Change We Need

I have no cards to share today, so this is going to be a strictly word-filled post. Sorry, feel free to skip it! A lot has happened in the few weeks since I last posted, and I finally got internet installed at home tonight, so I feel the need to take advantage and write a little "journal entry" for myself.

1. I am a homeowner! I first found this condo back in May and immediately fell in love. After looking at a number of places, I knew this was the one for me. So in June I made an offer on the place and was rejected. Not even so much as a counter offer, I was just flat out rejected. So naturally I was highly upset and more or less suspended my search for the summer while I just enjoyed the beach and a few fun trips. In September I noticed the condo was listed at a lower price, so I figured it was worth making another offer and this time they countered! After a little negotiating we ended up agreeing on a price just $4,000 more than my offer. YAY!

Then came a whirlwind few weeks full of stress. Things seemed to move so quickly at first and then slowed to a snail's pace as mortgage logistics, contracts, etc. all got worked out. I had to give notice at my apartment for October 31, so whether I was able to close on the new place by then or not, I was moving out! Everything did finally come together, though I didn't actually have a confirmed closing date and time until 2 days before the end of the month. Talk about stress!! Moving out was hellish, but the closing and moving in went smoothly thanks to my wonderful parents.

So now here I sit, my 6th night in my new home, and I'm so happy. My apartment was just a miserable place that I took no pride in and did not enjoy going home to. It is such a pleasure to live somewhere pretty, where everything works as it should and the neighbors are not just considerate, but friendly! I have much unpacking left to do, and a lot of furniture and things to purchase, but all in good time. As the cable guy just told me as I was lamenting all the things I need to do and buy, "Rome wasn't built in a day". He was very wise. :-)

2. If you've made it this far, I do have a snippet of stamping news - remember that Papertrey nugget box with the snowmen that I posted a few weeks ago? Well it won Honorable Mention in the Best Winter Project category of Papertrey's Guest Star Stamper contest!!! Usually those resulted are posted immediately after each month's release, but this month Nichole was delayed due to the Papertrey/Gina K/Stamping Bella cruise. She made the announcement last week when she got back, but due to my lack of internet for a few days, my Google Reader subscriptions were neglected and I almost didn't see the news! I was so excited to see it and so honored. It's no secret to many that know me that Nichole Heady is my stamping idol and it was such a thrill to have her select my project as one of her favorites!

And now the most important news of all (yes, perhaps even more so than my lovely condo!).....

3. Barack Obama has been elected the 44th President of the United States of America!!!! I have never been one for politics. Sure, I have voted in every election I've been able, but aside from doing a little research on the candidates and their stances, I've ignored it all. I've never watched debates, I've never stalked electoral map projections, and I've never been glued to the returns on election night. But this year was different. This year, more than ever, our country needed a change. We are in the midst of probably the most turbulent years in my lifetime, given the two wars we are waging overseas, the climate issues we are facing, and certainly not least, the economy. This year it was as if I was possessed the way I devoured everything I could read, watched everything I could watch, and debated everything I could debate. For me, the choice was clear. We needed Barack Obama. His intelligence, his calm demeanor, and his ability to understand the issues facing all Americans today were unmatched.

As I waited in line at my polling location for just over an hour yesterday morning before work, my heart was singing. The long line that awaited me when I arrived just before 6:30am didn't frustrate me. It warmed my heart. I was so proud of Americans, proud to see so many people taking an active interest, perhaps for the first time in their lives. I was positively distracted all day long, just waiting for the evening to come and the polls to close. As precincts across the country began reporting in, that distraction became an all out explosion of nerves and anticipation and hope. Given that I had no cable here, I went over to a friend's house to watch the coverage. I was so happy to be there with her on what was likely the most historic night of my life to date. As Pennsylvania was called, and then Ohio, we looked at each other in joyful disbelief. In spite of the favorable projections for Obama prior to election day, I tried not to get ahead of myself and presume that enough Americans could band together to make change happen. But as Obama's electoral votes climbed, I realized he had been right all along. Yes we can.

I cried when ABC's Charlie Gibson announced Obama's victory. I cried again during his inspirational and eloquent address. There is a long road ahead, and Obama knows it - there was an air of solemnity about him in spite of his incredible achievement. Things will not be fixed overnight, and likely won't be fixed in the next four years. But we have a start. Americans spoke up en masse yesterday and called for change. Despite its hardships, I feel blessed to be a part of this era in history and have nothing but hope for the future of America.

Oh. My. Goodness.

My mouth is so happy right now! My friend Stacy shared a recipe with the LOSTies this week, more as a joke than anything. We are a pie-loving bunch, but have some rules about pies with meat in them. I personally don't condone meat in a dessert pie, but have no qualms about meating up savory pies. So I happened to think the pie she posted looked delicious and I knew I had to make it pronto. Well make it I did and it is so so good. The flavor combination is so wonderful and, while it was a little bit time consuming to make, it wasn't difficult. This one's a keeper! So without further ado...

You can find the recipe for Apple and Sausage Pie here. Go, check it out now, and make it immediately! One little note - I chose to use asiago rather than the other choices of fontina or provalone just because I love asiago quite a bit. Other than that, I have no other comments because I followed the recipe to a T and wouldn't do it any other way! Well, on second thought, I might decrease the amount of sausage a tad to make room for more apples, but it wasn't like the sausage was overpowering or anything, so I'd make it as the recipe says on your first try.

I also have Stacy to thank for introducing me to Scentsy. I've had their Simply Irresistible scent melting all day and my living room smells soooo good! This is my favorite of their scents - it smells like an irresistible man with good taste in cologne or body wash. YUM!

Big Old Post

I've got a mondo post coming at you since I've been a bad blogger and have not posted anything in almost 2 weeks! I am currently in a delightfully good mood, enjoying the lovely sunshine and cool breeze coming through my living room window. My beloved Patriots are playing right now, as are the Pittsburgh Steelers. Normally I couldn't care less about the Steelers, but given that I've got 4 of their guys on my Fantasy Football team, they are suddenly of great interest!

On today's menu: a super easy, super yummy dip: brown one pound of ground beef in a large pan and drain the grease. Add a jar of Tostitos salsa, a jar of Tostitos salsa con queso, a can of kidney beans, and let that all simmer and mix together. Top it with sliced scallions and dig in with some hearty tortilla chips. Mmmm! I am not supposed to be eating things like this anymore, or certainly not in the quantity I intend to consume, but this weekend my diet has been pretty much nonexistent anyway, so oh well! Tomorrow I start on NutriSystem, so I'm going to enjoy this while it lasts!

I have two more LOSTie birthday cards to share that I received since my last post. The first is from Tracy. It's tough to see in the picture, but next to the flower stem it says imagine and the little charm says the same thing. And the second is from Alyson, complete with a cupcake that looks good enough to lick! Thank you ladies, they're beautiful!

And now the two books that I've read since my last post:

Outlander by Diana Gabaldon

My review

rating: 5 of 5 stars
I loved this book! It's got time travel, romance, sex, danger, suspense, comedy, everything you could hope for in a book! This is the first in a series and I can't wait to move on to the next one!


The Next Thing on My List: A Novel by Jill Smolinski

My review

rating: 4 of 5 stars
This is the latest selection by my book club. It's not a work of literary genius by any means, but it was a fun, quick read. I was trapped home with a flooded parking lot last night, so I read the whole book in one sitting and it was the perfect kind of book for a rainy night. June, the narrator of the story, is in a car accident in which her passenger, a girl she barely knows, is killed. She finds a list that the girl had written of 20 things she wanted to do by her 25th birthday. June decides to complete the list as a way to make amends for the girl's death. The book takes us through the tasks she needs to complete, some easy and some more complicated. It's a sweet story, and a reminder to make the most of your life, as you never know when it will end.

And now my delightful mood is gone! In the time it's taken me to write this post, Tom Brady has gotten hurt, and I am now about to punch my computer because the layout on my post is all messed up. So I'm going to stop here and post whatever else I had to share at a later time when I am much more calm!

Pineapple Express and...Butterflies?

I saw Pineapple Express tonight, which I've been dying to see since it came out. I had high hopes for it and was not disappointed! I was laughing my head off so many times and was most pleasantly surprised by James Franco. I knew Seth Rogen would be funny, but having really only seen James Franco in the Spiderman movies, I wasn't sure what to expect. Well if you ask me, he stole the show! So freakin hilarious! I should put a warning - just because I thought this was funny doesn't mean everyone will. I happen to be very immature and think stoner jokes about male genitalia and whatnot are pretty darn funny. If that's not your speed, I'd like to recommend that you pass on this one!

Now onto more ladylike matters... This was a super quick and easy card. I think it needs more but I didn't feel like doing anything else with it when I was making it around 11:00 last night. I took the picture from a crooked angle so that hopefully you can see that the butterfly wings are not attached to the card. I used Martha Stewart's Royal Butterfly punch and glued only the buttefly bodies to the card, allowing the wings to come up off the base. It's tough to see in the photo, but the bodies are highlighted with a clear spica pen and the wings are dotted with the pen as well.

Supplies
Stamps: sentiment from PTI's Little Lady
Ink: Purely Pomegranate
Paper: PTI white, Purely Pomegranate, Pretty in Pink
Other: Martha Stewart Royal Butterfly punch, clear spica pen

Birthday Cards

I'm telling you, my LOSTies are some of the most talented ladies around! They spoiled me with some truly fabulous birthday cards! The slide show below shows off all the cards I've received - just hover your mouse over any card to see who it's from. Thank you B's!

Michael Phelps - the New Chuck Norris

Well, the Olympics are just about over. Or I guess they technically already are, but here in the United States the closing ceremonies are airing right now. I'm sad. I've so enjoyed watching every night for the past two weeks and am so proud of our athletes. To lighten my mood as I wait for my beloved Michael to appear in London, I thought I'd share some jokes from a website I found while reading a blog that two writers for the Baltimore Sun set up from Beijing to track MP and other Maryland athletes during the games. These are in the vein of the Chuck Norris jokes I'm sure you're familiar with. There are tons of these jokes on the site, but some of my favorites are below. Now remember, I didn't make these up, so any less than desirable language is not my fault! :-)

Michael Phelps does not swim; he beats the $hit out of the water until it takes him where he wants to go.

If you spell Michael Phelps in Scrabble, you win. Forever.

Michael Phelps doesn't need to wax; he just wills his body hair not to grow.

There is no 'ctrl' button on Michael Phelps' computer. Michael Phelps is always in control.

Michael Phelps destroyed the periodic table because he only recognizes the element of surprise.

Michael Phelps can slam a revolving door.

Michael Phelps was what Willis was talkin' 'bout.

Michael Phelps sleeps underwater with one eye open.

So Random...

I was just uploading some pictures I've taken recently and thought I'd share a few here. First up are a few shots from the Franklin Park Zoo that my mom and I went to on my birthday. I just love this lion. He's the epitome of what I think a lion should look like with his full mane and regal manner. The worker at the lion pen said he is 15 years old, very old for a lion, and I was worried that he would be lonely all alone in the big pen but she said as lions near the end of their lives, they tend to separate themselves from their pride and spend the rest of their days alone, so this solitary life is natural for him. Very interesting!

And this "little" guy is one of the zoo's newest additions - a baby giraffe named Sox, for the Red Sox of course! He is about 8 feet tall, which didn't sound so little until I saw his parents, who are 16 ft. and 18 ft. if I'm remembering correctly! He is very sweet and was such a good little model posing for me!

I think my favorite of the animals were the gorillas, but my pictures of them didn't come out so well since they were behind glass and even with my flash off, everything came out a little blurry. They are such cool animals to watch though and I swear they make eye contact with you and it's a little unnerving! Makes me wonder what they're thinking about all the wackadoo humans on the other side of the glass! There were I think 5 gorillas total, including a baby who was sitting on a ledge right up against the glass, just chewing away on some sort of stick that he had stolen from a bigger gorilla. So cute!

Last night some of my friends had a birthday dinner for me, with my favorite indulgence, lobster, as the main course. We were very excited to have a lobster race across the back deck and were prepared for them to take off as soon we let go. Well, what you see in that picture is all we saw too. The darn things didn't move an inch! My brother says any temperature above 70 degrees is way too hot for them, so they probably didn't feel like moving at all. I don't blame them - I feel the same way when I'm too hot!


We got tired of waiting around for some race action, so decided to let the lobsters have a little social hour. I swear the one with the blue rubber bands was talking! Its little pincher things under its face were going back and forth almost like he was clapping and there was this clicking sound going a mile a minute. I think the one in the yellow was answering too! LOL! We were thinking it would be funny if we had props, like miniature tea cups and whatnot so we could take some more interesting pictures. Hey, people like prints and greeting cards of dogs dressed as people, so why not lobsters?! I think it would be a big hit on Cape Cod!

And finally, I found this picture on my camera and realized I never shared it on here. I had made this for my friend Tracy, who won a "name that movie quote" trivia question I posted on SCS a while back. Just a fun, cheery card for my fun, cheery friend!

Supplies
Stamps: PTI's Little Lady
Ink: Palette Noir, Barely Banana
Paper: PTI white, Basic Black, Barely Banana
Other: PTI Lemon Burst ribbon, clear spica pen

Reflections...

I don't have anything stamping-related to share, but having just celebrated my birthday on Wednesday, I've been doing some reflecting on the past year and on some of my goals for the coming year. I thought it would be fun to look back on this a year from now to see if I've actually seen some of these goals/wishes come true!

By my 28th birthday I hope to...

1. Lose 25-30 lbs. Actually, I'm hoping to do this by Christmas - beginning the day after Labor Day, my mom and I are starting a contest to see who can lose 25 lbs first and our goal is that we'll both have lost at least that much by the end of 2008, at which point we'll treat ourselves to a (non-food related) reward!
2. Move. I've lived in my apartment for 5 years and I never thought I'd be here this long. It was a place my then-boyfriend and I settled on in a hurry because I was starting a job here in Connecticut and needed a place to live. I've never liked the apartment itself or the building it's in, so I really can't wait to move. With this currently being a buyers' market, I'm hoping to buy a condo and leave my renting days behind. I'd love to see this happen by Christmas too!
3. Be debt free. I've been steadily working on this over the past two years and I'm almost there. To be honest, I never thought I'd come this far. A little over 3 years ago, my life was a mess due largely to the previously mentioned boyfriend. But with a lot of determination, I've managed to pay off everything he saddled me with, paid off my car early, and paid off the money I borrowed for college! Just a small credit card balance to go and I'll be officially debt free. Just in time to start with a mortgage...!
4. Date. I'm 27 years old and have never officially been on a date. Sure, I've had boyfriends, both short term and long term, but it has always been a situation where we met through friends, went out in groups, and then it was just sort of an unspoken thing that we were exclusively "dating". But I've never just met a guy, had him ask me out, and gone to dinner or a movie and had the chance to get to know each other that way. I think it's time! This one's a little less within my control than the first three, but I'm keeping my fingers crossed and my eyes open!
5. Meet Michael Phelps. Ok, so this one will likely never happen, but a girl can dream! Just because I'm 27 doesn't mean I need to let go of ridiculous crushes, does it? I am somewhat ridiculously obsessed with Michael Phelps these days. I can't get enough video footage, interviews, articles, photos, you name it. His appeal for me is a combination of things - his amazing accomplishments in the pool of course, and the fact that he's just adorable in a hot yet "guy next door" kind of way. But what really caught me was his personality in all of the interviews I've seen and the relationship he has with his mother and sisters. For a kid who has every reason to have the biggest head in the room, he seems remarkably down to earth. I like it.

So that's that. If you've kept with me through this bit of reflection, thanks! Though I have a lot of things I want to change about me and my life, deep down I know that I am truly blessed. My timeline that I've always had in place may be off (I was supposed to be getting married at 27 or 28 at the latest, so my first child could be born when I was no older than 30 and so on...) but I guess life just doesn't work that way. I have a wonderful family, the best friends anyone could ask for, a roof over my head, too much food to eat, and the luck to live in the United States. It's easy to get swept up in complaints about our country, the economy, the president, etc. but I am so proud to be an American. Tears have come to my eyes with every single playing of our national anthem throughout these Olympic games and I have felt such a surge of joy for each and every one of our champions. Go USA!!

I've Been Tagged!

I have received the BFF (Blogging Friends Forever) Gold Card from three of my sweet blogging friends, Kim (who gave this to me before I left for the GBC when I was so behind - sorry I'm so late!!), Rachel, and Stacy. The rules are that you are supposed to list 5 faithful readers of your blog, one of whom is from another part of the world. Well, I only have about 5 faithful readers and they've all been tagged already I think, and by the few people who do read my blog! SO I won't tag anyone else, but I'll thank you lovely ladies for tagging me and will encourage anyone that I don't know about who is lurking to soak in the talent oozing from the blogs created by these girls!

I was also given the Brillante Weblog Award by Rachel and for this award I am to choose 7 blogs to pass the award on to. I'm going to try and choose some blogs that I haven't seen tagged by my faithful friends to spread the love even more!

Geny Cassady

Silke

Lauren Meader

Carole Burrage

Julee Tilman

Cake Wrecks

Lincee

My Personal DNA

My brother sent me this personal DNA test, filled with a lot of questions about my likes and dislikes, how I perceive myself, how other people perceive me, etc. I thought the results were pretty interesting and more or less dead on! It said I'm a "faithful dreamer" and then proceeded to break down my personality and analyze where my strengths and weaknesses lie: My personalDNA Report

Tagged

I was tagged by my friend Rachel with the little A to Z survey below:

A is for age: 26
B is for burger of choice: Cheeseburger with guacamole, bacon, and onion strings
C is for what kind of car you drive: Honda Civic
D is for your dog’s name: Not a pet person
E is for essential item you use everyday: Computer
F is for favorite TV show at the moment: LOST in the drama category, The Office for comedy
G is for favorite game: Trivial Pursuit
H is for Hometown: Duxbury, MA
I is for instruments you play: I played the recorder in 3rd or 4th grade
J is for favorite juice: Nantucket Nectar's Orange Mango
K is for whose butt you’d like to kick: the stupid man who won't let me buy his condo
L is for last restaurant you ate at? Barcelona for drinks and tapas with co-workers
M is for your favorite Muppet: Miss Piggy
N is for Number of Piercings: 2 holes in each ear, though I never wear earrings in the second holes anymore
O is for overnight hospital stays: None, knock on wood!
P is for people you were with today: Co-workers
Q is for what you do with your quiet time: Stamp or Read
R is for biggest regret: Not trusting my gut instincts and letting myself be guilted and sweet talked into financial decisions that impacted the last 5 years of my life
S is for status: SINGLE!!
T is for time you woke up today: 6:30am
U is for what you consider unique: ???
V is for vegetables you love: None. I can tolerate a few, like green beans, but vegetables are not my thing!
W is for worst habit: Tie between procrastination and laziness
X is for x-rays you’ve had: Teeth, left arm, left knee
Y is for yummy food you ate today: Egg and cheese biscuit from McDonald's
Z is for zodiac sign: Leo, which I think fits me not at all!

I'm going to take the lazy way out (see answer to worst habit above) and say anyone who wants to play, please feel free, and let me know if you do so I can read your answers!

Shouldn't I be Working?

The answer is yes, yes I should! But, I just saw this fun little time-killer on my friend Rachel's blog and thought I'd play around with it!

If you want to play, go to Flickr and enter your answers to the questions below in the search box, one at a time. Choose the picture that most speaks to you from the FIRST page of results that comes up. Click on it and copy the URL, then go over to Mosaic Maker, set up your mosaic, and enter the URLs. That's it!

Here are the questions:

1. What is your first name?
2. What is your favorite food?
3. What high school did you attend?
4. What is your favorite color?
5. Who is your celebrity crush?
6. What is your favorite drink?
7. Where would you go on your dream vacation?
8. What is your favorite dessert?
9. What do you want to be when you grow up?
10. What do you love most in life?
11. What is the one word that describes you?
12. What is your Flickr name?

And here is me, in mosaic! It's obvious from looking at some of the photos what word I typed in, but others could be interpreted a number of ways. Pretty cool!

1. Jessica, 2. Perfect Steak, 3. Sacred-Heart basilica of montmartre in Paris, 4. Sunny Side Up, 5. John Krasinski makes my loins quiver., 6. margarita cocktails closeup, 7. Bit of Ireland, 8. For A Shop Opening, 9. one with the sea, 10. Lonely Tree, 11. Stepping stones, 12. Irish Lady Stack and Longships Lighthouse

Fabulous Banner!!!

Do you see that banner up there?? Just look at it!! It was designed by the fantastically talented Rachel at Hope Stamps Eternal. It barely took her any time at all and it's just what I wanted!

Thanks Rach!! You ROCK!

First Post

I'm not entirely sure why I started this whole blog thing. I don't lead a fabulously exciting life, but I felt the need to get in on this blogging action. I don't want to be the uncool kid left out of the pack - been there, done that in junior high, LOL!

I can't say how often I'll post or how interesting I'll be, but I'll be blogging about a mish mash of recipes I try, cards I make, or anything else I feel like talking about, because it is my blog after all! Thanks for stopping by!