We Want to Know Wednesday

I'm back!!

I hope everyone had an amazing Christmas! Mine was good!! Quiet, with just me, the hubs, my son and my parents. Throw in a couple cousins at dinner and call it done. Speaking of dinner, it was delicious!! My mom just NEVER disappoints. This year's menu was stuffed pork chops, mashed potatoes (with the running joke in the family being the main ingredient in my mom's mashed potatoes is butter, and we're not just kidding either!!), green bean casserole, peas, corn, salad, etc. It's funny, the memories that come rushing back when you are in the same surroundings as you were during those magical childhood Christmases. I love going home for Christmas, staying in my old bedroom, hanging out with my mom, eating <----yea a little too much eating, just sayin.

So today I'm participating in "We Want To Know Wednsday, sponsored by Mamarazzi, Queso, and Crazy Mama.

Here are this week's questions!

1. What was the best part of 2011?

I think the best part of 2011 was being able to go camping most every weekend this summer. My husband absolutely loves to camp, and truth be told, so do I. (The city-girl in me hates to admit this, but I must concede, I LOVE IT)!!!

2. What do you look forward to in 2012?

Each year I hope for a year that was better than the last in all ways. It's not always realistic since life always throws in it's curveballs. I'd also like to add that for 2012 I'm hoping for much success in my job and the same for my husband.

3. Do you actually keep your new years resolutions?

Ummm, never. But heck, it's a new year. There is a first time for everything, right?

4. What are your top 3 resolutions for the new year?

- To lose weight (I do this every single year. This is probably my 35th year of making this same resolution and I still have a weight problem. Yes, I'm bitter).

- To exercise more. This resolution normally lasts clear up through January 2nd.

- To be more organized.

5. Do you have any fun new years traditions or plans?


Normally my husband and I don't go out on New Year's Eve. In fact, I normally chalk it up as the most boring night of the year. However, last year, we rented a hotel room in Columbus and went to a comedy club with friends of ours. It was an absolute blast!! I would love to do that again, but unfortunately it isn't going to work out this year.

The 2 traditions I continue each year are:
- Holding a piece of silver as the clock strikes 12. This is supposed to bring prosperity in the new year.

- Eating pork and sour kraut for New Year's day dinner. This is supposed to bring you luck.
How do I know this? Cause my mom said.

This was fun! Feel free to join in!

And if I'm not back soon....I want to wish all of you a Healthy and Happy New Year!!

Two on Tuesday

Hey Everyone!

I'm linking up with Andrea over at My Chihuahua Bites for 2 on Tuesday. Today's Question....What are your 2 favorite restaurants.

Ahhhh, OK so I LOVE to eat out. I wish I didn't love it quite so much because it is expensive, and I find it hard to eat healthy when I eat out. My all time favorite food is Mexican. I could realistically eat Mexican food 4 to 5 days per week. I wonder if there is a 12-step program for this??

When I thought about which restaurants are actually my favorite, I decided feature two hometown favorites here in Ohio.

My first favorite restaurant has to be our local cantina....El Campesino.

(Image courtesy of Google Images)

Here she is in all her Mexican goodness. What I like about this place is pretty much everything. Seriously, awesome chips, awesome food, awesome service. I'll pretty much eat anything here as long as it doesn't have fish in it. Nope, not a fish eater. I blame it on the fact that I'm a Pisces...sign of the fish. Some of my faves are the tamales, chili rellenos, and chilaquitos. Their shredded chicken they put in their food rocks.

Seems like I got a little carried away there....so moving on. My next fave here in my town is a restaurant called Infinity. It is in the old Harding Hotel downtown.

(Photo courtesy of Google Images)


There is so much history in this place. The owners actually work it, husband is waiter, wife is chef. We have a GNO (Girls Night Out) once a month and this is definitely a fave for us! I normally get the Asian Prime Rib. The chef is Korean and she made this up. It is awesome. It is thin sliced prime rib that comes on a sizzling plate. It also comes with little seaweed squares, rice, and onion relish. You make these little rolls by putting the meat, rice, and onion relish in the seaweed square. In reading this, it doesn't sound that great, but I'm telling you, it rocks my world!!

If I had to pick national chains, I would have to say any steakhouse and Olive Garden. What are your faves?

The Bad JuJu Has Struck

Hello!

You know, I feel like my life has been crazy lately! Besides being incredibly busy, there has been some strange juju going on. Maybe the planets are misaligned, some weird time/space continuum, I don't know, but something is up.

I'm starting to think it is me, but we all know that can't be the case!!

As a lot of you know, I have been a member of Ohio Beaders for 8 years now and just attended my 7th retreat. I have made it to all of them! They are always A.W.E.S.O.M.E. A great time with girlfriends. Although I had a good time this year, there was an incident that I really don't want to elaborate on here, because what happened doesn't matter. The thing of it is that this incident led to some huge changes within our group. Changes a lot of us didn't want to happen. Changes we didn't ask for but have to accept. I sit here and ponder why. I wonder why 8 years of fun, and more importantly, friendship, doesn't mean anything to some. I'm hopeful our group will be fine. We have a great foundation, but I miss the way it was and I'm sad that the bad juju got us!! This probably doesn't make sense....just venting, I guess.

A couple weeks later, the bad juju hits again. This was in a different part of my life, a different group of people, and again without getting into what happened, I realized people aren't always what they seem. Surprising, I know! Actually this was really surprising.

I hope I'm not sounding too judgemental. I honestly don't mean to.

I have learned from these incidents though! It's been my mantra since the retreat that one should never expect more of others than they expect of themselves.

Times like these make you realize that you should focus on the things that are really important in life. My husband, my son, my family, my sweet little Jackson Gepperheimer. The true constants in my life that never disappoint. So I made a promise to myself that I would do just that!!

It's funny, summers are so crazy busy here, and this was the first weekend that we didn't need to rush home, pack, head out to the RV, etc. I had the nicest weekend with my husband. I came home from work on Friday, and we had a nice leisurely dinner with great conversation. Sometimes our conversation lacks a bit....and it's so nice to realize you are actually on the same page with your spouse. Saturday, we slept in, and then went to our nephew's wedding. It was absolutely beautiful. The flowers.....I love fall flowers anyway, but the yellow roses with the orange tips....I die.... Everything was so tastefully done and the couple was just precious.

On Sunday, we just relaxed all day long. Ok I did clean here and there, and I should have done more, because Lord knows, my house needs it, but I chose to just hang with the husband and enjoy him. I'm really glad I did.

So I would like to take this opportunity to Thank You, Bad JuJu!! I really don't want you to visit again anytime soon, but I'm glad you came and forced me to see that I don't have to look very far to find the good in my life, appreciate the blessings, and move on from the negativity.

Six Word Saturday

Where were you when it happened?

Of course I'm talking about 9/11/11. Amazing that it has been 10 years since that day. I was at work when it happened. At the time I worked in an occupational health facility. We had a TV in the waiting room and one of my coworkers came in and told me that a plane had hit the World Trade Center. So we were all gathered around watching. I'll never forget how I felt when I saw the other plane fly into the 2nd tower. My heart sank. My first thought was that I wanted to go to the school, grab my son and go home where were safe. Then I remember thinking, how do I know it's even safe there?? Especially after the plane hit the pentagon and the other one crashed in PA. Such scary and unsure moments.

We went to church with my father that night. We just prayed and prayed for all involved. My heart still aches for all those that lost family and friends in such a senseless tragedy.

I've been watching all the shows recapping what happened and updating on a lot of the families that were affected. In many cases it is so good to see how they were able to move on.

NEVER FORGET~ and God Bless America!

I Have So Much To Say......But I'll Just Start With This

Hey All!

It's been such a long time! I can't believe that summer is OVER! It's been a rather eventful summer. In fact, so much so that I'll be glad when life settles down a bit. Oh well, if nothing else, it gave me some fodder for my blog!

One of my favorite things about summer is that it is camping season. My husband LOVES to camp. Me....actually I love it too! When we first met 9 years ago and he told me he liked to camp, I thought, "Well, that was fun while it lasted", thinking that we likely wouldn't see each other again. I'm soooo not a roughing it kind of person! With his next words, my ears perked up a bit. He said "Actually, I kind of camp at the Holiday Inn." WHAT??? He went on to say that he had an RV, with air, a washer and dryer, basically everything but a diswasher. After the first time camping, I was hooked! We sold that RV a couple years after we were married. My son was at an age where I definitely didn't feel comfortable leaving him for a weekend. No doubt my home would have been party central. Ummm, No Thank You!

Now that he is older, and away at school most of the time, we decided we needed to get into the camping scene again. One day, Hubs comes home with this:

I refer to this as my "Summer Home." Ahhh, I absolutely love going to my little home away from home.

One of the best things about camping, or staying at one particular campground, are the people. We ended up with a great group of people around us! Unfortunately I don't have pictures of them all! I do have a few though. These are our neighbors, Chris, Tamie, and their sweet daughter Tabytha.

And there is this big guy, Clem, who has single-handedly keeps us laughing till our stomachs hurt!

But the main reason I like to camp is this.......

There is absolutely NOTHING better than sitting around a campfire that the hubs builds, just relaxing and taking in the sights, sounds, and feeling of nature. Add some friends to that and it is sheer perfection!

Weekend Round-Up

HAPPY MOTHERS DAY!!! To all of the mothers I know, and most importantly to my own mother, who has taught me so much about motherhood and set such a wonderful example. I hope you all had a wonderful day! Mine was good....started out at the campground....

Ooops jumping ahead of myself here.....

We went to the campground on Friday night. What a nasty weekend as far as the weather. I swear....this rain just sucks. Of course it was beautiful today since we were coming home! Big News! We got a new RV! John picked it out all by himself. I had been so sick with a sinus infection for like a month (and no I'm not exaggerating), that I never felt well enough to go look at it. He told me about it, showed me pics, etc. but then he had to make a decision and just went for it. He did a great job. In some ways it is a lot bigger than our old RV, and then in some ways, it is missing room, like in the bedroom. Getting around in that little space is incentive to get my a$$ on a good diet. The new RV looks a lot like this...

The campground was quiet this weekend, probably because of the weather. Not much campfire time with the rain, but we did get about 1/2 hour in. I'm seeing rain in the forecast for next weekend too. What is up with that? AND we got Direct TV out there. We really rough-it, I know!

So we came home today and Travis and John took me out to dinner at Yamato's Japanese Steak House. It was very good but the company was even better. I got a gift "IOU" from Travis for some Keurig K-cups. He cracks me up. It's the thought that counts, right?

Since it's been awhile since I posted, I have a couple things to catch up on!

My baby is a marathoner!! He ran in The Flying Pig marathon in Cincinnati last weekend. Here is a picture at 22 miles. I think he looks fantastic. OMG the thought of running 22 miles. Really?

I am so proud of him! He finished in 4 hours and 19 minutes. Great job for his first marathon!!

He is home now with his sophomore year of college under his belt. He will be working at the zoo again.

Work is going to be crazy busy for me this week with it being Nurses Week. We have a lot of fun events planned at the hospital. I work with a great group of nurses in the Labor and Delivery and Mother/Infant units at the hospital. I have a lot of administrative things to do tomorrow in preparation for our Nursing Awards ceremony on Tuesday. Ugh, busy, busy, busy! I'm still catching up from missing 4 days the week before last from the dreaded sinus infection. Ohhh well, it will all get done, I'm sure.

I thought I had so much more to say, but I'm done! Have a wonderful week and I'll be back soon!

Six Word Saturday

Being Sick in the Spring SUCKS!!

So I managed to get a bad, bad cold! I'm almost starting to think I might have strep my throat hurts so bad. Hope you all have a great weekend! I'm going back to bed ;o)

Random Tuesday Thoughts

Soooo I'm in the mood to share some random thoughts......which may or may not make sense, but really, isn't that the beauty of it all?

1) I'm sitting here drinking a Woodchuck Cider. For what it's worth, I really heart Woodchuck. Why am I drinking on a Tuesday night you ask? Well lots of reasons I guess, but mainly I'm going to be involved in something tomorrow that I am NOT looking forward too. I can't elaborate any more than that. This is obviously one of those things that is NOT going to make sense. Anyway, I don't wanna be there, I don't wanna be involved, and so I'm drinking Woodchuck and trying to gather my thoughts. I guess if I have to be there, I might as well be as prepared as I can.

2) Riverdance rocks. I went with 3 of my friends to see it on Sunday. Really cool show and so amazing! It is their farewell tour. After the show we went to dinner at the new Bravo's in C-bus. Delish, but I have to say, the waitress took us on a 20 minute tour of the menu, and she lost me about 5 minutes in at the appetizers.

3) Apparently my son as bradycardic arrhythmia's. Greaaaaaatttttt. Now he has to see a cardiologist. I'm almost positive that the cardiologist will tell us it is nothing, because they are very common in athletes, especially runners, and I think the clinic at Miami is doing this in a CYA move simply because they showed up on the EKG. However, with our extremely crappy cardiac gene pool in this family, it really is good to get it checked out. He is running a marathon in May and I would really like to make sure he is good and healthy for that!

4) People with no filters between their brains and mouths drive me crazy. I experienced this firsthand recently, towards me, about me, and when I questioned the comment (because I'm kinda bold like that in my old age), the person said to me, "What you don't understand is that I don't have a filter!!" So that makes it ok? Really?

5) Is it wrong that I totally enjoyed my weekend sans my husband??? I did....I REALLY DID! I was very ready for him to come home and very excited to see him, but while he was gone I had such a great ME weekend! A.W.E.S.O.M.E.

6) My birthday is Saturday. Wondering what Gep has planned??!!! If he were to ask any of you...I want a Nook or a Kindle. Just sayin!!!!! And don't think I haven't told him this as well! We are supposed to be going out with good friends of ours so that should be fun! John tries to agitate me and say that my birthday is too close to Christmas and Valentines day. What the crap??? I am weird about birthdays! I love to celebrate them. I think everyone deserves to feel special on their birthday. And when I say that, I don't necessarily mean me. I mean I try to always make it special for my friends. It's the one day that is truly yours. OWN IT SISTA'S!!

7) Having some friends over next Saturday, 3/5. I am really excited about this! BUT, being in the midst of home renovations, we have a lot to do between now and then. Of course the renovations won't be complete, but I do have a nice long "honey-do" list for this weekend. I hope everyone can make it, but as of now, it is not looking too promising!

8) I'm worried about a friend. I got a cryptic email and they said they weren't willing to elaborate. I didn't want to push but I did tell them I would keep them in my thoughts and prayers. Very uncharacteristic, so it concerns me!

9) 60 degree weather last week was a huge tease and now I just get mad when I look outside and see 4 inches of snow. I mean really, it was virtually spring....now it's a freakin frozen tundra.

10) Well I'm out of random thoughts, LOL. No #10.

With that, I'm off to finish my Woodchuck and watch some DVR'd shows.

Spending a nice quiet weekend alone!

Well, actually that's not true! John is visiting his son, daughter-in-law, and grandkids in South Carolina. Why am I not there you ask? Well.....I don't know exactly. It was a spur of the moment decision to go and I had to work. No worries though, I'm glad he got to go and I'm also thankful for the time to do "ME" things.

Got up and met my girlfriends Cindy and Annelle for breakfast this morning at Bob Evans. I swear we laugh more every time we see each other. It's good for the soul to hand out with these two. Our boys graduated together, and are still great friends.

Then I spent nothing short of 2 hours in Hobby Lobby. Hmmmm, I love browsing fun crafty projects! I helped the economy a bit there. After that, came home and cleaned, spray-painted a "thing" for the wall in my bathroom (can't really describe what it is, but it went from green to white today). Ate Frosted Mini Wheats for dinner <---dinner of champions, and then caught up on my TIVO shows.

Tomorrow, I'm going to see Riverdance with some friends! This is their farewell tour. I'm really looking forward to it!

Cute story to share about Travis. He was telling me that every time he takes a test in college, at the top of his test paper, he writes JMJ (for Jesus, Mary, and Joseph). I guess it his own way of saying a little prayer before he takes a test). He does this on every test for every class. To his knowledge, no one really knows what it is, nor have they asked. This week he took a chemistry test and, as always, wrote JMJ on the top of the paper. Before the teacher passed the tests out, he told them that the average grade for the glass was a 72%. He then handed out the tests. Travis got his back and he got an 89%. The teacher had an arrow pointing to the JMJ and a note that said "They can't help you on your chemistry tests!" Travis was surprised and amused that his chemistry professor knew exactly what he meant when he wrote JMJ on his papers.

And with that....I'm out!

Six Word Saturday

Snow again??? I'M SICK OF IT!!

GROUNDHOG DAY!!!

Dear Punxsutawney Phil:

If you see your shadow and predict 6 more weeks of winter, I'm going to hunt you down like a dog and cook your sorry a$$ for dinner. Just sayin.....

Ugh, I am so sick of winter! Moving to Florida is looking better and better all the time! I went out to leave for work today and I'm not kidding you when I tell you the ice was thicker than 1/4 inch on my windshield! John went out and scraped, etc. (nice I know, but it is his own fault...he needs to clear his crap out of the garage so I can pull in there and he feels guilty because he hasn't done this yet). It took 1/2 hour to get it off. The roads were at least decent on the way in, but they are calling for more ice/freezing rain, and then 4-6 inches of snow on top. Good times!!!

Hope you all stay safe in this yucky weather!!

Six Word Saturday

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BIG SISTER.....LOVE YOU!!

Random Thoughts

Ahhhh my blog .... how I have neglected you! Life has been crazy and just has gotten in the way of my creative outlets. I thought I would jump back in by sharing some random things going on in the lives of me and my family.

1. Work..... My new job. At times I love it, at times it makes me crazy. We are expecting a big inspection right now and everyone is on edge. I mean this is a biggie! It seems like I'm not accomplishing much. I'm a person that likes to work down a list and get things done. But being an admin assistant, that is not always easy. People are constantly interrupting you and asking you for things that need done RIGHT NOW! Normally I don't mind this! It is the nature of the job. But, well, I guess things are just crazy right now. It's funny how I was an admin assistant at my old job, as I am here, but the jobs are just totally different. Each with their own set of good and bad. All in all, it is great, and really, I have no right to complain when so many are out of work right now.

2. Biggest Loser Competition.... My brother is having surgery soon (see #3). His cardiologist wanted him to lose some more weight before the big event, so I said I would do it with him. At the same time, I had a review at work and needed to list some goals. I thought this would dovetail nicely if I could run a Biggest Loser competition for friends as well as coworkers. Alas, Mission Slimpossible was born! We have 43 participants and they are doing so well. I'm so proud of all of them (but myself...I gained this week).

3. Cardiac Surgery..... My brother has to have a serious cardiothoracic surgery next Tuesday. He is obviously nervous and scared. Hell, I'm nervous and scared too. I have no doubt he will be fine. He has a renowned surgeon performing the operation. But he's my big brother, and I think it just really sucks that he has to go through it at all. Long recovery. I'm praying for him, that his burden is not too heavy in this week leading up to the surgery.

4. My son..... Quite frankly, the kid amazes me. Everything he is, everything he does...simply amazing!! I honestly don't know how it happened, but it did! (Don't get me wrong, he an annoy the shit out of the best of us....but he is still the coolest person I know).

5. My husband.... Doing well! He was away in Denver at the beginning of the month for a business trip. He loves his work and is so good at it! He has also been working hard around the house trying to finish up the home renovations. Proof positive that my incessant nagging does, in fact, work! I highly doubt the renovations will be done anytime soon, but we are moving on them at least. Phew, I was thinking they would never get done!

6. This Weekend.... Going to see Tony and Tina's wedding with 8 other couples. I have been to it twice before, but all the others have not, so it will be great seeing their reaction! I'm really looking forward to getting out and letting loose a little bit.

Well that pretty much catches us up on the goings-on in this house. I'll be back soon!!