it was off to see the dolphins. Here I get smooches from one of the dolphins.

Here's the dolphin enjoying a tummy rub from Mitch
Mitch, you better not let Tess see you doing this......giving a high five to another animal...she would be jealous.

How many people can say they got their picture taking with a walrus! I can!!! Oh, and her name is Aurora

I know this seems a little gross but I felt the tongue of the walrus

Here I am feeling the back Aurora...she was so good:)

Here is Mitch petting Aurora.

More pictures to come but I have to run...have stuff to do.

Going to the Zoo

So I'm excited becuase me and Mitch are going to the Zoo this morning/afternoon. We are going to pet the dolphin's and walrus. Because Mitch has never been to the Zoo we will spend some time walking around and looking at the exhibits.

Geez I haven't been to the Zoo for so long..I'm so excited.

Anyway, there will be pictures and stories posted tomorrow:)

Wow...just Wow

If you haven't seen this you need to.....watch the whole thing, even the judges comments. Made me cry, very touching!

Old Hobbies Coming Back Knocking Strong

It's been a while since I've picked up my professional camera and wanted to create something beautiful. But lately I've been running into things that have started a small spark in side of me.

I had a professional photography business and it was doing rather well. But then I just let myself get burnt out on it. I didn't have a good plan to stick to and I just dropped my business. Not the best choice ever but I think my business would have suffered and the quality of pictures would have sunk because I started to get burnt. Started to not care.

Now about 1 1/2 years later people around me are getting into the "wedding" business. One of the book club members has started a wedding invitation business a couple of weeks ago and was asking for some advise. My brain started turning and memories started to surface.

A friend just told me she wanted to start a "picture to movie" business and was pairing up with the book club member this Saturday to build her portfolio. In an effort to help her get started I got on to my "photography only" computer and dug up an old contract and some other documents that helped me stay organized. And as I was reviewing all those documents I realize how much work I actually put into my business. And who much I had grown with my photography...believe me the first wedding pictures compared to the last couple....HUGE improvement. The feeling of excitement is starting to boil.

I have another friend who is starting up another business where she needs some professional pictures taking for advertising and she asked me to do it. It was a great compliment that she considered me still professional.

All this within this last month? Was someone trying to nudge me? Was the stars starting to align?

I've started diving in and out of photography websites which is just adding fuel to the fire.

The sad thing is, as I was reviewing all my documents for my friend I just thought to myself " what a waste, I did all that work and in one day I closed down my business". I was just burnt, tired and lost confidence in myself somewhere. I stopped enjoying the weddings and the people. It started to be a "JOB" to me and I didn't want that. So I just dropped it.

Now I 'm sitting here with the photo bug itch under my skin wondering if I want to dare to get back into the business. I need to sit down and REALY think about it. I have all the documents, I'm just missing the web site. Which I would have to start from scratch (ugh the cost!).

I've always known that one day I would go back into the business I just didn't think I would be interested this soon. Maybe this was the one thing in life that I could be "great" at...maybe this was my calling. Hummmm, time will tell.

My little blog

Let me tell you a little about my blog...and I'm going to be honest here. I originally started blogging to get out my anger. I wanted people to know what I was thinking with out having to say it. I wanted people to know that I was angry and hurting. I wanted all the demons and bad things that were happening to me to be out there so people could see the pain. That was my first blog....lets say it was a really dark blog.

Then after a little while, I ran into blogs that weren't so angry. These blogger wrote about the good things in life and I wanted that so much. I loved how each blogger had their own writing style. And that each one of them made me laugh or smile or think. So then after a bit I decided to drop the first site and create A Living Diary.

For a while I wanted to be "popular" out in blogshpere so I was writing for the other bloggers. But after a few months and not many people reading my blog or leaving comments I almost stopped writing and gave up. But then something happened and I decided that I was no longer going to write for other bloggers that I was going to write for myself.

And now every entry I write if for me. It's for me to remember who I am and how much I've grown over the years. I plan on writing until my fingers can no longer type. I'm not always proud of everything I write but it's what I thought and felt at that time.

Blogging allows me to be true to myself and laugh at myself. It's gotten me in trouble a couple of times and have pissed people off but that is part of putting your self out there.

This is truly a living diary for me. It's so much so that I am working on turning this into a book I can keep for years to come. I hope to be able to share with my children (when ever I have them/ if I have them). I also am using this to create memories so when I start losing my mind I have something to look back on and remember my younger years.

The other interesting thing about blogging is you meet a lot of interesting people through the blogging journey. I've met a few that have become my friends and a few that have helped open my eyes to the world around me. I love this journey I'm on and I'm glad I wrote this entry because I really forgot why I was writing.

I am writing because I'm having fun, I'm meeting new people and the journey is unbelievable.

It's a chocolate chip cookie dough day

Have you ever had one of those days that didn't go very well and you just questions how long your sanity is going to last.

That was my day!

Lots of little things happened that made my mood swing low. It started out that I forgot my wallet (rolling eyes and sighing) which meant no lunch for Jenni. (Luckly I found a spare credit card in my purse I could use.) Then on my way to lunch I was going to get gas until I noticed the price jumped up 20 some cents (rip off!!). Then I was given my work load for my new job once I hit 10 weeks.....which raised a few questions but that is a whole other blog.

So finishing out the work day my wonderful vertigo hit slightly....ugh! So off to personal training which I was running late for (I hate to run late). Once I got there found out that this was the last session which I thought we had another one...but what ever. We had to work out another schedule with our personal trainer.

So I got done with PT and of course I hurt. So I make it home only to find that all the little things made my mood swing low. In a low mood what should a girl do to cheer herself up????

Eat chocolate chip cookie dough.....and it is a mood lifter:) all the chocolatey goodness and sweet cookie dough could put a smile on my face almost any day.

My next step will be to move my damaged body and spinning head into a nice hot bath and low lights. Really I swear I might be slightly bipolar....my mood swings hit hi's and lows in a rapid cycle or maybe that is bipolar manic depressant. Whatever it is, chocolate chip cookie dough and a hot bath seems to heals me.

Stupid People Report

OK...I know it's been a while since I've written about stupid people but the other day on the way home from my personal training I ran into one....sort of.

After personal training I was driving home and as I was getting on the interstate there was this truck loaded down with some furniture. As the truck was gaining speed on the ramp I noticed a piece of furniture moving up and down and side to side just a little bit.

I started to think to my self....that thing is going to fly out of that truck. As the truck was reaching interstate speed, all of the sudden, the thing took flight. It pounced out of the truck like a leapard and jumped to heights of 10ft or more. I wanted to scream "Wild animal on the lose, Run Forrest Run!" But I don't think anyone would have listened. Anyway, in one leap it crossed 2 lanes of traffic and landed right in front of me!

I got an up close and personal view of this wild animal which only land a few feet from my car. After a second glance the wild animal started to take form into what it really was....a leopard print lounge chair. Luckly I have quick reflexes and was able to swerve out of the way.

I felt bad for the guy that was driving the truck because you know his wife is going to kill him. I think the car behind me missed it as well....so luckly no one was hurt from what I could tell.

After my heart stopped racing I started to think to myself how stupid could you be to just throw a "light" piece of furniture on top of your truck and not tie it down with something knowing you will be driving on the interstate. Really they could have hurt someone or caused an accident.

I just don't understand people sometimes.

South Dakota Again!!!

So at the end of August I will be traveling to South Dakota with Mitch....well, Mitch will be driving there and I will fly down for one weekend. He normally says for about 2 weeks.

He is already starting to make plans for that weekend, which include me trying to fly fish...I know I will have some good stories coming back from this trip. I have a VHS that Mitch gave me a while ago which has instructions on how to fly fish so I'm planning on watching it a couple of times and practicing in my living room with a stick or something. We will see how it goes I'm hoping to get some pictures of me out in the water....did I mention the water is just short of freezing over. Should be fun and interestings.

I think he is wanting to take me to the Mammoth Site as well...that should be really fun. I love the history that South Dakota has. I've never been a big history person but as I'm getting older I'm realizing how important history really is and I'm becoming more interested in things. It might be the fact that I'm actually traveling to historic place and touching and feeling stuff in person. Because to tell you the true, reading about history bores me to death. But being in the actual place as some part of history is so interesting.

OK, enough of boring everyone....basicly I'm excited to go to South Dakota again. Its so so beuatiful and there is no picture that could ever give you that same feeling as being there can.

This Weekend

Told you it was a busy weekend....not to add I wasn't feeling well. I thought I had allergies but it turned out I was running mild fever. (99.5)

Anyway, before I realized I was sick, Saturday was packed. Sort of. I got up at 6am to prepare for another 5k. Something I have learned from this one is that I really need to know what the trail is going to be because this one we hilly the last mile. Which when you don't train on hills will kill you!!!

On the way to Eagle Creek I called Mitch and he made mention that it was hot and humid out and I was the crazy one running in it. I just laughed and said at least you know you have a crazy girlfriend:) Anyway I met Kelly at a golf course just outside of Eagle Creek at 7:30am. We picked up our packets and T-shirts and got in line to run. (race started at 8am).

We were doing really well. Our first mile was just under a 10min mile...the fastest I have ever gone...the second mile wasn't as good and the when we hit the third mile (the hills) I about died. I'm ashamed to say I had to stop and walk two or three times. Even with the having to walk we did better on our time (35.30) than we did last time (36 something). If I could have ran the whole thing we would have had an awesome time. But we both finished and as we were talking with a few people the thunder started.

So we walked back to the car and headed home. I ended up taking my temp and when I found out I was running a fever I decided that I needed to lay down and sleep...I slept for 3 hours. I got up at 2 so I could clean my house (grandma was in town) and fix a desert because everyone was coming over at 6:30 for desert.

At 8pm we all headed over to my brothers house and played card until 11:30. That is when I came home and crashed. Only to wake up to the bright sun on Sunday morning (6:30). And so my Sunday started!!!

Sunday, Mitch suprised me by caming over early in the morning and taking me shopping. One of my favorite things to do. Before we left for the mall he pulled out a fishin' hat!!! so cute, it's blue camo:) Really it's cute in a corny way...or in a Jenni way. So we basicly spent the entire day together shopping. Which was great because its been a little bit since we've been able to spend time together.

Oh! and the best part...well maybe not best but good part is that I think I finally found somewhere that I can volunteer. There was a brochure in the 5K race baggie that was for the Morning Dove Therapeutic Riding, Inc. It's a place that has therapeutic riding for disabled kids. It's a perfect volunteer opportunity because I love horses and I've been wanting to help others. It's a perfect match and I'm excited....So, I plan on calling them this week and see if I can help out at least once a month.

First time I've been excited about volunteering for something.

Blurb

OMG! Blurb is a fantastic service that allows you to create your own book.

I use to scrapbook but scrapping can be both costly and VERY time consuming. I needed to find a way to capture all my photos in a creative way in one location. So last year I ran into a service called Blurb. Which was a service that allows you to use their templates and create your own photobook or any type of book for that matter. So at the end of last year I decide to create a Travel book of all my travels in 2008. Basicly it was a trial run to see if I liked the product....and I DID!

So at the begining of this year I decided that I would start creating a yearly book of all the things that I am involved in and get pictures of and at the end of the year I will have the book created.

Anyway this morning, for some reason I was thinking about my blog and how it really is a diary for me and I would like to some how print if off and keep it in a hard copy form. So as I was laying in bed at the crack of dawn and started to think of all the ways I could do this. I could just print off my entries one by one. Ugh, so is time consuming and I would eat up my ink. I could copy and paste them into a word document...that would be awesome...and time comsuming. And then I started to wonder if I could copy and paste all my entries into a Blurb book. So I went out to blurb to see what my options were and there it was! The ability for blurb to slurp my blog into a book!!!!

WHAT! This is fantastic. So, I thought what the heck...lets give it a try and with in minutes I had all of my 2008 entries and photos in a book form. With a few quick edits I am now ready to print my first blog book for 2008. It was amazing! OK, really I still need to finish the cover but it was so quick.

So for all you bloggers out there this service is great if you wanted a hard copy of all your blog entries.

Anyway, So now at the end of this year ( I may have to do it twice a year because of how big the book gets) I am going to create A Living Diary 2009 book! Plus create my Event and Travel book.

I had a pretty eventful weekend and I will have to write about that tomorrow.

Post Secrets

Need I say more.......LOL

Bedroom is finished!!!!

OK..the long awaited pictures are here. LOL....long is relative;)

Before

After

OK...some of the changes I did. First the most obvious ones. I painted my room from purple/plum to tan/chocolate and then changed out my comforter. The wall hanging over my bed and the circle decorations over my dresser were painted a different color.

I really like my room but I have to bow down a little bit and say Mitch is right...I need a different color chocolate. The color I choose is just not rich enough and the tan may not be the best color. So when I get nerve back up to repaint my room then I am going to change the colors just a little bit. But for now they are working and you can't really tell in the before pics but the ceiling had some really ugly stains on it...sooooo at least that is painted and looks a heck of a lot better:)

The next thing I need to work on is new furniture...Mitch said he would possible make me some, however my taste is all over the place so he might have a problem figuring it out:) I say go contemporary;)

Ada's house

I am proud to say I was the FIRST person to see Ada's house! Naa Naa to everyone else.

So I have to tell you this story about Ada's description of her house as she gave me directions.

Ada: so then you turn right and it's the 3rd house on the right. Its the ugly grey house with the huge gapping whole in the front of the house.
Me: WHAT! ugly house...why did you buy an ugly house!
Ada: Yes, I think all houses are ugly
Me: Why?
Ada: Because why would anyone build a house with the ugliest room as the primary focus.
Me: ***laughing***

OK, the conversation was not word for word but pretty darn close:)

I thought it was funny because Mitch and I talked about this same exact thing a few years ago. He doesn't thing the garage door should be the focal point of a house. The garage should be facing the side or back but not the front. To be honest I never really thought about it and it was funny when Ada brought it up. I told her that her and Mitch needed to talk.

Anyway, Ada's house it great, ok she hasn't signed for it but still close enough:) It's a three bed, 2 bath (I'm so jealous!) with an attached garage (double jealous!!). Nice large yard and the exterior is in perfect condition.

The only thing it is missing is a touch of Ada:) and a good scrub and a fresh coat of paint.

Ada the house is great can't wait to see it all put together!

Paint is completed

OK...I completed the painting of my bedroom! So I primed the plum wall, and painted one all chocolate and the others tan. Then I finished up with priming the ceiling and painting it white. This morning I hung all my stuff on the walls, which I will need to switch a few things out. And moved all my furniture back into the room.

Now I just have to wait from my comforter before I show you all the before and after shots....bet you can't wait to see...I know I can't.

New Bedroom!!!

OK...so really I'm bored this weekend. I have nothing planned which means I get the fever to change something in my house. This time I have selected my bedroom as my target. A year or two ago I changed the room from a sage green to a muted purple. One wall a dark plum with the other three walls a light purple.

It really looks nice except I could never find a comforter that fit the room. And beleive me when I say I've looked at several sites and stores hoping to find the right comforter. Which I never found...so what should I do? The comforter I have currently is a golden color and it looks nice and I got it extremely cheap on a 70-90% discounted rack (it's like 600 thread count!). However it doesn't match my walls and it really really bothers me that my room looks like a bad cliche.


So after this long I have finally ran into a nice comforter that I can't turn down. It was just calling my name. I even slept on it over night to make sure it was the right one (I have a bad bad habit of impulse buying) I couln't stop thinking about it...however the glich is my walls will not work with the comforter. Here is the comforter.....Looks comfy does't it and it's already purchase and soon to be at my front door (5-7 days)




So in a few minutes I am going to head to the store(probably sherwin williams because they have the best paint ever) and purchase a mocha for one wall and tan for the other three. It should take me about a day to paint so it won't kill my weekend.

OK, off to the store for some paint, rollers and BLUE tape. I will take some before and some after photos for everyone....i think it's more fun to talk about with pitcures:)

Race Next Weekend

Alright, I am back to running. I've signed up for a race next weekend and have been working on getting my speed back up. I know I will be able to finish the 5k but I really want to get a good time. The problem is were I am going it is going to be rather hilly and I haven't been practicing on hills....soooooo, long story short I will be hurting by the end and I can kiss my time goodbye. I guess I should just try to finish the race and not worry my time.

My Personal Trainer showed me a small area close to me that has some hills that I can start working on however it's a little to late for the race next week. I also got another race registration in the mail for Aug 1, basicly running downtown.....I'm thinking about doing that one as well. I might have to do it solo. Not sure my friends are as excited about races as I am. I'm lucky to have someone joining me next weekend.

Guess I need to get my butt out the door and run today:)