Day 13 - Somewhere to move or visit

There are very few place sin the world I would ever want to move to.  SD is definetly my town.  The weatehr is beautiful most of the year and I can hit the beach, the snow and the dessert all in 1 day if I so choose.  The only other place I could see myself being happy would be Hawaii.  I would be happy on any island other then Oahu, there are just way too many people in that tiny place for my taste. 

As for places I would visit.  The list is very long, and I hope to be able to afford to do allof the traveling I want someday. For now I would settle for a few places in the US.  Another trip to Hawaii would be good, Washington DC, the East Coast in general, Vegas, and always Northern CA. 

Day 12 - Bullet your day

Today is one of my relaxed days (Ian has the day off) so it will be missing the famous child/car handoff in the middle of it.  But I think you will still get the jist of it.

• 5:45 - alarm rings and I roll out of bed, use the bathroom, shower, brush my teeth
• 6:00 - exit bathroom and get dressed for the day
• 6:15 - Pour myself some granola and yogurt
• 6:18 - Sit at computer and check my work email before I leave for the day (a little facebook may also occur here)
• 6:25 - Get lunch packed up, grab keys, say good bye to Ian and head out the door
• 6:27 - Get in the car and drive to work
• 6:58 - Pull up to work and park
• 7:00 - Get students off of the bus
• 7:10 - Go to office and sign in once everyone is settled in the classroom
• 7:30 - 1st period begins, walk students to other classroom
• 8:25 - 2nd period walk students to next class
• 9:15 - 3rd period walk students to next class
• 10:30 - 4th period PE, walk around basketball courts
• 11:15 - Head back to room to get students changed and ready for lunch
• 11:40 - My lunch
• 12:30 - end of lunch, beginning of 5th period
• 12:40 - Music lesson for students
• 1:55 - End of day, walk to new classroom to wait for buses
• 2:00 - End of my work day, get in car and drive home
• 2:35 - Pick up kids from Kelly, chat for a few minutes about crazy people
• 2:40 - Take the kids home, put Reilly down for naps, send Patrick to our room for quiet time
• 2:45 - Work on the computer for a little while while kids are resting
• 3:15 - Ian is home form his class so we talk and read for a little while till the kids are up
• 4:00 - Start getting Patrick ready for soccer practice, Reilly wakes up from his nap
• 4:40 - Get everyone out the door for soccer pactice
• 5:00 - Soccer practice starts, time to sit back and watch, talk and read a little more
• 6:15 - Soccer is over, get everyone loaded up
• 6:30 - Quick trip to the grocery store to get dinner supplies
• 6:45 - Get home and start fixing dinner
• 7:00 - Eat dinner
• 7:30 - Story time
• 7:45 - Get the boys ready for bed
• 7:50 - Put the kids to bed
• 7:55 - Very short amount of computer time again
• 8:30 - Time for bed, watch a little TV
• 9-10ish fall asleep

As you can see lifeis a little crazy around these parts.  And to think that this was an "easy" day for us.  Believe it or not they get crazier!

Day ? - Ipod on Shuffle

This is a rather difficult task seeing as I don't have an ipod, and have still not figure out the mp3 player I have.  I am going to attempt to put my computer music collection on random and see what I get:

1.  Imagination Movers Theme Song - The Imagination Movers
2.  Thunder Rolls - Garth Brooks
3.  The Warrior - Patty Smyth
4.  Show Me Love - Robyn
5.  Song of the South - Alabama
6.  I want to know what love is - Foreigner
7.  Keeping the Faith - Billy Joel
8.  Hot, Hot, Hot - Buster Poindexter
9.  Revolution 9 - The Beatles
10.  Blue Christmas - Elvis Presley

This is pretty funny actually.  So random, but so fun all at the same time.  I love that The Beatles Revolution 9 wound up being the number 9 song.  Wonder what it would look like if I did it again...

1.  You are the Sunshine of my life - Stevie Wonder
2.  Rock & Roll hootchie Coo
3.  Ride Captain Ride - The Blues Image
4.  Karate - Tenacious D
5.  Higher - Creed
6.  I was made to love her - Stevie Wonder
7.  Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas - Frank Sinatra
8.  All the Right Friends - REM
9.  Here Comes the Rain Again - The Eurythmics
10.  I Believe I can Fly - R. Kelly

Hmmm.  I guess it just shows I don't even know all of the music I have on this thing. 

Day 10 - My guilty pleasure

My guilty pleasure is probably food.  Desserts specifically.  I love dessert.  I love everything about dessert.  I know it's cliche, but really sweets in just about any form are what I love and crave and let myself indulge in more frequently then I should.

Day 9 - Any job in the entire world

This one is a totally loaded question for me.  Any job in the entire world is so different then what I have planned to do with my life.  Any job in the entire world for me would be to photograph the world and all the people in it.  I simply love photography.  It is a creative outlet, a challenge, and a relaxing fun thing to do all at once.  As many people know I am in the process of building my photography company, and loving 99% of that endeavor.  If I could do this full time I would without even a second thought on the matter.  The only other thing I would love more would be to stay at home with my boys.  They are getting older now, but I would love to be the room mom, scout mom, fundraising extraordinaire.  Another job I could love is being a doula.  I have attended 3 births and given birth twice, and all of these were among the most amazing things I have ever been able to witness.  I would attend births for a living if I could.  Now you ask, what do you plan to do with your life, my hope is to become a marriage and family therapist, but that doesn't seem likely at this point in my life.  I finished school and have the ability to make this hope come true, but not the financial means with the economy the way it is currently.  So for now, I stay in a job that is good to me and pays the bills most of the time.  Someday I will achieve my goals, I just don't know when that will be.

Day 8 - Satisfaction

   The moment I have been most satisfied with in my life...is really hard to pinpoint.  I am satisfied with so many things in my life I don't know if I could say one specific thing sticks out more then the rest.  I was so happy and satisfied the day Ian and I got married.  I thought everything was perfect, and then I found out I was pregnant with Patrick, which was less satisfying then the day I gave birth to Patrick.  I thought life was wonderful, perfect and that I was totally satisfied that day, then 2 years later I found out I was going to have Reilly, which was still not as satisfying as the day I was able to hold Reilly in my arms and watch Patrick hold his little brother.  We bought a house, I graduated with my master's degree, Patrick started kindergarten.  All of these days were greatly satisfying to me.  I think that my marriage and the birth of my children are probably the MOST satisfying of all, but life in general has been greatly satisfying to me.

Day 7- My favorite Childhood Toys

I had a few toys that I still have to this day and would have to say that those few are probably my favorite.  I have my teddy bear Daewoo, koala Deakor, and racoon Rocky.  I was a stuffed animal kind of girl, I would say I had hundreds of them.  I also had my cabbage patch doll (bridget if I remember right) that I loved.  Aside from that I remember enjoying my light bright and easy bake oven (both of which I still have), a meagerie of board games, my Nintendo, Atari, and who could forget the good ol swing set.  Does a swing set count as a toy?  We always had the coolest biggest swing set that my Dad built.  My favorite thing was always our family Easter Egg Huntand one egg would be hidden at the top of the swing set for me.  I loved climbing to the very top and getting that egg, I was the only kid that could do it.  I think that sums up the majority of my favorite toys.

Day 6 - Your zodiac sign

Does my zodiac sign fit me?  Well lets see, here is what I have found a s a description of people born under the sign of Gemini:

Gemini in a Nutshell:


Gemini people are many sided, quick both in the mind and physically. They are brimming with energy and vitality, they are clever with words. They are intelligent and very adaptable to every situation and every person. Gemini are curious and always want to know what's going on in the world around them. They are not one to sit back and watch the world go by, they want to be involved. This can sometimes make Gemini nosy, they do not mind their own business! This is because they really enjoy communicating, more so then most other astrology signs, they are the ultimate social butterfly. Gemini can talk and talk, but they have interesting things to say, their talk is not mindless babble. They have interesting opinions and thoughts on things and are not afraid to speak their mind. They are always in the know and are the one to see for the latest juicy gossip. Lacking perseverance, Gemini easily goes off topic to explore another thought or idea. Gemini are superficial, they will form opinions on matter without diving into them and exploring them fully. This can lead them into thinking they know everything, which they usually do but their mind is too busy to be concerned with fine details. Routine and boredom are Gemini's biggest fears. Gemini would rather be naive then know the depressing truth, they do not want anything putting a damper on their freedom or positive energy.

Now some of this is spot on for me and other parts I don't feel fit me at all.  I do feel that I am an intelligent person that is fairly adaptable to situations and very adaptable to people.  I love being around people, especially new people.  I hate just sitting and watching life happen, I have to be active and involved in everything I am a part of.  I feel I went into the profession of Marriage and family therapy specifically because people interest me and I love communicating with people and teaching people how to communicate effectively.  This is also part of why I enjoy my work in special education as well.  I think I am a good conversationalist, and I think most of my friends and family would agree with this.  I know I go off topic and have very random trains of thought sometimes.  On the downside, I know I am nosy (always have been) and I can't stand being bored (moved jobs a few times because of this). 

The parts I disagree with are that I feel like I do look past the superficial and really get to know people and information, this is something I really enjoy.  I think that I often linger on the fine details rather then brush over them.  And I hate to be naive and would always rather know the truth. 

I think overall I fit more then I don't.  I've always been proud to be a Gemini, we are a fun group to be around.

Day 5 - My favorite Comfort foods and why

    I have so many of these, mostly because I love food, but what is better then a home cooked meal.  So here goes the list:

From my mom:
Macaroni and Cheese (hers is the absolute best I have ever had!)
Meatloaf and mashed potatoes (her recipe is the only meatloaf I will eat)
Red Pork chops and Rice (something about this is just the best thing in the world)

From Grandma and Papa:
Dungenous crab (what is not good about this)
Fried chicken (Papa is form the south and learned how to fry a mean grilled chicken)

From Ian:
Popcorn Cow (Reminds me of his mom and it is just plain tasty)
Fried chicken (different then Papa's but oh so delicious)
BBQ chicken (He is magical with the grill, and his sauce is to die for)
Beef Stroganoff (He makes it from scratch and I LOVE it)

All of these foods just remind me of the people that make them and how much I love them, thus making each and every one a comforting meal for me. 

Day 4 - Religion

Religion is always a touchy subject for me.  I was not raised in any religion, nor do I practice any religion at this point in my life.  Instead I was brought up with a set of moral standards that taught me how to be a "good person".  The reality is that these are very Christian based rules, as both of my parents were brought up in the church.  I always seem to get myself in trouble when it comes to this topic, but after much contemplation and thought where I stand on the subject is this:  I believe there is always something greater then myself out there, even if it is simply the world we live in.  I believe that everything we do has an impact on someone or something else, so I should try to live my life the best way I know how, and I should raise my children to do the same.  I would like to think that if there is an almighty being waiting at the gates of heaven/valhalla/nirvana/etc. to let people in then they will be able to look at what I have done in my life and how I have lived and cared for others when they pass judgment on me.  If that almighty being cannot look past my questioning beliefs and see the good that I have done then I would not want to spend eternity with that being, I would rather fade into non existence.  I realize that my views are not accepted by many, and I know that they are "controversial", but it is what it is.  I accept all beliefs as valid, and have much respect for the faithful, it just isn't what works for me.