100 facts

On several blogs that I've read I've seen that on your 100th post your supposed to write 100 facts about yourself - we'll I'm now at 150 so here goes!

1) I'm blonde, polish and catholic all by birth.

2) Those three things cause me to be the butt of many a joke.

3) I hate being called Mandy.

4) My mom was convinced I was a boy till the day I was born.

5) She would have named me Christopher if that would have been true.

6) I never met my mom's mother, she died when my mom was 4.

7) I'm the craziest Steeler's fan you will ever meet.

8) I know more about football than my boyfriend.

9) Speaking of him, we met on the internet (yeah yeah yeah) and he's the second Andrew I've dated.

10) I've also dated two mechanics who went to the same college only in different cities (and in case you're wondering they both went to UTI, I bet you've seen the commercials).

11) I really like cars and know a good deal about them - I loved going to car shows with my dad as a kid and that continued into adulthood.

12) I've never seen the pacific ocean.

13) I think everyone should be registered to vote - if you don't vote then you don't have a right to complain!

14) I have kept a journal on and off since 3rd grade.

15) When I first went to college I thought I wanted to do broadcast journalism.

16) Then I got a D in my first class on that subject and decided that it wasn't for me and my wonderful adviser suggested Public Relations instead.

17) The reason I thought I wanted to do broadcast journalism is because I loved sports and wanted to talk about them on the news - little did I know that this job would also mean never having a life thanks to a rude NBC 4 editor that told us (my class) this my second week of college.

18) I met some of my best friends in college and I give that credit to living in a small dorm my freshman year and to my RA for making us all do things together.

19) Sometimes I wish that I would have gone to college out of state though to experience something a little different.

20) My second choice was in West Virginia in the middle of no where and 2 hours away from home, but something made me decide not to go there.

21) I love to cook now that I have my own kitchen to do it in - I make Andrew and I dinner nearly every night and he really appreciates it.

22) I like to call myself a heck of a baker too, but I know people who are better (yes Caitlyn that means you).

23) I even made Andrew cupcakes for our first Valentines Day and the most recent one as well - I think its something I'll do every year.

24) I knew I was in love with Andrew after a month of dating, but it took him longer to be convinced that we were meant to be.

25) He's the only boyfriend I've ever had that my family really took to immediately and I adore his family as well!

26) Our first date was at Abuelo's at Easton - our second date he let me pick a movie and it was awful but I think the kiss afterward made up for it!

27) He was the only guy I've ever gone out with that made me feel shy and silly.

28) I've been a bridesmaid in 7 weddings but I've never been married or engaged.

29) This could be because I have a lot of cousins that are older than me.

30) I've never had to wear an ugly dress and my mom actually made half of my dresses because I was little and it was much cheaper.

31) I look pretty much exactly like my mom, or that is what people tell me.

32) My brother looks just like my dad but with thicker hair (lol)

33) I am a total daddy's girl.

34) My dad is the reason I love music so much - he played the guitar for me even before I was born and taught me how to sing.

35) I was in band in middle school, junior high and part of high school and played flute.

36) I was in choir too and liked that a lot more than band.

37) We were the only choir that got to go on 2 trips, Washington DC and Orlando, FL to sing in competitions because we were amazing.

38) The Disney trip is one of my best high school memories.

39) I was a serial dater in high school and always had a boyfriend.

40) I went to every single high school dance and never had the same date twice, well except maybe one guy.

41) I love dances and miss them; getting dressed up is so much fun!

42) I used to do people's hair and makeup for dances too.

43) I briefly considered going to Cosmetology school.

44) I'm still not sure if I want to have kids or not.

45) But I do know that I want to get married and have a big but laid back wedding.

46) My first concert was Cheap Trick at Easton with my mom and dad.

47) I've seen Bon Jovi in concert 3 times, I love them!

48) I talk in baby voices to animals, mine and my friends.

49) My favorite food is grilled cheese, second fave would be caesar salad.

50) I used to be addicted to Ranch Dressing and would eat it on everything, but since I've gone on a diet I rarely have it.

51) I've never broken a bone.

52) I do not eat mushrooms, I mean they're a fungus, that's gross!

53) I am scared to death of clowns and mimes, they just creep me out.

54) I am also very grossed out by feet and I cannot stand it when people have nasty feet.

55) Speaking of feet, mine are very small and narrow, everyone else in my family has big feet but me.

56) I love shoe shopping and purse shopping, I also have this thing about buying underwear.

57) I'm also in love with garage sales and thrift stores.

58) I collect antique glassware, mostly Pyrex and Fire-King, some Duncan Miller too.

59) I also collect: Barbies, perfume bottles, vintage coats and handbags and tshirts from all of the places I have been.

60) I've never gone camping.

61) I love to go fishing.

62) I'm paranoid and worry a lot about different things, like running out of gas or falling on ice when its cold out.

63) I never let my car get below 1/4 of a tank, I did this once and I about had a panic attack.

64) I am becoming a neat freak like my mother.

65) I love to iron clothes.

66) Apparently I am a violent sleeper and move around a lot and steal blankets from people.

67) I can eat spicier food than my boyfriend.

68) I love chicken wings, that would probably be my second most favorite food.

69) I love to read, one of my favorite books is Silence of the Lambs.

70) That book is also my favorite movie.

71) I love Stephen King books as well, anything murder-mystery will keep me entertained.

72) I can type really fast and it drives people nuts, mostly my parents because of their lack of computer skills and Andrew because he hates listening to it when we are both in the office together.

73) I am an ameture photographer, I still love using a film camera, to me there is nothing like some really good black and white photos!

74) I am really close with most of my family, but I do have an aunt I have never met and a few cousins that my family does not talk to.

75) I was fortunate enough in my childhood to know some of my great grandparents as well as great great aunts and uncles - my great grandpa was 96 when he passed away and his sister was 102.

76) I love to sing, I like to dance too although I am not that good.

77) I used to go to dance clubs about every Thursday in college, no wonder I was so skinny we would sweat and dance for 3-4 hours!

78) You could not pay me to go back to high school, unless it was just so I could spend even more time with friends.

79) And if I didn't have to work at Joann Fabrics again, granted I loved that job but I wouldn't want to do retail again!

80) I think my favorite job was the real estate office with Jessica, plus I learned a lot there which helped me when Andrew and I got the house. Granted on weekends we pretty much just sat around and ate pizza and looked at facebook!

81) I really want to get my real estate license, I think I would make a good realtor!

82) I also would love to photograph houses for a real estate office.

83) Hocking Hills is one of my favorite places, I could go there and hike around every weekend.

84) My first trip with Andrew was to Hocking Hills and it rained the whole time but we had a lot of fun!

85) I've been to Disney in Florida 4 times in my life, the first time I was 3 and I don't really remember much of the trip, but apparently I got really sick.

86) The next 3 times I remember, once in 4th grade, 10th grade and then senior year of high school.

87) I've also been to the space center, Universal Studios twice and Wet 'n Wild.

88) Honestly, Florida is really the only cool place I've been in my life, I've never really seen mountains or anything else cool.

89) I'd like to go out west someday and I'd love to go to Hawaii as well.

90) I don't have a passport.

91) I've never gotten a ticket or been in an accident.

92) I still drive the same car I had in high school.

93) My car has almost 250,000 miles and its still kickin, its been really well maintained over the years.

94) If I could get another car it would be one of the following: Volvo 240, Volvo S80, VW Jetta TDI, Ford Lightening, or a Chevy S10 step-side.

95) I don't know how to drive a stick shift.

96) I know a little sign language and some Spanish.

97) I tend to find myself correcting other people's language and speech.

98) My mom is the one that I pick at the most about her use of words and the way she puts sentences together.

99) I'm afraid that I am turning into my mother.

100) I highly doubt anyone will read this far!

I'm sick but its not H1N1 (rant)

I'm sick because of what has happened to our country. I'm sick because the unemployment rate is over 9% right now in Ohio. I'm sick because my dad lost his job in APRIL and has yet to find other employment. I'm sick because I don't know who to believe about when all of this will end. Its awful that this is the world we live in, where people exhaust themselves looking for jobs and NO ONE is there to help them. My dad worked for the same company for nearly 30 years and they kicked him out the door like a smelly old dog. He saw his old boss last week and he didn't even ask how my dad was doing, while his $30,000 company car sat out in the parking lot making my dad nauseous. People from my moms work and my church have been "secretly" sending them Meijer gift cards every week so they can afford food. I know the government is trying to extend unemployment benefits for people like my father, but don't you think its hard for him to keep filing for those benefits week after week and to have to maybe face the thought that they could loose their home or cars because he can't find work?!

I agree that in cases like my dad, he's paid into unemployment his whole working career and has a right to its benefits. Its not his fault that is position was eliminated and there is really no one to blame. The company thought it would save them money in the long run, but they don't care what it does to people. I do feel there are people who abuse the system and believe it was put there for them so they don't have to work. And there are people maybe somewhere in between, I'm not trying to judge here, I'm just saying that it sucks.

I've said this before in here about my cousin who is a guidance counselor in a poor school district, how her students tell her they have no plans for college, they plan to get pregnant and wait for their check and food stamps every month so they don't have to work. They were raised to think this is okay and that's what is sad about our country. Millions of people work hard every single day to pay for them to pop out baby after baby. Millions of people worked hard at jobs for many years only to have them eliminated and now they spend those same amounts of hours trying to find jobs all the while risking loosing their homes and everything that they worked so hard for.

My dad has aged so much over these last few months and changed so much as well. He is bitter and angry, no longer the fun-loving goofy dad that I once had. I don't blame him for being angry, how can he not think his age has something to do with him not getting the 10-15 jobs he's interviewed for since the middle of this year. I don't think the president is really to blame for this mess, no matter who got elected this still would have happened. No Democrat or Republican can solve this problem, obviously no one has yet so lets not blame Obama at this point.

Honestly, I don't want anything for Christmas, I just want my dad to have a job. I want to not see my mom cry every time I am at their house, telling me that she thinks by this time next year they won't have a place to live. I want my dad to be fun again and happy and I want him to find work that is good and stable.

Fall 2009

Pumpkin Picking at Lynds Farm, I wanted to get huge pumpkins!

My kitchen hutch decorated for Halloween

Andrews pumpkin

The front steps of the house

Soy beans in the farmers field next to the house, I was playing with the macro setting on my digital camera and I really loved this shot!

The year has flown by

Over the weekend I couldn't stop thinking about how quickly this year has passed by it seems. Just about a year ago (in a few weeks) was when Andrew and I hit a rough patch, when Erica (his sister-in-law) found out she was pregnant and when I finally realized that Andrew was the one despite everything that happened. And just about a year later, look at where we are! Andrew and I are living together, little Isabelle is 3 months old and such a cutie, I'm slowly getting back to my old self with this diet and exercise program and its fall again. Driving to my parents house yesterday afternoon I noticed how beautifully the trees had started to change - only a few of our trees are left to loose their leaves and I'll be sad when our beautiful red maple is naked again.

I decorated the house for Halloween last night too since my mom gave me some of my decorations last night. My grandma every year used to make me a ceramic decoration so its nice to have those now for my own house. This coming weekend we're going to Pigeon Roost out on Rt. 40 to pick pumpkins!

Other fun fall things I've done include: making halloween sugar cookies, making an apple pie by myself for the first time, buying pecks of apples at Meijer for said pie but getting 2x as much as I needed, plotting halloween costumes for Andrew's parents party (we still can't decide what to dress up as, we might end up being Austin Powers and Foxy Cleopatra if all else fails since I've got the costumes.

I'm pretty excited actually for Xmas and Thanksgiving to get here, even if it means it will be colder outside. We get to cut down a tree together and decorate our house and just thinking about it makes my eyes twinkle like a little kid :)

Oh and T minus 4 days till our furnace is installed!!!

Currently......

Current Book(s):

Eat to Live - Dr. Furman - its the book Andrew's parents read that inspired them to become vegetarians and I'm interested in what it has to say....

Current Music:
Nothing at the moment

Current Shame-Inducing Guilty Pleasure:
Cookie dough - I made sugar cookies over the weekend

Current Colors:
Pink thermal and dark jeans today....its getting chilly in the morning

Current Obsessions:
Intervention and Hoarders on A&E - Halloween is also getting close so I'm addicted!!

Current Drink:
Coffee with Hazelnut creamer

Current Movie:
There isn't really anything I'm dying to see at the moment

Current TV Show:
Intervention, Hoarders, Little People Big World, Rachel Zoe Project

Current Wish-List:
A new camel coach purse, laptop

Current Needs:
More sleep, more coffee

Current Triumph(s):
Sticking to my diet plan over the weekend!

Current Bane(s) of my Existence:
Frost on my car in the mornings, not having our furnace yet, growing my hair out

Current Goal(s):

Loose more weight

Current Indulgence:
The sugar cookies I made last night

Current Blessing:
Family and my best friend Jessica

Current Slang or Saying:
"Cool out" or Andrew's favorite "I'd drive the hell outta that car" - he likes when I pretend to be redneck

Current (Fav) Outfit:
Jeans and a thermal with a hoodie

Current Excitement:
Halloween coming, getting a furnace on Oct. 16th!!!

Current Mood:

Tired

Pictures from over the long weekend

My heart

As happy as I've been lately, with moving into the house finally and feeling independent, my heart seems to be longing for something and I'm not sure what it is. I find myself missing a lot of things lately and I'm not sure what they are but I have this slight ache in my heart that just won't go away. The 29th would have been my 6 year anniversary with my only other serious boyfriend. I still think about it every year on 9/29 - all of the what-could-have-beens and it sometimes makes me feel sad. I miss some things about him, but find that I love Andrew a million times more and for many different reasons. 3 1/2 years was a long time to be with someone though and he and I shared a lot of our lives with one another. He was there when I was diagnosed with depression, I was there when his beloved Grandpa died and there were happy times too. I have not seen him in a very long time and we talked once, a few years ago on my 22nd birthday soon after Andrew and I started dating. I always hope that he is alright and that he too finds love and no matter what happened between the two of us, I want him to be happy.

Part of me feels like I have this ache because I want so badly to be married to Andrew. I know that is not the most important thing in the world, but I want it so much that sometimes it hurts me too. I try not to think about it, I want Andrew to ask me when the time is right and I don't want to pressure him about it. I already sort of feel like a wife and I think about how it will be different when we really are married and I get really excited. I want to share a last name, I want to be a part of each others families and I long to have a family of our own. Maybe I am getting too worked up about it and with time it will all fall into place, but I can't make myself stop thinking about how I would like for things to be. I try not to talk about it, but its hard after several of his family members have told me he has talked to his parents about our getting engaged, yet he never talks about it to me. He just jokes and I think its because he doesn't want me to keep bringing it up, because he wants more than anything for it to be a surprise and something that he planned and did all on his own.

Maybe I'll get over this little bump in my emotions, but for now I'll just keep close watch on my heart......