happy

Um… WOW!

/ birthday, christmas, happy

When I got to work, there was a card and a gift bag on my desk. The card was from a co-worker, the gift bag from my bosses with a $50 Visa gift card. Whoa? 🙂

We had our department holiday party today. Food, games, prizes, loads of fun. Then we had the white elephant gift exchange. I was next to last so I had my pick of almost anything there. I ended up with Groove It, made by the same people who made Bop It. 🙂 It should be a blast to play. During the party, I won some decorative bells, Rob gave me the candle he won, and I got lots of candy. Then we got let out early!

I got home and checked the mail. Aimzy (verytruly) had sent me a lumpy birthday card with a $25 gift card to Barnes & Noble!! Oooooo. I am so excited about that, you have no idea! I also got a Christmas package from Ivy (swankivy)! I’m already wearing the Hello Kitty pj pants she got me and eating the (VERY YUMMY) cookies she sent me. She also sent more mix CDs, and a squashy pillow for Aidan. 🙂 I love it all, of course!! 😀 The best part is that it came in one of the shipment boxes for Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. SWEET.

ETA: She also drew an adorable picture of Aidan!!!!

I also got some Christmas cards including a VERY sexy one from Erin (celinedion).

Now I’m going to relax before Bizzy comes over later and before Chris gets home. I’m going to read and work on my writing today as well. 😀 So, ’til later!

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Woo Hoo for Saturday! (Pictures)

/ !, christmas, happy, life, pictures, sick

Check THIS out:

OH YEAH. I got to see Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire today!!!!! YAY for brother-in-laws who call radio stations and win screening passes, woohoo. My favorite quote from the move:

Crouch: The Chinese Fireball. Oooooo.

I’m definitely NOT going to give away any spoilers, but I do want to say that the guy who played Cedric Diggory… mm-hmm. HOT. The movie was good, definitely a LOT darker than previous versions. A lot was cut from the book–most of it I was glad about. Ha. I enjoyed it, and sat there thinking “I can’t even believe I’m sitting here watching this already!” And let me say that Ron’s first line in the film is hilarious, and there are some great dialogue exchanges that had me laughing out loud. GO SEE IT. Well, on Friday, like the rest of the little people (TOTALLY KIDDING!). It’s good stuff.

And look what else is happening to our house. Yes, this is our house/yard. OH DEAR.

YESSSS! It’s that time of year again and I am excited. I bought a Harry Potter ornament for the tree, and exactly ONE Christmas present so far. I’m going to start shopping tomorrow night during the Magical Night of Giving (Link) at Polaris Fashion Place. That should be really excting and fun. Yay! Also, Santa makes his debut, so hopefully I can get a picture of/with him.

Can you believe it? I am sick again. Nothing like before–but my throat’s been bothering me the past few days and I’m stuffy. 🙁 So yeah, I’m glad it’s the weekend.

And… I know some of you keep telling me not to, but sometimes, I really AM tempted to give up a certain HUGE dream of mine. But we’ll see. This will probably pass again.

Hmm. I guess that’s all for now. Ack. It’s only 5:45ish and it’s already getting dark out. 🙁 I miss the long days.

Later!

P.S. The Buckeyes kicked BOOTAY today!!!!

EDIT 7:01pm

The Christmas Lights are up. Yes, insanely early, but hey, in Ohio, we must take advantage of the nice weather! 🙂

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Bananas Are Dancing (Lots of Pictures!)

/ aidan, friends, happy, life, pictures, Uncategorized

I don’t know if I posted these pictures yet. Last week, Brutus Buckeye and the Ohio State cheerleaders were doing a Meet & Greet at Meijer. Aidan, a big Buckeyes fan, had a blast. I guess I did too:


Giving Five!

Me & Brutus!
Me with Brutus. I was sick that day, so I look like a big dork.

I’m turning into my aunt. My mom always called her Scatterbrained, and she always teased about how we are so much alike:

1. Underwear has to match outfit.
2. Hair rollers have to be perfect.
3. Thin.

Anyway, apparently, I am becoming scatterbrained as well. Let’s see. I lost my checkbook over the summer. I lost my wallet earlier this month. So…today I went to counseling, came out and realized that the park was beautiful (pictures soon, I promise) and the sun was out. So I got out my camera and took pictures. Then I noticed that I had no car keys. NO CAR KEYS. Ack. I didn’t panic too much. I retraced my steps 345874985 times. No keys. I called Chris and asked him to bring me the spare key. He did, and we retraced AGAIN. Nothing. Nada. My keys are gone.

I’m not too upset. Keys are replacable. Well, my footlocker key and treasure chest keys are not. 🙁 But we can always find ways to break into THOSE locks. Thank God we had a spare key, though. 🙂 And all of those little keychain cards–I have big versions of them in my wallet.

I have to be more careful about my things.

Jennifer (maids) came over (YAY!) and then we all rushed off to Bob Evans to meet David (who was in town from New York City) and his new friend Mallori. I dipped some french fries into gravy and fell in LOVE. Can someone tell me about poutine? Because I’m thinking the Canadians are on to a good thing with that.

After brunch, I had to rush off to counseling. You know that part, though. At least I got some amazing pictures, though.

See?



Cute couple in the park.


Fiery leaves.


More fiery leaves.


Lamp post.

More here.

The best part is–I turned off the LCD screen and used the viewfinder–and took pictures the old fashioned way! 🙂 I just like to see if I still have “it.” Heehee.

After Chris gave me the keys, Jennifer decided to ride back with me. She said “You know, I think I saw your keys in Barnes & Noble, we should check there.” HEEHEE. I love that store. I got an “&” symbol bookend (see one HERE), a Sarah Dessen book, and a Writer’s Digest magazine. OH and a David Arkenstone CD–the one with that song I LOVE! YAY for that. 🙂

We came home and pigged out again. Chris made meatballs, rice, peas and carrots. Yummmy. 🙂 Jennifer left shortly after because she was tired, and Chris went ice skating. Aidan and I stayed here and watched Shrek. I’d been trying to get him to watch it with me for months now, so I was thrilled. He loved it, was totally captivated and even gave Shrek and Fiona each a kiss (via the TV screen, of course).

Last night was fun, too. A group of us went to Boo at the Zoo at the Columbus Zoo, then to Max & Erma’s for a late dinner. We had a lot of fun. It was VERY brisk out, but Aidan got a lot of treats, there were a ton of laughs, pictures taken (of course!), and just general fun times. I’m glad I went. 🙂


Kristen, Mr. Matt, and Me!!


Pond at the zoo.


Back Row: Garth, Kelly, Me
Front: Kim, Mr. Matt, Tricia, Kristen, and Megan
(Rob was taking the picture, and Chris and Aidan were looking at the fish)


CHICKEN!!! ba-KOK!


The Fam. (LOVE the random kid in the back…)


Dramatic tree at night.


Penguin

My son just learned what an ampersand is. I am so proud. 🙂 Now he wants to see tons and tons of them. :O

I think it’s time for bed. Aidan is hanging on me like a little monkey.

EVERYONE (who this affects), PLEASE REMEMBER TO SET YOUR CLOCKS BACK ONE HOUR!!!!!

(HOLY CRAP, my son can count to 15. When did this happen? Last week, he could only count to nine).

‘Night!

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…And It Was Amazing (Pictures)

/ friends, happy, life, pictures

A few weeks ago, I’d received an invitation to the Luchtenberg’s Golden Anniversary party. I immediately decided that anything that may have been planned that day was to be scrapped–there was no way I was missing this celebration.

The Luchtenbergs had been a part of my life since 1997. I was roommates with their son Dave, and I frequently ate dinner at his parent’s house. Patty’s Cooking. Best.Meals.Ever. She could totally trademark her food.

After he broke up with his girlfriend (who was also a roommate of mine), I kind of fell out of touch with Dave. You know, you drift away, live your lives, etc.

Well, God certainly had plans to reconnect me with them.

Years later, Chris and I started attending Heritage. I remember, during the Christmas program, a family came up to give a testimony. The girl had glasses and long blonde hair and said she was not happy about moving to Ohio. The following weeks, I’d see her, worshipping her heart out, and pray that she and I would become friends. God answered that prayer with a YES, and I later found out that this girl–Katie–was their granddaughter!

It doesn’t end there. We’d met up again with the Luchtenberg’s for some spiritual counseling in 2003. Chris showed me the card, and the name rang a bell with me. “I know them,” I’d said. “They’re Dave Luchtenberg’s parents. I used to go there for dinner.” Memories came rushing back to me as soon as we went to their house, and it was an amazing reunion. I’d begun to remember other family members; people I’d seen around church and thought they looked familiar but couldn’t exactly place them.

So now, there were at least three connections.

One night after church (we used to go to the Saturday service back then), Katie’s aunt Nancy came up to me and asked if the name Vera rang a bell. I had to think for a minute and the first thought was “spankin.net!!” Yes, that rang a bell. She and I had posted together on Dodo’s message board a long time ago, and we were sister domains at one point. Then I remembered that she’d emailed me a few months prior and mentioned that her boyfriend’s family went to my church and perhaps I knew them.

Guess who her boyfriend is related to?

Katie!

He’s her brother.

Oh yes, I knew her boyfriend’s family. Very much so. 🙂

So tonight was the party. The first incredible thing that happened was when Chris and I walked up to the driveway. I saw this gorgeous Asian girl and smiled at her. She smiled back and then said “Ronni?” I said “Yes,” and she said “I’m Vera!” HUGE hugs all around! Her boyfriend was gobsmacked the entire night about how Vera and I had met randomly on a message board then met in real life, unexpectedly, tonight. It was a very good surprise.

She said she’d recognized me from all the pictures I post on my website(s). I wonder if anyone else around town ever sees me and looks twice, wondering if I’m that girl from anywhere-is.net. That would be kind of neat, huh?

The second incredible thing was seeing how this family appreciated and loved their parents so much. Dick and Patty raised eight children and created a legacy that touches more people than they could ever realize. Their grandchildren are amazing musicians. Their family is wonderful. I felt like a part of them when I was there and was loathe to leave. The amount of LOVE there was overwhelming. It had been a long time since I’d felt that.

They sang two songs that they’d written. One of them was about the day of the life of the Luchtenberg Family Tree. It was hilarious!! It totally reminded me of a Brady Bunch type thing. Then they sang one called Legacy which was awesome. The children all sang, and the grandchildren played. It was beautiful and made me cry (just a little bit!) Pastor Jim arrived late, so they did an encore just for him. 🙂

Aidan connected with a cute little girl named Alex. They even danced together! 🙂 It was adorable. Chris said “Hey, if they get married, we’ll be a part of their family after all!” 🙂

Oh yeah, I promised you pictures. Okay…here goes.


Me, waiting in the car for Chris to get the directions.


Me again, still waiting.


The guests of honour – Dick and Patty. 🙂


I thought her face was super adorable here!!


It’s me and Vera!!!


David and me. I wonder if I can dig up some pictures of us from the college days….
NOTICE how my hair is losing more curl in each picture? HAH!

Tonight was really, really good. 😀 God is good. 🙂 Amen.

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Pretty Good Day!

/ books, friends, happy, life, shopping

I had a pretty good day today.

Firstly, THANK YOU for all of your good wishes and congratulations regarding my new job!!! 😀 I appreciate that you took the time to wish me well. 🙂 *feels loved*

So…. I got to work and of course, that’s always hard because when the weather is lovely; I just feel claustrophobic!!! But I managed to sneak out at lunch and take a nap in Plaza Park. That was nice; napping in the warm breeze. Mmmmm.

After work, it was great to come home and play on the internet. Ci (starrlyte) and I played on our webcams! It was sooo much fun! She is soooo darn pretty and her heart-shaped lamp is the cutest thing ever. It was a blast. Then Chris came home and we went to Fed Ex to get a package. It wasn’t what we were expecting–instead it turned out to be paperwork for my new job!!! YEAH!

We went to Easton for dinner. Ate Brio. OMG YUM. Waited forever for a table, but it was worth it. After dinner, I dragged Chris to Barnes and Noble and who should we run into there but Rob and Tyler! Heh. I was more interested in acquiring books than hanging out and crashing their thingy, so we went into the store and I got the latest Georgia Nicholson and another book called Perfect. Can’t wait to read them, but I already have a backlog of books I need to read. My writing class starts Monday! Speaking of my writing class, I’m eagerly waiting for my instructor Lauren (laurenbarnholdt) to start putting up crazy cam pics of herself.

One thing I didn’t count on about leaving Nationwide was the number of people who would be impacted outside of my immediate circle (bosses, staff, etc.) One admin admitted that she started crying when I told her. People are actually sad to see me go. This is so strange. I guess I don’t realize how much my presence impacts people because I focus on the people who don’t really care. I need to fix that, huh?

Boss #2 told me to stay home tomorrow. I thought about it, but I’m going to go in at least for a little bit. All three of them are out tomorrow as well as a lot of other people. There really won’t be much for me to do–but maybe I can start cleaning out my desk…? I have a TON of stuff to throw away/cart home/donate/SOMETHING!

Blargh. It’s already 11? 🙁 Fun times go way too quickly, ya know. At least it’s the weekend. A great weekend because I won’t have to take care of Aidan (although I do miss him bunches) and Chris might go camping with Craig. Can we say PARTAY at my house? (Yeah right. As if!)

Oh yeah, and Aimzy (liesandpromises) got my plane ticket today! California… here I come!!!!!!!
Everyone PRAY that I run into Adam Brody when I’m out there and that he and I totally chill out together.

Okay then. Ta ta for now.

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