About me? Why, yes!

Stolen from Amanda (whose blog I cannot link to because it's a private blog)...


Can you whistle? Yes!

Scariest thrill ride you've been on? A roller coaster ride in IL at Six Flags (I think it was there). I was in the very last seat and the ride backed us up this tall pole (trust me...that was nerve wracking enough!) and even though I was strapped in well my back wasn't touching the back of the seat...the ONLY thing holding me in that seat were the two straps that were in front of me! Anyway, they backed us up this pole and then dropped us down and ran us through the ride and right up another pole. Then, we did it all again backwards. I believe that was the day that I found my first gray hair! ;)

Where is your favorite place on earth? In the quietness of my own home!

The last song you danced to? Well, I really haven't listened to the radio in awhile, so it's been too long to really remember the last time I danced around to a song. It was probably while I was cleaning the house or something.

Ever had a stalker? No, thank goodness.

Do you own a bike, Rollerblades, or skates? A bike, yes, and no to the other two. Although someday it would be fun to have some rollerblades.

Whats your school's mascot? Are we talking high school or college? High school, it was a train and in my current college, it's the Cowboys (or Cowgirls for the women).

Play any sports? Just for fun with friends...volleyball, wallyball, softball, etc.

Ever been to a concert? Yes.

Who did you last hang out with? Some friends from meeting

How much is your car payment? I don't have one! Wahoo!

Favorite thing to do in the summer? Read books. Go on picnics. Watch fireworks. Go to BBQs.

What about in the winter? Hibernate. Ha! No, really, I enjoy getting together with friends and going to a coffee shop or something...then, we can visit over some hot drinks! Yum!

Something you hate to do? I really hate to cook. But I'm trying to get past that.

Last thing you looked at? People's blogs

Last thing you spilled? Flour...I was baking cookies yesterday and I had a cup of flour that I was transferring to the mixing bowl and I spilled some of it. Luckily it just spilled on the counter!

Who knows you best? My mom.

Last time you were in a tanning bed? Oh, man...2001? 2000? Somewhere around there. I went with a friend. It was the first AND the last time that I went. I enjoyed the whole tanning bit, but when we were done, I didn't put lotion on and my skin started to itch like crazy everywhere. It was hideous.

Who was the last person that messaged you? Does this mean text message? If so, it was my friend, Julie.

Last thing you put in your hair? A hair clip.

Do you own any Barbie's? Yes, I do. They're in the basement at my parent's house. And none of them have boobs. Why is that? Well, one Saturday afternoon, my brother and our cousin decided to de-boob them by rubbing their boobs on the cement wall. It scraped those puppies right off. So, my barbies now have funny, bumpy lines where their boobs used to be. Boys...sheesh.

Ever had a pogo stick? Yes...I think. I know that I at least tried them before, but I can't remember for sure if I ever owned one.

What year did you discover MySpace? Just last year! I'm a little slow at these things. :)

What credit cards do you have? One...a Mastercard. My goal is to have it around just for emergencies, but I have to get the balance paid off on the stupid thing first. I'm getting there, though!

How many kids do you have or want to have? I don't want any. And if I did ever change my mind, I honestly think that I'd like to adopt.

What did you do today? Got up, got ready for work, ate breakfast, went to Starbucks, went to work, went to the bank, went to the post office, went home for lunch and slept for a half hour, and now I'm back at work for the day.

What do you do when you are upset? Well, I usually become irrational. But it comes out in different ways...anger, tears, depression, etc.

Are you keeping a secret from someone close? No, I don't think so.

Have you ever led someone on? Yes, unfortunately, I have. I was around the age of 16 and I was really interested in this boy and he was interested in me and we hung out a lot and I let him know just how much I liked him. Then, I found out what some of my friends thought of him and I just avoided him after that. So, in a way, I led him on. I've always regretted my actions in that experience. He died a few years later in a car accident and I never got to tell him how sorry I was for my behavior.

Do you like to swim? Yes!

What's the last thing you drank? Water.

What would be the best gift ever? A personal chef.

Do you prefer to talk on the phone or text? I'd prefer to text, hands down.

Do you believe in global warming? Um, no.

What is your favorite farm animal? sheep

Which celebrity would you like to swap lives with? None of them, really.

Are you bringing sexy back? Um, no. I'll leave that to Justin Timberlake.

How many best friends do you have? Oh, I suppose two or three. My closest friends I'd probably consider best friends just because they know me so well.

What was/is your favorite subject in school? Writing class.

Do you sing in the shower? Sometimes.

Who do you plan on voting for? I really haven't decided yet. I can't say that I like either of my options at this poing.

What are your thoughts on animal testing? Oh, it's fine I guess. I've never really thought about it.

Are you photogenic? I don't mind having my photo taken, but that doesn't mean that I'm photogenic! :)

What are your favorite outdoor activities? Playing frisbee...I always enjoy that one. Having a BBQ at the park. Reading a book outside.

Do you believe in aliens? No.

Do you wish on shooting stars? I have before, but as others have already said, I also don't know if I've really believed in it all.

Where were you born? Spooner, WI

Favorite smell? Cinnamon is usually a good one. I always love the smell of baking bread, too.

What noise do you currently hear? Two people talking outside of my office.

One week later

I have now been back from convention for a week and I think that I feel caught up on my household chores!! Now it's time to start tackling the summer "to-do" list. That includes:

*Cleaning out closets
*Getting rid of old/unworn clothes
*Getting rid of books and cds that I don't read or listen to anymore
*Scrubbing floors (this one usually doesn't get done until closer to the end of August!)
*Reading the whole slew of books that I have sitting on my bookshelves. I have bought so many of them throughout the last year or so and now I need to READ THEM!!
*Go through old meeting and convention notes and condense them. I am currently up to 10 notebooks full of notes, so I think that I need to re-read them all and condense. :) It's kind of precious sometimes, though, to read notes that I wrote when I was 13 and had just professed. What innocence!!!
*I know that there is a lot more on this "to-do" list that I'm not remembering, but oh well...this is a good start.

So, it's just been kind of quiet around these parts and I'm just enjoying my days! Here's something a little funny for you, though. The other day my co-worker sent me an e-mail to say that she had purchased a new form of transportation because of the rising prices. She said that she purchased a Wisconsin-made motorcycle...




A COWASAKI!! *laugh*

Back from Convention!

I'm back! My friend, Monique, and I went to convention last week in Montana and we had a lovely time. If you remember, we took this same trip last year. :) This year, we didn't take as many pictures. It was more about seeing the people again this year than it was about the scenery. So, if you want scenery pictures, go to last year's post. :o) This year, it's all about the people.

I have a lot of "people" pictures, but I will only post a couple of them. I don't honestly know how comfortable all of our friends would be with me plastering their picture on the web, so I'll only post a couple of pictures. Just know that our time with everyone was absolutely wonderful. And convention, as always, was an awesome experience. :)

First off, there was Pauline. She is Monique's step-grandma and, like last year, she let us stay at her house one night while on our way up to convention. A stop at her house helped to break up the trip a bit, but it also was just GRAND to see her again! :)

And next is our group of good friends that we enjoy meeting up with at this convention. These friends of ours come from all parts. Michigan, Illinois, North Dakota, and Canada. I'll go through the back row first (L to R): Susi, me, Melissa, and Nancy. Front row (L to R): Elan, Ali and Monique.
Did you notice that some of them had jackets and scarves on? Those of us that didn't were braving the weather conditions in order to show off our nice outfits in the picture! The weather most of the time was COLD. Period. We about froze two of the days!! It was just a bit miserable! ;) But, luckily, they handed out extra afghans and blankets and we wrapped up in blankets during meeting. And it did warm up for part of the convention...just not much of it. :) Anyway, we just had a great time catching up with our friends (above) as well as seeing some other faces of friends from the area of where convention was at. Special, special times. :o)

And that was that! :) I should mention that one fun little activity that Monique & I did (same as last year) was to track the number of state license plates that we came across during our trip. All we did was write down the 50 U.S. states on a piece of paper and then circled them once we came across them. There were only thirteen states that we did not see: Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Ohio, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Vermont and West Virginia. Not too bad for only going to the next state from where we live! In addition to the states we DID see, we also saw British Colombia, Alberta, Ontario and Saskatchewan. A fun little activity, I must say! Not only does it keep you alert while driving (you'd hate to miss a state!), but it's interesting to think about how many people are out and about while on vacation or traveling for work or doing whatever they're doing.

Now we're safely back home and while Monique had the day off (lucky duck!), I had to come to work. So, I'm slogging through my day and thinking about everything that I heard, about the visits that I had, and about what I need to do tonight to get completely "settled in" at home again. :) Thanks for keeping up with my adventures!!

Dave & Karen's reception

Well, I received a phone call at about nine tonight and this friend of mine said, "Jen, I thought that you said you were going to update your blog for sure today?" I said, "Oh, my dear, the day isn't even over yet!!" :o) So, here is my update from last weekend. Finally. :)

Dave & Karen were married last week and last Saturday there was a luncheon reception for them. It was a beautiful day and lots of folks turned out to wish them well and congratulate them. It was a very nice day!! Here are some pictures to show you a few of those that were there. First off, the happy couple...
Graham & Lana (who is holding Hazen) were visiting with Della and they let me take this nice picture of them. :)
Kate and Mel...
I managed to sneak this picture of Chet, but let me tell you, it was tough! He is on the move all the time!! :)
Mel is getting her chance at holding Corbin.
Brooklyn stopped for two nano-seconds, too, and let me snap this picture of her. Isn't she just precious! :) I think so!! :)

These two were the best of buds. Chet and Fischer. They chased each other around everywhere!!
Here are two more that were having fun hanging out...Callie and Allison.
Some folks that were visiting...
More of the friends that were there...
Della and Monte were enjoying the nice day, having a chat out on the swing. It cracks me up that the dog is happily stationed underneath the swing, too! Everyone was enjoying themselves...even the dog!! :o)

Michelle and Sadie...I don't think that Sadie really wanted her picture taken. What do you think? ;)
Three little girls, Allison, Ivey & Callie, were trying their hand at volleyball. They seemed to be having fun! :)
This is the big volleyball game that was taking place on the other side of the lawn.
Some of Karen's outside flowers. I thought they were pretty and I wanted a picture. :)
Again, here is Miss Big Blue Eyes, Sadie. She's showing me her baby monkey. When I said, "What is your baby monkey's name," she replied in a "well-duuhhh" voice saying, "It's baby monkey." *laugh* She's too cute! :)

Ivey is now getting her chance with holding Corbin. We had to work a bit on holding the head and learning that when the baby is that small, you can't just move your arm away from his head and let his head fall. She did a good job of it once we talked about it and she understood what to do. It was sweet! :)
Then, along came Sadie and Larkin, so here was the best we could do with getting a nice picture of them.
Then, Corbin's nook came out and the three of them worked at getting it back in! I laughed! So precious! :)
And then this is Ms. Kate. She was cute as a button, too, and she lucked out and got to hold Hadley for awhile. She was proud as punch, I think! :)

It was a wonderful day and I'm sorry that it took me so long to get these pictures on here!! I hope you've enjoyed them, though! They're some nice memories for me, that's for sure! :)

I'm still here!

I know I haven't updated for almost a week and I apologize for that! I'm finishing up my summer class this week and I'm feeling a bit caught up in that. I have a bunch of pictures from this past weekend, so I hope to have them posted this week sometime! I'll have them up on Friday, for sure, since I have the day off of work. Until then, have a great week!!! :) Ciao!

Memorial Day Weekend

I know that this is just a few days late, but I didn't use my own camera all last weekend and so my pictures were coming from other people. So, here is your update now! :)

The weekend was just busy. I enjoyed everything that I did, but I joked with my co-workers on Tuesday morning that I needed to come back to work just so I could relax! Ha! ;) On Saturday, Monique & I headed to Chugwater for preps. It was a good, fun day, and I enjoyed seeing everyone and helping out! That night, Shawna M. and Anna & Melissa B. came to visit us and have supper with me, Monique & Julie! Then, Anna & Mel stayed at Monique's for the night and Shawna stayed at her brother's and on Sunday after meeting we all had lunch together! Here is a picture of us (Julie wasn't there for lunch). Good times, I tell ya...good times! :)
After lunch, Anna, Mel & Shawna headed back to Chug and I headed down south to go to a friend's baby shower. Oh, what a wonderful day! Here is the lovely little family, Kimber, Kyle & Willow (this pic is courtesy of Kimber's mom):
And this is adorable Willow!!! Isn't she just precious!!! :)
Kimber & Willow
Kosha is holding Willow
And this is Ms. Haley, Willow's cousin, who was at the party, too. She hadn't been up for very long from her nap when she decided to try on one of the grown-up's shoes. It was hilarious! She's too cute! :)

After that, Julie (who was at the baby shower, as well) and I stayed with Kimber & Kyle and we headed to the Bolder Boulder race with them the next day because Kyle and their friend, Anna, were going to run it! It was a bit rainy and cool that day, but all in all, it was a fun event! We didn't stick around for long because of the weather, but that was okay, too, since I was up at 4 a.m. and we were on the road by 5:30!! Leaving early let me get in a good nap! :) A picture of the stadium where the runners finish at...the next day someone said that there was a record 53,000 participants! Isn't that amazing!?!
Me, Kimber, Willow (who is happily and warmly tucked into Kimber's jacket! She was wrapped up in a sling!), Anna, and Julie
The runners! Kyle & Anna -- Yay for them!! :)

All in all, it was a very busy weekend. I got home from Boulder around 3 p.m. and then I hit the road at 4:15 to head over to Cheyenne to spend the evening with some friends. By the time I got back home that night, I was tired. But, I'm glad for all the memories!! :)

Testing 1, 2, 3.

this is a test. this is only a test. :)