100 things about me you didn't know

A blog post popped up in my Google Reader this morning and it was 100 things. The blogger told 100 things about herself that her readers may not have known. I thought that was a great idea and decided to try it out on myself. So here ya go




1. I was born in NJ


2. My parents are from Pittsburgh


3. I moved south when I was 10


4. I learned to swim before I could walk


5. I have an older brother


6. I was suppose to be a boy, my parents didn't have a girl name picked out for me.


7. I started wearing glasses when I was 8


8. I have grey eyes, they change hue depending upon the clothes I'm wearing


9. I once got my feet stuck on the rings on my swing set


10. I took baton lessons when I was 7


11. I'm highly allergic to molds


12. I love cheese


13. I learned to roller skate when I was 5


14. My first job was as a lifeguard


15. I was a girl scout till I graduated High School


16. I accepted my admittance to college without ever touring the campus


17. I was an honors student in high school


18. I was born 4 1/2 weeks early


19. I was born on the 19th day of th 10th month


20. I have never had a speeding ticket


21. I hold my tonsils removed when I was 10


22. I took piano lessons for 5 years


23. I have the same birthday as my great grandfather, as does my younger cousin


24. Both mine and my mothers maiden names are popular boys first names


25. My brother was named after a character in To Kill A Mockingbird


26. I have a photographic memory (isn't that funny!)


27. My favorite musical artist is Darius Rucker


28. I wanted to be a nurse or scientist when I grew up.


29. I've had a computer in my house since I was 7 (that was 1986)


30. My first pet was a goldfish, named Goldy


31. My favorite color is purple


32. My eardrums are reconstructed out of scar tissue


33. I rode my first roller coaster when I was five... I loved it


34. I would take the mountains over the beach any day


35. I was on my high schools news paper staff: The Sentinel


36. I'm highly allergic to feathers


37. I work for a company for which I was once a patient


38. I've won an ACC championship


39. My favorite candy is Reese's Pieces (or Leese's Pieces)


40. I like to bake


41. My brother is one of my heroes


42. My feet turn out when I walk


43. I love watching television


44. I believe in love at first sight


45. I love fresh cut flowers


46. I do not have a green thumb


47. I'm extremely stubborn


48. My grandmother gives the best hugs


49. I love making lists


50. I have small feet. 6 or 6 1/2


51. I love the smell of clean laundry


52. I have a birthmark on my right cheek. It almost came off in a bicycle accident.

53. Gene and I were "just friends" for 9 months before we started dating

54. I have a very common middle name, and no my parents are not Elvis fans


55. I love the number 5


56. I like green (lime) jello


57. I have a chicken pox scar on my bum


58. I don't like needles

59. I survived Hurricane Hugo

60. My husband is also one of my heroes


61. I love the smell of saw dust


62. I have very ticklish feet


63. I'm only 5' 2"


64. I hit a man on a motorcycle with my car once


65. JJ wears bigger shoes than me


66. I was a Division I Varsity Athlete in college, but never played sports before


67. I got my ears pierced when I was 6


68. I failed my first semester of college calculus


69. I love to shop, especially for bargains


70. We nicknamed Gene's thumb, T Humb because its big and flat


71. I cried the first time I watched the Brave Little Toaster


72. Gene and I listen to Kodachrome as the first song when we hit the road for travel.


73. I have a great sense of direction


74. I've touched the Liberty Bell


75. I've never been to Washington DC


76. I love the brown specs in Gene's eyes


77. I hate shaving my legs


78. I HATE green peas and lima beans


79. I took a cake decorating class, but I still suck at it


80. I clip coupons


81. I always imagine myself in a Made for TV movie when I'm taking off in a plane


82. I can wink my right eye, but not my left


83. I'm tone deaf, but I love to sing to the radio


84. I am punctual. If I'm no 10 minutes early, I'm late


85. I hate being cold


86. I'm an observer


87. I love to travel


88. I love to sleep


89. Target is my favorite store


90. I stole a gumball from a candy dispenser at a grocery store once


91. I had Mono when I was 3


92. I've had tubes in my ears at least 4 times


93. The only bone I've ever broken is my pinkie finger


94. I broke it because I stepped on it.


95. I can hold 13 pounds of liquid in my bladder


96. My favorite movie is Seabiscuit


97. I love McDonalds (just the basic cheeseburger and small fry)


98. My favorite fruit is the Tomato


99. My senior year of high school I ate a candy bar with a coke for lunch every day


100. I have my Girl Scout Gold Award. (like being an eagle scout)



Man that was hard. That took a long time to come up with. I hope you enjoyed my little get to know me journey. Now you give it a try!

Friends

This weeks theme at the Paper Mama is all about friends. I've shared this photo before, but I wanted to enter is because it shows the fun JJ has with his best friends. This was from his birthday party this summer (also, this photo makes me want warmer weather bad!).



The boys had so much fun swimming in the pool. They didn't want to get out to eat pizza or cake. JJ just about cried when it was time for everyone to go home. Ahh.. to be a kid again!

Hop on over to the Paper Mama to see more friends!

Once in a lifetime

I live in the south. Not the deep south, but south enough to say ma'am and ya'll, to have macaroni pie, and have brutally hot summers. South enough that it hardly ever snows. We might get a few flakes, but nothing ever sticks and nothing is ever accumulated.



I am certain the end of the world is coming. We've had two significant snow falls in the past month! The Christmas Day snow was nice. It look pretty. It lasted the night and then the next day it started to melt. The past Sunday night, when they were calling for snow, I snuggled into bed and thought nothing of it.



Well, when I woke up and looked out the window, Gene informed me that I wasn't going anywhere today. Ok, he told me I wasn't going to work, but he needed to go to the UPS store and asap. He needed to mail some samples.



So we get up, get dressed, get coffee and head up the road to the shop. We could have walked, but since we need to go into town to go to the UPS store, why not drive there.



This is the shop, all pretty in its snow fall.





You can see the accumulation on the porch. That measured about 4 inches at that point. This was at 9am, the snow was continuing to fall.



While Gene got things organized in the shop, I pranced around taking photos.







The cardinals were easy to spot in the snow. I was mad that I only had my 50mm with me. I couldn't get close enough to them without scaring them.







When we loaded up and hit the road, this is what it looked like.







The roads weren't really bad. Maybe just a little bad. Just snowy at this point. We put the FJ into 4 wheel drive and took off! It took 2 hours to do what normally could have been done in 30 minutes. I looked at the temperture gauge and gasped, then I remembered what it said this summer...





We made it there and back safely. I spent the rest of the afternoon snuggled on the couch in front of the fireplace. Gene went back to the shop.



The night came and the ice came. The next morning things looked ominous out. Cars weren't passing on the street anymore. At this point, not even Gene wanted to get out there. We hunkered down inside until we couldn't take it anymore. We put our boots on and walked up to the shop to get some work done.



Woody provided me with interesting entertainment along the way...



He tried to make a snow angels





He begged the donkeys to come and play





He frolicked in the snow





Our poor little gnome was up to his armpits in snow. This gnome has brought us nothing but snow, I'm tempted to send it back to where it came from.





After 2 and a half days stuck at home. I was glad to get back to work. Although, it was fun to sit and watch the snow







I'm ready for spring now, mmkay!

I Love My Dog

I've been neglecting taking photos of Woody. I'll admit, we've spent a lot of time indoors lately and its not the most conducive to photography.

But, I got a new lens for Christmas and I wanted to try it out. I was also trying out a new focusing technique (which, btw, I LOVE), and Woody was an available subject.

Woody is almost three. Which in dog years, is almost old enough to drink. He's obedient, he's resourceful, he's imaginative, he's loving, he's got a mean bark, until you pet him and then he won't leave you alone. I spoil him rotten with cuddle time on the bed, scraps from the table, and weekend rides in the car.

I love my dog.

If I don't look at her, maybe she'll point that thing somewhere else. I think I see a squirrel

This is what he normally does when the camera comes out...

No mama, put it away


He decided that if I wanted to play, he wanted to play too...

This is Kong, I love it when mama stuffs it with Peanut Butter

Ok, you got a deal, but me first!

How long you gonna hold the Kong and taunt me mama?

Don'tcha just love him too!

Happy New Year

So its here, 2011.

We spent the evening celebrating with friends. Had a nice dinner, watched some football and did some fireworks.

JJ has looked forward to this holiday for a while. He knew the plan was to spend it with "his two best friends".

I dragged my camera along in hopes of capturing the fun of the evening. I got plenty of ohhs and awwwws over my beautiful Jo Tote. I feel so stylish, I love it!

Anyway, I did manage to capture a few of the boys and their fireworks.

One firework explode at just the right time... thank you for the extra light

No processing done here... Red roman candles are all you need

The grand finale at midnight


And lastly, one of JJ and his friends. They had so muc fun. They loved every minute of it. Ahh.. to be a kid again.