erika = awesome

Erika has finally named my blog :)

I will be sending her good vibes all day long, in acknowledgement of her completion of the daunting-task-that-is-naming-the-blog. Hmm that just might be a run-on sentence. OH well.

Jubilation! The blog is named!

one year

Last year May 1 fell on a Monday, it was also the day of my first post; so today is my blogiversary. Hooray!

This is the first time I've ever successfully kept a record of my life for more than 3 weeks, and now I am addicted. So, just as a quick recap, here are the highlights of the past year:

* one house bought, one house sold
* 15 pounds lost and re-gained :(
* trips to Dallas, Muskegon, Zeeland, Houghton (yes, you are still waiting on pictures), Pittsburgh, Maine, Troy
* one visit from Mel
* five wedding receptions
* one list of 101 things-to-do that needs to be posted
* one million hours spent catching up with dear friends

I'm so glad we're all blogging - I love our virtual couch :)

kristin

I see you commenting on blogs here and there. But I see no blog of your own. I think this calls for some pin-number action.

So Kristin, PIN NUMBER, make a blog :)

sea weed trees

Your friends and associates should generally find you a dependable and trustworthy person.
You are a direct and forthright person. You like to get to the core of the issue right away, with few signs of hesitation.
You are creative, mentally active and industrious.
You have a sunny, cheerful disposition.
What does your drawing say about YOU?

i don't bend that way

I had a productive weekend :) J and I worked in the yard on Saturday and today I worked.

Our yard is full of surprises. Because we did not plan the landscaping, we have to kind of guess at what's going on; I find my self thinking "Is that a weed? Should I pull it, or not?" that's how it's been so far. Now that we're into April (almost May - can you believe it?) it's a bit easier to navigate the foliage. So we worked on taming the out-of-control ground cover and battling the dandelions. The latter being the reason I cannot sit. I must have done a million squats while digging dandelions, and my butt really hurts. But I enjoy looking at our cleaned up flower beds, and I'm eagerly anticipating brightly colored flower beds and boxes.

I also have big plans for my first vegetable garden! We have a small box that the former owners grew some veggies in, so I'm assuming the light is right. Right now I'm planning to have tomatoes (I want some heirloom plants), zucchini, acorn squash and lettuce. Any other suggestions?

oh my

I was lacing up my tennies this morning to go out for a walk and as I stood up RRIIIIPPPP. Yes, I split my pants.

I'm sticking with the theory that they are over one year old and are constantly being washed, they really are ratty and thread bare. But it still doesn't make you feel very good.

impromptu

One of the major benefits of working from home and for yourself is flexibility.

Case in point:
* Adrienne calls this morning, a bit down, and we chat. Then we decide I should probably bring a bottle of wine and spend the night in Ann Arbor. Oh, but, she's looking at a new apartment at 5:30! No problem, because I am leaving Ohio at 3 PM to hang out with one of my bff's, and look at a new apartment with her.

joy :)

the problem with updating

Well, the main problem is that you actually have to blog to update the blog. Which requires me sitting at the computer (do it everyday) and composing a mildly cohesive entry (oh, so that's what you have to do).

Must. Write. More.

So, to satiate that burning desire to know all things alannarose, I will compose for you a top ten list of things that have been occupying my time. Oh, yeah, and Happy Easter!

10. Baking for my Relay for Life team bake sale = 20 pie crusts, 2 big batches of cookies, 2 carrot cakes (I ate the leftover cream cheese frosting - mmmmmm), and 2 peanut butter cakes.
9. Wasting time on Swap-bot.
8. Going to Muskegon for Easter.
7. Planning projects for the house.
6. Cleaning Zippy's cage.
5. Hanging out at the Optometrist's office.
4. Watching Color Splash!
3. Talking to Mel.
2. Being a Mary Kay lady.
1. Standing in line at the post office.

inspired road trip

I'm road-tripping tomorrow. It's not that exciting; I am driving with my MK director to Pittsburgh for a conference - the saddest part is that I won't have time to visit Al while I'm there :(

But I've decided to plan out my list of 101 things to do in 1001 days, and I figure the ride out there and back will be perfect for brainstorming and finalizng the list. So on Mon. look for a shiney-new bloggie :)

Thank you Heather, for the inspiration.

bosch

I know we aren't at the Tech anymore, but if Tech was in northern OH Bosch! would have been today.

:)

In honor of the event I took pictures of my two remaining "snow piles" with a symbolic can of DDP - can you believe there is no beer in my house?! Don't let J's brothers know - they may disown him!



And another sure sign that spring is here is my garden gnome, which was lovingly placed in my front yard because I believe gnomes like rock walls.

found! do i get a reward?

The roof* did not fall in on me. It was much more tragic than that - our internet was out for almost an entire week. EEEKKK!

There was, in the IT guy's words, "some major mechanical issues on our line." So major, that while on the phone with either J or me, he routinely muttered under his breath "This is SO not good." I kept picturing IT guy on the other end of the line with big sweaty armpit stains, HA! I had the option of using a dial-up connection that is reserved for occasions just like these, but I decided not to frustrate myself, and just left the computer off instead.

Now you must excuse me, I have lots o' blogs to stalk :)

*J wanted me to let you all know that our roof is in no danger of actually falling in. I guess I was just hearing ice melting and sliding around, not the actual roof doing a shimmy-shake.

it sounds ominous

I can hear my roof falling apart. Trust me, it is not reassuring.

The good news is, we knew the house needed a new roof when we bought it, and the previous owners escrowed the money for a replacement for us (Nov and Dec are just not good months for roofing in the north), so it's paid for.

Now it just needs to last until April. You can do it, roof! I'm rooting for you!

happy new year!

It's Chinese New Year! And it's the year of the pig. To celebrate, my favorite pig received a brand new, red chew-bie.

"I love my new chewb! Now, give me treats!"

catch up

I know it's Sunday, I was busy/sick all week.

Highlights:

* Woke up to this much snow on Tues. morning,
but we didn't just wake up, our neighbor decided to fire up the snow blower at an un-Godly hour. This ticked me off. Then we realized he had cleaned our sidewalk and driveway, I forgave him.

* Have the typical after-Carnival plague. While not as bad as food poisoning (sorry, Laura) it does beat you up quite well. I have decided that canned ravioli from Wal1greens is a miracle food, and $udafed and Robatuss!n were my new friends.

* Feeling much better now.

* Moved a lot of stuff around the house. Now it is starting to feel like our home and not just "the place where all of our stuff lives." Making the fireplace pretty made me smile, now I feel all warm and cozy when I sit in the living room :)

* Also set up the guest room, so feel free to come and visit!

woohoo!

So Carnival was awesome, and I will write more later, it's amazing how behind you get after being gone for less than a week.

For now I will leave you with some love from the Ambo.

still alive

Wow, this is a really disjointed post. Know what? I'm tired, and I really don't feel like trying to make it cohesive, so read with caution, it's not pretty!


Yes, Laura, I am still alive. Unfortunately, this plant is not. Yep, this is the sad little plant that didn't make it through the move. Here's a picture of it in better days.


This move has really thrown a wrench into my routines; I can't seem to get anything accomplished, and that really stinks. "Update blog" has been on my to-do list for over a week, so here it is, a brief update, just enough to be able to cross one item off of the growing list.

I have just a few pictures from the move, or rather, from the moving in part.

This is the contents of a typical box that we unpacked.

And this is the amount of paper required to properly pad the items.

We weren't saving any trees, people.

My garage is full of unpacked boxes - item #35 on my to do list? "call moving company and schedule box pickup" - I should probably do that today so we can park in the garage for at least part of the winter.

In totally unrelated news - We are driving to Houghton tomorrow! DT - here I come!

how exciting!

Happy National Pistachio Day!

all moved in

Yes, we are all moved in :)

In fact, the stove came about 20 mins. ago - yay!

There was one casualty in the move - a potted tree. It froze, and I took pictures because it was too pathetic to not be memorialized. I'll post the "sad tree" picture once I get my printer hooked up.

procrastination

The movers come tomorrow. I have really mixed emotions on moving, I'm sad because I really love this house, and I'm excited because the new house is awesome and I'll be closer to my parents. The whole situation is just a jumble and a stress. But very soon we wil be all moved in and settled :)

I thought you all might like the answers from my quiz, although, it seems AJ can give them to you. Roses to AJ, Super-Stalker Extraordinaire.

In my family I am the oldest of four children, I have two brothers and one sister. I have a guinea pig named Zippy, she wears fur pants. I spent my senior year of high school in Germany, although I grew up in Troy. I met Jocko in January of 2000, I was 19. I have lived in three states; Michigan, Ohio and Indiana. My favorite color is pink, and I think everyone got this question right :) My mug name is Barbie Girl. Melanna was my dual nickname with Mel and Alotta Hose was given to me by Laura, I think it was during the Phi Kap Halloween mixer when we all dressed up as fembots? Sad but true fact, in college, when I was totally wasted, I would yell at Jocko in German. I always cry during Beaches, in fact whenever I hear the "Hero" song by Bette Middler, I start to sob. My last term at Tech, Amandaleigh and I would get out of class at noon and head to the Amabassador for a fishbowl, sometimes two, and then truck over to the DT for bubble.

i'm a follower

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