I just want to be fabulous in the limelight. Is that so crazy?

Waiting in line at the bank drive thru and there's a woman with a twin stroller and a baby on her back walking thru the drive thru... Strange...

Maybe it's stupid, but I forget that...

... people I've met along the way think of me.  It wasn't until I read Jackie's statement on my last post that I thought to myself... Oh yeah, people do read this and like me and care about me and miss me.  Granted I think of others who I've met in the journey of life, but on the reverse end I tend to think... Well, it's just me...

Anyhow, so here's a few things that are new with me.

I've been working with the in-laws at Frye Roofing where Jeremi works for a few months now.  They were in need of an office assistant and the one they previously hired wasn't working out.  So, when she was asked to leave, they were pretty desperate for someone reliable.  I don't completely hate it, but desk work (e.g. phone answering and filing) really isn't what I ever wanted to be doing.  As most of you know, I'm not one to easily sit behind a desk for days upon days, and maybe that in and of itself is what made medical school so difficult.  But on the plus side, the job has some serious benefits, like free lunch everyday, taking off pretty much whenever, and only working four days a week.  

Some of other fun things we've been up to...

Went to a Arts Festival in Louisville for the 2nd year in a row and had a blast. My parents were gracious enough to let us borrow their small motorhome.  Jeremi loved it!  This is me smiling with an idiotic grin because I'm ridiculously excited about my funnel cake.  I love fair food!

Caesar just turned one last week!  Here's a picture of him with his jester collar on for Halloween.  He's calming down more and more as time goes on, but is still very easily excitable.  He's a great dog when it's just Jeremi and I, but he just gets so excited if anyone comes to visit.

Really excited for some upcoming football trips.  Going to Motown for the Rutgers game and then...

To a Steelers game!!!  It's my second one ever and I'm sooooo excited.

Other than that not much else to report.  I'm still debating on whether to be a doctor or baker.  I'm still enjoying the married life.  And I'm currently gearing up for Christmas and listening to Christmas music already! :)

I'll try to write more often and leave less gaps in time.  So I guess, for now, that's all folks...

A lady stopped me in the Target parking lot today asking if I'm Latina. She wanted to know 4 her new Latina daughter in law. I really should have a reality show

Trying to enjoy the company of myself. Out to eat by myself in Blacksburg...

Just caught up on AGT... And Taylor Matthews is my teenage boy crush LOL

On the plus side...

I decided to be naughty this morning and have cake for breakfast.  Made red velvet cake yesterday for someone's bday and had some left over.  Mmmm!

Ugh!

So, I'm a little frustrated.

At the beginning of the year, I had a scan done of my thyroid.  (We thought I might have thyroid issues, but I don't.)  Mom had worked out a discount for me with the radiology place that did the scan.  (Yeah, my mom rocks at stuff like that.)  I never received a bill from them and completely forgot about it! Oops.

Anyway, I ended up getting sent to a collections agency, which completely pisses me off, given I never had the chance to even pay the bill.  Now, they won't offer me the discount and I have to go to all the trouble to dispute everything and call their corporate office who handles the billing.

Ughhh!  I hate how our healthcare system works!  Makes me wonder if I really should just move somewhere fun and open a bakery...

Every day I wonder, what is it I should be doing?

Geeky Muffins

Jeremi and I are geeks.  We take turns at who is the geekiest.  Jeremi figured out we could get the iphone 4 at the new contract price and more than likely sell ours on ebay and still break even.  So, we ordered new phones.

Got the call from AT&T today and they are in!!  So very excited!  Called Jeremi in my super excited I'm such a little girl voice then proceeded to do a happy dance with monster.  He can now fully rest his front paws on  my shoulders and is probably as tall as me.  Craziness!

Anyway, so very excited!

Ever since then...

Haven't really posted much on my life in a while.  So, here's the update if you're interested...

Jeremi and I celebrated our one year anniversary three weeks ago.  After much debating on how to celebrate our anniversary, we decided to use the money we would normally spend getting a hotel and going out to eat and such to instead buy a canoe we had been wanting.   So, we went camping and canoeing for our first anniversary; surprisingly, it was the perfect thing to simply enjoy one another's company.  Jeremi said that camping and buying a canoe for your wedding anniversary is pretty redneck.  So, I guess I'm a redneck, after all I am from Princeton, lol.

I suppose this is our first "family" pic.  Too bad we look exhausted and clearly have been camping for a couple of days by this point.  Pic below:  Caesar found that under the canoe hauling truck was shadiest of places to lay in the heat.

We've been canoeing a few times since then.  I absolutely love it!  I especially love that we get to take the dog.  Jeremi rigged up some outriggers for the canoe (basically like training wheels for a canoe) so it isn't a pain to take the dog.  You wouldn't believe how much of an effect a 85 lb dog has on a canoe.  The first time we went Caesar ended up flipping the canoe.  So, the outriggers are much appreciated.

We even spent our first fourth of July canoeing (We missed fourth celebrations last year because we were in Greece still).  We also did the usual cooking out and watching fireworks with Jeremi's family.  All in all a great way to spend the holiday.

Finally, just came back from my birthday weekend festivities.  We went to Charlotte for a Michael Buble concert.  It was absolutely fabulous and probably one of the best concerts I've ever been to.  He has a great attitude, really and truly seems to appreciate his fans, and puts on a hell of a show.  So, if you're a fan and there is ever an opportunity to see him, you must do it! :)  

We also ate some great food and I got in some much needed shopping therapy.  This pic is of me at my birthday dinner.  I look exhausted from shopping, which all in all isn't a bad reason to be so tired looking... (It actually made me miss the days of shopping with Chel in Pittsburgh and Rhena in Philly!  I miss you guys!)

So, aside from that, I'm still trying to find a "fun" job in the Princeton area at least until I go back to school or move from this town.  I'd really like to work at a bakery or a flower shop, but I haven't really tried to put myself out there yet.  

Also, as usual, still trying to decide what I'm more passionate about, medicine or baking, two totally different things...   (Speaking of which, I've been meaning to post a section with pictures of foods I love to make.  Hopefully, I'll figure out how to do this soon as I've already collected some good pics.)

Anyhow, so that's my life according to me...

Caesar and Me in the Canoe

Haven't blogged in forever, but wanted to post this picture of Caesar and me in the canoe when we went for July 4th.  More of an update later...

Queen of Procrastination

I enjoy wasting time.  I've never been one of those "doers".  You know, the type that is constantly on the move, looking for something to do, whether it's clean, organize, etc.  I sometimes wish that were me, but only because it seems like our house could always use an extra bit of cleaning, especially given the new canine edition.

In a wonderful mood today.  The sun is shining, got a road trip planned, get to see my lovely friend Kate... Life is quite enjoyable for the moment.

I should be packing/getting ready, but couldn't help but play around with photobooth and thought I'd share.  I suppose this is the real me, quite goofy actually.  Plus, I love wasting time on the computer/internet.

Well, if it's possible to write a post about nothingness, here it is... Hope you enjoyed...

I have this theory that a lot of women don't have interests, hobbies or passions. Therefore, they gossip and overanalyze. More later...

Funkytown

Woke up in a funk yesterday and today and can't seem to shake it. You know, that overall, I don't want to do anything at all but be a lazy bum, maybe perhaps do some reading, but that's it. (Consequently, I am now 3/4 of the way through The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe.) This seems to happen to me more often lately. I sometimes think this is do to the fact that what I do for "work" is medical billing at home for my dad's office. Quite frankly, I hate it. I think I hate the fact that I don't actually leave to "go" to work. Plus, medical billing is simply put, painful. Lately, I've wondered if there is more to my funkiness (if there is such a word), so I've just starting looking at changing what I call my ABP (anti-baby pill). Supposedly all those extra hormones can really screw you over, but I suppose that's more information than you lovely people wanted to know.

So, I'm curious what all you lovely people do to get out of a funk. Anyone?

P.S. Sorry to be a downer today, but will hopefully have some fun things to post about soon. :) Also, I finally figured out how to post the actually time I blogged. Small victory, lol.

The Best Day Ever

I have the same excitement levels as a four year old child. When I'm excited or happy, I just want to skip around proclaiming that life is so wonderful, and quite frankly, sometimes I do. Jeremi loves this about me. I never realized that all people aren't like this until I started actually paying attention/observing people. People as a whole seem to me to be grumpy, don't smile often, and just don't act silly often enough. But, I digress as this was not the point of my post today.

Now that I've explained my emotional self, I tend to say things like, "This is going to be the best day ever!" when I get really excited. Went hiking for the first time today and took the dog too. It was fabulous. And so I said to muffin and monster (Monster is so often used as Caesar's nickname that he responds to it.) numerous times today, that surely it was the best day ever.

Went to the Cascades in Pembroke, VA and it was absolutely beautiful. Extremely crowded, but definitely beautiful. I never really gave much thought to how much I love the outdoors, although I did use to study at the park as often as I possibly could.

I suppose the awesome beauty of the outdoors just reminds me that all the stupid things I worry about really don't matter and that in the end, it will all work out. Plus, life is never really how you planned it to be anyhow, and perhaps it's better that way! >)

We're going canoeing tomorrow, my first time actually. So, maybe tomorrow will be another best day ever...

Tiny Tidbit: Found out the difference between through and thru thanks to my darling friend Kate. For those of you out there who didn't know, thru is basically like slang and is never really correct in true written form (i.e. not in texts, etc.)

It's the small joys in life...

I usually like to complain about my lack of direction in life, but alas, I may finally have some semblance of a plan. So, on to something more exciting.

Last post I mentioned my darling (and quite huge/monstrous) puppy. I've basically wanted a puppy all my life, but was never allowed to have one. From the time I met Jeremi, my one big all I ever wanted request was a puppy. After finally moving into a place last November where we could finally have a puppy, we got one! Albeit, the timing wasn't great; five days after bringing home the puppy, Jeremi was in the hospital for a week. But otherwise, the Caesar monster has been quite a joy.

Not being a dog owner for my whole life, there's lots of little "dogisms" that I love! These are the little things Jeremi doesn't seem to appreciate and finds hilarious that I am so amused by them. (Granted he has had a dog pretty much all his life.)

So...

The "Dogisms" I love:
- letting the dog lick my morning yogurt cup and feeling his tongue slap against it as he tries to get every tiny bit possible (hence, the yogurt cup)
- the warm spots the dog leaves on the floor after napping/laying for sometime
- the snuggles when he's finally tired enough to lay still
- his happy tail wagging when he greets you in the morning
- the excitement of trying new foods
- his overall need to please
- the sound of him plopping on the floor, followed by a hugh sigh
- the playfulness as he chases a butterfly or bumblebee
- watching him lay with his paws out front



I suppose I could go on and on. Plus, I'm sure that I'm forgetting some of the really good ones. I love my Caesar monster! Big muffin is often amused watching me watch him. I guess I always was a dog lover and never had an opportunity to indulge.

The Year Plus on my Soapbox

It's been a year and three months since I've been out of school and I must say it's been quite a year or learning and self discovery. I never realized how much I live in Melanie-land until this past year or so. Jeremi and I have these conversations from time to time, particularly on road trips. Seeing as how we just came back from a trip to Louisville to visit the grandparents, I have new insights into me and things I never realized about me.

Here are some examples of my newest insights/epiphanies...
- I never realized that a majority of people are not gutsy. I also never thought that I was gutsy, but apparently even small things like wearing bright off kilter eyeshadow (my newest fav thing to do) can make you daring. Or making random sex jokes that apparently no one usually wants to say out loud. Or having absolutely no reservations about shopping for underwear. (because apparently, most people are squeamish about underwear shopping)

- A friend told me once that most people think of themselves as funny and having good taste. The more I think about this the more I realize it's probably true, but I never bothered to think about it because quite frankly I don't think I'm all that funny. I also wouldn't say that I have good taste, simply that I know what I like and I like what I like.

It's all the tiny tidbits that probably don't matter to anyone (and previously never occurred to me) that I've been learning about. I could go on and on about these useless things, but the point is, I've learned at the very least that I really and truly just live my life going with the flow. I tend not to think about much of anything in great detail, and as I've always said, I'm the girl just skipping through/thru the fields enjoying the smell of grass and flowers unaware of all the world's tiny insignificant details.

Small side note: I've wanted a puppy all my life and wanted to share some photos. Isn't he the cutest ever?

It's a Revolution Baby!

Watched my first episode of Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution. Wished I had started watching when the show first aired, but I did manage to DVR the last few episodes, so better than nothing I suppose.

Makes me miss Huntington a bit, but I digress...

I suppose the show rekindled the passion in me to become a doctor. After all, my big dream was to help the normal everyday crowd become healthy and stay healthy. (Not that I'm an expert on healthiness or the picture of health...) I've always felt like I could relate to the overweight/obese population despite the fact that I myself am not obese. I love food and always have. I love a greasy fatty burger, fries and a milkshake just as much if not more than the next person. I tend to go through food phases. My senior year of college I went through a pancake phase. I seriously wanted to eat pancakes, with melty butter, eewy gooey syrup and milk for as many meals as possible. So, I can see that it's easy to gain weight, but I also know the value of "real" food, as in food not from a can, etc.

What's more strange about this thought of persistently pursuing the doctor route: this morning I was pseudo-preparing myself to give up the med school dream and perhaps seriously consider becoming a baker. Only goes to show just how lost and perhaps misguided I am. I'm a dreamer for sure and I just want to do it all...

Maybe I'll have it all figured out tomorrow. Haha, not likely, but a good night's sleep never hurt...

Tiny Tidbit about Me: I am awful with punctuation. I like to make up my own rules as I go. Also, I don't know the difference between through and thru. Always been a source of confusion, so I just pick which one based on my mood and which feels right. lol. ;)

What's new with you? And other random rantings...

What's new with you? Usually the question you ask friends when catching up on life events or acquaintances politely ask in an effort to be social. I loathe this question, mostly because it seems like nothing is ever new and life just goes on...

But the ever dreaded question is the point to this blog. I wanted to create a place to share some of my thoughts and feelings (particularly since I'm not one to share all on facebook) and the goings on of my life in an effort to keep in better touch with the people I like. Because, as most of you know, I'm awful at keeping in touch... (plus you'll get to learn some random tidbits about me I'm sure you never knew)

So, feel free to keep in touch via the normal means: phone, email, visits, etc, but in addition, this is the fishbowl of my life...

Not much to report as of now. Loving my life in the new townhouse with my new doggy and new hubby. But that's basically all there is to love. Missing being in school (who would have thought I'd ever miss school) and lacking a purpose in life. Sorta need to find a job, but there are absolutely no desirable jobs in P-town. See, really nothing all that new...

And now, onto my biggest project of the day, to discover the answer to the age old question, What do I want to be doing with my life? Any suggestions are welcome ;)