Nice Matters

I have been given another award! Sharon at Sit With Me Awhile and KC at Mindless Chatter of a Busy Mom have both given me the "Nice Matters Award."

This is what The Nice Matters Award is given for, "This award is for those bloggers who are nice people; good blog friends and those who inspire good feelings and inspiration. Also for those who are a positive influence on our blogging world. Once you've been awarded please pass it on to 7 others who you feel are deserving of this award."

Thank you so much ladies! I think you're both pretty nice too! So, now to pass it on to 7 others. I choose (in alphabetical order) Debbie, JennieBoo, La Bellina Mammina, Lorikate, Melanie, Pam and Shionge.

Wordless Wednesday #18

2001

Click here or here for more Wordless Wednesday.

High School Meme

I have seen this High School meme at It Coulda' Been Worse, Musings of a Housewife, and at Mindless Chatter of a Busy Mom. All three invited everyone to play along. It seems like fun, so I decided to go ahead and do it.

1. Who was your best friend? Patti- we still keep in touch today although neither of us writes as often as we should. I'm also responsible for getting Patti addicted to blogs. So far she only reads but I know one day I will convince her to start her own!

2. Did you play any sports? Ha! One time I joined the track team because you didn't have to try out. Funny thing was the coach actually expected me to run. So, eventually he told me it would be better if I were no longer on the team.

3. What kind of car did you drive? I didn't drive until I was out of high school. I had friends who could drive- what did I need to get my license for?

4. It’s Friday night. Where were you? Hanging out with friends. Bowling, skating, eating, football games, basketball games, or just at a friends house.

5. Were you a party animal? Nope

6. Were you considered a flirt? Yup

7. Were you in the band, orchestra or choir? Choir

8. Were you a nerd? Nope

9. Were you ever suspended or expelled? No, although I did have detention and in-school suspension.

10. Can you sing the fight song? What's a fight song? Apparently I can not sing it since I didn't even know there was such a thing as a fight song.

11. Favorite teacher? Probably my calculus teacher.

12. What was your school mascot? A golden bear

13. Did you go to the Prom? Yup and I ended up marrying my date!

14. If you could go back, would you? I love my life now, but I loved high school too. I loved being with my friends all the time. Now that I look back I realize I basically had no responsibilities and that was certainly nice. So, I would love to go back and have some more carefree days spent worrying about boys and what to wear!

15. What do you remember most about graduation? It was hot. The ceremony was long and boring. We smiled for lots of pictures and gave lots of hugs. I also remember one of my closest friends Renuka, who had moved far away after 11th grade, was able to come for the ceremony.

16. Where were you on Senior Skip Day? At school. Apparently word got out of the plans of our senior skip day. We were threatened that if we skipped our class trip would be canceled.

17. Did you have a job your senior year? One day a week I cleaned the home of a family friend. I also babysat.

18. Where did you go most often for lunch? A local pizza place or Subway.

19. Have you gained weight since then? Considering I barely weighed 100 pounds and wore a size zero in high school, I have to say that yes I have gained weight!

20. What did you do after graduation? That day? There were lots of fun parties afterwards. One funny memory took place at my friend Sheli's house where Rich threw Patti (totally clothed) into the pool. I'm sure Patti is smiling fondly at that memory! If the questions means- what did I do after that day was over- I spent a year working full time at a day care center and part time as a cashier at CVS. Then I went to college.

21. What year did you graduate? 1995.

22. Who was your Senior Prom Date? Rich

23. Are you going/did you go to your 10 year reunion? Nope. Maybe I'll go to the next one. We'll see!

If you haven't done this one yet, play along! Leave me a comment if you play along so I can read yours!

Fun Monday #2

This weeks fun Monday is being hosted by Beckie at Give It A Try. These were her instructions:
"I want to know a little bit more about you, not about your house. I want to know what your favorite treat is. Is it sweet or sour? Is it plain or salty? Is it candy or chocolate? Is it homemade or store bought? For instance, if your favorite is chocolate, tell us what kind specifically - sometimes you feel like a nut, sometimes not so much. I have heard a lot of talk about Junior Mints, but is it your favorite or just a tasty treat? It can be anything, popcorn, peanuts, ice cream or chips, maybe you have more than one favorite - that is ok, just show us your favorite(s) and tell us why you like it so much. C’mon, what gets you all juiced up?"

Well, if you've been reading my blog for any length of time you probably know the treat I can not resist is Chocolate Chip cookies. Not the homemade kind. Although I love homemade chocolate chip cookies, I absolutely can not resist Chips Ahoy! But, not the soft ones- I do not like those.

Don't be fooled by the plate. I only did that for you all. Normally- I eat straight from the cookie container. The cookies just don't have time to make it to the plate when they are in such a rush to get to my mouth. And, also that way I don't have an extra plate to wash.

Now, I started out with only four cookies on the plate because I try to eat only four at a time. But, four cookies made the plate look so empty and sad. So, I added four more (I must always eat in fours, it's part of my OCD) and I think eight cookies looks much better than four. I had intended to take the picture, put four cookies back into the container and then eat the remaining four cookies. Well, I guess you know what happened. I ate all eight of them.

And, how can you have cookies without milk? I actually do not like milk, but add a little chocolate to it and I'll drink it right down.

And, now that I am posting this, looking at those cookies is making my mouth water and I am considering going and getting four eight more.

So, now I am off to Give It A Try so that I can visit the rest of the Fun Monday participants.

Oh, and I'm pretty sure that after checking out everyone's favorite treats today that I won't be weighing-in tomorrow at the May Day Weight Loss Challenge.

Thank You!

See what came in the mail for me?

Woo Hoo! It's my book that I won from

Angela at Angela Giles Klocke. Thank you

so much Angela. I love to read and I can't

wait to get started on this book. And, an added

bonus- the book is autographed. Yipee!!

Thanks again Angela.

Recommended Reading

I have three favorite blogs that I read everyday (I actually have many more favorites, but I am only mentioning these three today). If I miss a day I make sure to read the posts that I missed. One of those blogs is It Coulda' Been Worse, which is actually the first blog I ever started reading. Another one is Boo Mama and boy is she one funny lady. The third is Antique Mommy who is the reason that I am posting this entry. Back on July 30th she started a six part series called The Box. I highly recommend that you read it. Make sure you read it in order- Part One, Part Two, Part Three, Part Four, Part Five, and The Conclusion. It might take you a little time to read all of that, but it will be well worth it.

If you haven't already, add these three ladies to your favorites!

Oh, and do be sure you have some tissues before you go and read The Box.

Jon & Leah's Wedding Part II

Yesterday I promised you that I would share some of the good pictures from Jon and Leah's wedding. If you didn't see my post yesterday, please look at the lovely (note my sarcastic tone) pictures that Rich took. When I went and looked back through my pictures I found that I actually had only one good picture of Jon and Leah. ONE. I had a few good pictures of some of the other people at the wedding, but only one of Jon and Leah. So, most of the pictures I am sharing with you were taken by my dad.

Hailey and Rich waiting for the wedding to start.
Of course, Hailey was nice and quiet right
up until the wedding actually started.

Groom Jon and groomsmen Matt, Uncle Dave, and Rodney.

(Best man Brad is missing from this picture.)

Here comes the bride.

The whole wedding party.

Father of the bride and the groom shaking hands.

Mother and father of the groom

(my Auntie Ruth & Uncle Ralph)The happy couple

My family

(I'm the one in the front row wearing blue)

My cousins, Ashely, Angela and Aimee.

(Believe it or not, Rich took this picture)

Hailey after a nap and a change into

some more comfortable clothes.

Leah, Jon and Brad (best man) during Brad's toast. Jon and Leah

(my one good picture)

Rich and Hailey- Hailey is trying

her first bite of cake here.
Jon and Leah

(I don't know who took this

picture- it was emailed to me, but

I think it's the best one so I had to

share it)

Jon and Leah's Wedding

Last weekend we traveled to go to Jon and Leah's wedding. We left on Friday afternoon. Hailey did really well in the car and we only had to stop a couple of times. Friday night Hailey got to stay in a hotel for the first time. She slept okay but was a bit tired when it was time for the wedding. I thought this would be a good thing and hoped she would sleep right through the wedding. She had other plans. When the preacher asked if anyone objected to the marriage of Jon and Leah, Hailey blew some raspberries, screeched and giggled. We tried to quiet her, but it was not going to happen. So, I took her to the nursery. The nursery was in the back of the church and had a two-way mirror so I could actually still see the ceremony. It was cool and dark in the nursery and Hailey promptly went to sleep. She continued to sleep after the ceremony had ended so I stayed in there with her. Rich had our camera and I had asked him to take pictures for me. So, imagine my surprise when later on I went to look at our pictures and found these:

A lovely close-up of my cousin Beka
A wonderful shot of cousin Bill's ear

A nice picture of cousin Vicki taking a picture of Rich.

A close-up of my dad.

A flattering picture of my sister-in-law Ellie.

At every event we go to where there is a cake,

Rich "leaves his mark" on the cake and takes

a picture of it. So, apparently this is a photo

of his handy work.

A bug on my brother Mike.

A lovely profile picture of my brother Matt.

A close-up of cousin Aimee's ear.

A nice shot of Uncle Bob trying to take a picture.

Rich also took a few other pictures and after Hailey's nap I took over the camera. So, come back tomorrow to see the few good pictures I did get.