Merry Christmas

Hope everyone is having a wonderful holiday! Just had to show you the awesome gingerbread castle that my sister, Erin, made (and that Brenna and I helped with)...my crowning achievements were the tree with the red dots and the dragon on the top ;)

Hi from South Dakota

Yep, I'm home for the holidays...enjoying spending all day in my PJs and hanging out with the "wild dog pack" (my parents' dogs + my sister's dogs = 5...with two more on the way with my other sister). It's cold and snow/sleety here...but, since I don't have to go outside, I don't really mind ;) I'm also kind of helping my sister make a gingerbread house...actually she's really making it and I keep distracting her with random flash videos and things from the internet (a house full of laptops and wireless internet, fun!!)...Can you believe she hadn't ever seen the kitty cat dance?? It's one of my favorites

That's about it here...hoping everyone has the chance to hole-up inside today and do not much of anyhing ;)

Uhoh...

My sister is growling at me because I'm not posting enough...so here you go Bren ;)

Fun Christmas stuff...

The Chipmunk Song at normal speed
http://www.i-am-bored.com/bored_link.cfm?link_id=20380

and then, Charlie Brown and his friends "shake it like a polaroid picture" ;)




Hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas and New Year!

<3
Abbie

Christmas Tree

I just put it up yesterday, and I love it! Now, I just need to get some gifts to put underneath it...

Something to do...

if you know how to knit, crochet, or sew fleece into scarves or hats...

http://www.supernaturale.com/glitter/viewtopic.php?t=25785

and as an added benefit, knitting, crocheting, and sewing are proven to reduce holiday related stress ;)

Red River Gorge

Milwaukee

Go Heather!!

Just wanted to brag on my friend, Heather...she's running the Chicago Marathon today!!!!!!!!!! Isn't that awesome?!?!?! Everyone think happy, fast thoughts for her =)

I'm also in Milwaukee for our national 4-H agents' conference...typing in the dark because I'm the only one awake in our hotel room (me and three other girls are staying together).

So what can I tell you about Milwaukee....well, yesterday I got to eat chocolate cheese! Sounds gross but is actually really good, it tastes just like fudge! I also bought 5 cookbooks at the Taste of Home Visitors Center Outlet (mmm lots of new things to cook), got to visit the biodomes in Mitchell Park, and ate Guiness Onion Soup (apparently it's good to cook with even if you don't really like to drink it).

Anyway, thats about it from here...I wish someone else would wake up (or that I could sleep in a little more--amazing that I never want to wake up for work, and now that I CAN sleep in I'm awake at 7 am...shaking my head)

Rainy days = Good pictures

...if you can keep your camera from getting too wet ;)



Here's one of my newer pictures--taken during "Biotechnology and YOU" camp. I took one kid from my county, and I wasn't in charge of anything. So, while they were extracting DNA from strawberries and learning about fingerprinting, I got to walk around in the rain taking pictures of canoes.

what a slacker..

I know, I never post...AND on top of that...I got a new computer and haven't reset my counter to not count me, so my blog looks more popular than it actually is ;) hehe

I don't have too much new going on...I've been working and watching my new Grey's Anatomy Season 1 and 2 DVDs (so addictive...now I can barely watch this season's shows because I'm used to being able to watch 5 or 6 shows right in a row). I went to Ohio last weekend and got to see John and Callie (what a sweetheart, but not so good at letting me sleep in...she'd be wiggling at my feet or standing in my hair at 6:30 A.M. ;) )

I also can't believe that no one commented on my last posts...c'mon, hot guy, adorable puppy...clearly no one appreciates my attempts to beautify the internet ;)


When at first you don't suceed, try, try again ;)

I've also been waiting to post until I had something really good/interesting/deep/inspirational to say...but it turns out that the more meaningful I try to be, the less I actually post

Luckily, other people have lots deep/inspirational/interesting/thoughtful things to say--specifically in the "This I Believe" essays segments they do on NPR. I love it when I catch those segments on the air...they've made me laugh, cry, and given me goosebumps all up and down my arms...You can read and listen to the essays online at http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4538138

Puppy pictures

I didn't take that many pictures while I was on vacation, but this was one of my favorites (John is playing tug-o-war with Hero and Bailey in my parents' backyard)




And here's the newest girl in John's life. I'd be jealous but she's just too darn cute! Her name is Callie and she's an 8 1/2 week old Brittany Spaniel. John and his family got her yesterday night, and she's already keeping him on his toes! Even though I can't meet her for about two more weeks, I'm claiming adoptive puppy parent rights right now ;)

Happy Birthday to me!

Yep, I've been awful at posting...but I have an excuse! Earlier this week, John and I drove for 17 hours to get to my parents house in South Dakota (with only two wrong turns by me...State Route 55 towards Chicago is not the road towards my parents house ;) ). We've been playing with the puppies (with my parents' dogs and Erin's dogs here that makes five!), watching movies, eating out, and I think today may be marathon shopping day (yay!!)

And...on top of it all, yesterday was my 26th birthday, and it was just wonderful! We went over to the community center and got to do some rock climbing there, AND the community center also has an indoor pool with a great water slide-so I went down the slide four times =) I even got my dad to try it out! Later, John and I went to Dairy Queen, and checked out the awesome flea market here. Then it was present and dinnertime! =)

I won't go on about my gifts because that seems a bit tacky, BUT I am glad to say that, as long as Best Buy pulls through with some quick installation, we won't be listening to old U2 and Top Gun tapes on the drive home ;)

Back from Louisville

I had to spend three days in Louisville helping set up the 4-H area at the Kentucky State Fair-rough, huh? I had a blast and got to check out a couple cool places in Louisville like...

Lynn's Paradise Cafe which I saw on the Food Network a few weeks ago. So, naturally, being the Food Network junkie that I am, I had to go check it out! Lots of fun, great food! =)

Also The Knit Nook where I bought two sets of needles and drooled over yarn...cute place =)

Let's just pretend...

that I get tagged for things ;) I saw this on Kirsten's blog and I feel like writing about books, so here ya go. I'm a BIG book person, and I picked my college major (English-and just English, not English Ed or anything that actually translates to a job) because I wanted all my homework to be reading (with some pesky writing every now and then). Then during all that English coursework, I actually developed a perverse love of editing and proofreading (not always evident in my typo-laden posts), but that is another post entirely...

Books that changed my life
Fahrenheit 451 - Ray Bradbury
Desert Solitaire - Edward Abbey
Illusions - Richard Bach
Lord of the Rings (I LOVED it, and finally reading it prevented me from being a total outcast in my family)

Books that I read more than once
Chronicles of Narnia - C.S. Lewis
Far Appalachia: Following the New River North - Noah Adams
From Beginning to End, The Rituals of Our Lives - Robert Fulghum
Many more...

Books that I would want in a desert island:
Honestly, on a desert island, I'd rather have a HUGE supply of magazines (Cosmo, Glamour, Health, etc.)

One book that made me laugh:
Tim Cahill's travel books make me laugh out loud no matter where I am (I think I've frightened people in airports before)

One book that made me cry:
I tear up reading "From Beginning to End" by Robert Fulghum

One book I wish I had written:
The Harry Potter Books

One book I wish had never been written:
White Noise by DeLillo


One book I am currently reading:
Harry Potter and the Socerer's Stone (again)

I'm back

Gosh I love vacations

and that pretty much sums it all up ;) I've been vacating in Ohio since Thursday, and I may actually be relaxing a little bit. We've been to an outdoor concert, went to see a really fun blues band at a bar, went out with friends, went swimming, visited camp, went out to eat, and yesterday, I managed to find two birthday gifts for John at the mall...amazing! I figured a procrastinator like me would be stuck with something crummy...BUT I found exactly what I was looking for, on sale!

Today we're making a trip to Athens (yay!), doing some mountain biking, and celebrating John's birthday (one day early since I have to drive back tomorrow). Hope everyone else is having a good week (and Bren, that your move is going smoothly, I can't wait to hear about your new place!!)
=)

Another flower picture...

I'm not sure what these flowers are...but I really like them. I had to move all the flower pots up to the front so they aren't getting baked by the sun. I just hope my neighbors will (please please please) remember to water them while I'm gone.

And Christina asked me a question in her last comment, which actually isn't too awkward to answer in a post (especially since my blog is mostly visited by a few friends and family members). My photographs are for sale. However, I'm still in the process of figuring out prices, frames, etc. If you go back to the post I made before the Mushroom Festival (April 2006), and would like your pictures to look exactly like those...the cost for a 4x6 (framed size = 8x10 I think, I don't have one left to measure) would be $35, and for a 5x7 (framed size=almost14xalmost17) would be $60, plus shipping. Different sizes/frames are possible but will probably take a fair bit of emailing back and forth. If there's something you're interested in, leave a comment or email me.

If you just want a print, I'm not sure how much that will be. I'll get back to you ;)

I'm even willing to sell photographs to people I don't know who randomly find themselves on my site, but, since-unlike my friends-I don't have junior high pictures I can blackmail you with, at this point, you'd have to pay by check and then I'd send the picture. I won't feel hurt if you don't take me up on that offer, but I thought I'd put it out there ;)

Eventually I'll have a site with all my pictures and I'll be able to take orders and tell you right off what prices are, but I'm still getting there ;)

Taking a little break...

Yep, turns out that work continues even after the county fair is over...now that doesn't seem very fair, does it? ;) Right now I'm so brain scrambled that I'm forcing myself to take a break, with the hopes that afterward, I'll be 100 times more effective (or something like that...)

I wouldn't have so much scrambling to do, but in just one more day, I'll be on vacation for a week! I'm going up to Ohio and I have big, big plans for the week, like sleeping in, and sitting by the pool, and trying not to think or talk about work (and you can ask John how good I am about not thinking or talking about work...not.very. good.)

But you know what? I'll start not talking about work right now...

So it turns out my chiropractor likes a lot of my pictures and has 6 (!!) that he's interested in. I'm so excited about the idea of having pictures up in his office, just the fact that someone would want to buy 6 of my pictures, and the money that six pictures could bring. =) And once people see them, will they want to buy them too??

I also made a batch of chocolate chip cookies last night...and did my best to be generous with them. I probably should've given more away though, because now they are ALL I WANT TO EAT...exasturbated by the fact that I don't have a whooole lot of other food...I'm going to let myself have just one more, for now ;)
=)

Oh Thank Goodness...

Yes, I have officially survived the county fair. We had exhibit pick-up today and it was amazing to see how quickly all those exhibits disappeared.

I guess I'm not TOTALLY done, because after that was over I put all the state fair exhibits into my car and since it was raining, decided I'd take them over to the office later. It's later now, but I'm still putting it off ;) And I'm not entirely sure how I'm going to move a bale of hay all by myself anyway.

hanging in...

Yep, I survived 4-H Camp (two weeks ago...I'm just really behind), AND the first day of the county fair (today) AND today is ALSO one year of working in my job!

Yay me!