Power Rangers

Growing up in the late 80s/early 90s, we played outside a lot. My mom would make us play outside a lot of days, which I sometimes hated, but I'm grateful for it now. In my family there are 7 kids and we often joke that the 4 of us who are older had a totally different childhood than the 3 younger ones. And it's true. The biggest gap in ages is between Brittany (number 4, born in December 1989) and Micah (number 5, born in May 1992), so for about 2.5 years it was just the 4 of us and then it was a while before the youngest 3 were old enough to play with us. When we played outside we used our imaginations A LOT.

One of the games we played was Power Rangers. We were a little obsessed with the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers (the original, we never watched any others after that) and we all had our favorites. Brandon always played Jason, the red ranger and the leader of the group. Kaley always played Billy, the blue ranger and the brains of the group...and yes, Kaley played a boy - she was very much a tomboy. I always played Kimberly, the pink ranger and obviously the most awesome of the group. And poor Brittany - she always wanted to be Kimberly, but we never let her and often issued an ultimatum: she could play Trini, the yellow ranger and the only other girl, or she could be "the monster" that we all had to fight and conquer. Most of the time she'd acquiesce to being Trini, but I remember her being mad and saying she wouldn't play at all, then she'd run off to play by herself and we'd pretend she was the monster and attack her anyway. Yeah, we were awesome.

How to pretend to be Power Rangers:

1. Know your rangers. Don't forget that Tommy (green ranger) and Kimberly are bf/gf so the only boy who can be Tommy is the boy you like who lives down the street.

2. A good fight mostly involves attempts at roundhouse kicks, karate chops complete with shouting "hi-yah!", and if you get knocked down you must roll a good 5 feet before getting back up.

3. You're mostly going to be fighting putties and you know you have to punch or kick them in the Z on their fronts.

4. Know your dinosaurs. At some point you're going to have to call on your Dinozord and you'd better know it. For example, Kimberly's was the pterodactyl and when it's time I had to stand with my legs apart, put my hands out as though I'm holding something resembling a belt buckle, and shout "Pterodactyl!"

5. It's ok to use the slide on your swingset to do a jump attack on someone, but if you land sloppily you have to roll a good 5 feet again.

6. You must create the Megazord before you can win a fight.

T is for Tap Dancing

I know what you're thinking. What the heck does tap dancing have to do with New York City?

Well, I'll tell you.

The story starts in Georgia. My family was visiting Stone Mountain one December day and we were all having a good time and you know how high levels of happiness can make you act silly...right? I'm sure you do. So at some point we were standing around waiting for a show to start and I started "tap dancing" for the family. It was stupid and actually barely resembles tap dancing at all (I should point out I have absolutely no tap training), but it cracked my family up and since then they will randomly tell me to tap dance when we're out.

The following January JP and I took a trip to NYC so I could go to a job interview and we could hunt for an apartment (little did I know it would also be the weekend we got engaged). It was my family's wish to tap dance in front of famous NYC places so...I did. Enjoy.

I really should get back into it and film some more. ;-)

A is for Ashlee

Let's start this alphabet challenge off with a conceited post, shall we? I know I talk about me a lot...after all, it's my blog. But I thought I'd answer some basic and not-so-basic questions about myself so you can get to know me (Ashlee) better!

1. Nicknames?
Ash, Osh Kosh, Ash-hole, LeeLee

2. Age and sign?
27 and I'm a Libra.

Shawna Herring Photography

3. Marital status?
Happily married!






4. Favorite band or singer?
Michael Buble...no, Harry Connick, Jr....no Michael Buble. We'll go with Michael since I own every single one of his albums. That's not the case with anyone else.

5. Favorite movie?
The Holiday. It was no big blockbuster, but man that movie makes me feel good. I think it's the awesome mix of Kate Winslet, little girls speaking with a British accent and saying adorable things, and the musical stylings of my favorite composer Hans Zimmer. It can make any day better for me.

6. Favorite color?
PINK




7. How many siblings?
Six - 3 brothers and 3 sisters. We're all super close and I couldn't imagine a life without them. And our group text messages make my day great.





8. What kind of phone do you have?
I have an iPhone 4s. I bought an iPhone pretty early in the game when it was ahead of all the other phone companies. I admit that everyone else has caught up and that there are now phones just as good as or better than the iPhone, but I can't seem to make the switch. For one thing, I wouldn't be able to live without my group texts.

9. Pepsi or Coke?
Coke all the way. Pepsi is too syrupy to me.

10. Did you ever fake being sick?
Ugh yes. I only did it once. Honestly, I think the only reason I did it was because I wanted to see if I could get away with it. I was in lower elementary school - maybe 2nd or 3rd grade? - and I told my teacher I was sick so my dad came and got me. We got home and he told me to go lay in my room to rest. At some point I got up to use the bathroom and when I came out my dad came back to check on me and to see if I'd thrown up and that's when the guilt hit me. I felt so bad for making Dad worry about me! I never did it again.

Rockin' Band Pic

11. Do you play any instruments?
I took piano lessons when I was young, so I know the notes and can pick out some songs, but that's about it. I played the clarinet throughout middle school and high school.





12. Morning or night person?
Morning all the way. I don't love waking up early, but once I'm awake I'm WIDE awake - there's no transition period of waking up. And usually at night, once it hits 10:00, my body starts to shut down, no matter if I'm at home or out on the town. Ten o'clock is bedtime!

13. Favorite book?
This is so hard to say because I have so many. Gone with the Wind may be my all time favorite and I read it at least 6 times during middle school and high school alone. Then I love any book by Francine Rivers, but I especially love Redeeming Love and her Mark of the Lion trilogy. I've read all 4 multiple times. Her book And the Shofar Blew is also a good one, especially since I can relate to it after experiencing similar church issues. After Francine is, of course, Harry Potter. I've also read them all multiple times. Oh and who can forget Chain of Command by Colby Marshall? Like I've said before...I love to read.

14. Do you have a collection of anything?
Yes - COFFEE MUGS! It is such an addiction and I hope to one day build appropriate shelving for them. I've tried to stop just buying random pretty mugs at the dollar store and only buy mugs that mean something - mostly souvenir mugs from various Broadway plays or from trips I take. But of course I'll except any and every mug given as a gift!




15. Are you a different person now than you were 10 years ago?
Ten years ago I graduated from high school and the answer is god yes. Some things haven't changed. For example, I've always been slow to anger and quick to laugh. I tend to be a happy person the majority of the time and have always loved being around people. But I've become more outgoing and more extroverted. In addition, my beliefs have changed a little and become a more open-minded person. My language has also become a little more...um...colorful. I like who I am today a lot more than the me from 10 years ago.

Bricky Wedding

Back in early November, my sister Brittany married her long time boyfriend Ricky. It was a really fun day of spending time with family, just like at Micah's wedding. And it was so touching to see how emotional the bride and groom were about finally making their vows and committing themselves to each other. Here are a few of my favorite pictures (courtesy of {Two} Chics Photography) from that day.

Photo by {Two} Chics Photography

Photo by {Two} Chics Photography

Photo by {Two} Chics Photography

And here is a series of pictures depicting one of my favorite moments from that day.

Photo by {Two} Chics Photography

Photo by {Two} Chics Photography

Photo by {Two} Chics Photography

I love my family so much and couldn't be happier for Bricky!

Anniversaries and Weddings

I fell off the internet grid there for a while. First I celebrated my second wedding anniversary, then we traveled to Georgia for my brother Micah's wedding. Needless to say, I didn't have much time for the online world.

I was again amazed at how emotional I felt on the day of our anniversary. It fell on a Wednesday, which meant I already had the day off. This year the traditional wedding gift was cotton so I got JP some underwear and socks. I know it sounds boring, but he asked for them so there you go. He got me some flannel pillowcases with snowflakes on them and I was completely thrilled with them. 

That evening we headed into the city for dinner at our favorite spot in midtown. It's called Trattoria Trecolori, an Italian restaurant (obviously). It's the perfect size, it always feels quiet, it has romantic candlelight, and the service is excellent. Not to mention the food is out of this world and not overpriced. We've eaten there for lots of special occasions over the past 3 years and have come to think of it as "our" spot. Afterward, we went to see the play Peter and the Starcatcher, which was a Christmas gift from my aunt Carla. Overall, we had an excellent anniversary. 

Of course we had to take our traditional picture in front of the statue where we got engaged. I'm so happy I chose to marry JP and move to NYC - three years later, I wouldn't change a thing.

And now onto another marriage milestone: my little brother Micah got married!! He married his girlfriend Golden in a beautiful ceremony at Henderson Village (in Georgia). This is one of the times I hate living far away from my family - it's hard to try and get to know someone on my random and busy trips home. Regardless, I've really enjoyed getting to know Golden - she's beautiful and caring, a total sweetheart. She and Micah really fit well together and I'm so happy for them. Also, her dress was to die for. Congrats to the Jordans!

There were several months where I didn't blog at all. Between May and January, to be precise. So stay tuned to hear about other major milestones that happened during my absence.

Random update with lots of pictures.

I spent the majority of my day reading someone's entire blog, which made me realize it's been a while since I posted on mine...which made me realize how much I stay home on my days off. That's not really a bad thing. For one, we've been attempting to save a little money here and there (which is really hard, in case you're unaware) and now that I work really long days 4 days a week, it's harder to feel like leaving the apartment if I don't have to go to work. Also, we seem to have crossed that line from tourist to resident...we've seen a ton of the city (though not all there is to see - sometimes I think that's impossible) and we're not dying to get out and explore anymore.

We may be going through a boring stage at the moment, but that doesn't mean our lives are void of excitement. Here's an update on a few things in case my Facebook and Twitter aren't enough for you.

First of all, I'm extremely disappointed in NYC's winter weather this year. We had zero snowstorms. Zero. There were a couple of flurries (it's strange to think that back in Georgia these flurries would have seemed like blizzards), but the snow never stuck around and there wasn't enough to build a snowman. Fingers crossed for more snow next year (and also for a mild summer, though I doubt it will help)! This is probably the most snow we got all winter.

In February, Colby (my best friend/twin) and David visited for a long weekend. Colby and I worked hard at making JP and David best friends. They like each other, but "best friends" is still a work in progress. However, the most important part is that David proposed (to Colby, not to JP)! It was very exciting and I am super excited to fly to Georgia for her wedding the first weekend in May. I also took on the task of planning a bridal shower from afar, which has been interesting. But thanks to Pinterest, I have an awesome theme of glitter and will be making lots of fun things to decorate with. And thanks to my aunt Carla, Party Planner Extraordinaire, for helping me! I'm sure I'll have an entire blog post dedicated to her shower/wedding coming soon.

Top row from left to right: Our attempt at forcing them into BFF status by sitting them next to each for a game of LOTR Risk; the game board; Colby and me. Bottom row: Meeting a unicorn; proof of engagement; riding an orca into battle. 

Next up, we went upstate for one of my best friend's baby shower. I've known Brittany for...7 years? We became friends halfway through college, were roommates for a short of time, took a road trip to Disney World our senior year, I got her a job with me at my ophthalmology office after we graduated, and I was a bridesmaid in her wedding. She is so special to me and it's so wild to be able to witness all of these huge life-changing events. Anyway, she's an adorable little pregnant lady and I had so much fun catching up with her and her husband Paul and getting excited about their future baby boy! 

Also in February, I started experimenting with hairstyles, specifically ways to curl it. Random note.

In March our friend Jen came back to NYC for a visit. We had a fabulous night out with her and our other friends, Molly and Katie, and this amazing picture came to be.

My in-laws also made quick visits so that they could see my brother-in-law in Carrie, the musical.

Our next visitor was Lisa, my bestie (or occasionally referred to as my beastie). She decided to pop up for a visit at the last minute, which is always exciting. We visited several of the routine places most people want to go, but we did actually go to a couple of new places too, the WTC Memorial and the New York Public Library.

And last but not least, Colby and David announced that Colby is pregnant! It wasn't exactly in the plans, but they're both very excited. And JP and I were thrilled and honored to be asked to be the baby's godparents. I so look forward to watching them become parents and hopefully having lots of chances to spoil that child. Colby was trying to decide how to announce it in a non-cliche way, and I suggested they do something they're very familiar with - a video. To be specific, turn it into a movie trailer. JP did the voice over for it and Colby had me record myself saying some lines and they did their thing and it ended up being really amazing. I love watching it. Enjoy!

First Anniversary (cont'd)

Just in case you guys were wondering, our day was perfect.

I was taken by surprise by how emotional I was from the moment I woke up...I just felt overwhelmed by my happiness and the fact that somehow I'd just been allowed to spend an entire year married to the love of my life. I couldn't help but laugh at myself when I started crying as I snuggled up to JP and wished him a happy anniversary.

We went ahead and exchanged gifts before we even got out of bed. We'd decided that we would give each other the traditional anniversary gifts each year. (Everyone knows the 25th anniversary gift is silver and the 50th is gold, but there are others for years 1-15, then for every fifth year after that. You can view the traditional and modern lists here, and we went the traditional route.) So the first year is paper. JP made me a couple of origami hearts and painted them, plus an origami heart-lined picture frame that we plan to put on the fridge once we get some magnetic strips. I made him a "love jar" (although I didn't have any jars sitting around, so I used a Valentine's Day drink mixer) where I cut up pieces of paper that have things I love about him written on them so he can take one out and read one whenever he wants.

















After that, we spent the day being lazy. We'd just bought the Lego Pirates of the Caribbean game (we LOVE the Lego games) so we played that all day. Then that evening we got dressed up and went to our favorite Italian restaurant in Times Square.  Of course we had to visit the statue of George M Cohan in the middle of Times Square where we got engaged. It was nice since the tourists are all gone now. :-)

All in all, it was a very lovely day.

Love

 

"I suppose I think about love more than anyone really should. I am constantly amazed by its sheer power to alter and define our lives." -The Holiday

That line right there is probably one of the major reasons why The Holiday is my favorite movie. It is so true for me. I'm a hopeless romantic at heart and I'm constantly aware of how love (or the lack of it) shapes people and the world around them. Love can be perceived but not truly felt. It can be withheld. Love can be lost, and not always by both parties at once.

I've been in love for more than 2 years, and I in no way consider myself an expert on the subject. However, I do feel like I've learned a lot about love in the past 12 months. Have you heard about the five love languages? They're the five main ways that we show and like to receive love: words of affirmation, touch, quality time, gifts, and acts of service. I've heard about these all my life pretty much thought everyone should know about them and focus on them. When JP and I first got married, we decided to take the quiz, thinking that it would help us to know more about each other.

It was fun to do and the results were interesting, but not long after that day I realized something. The way that I want to be loved most varies day to day. The result I got that first day was not the same result I would have gotten a week later. It became pretty clear to me that even though these love languages are interesting to learn about and to be aware of, they are not the be-all and end-all of loving relationships. The key is balance. Don't discover your spouse loves acts of service, then proceed to lose focus on encouraging them or spending quality time with them. By the same token, don't be upset when your spouse doesn't show you love using only the option you scored most on - you have to look at what else they're doing to show their love to you instead of focusing on the one way you've decided to expect.

www.mollymcgaughey.com

 

This is all leading up to today's special occasion. It's mine and JP's one year anniversary. Yep. We've been married a whole year. It truly is a milestone. The year has been a rough one outside of our marriage - a year ago, I would not have been able to imagine just how much I would come to rely on JP's quiet love and support. I know I've had my extremely crazy moments of freaking out, but he always has a way of calming me down, whether he's lending balance to my frame of mind or validating my freak out moment with other words of wisdom. This year has truly made JP my family and I can't imagine my life without him.

 So in light of these things I've learned about love in general, here are some ways JP has shown me love this past year. They're little things, but little things that spoke to me and made me feel loved.

- He's willing to walk home barefoot for me. One night we were getting home late after a night of dancing and I had been wearing heels that were killing my feet. It was too late to catch a bus from the subway, so we decided to walk it, but I was really having a hard time. JP offered to walk home barefoot so that I could wear his shoes. (Side note: He's offered many times since too, but it's never been bad enough for me to have to do that again.)

- He gives me the pickles from his Chickfila sandwich. He hates pickles (weird, right?) and I love them. He used to get the sandwiches without pickles, but now he gets them so I can have them. Yeah, I know that I could get pickles on the side, but it's not the same. I love that he just started doing it without saying anything.

- He makes phone calls. I HATE making phone calls. JP doesn't care for it either, but he's always willing to call to order food, to call our landlord with questions...anything that requires a phone call, he'll do it.

- He does random, silly internet things for me while I'm at work. When I found out I could get into Pottermore early, I was at work. I asked JP if he would go on to see if he could do it for me, and before I knew it I had a Pottermore screen name. Back when I played a lot of Facebook games, he would harvest stuff and gather coins for me while I was at work. (I'm aware this makes me sound obsessive...the point is he's willing to put up with it and help me out.)

- He understands that Colby and I are crazy together. He refers to her as my wife and understands that our relationship is a little...codependent. He puts up with the fact that sometimes we're going to obsess over little things and sometimes I'm going to annoy him by chattering about stuff he doesn't care about. But he respects us and what we have. Or maybe he just puts up with it. :-)

- In the same vein, he's willing to help me with videos. The first time I wanted to film some segments for one of Colby's videos, he rolled his eyes at me and laughed. But when we actually did it, he was into it and throwing out suggestions. We had fun shooting the segments together. Another time, he didn't even understand what I told him I was doing. He just set up the camera and shot it for me.

- He shops with me in the rain. There was one particular day that was going to give us plenty of time to shop for Christmas gift and it ended up raining all day. But he was a trooper, going everywhere I needed to and offering to carry bags.

- Those random moments when he says, "I'm so glad we're married." I know we're still newlyweds and this may not last forever. But I love it when we're doing something random like watching TV or cooking dinner and then he turns to me with this certain look on his face and says, "I'm so glad we're married," or "I'm so happy you're my wife." My heart jumps every time.

Here's to many more years with the man I love.

Turkey Day

Our first Thanksgiving as a married couple was a huge success.


My aunt Carla was in town, so she and I got up at 4:45am to go to the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade. The parade was amazing - my experience was so much better than last year, where I got stuck at the back of the crowd on a side street by myself. This year, we were right in front, on the side where the sun wasn't in our eyes, right up against the rail. We were able to high five people in the parade.
Plus, Kermit was there!It's actually very weird for me to see Muppets in real life because I really do feel like they're real and I feel like I'm seeing an actual celebrity in real life.

Anyhow, after the parade Carla and I headed home to nap and cook. When we got there, JP had already moved the living room furniture around and set the table and it was GORGEOUS. (Side note: That brown tablecloth? Yeah...it's a bed sheet. How awesome is that?) This is the first time we used our wedding china, which was so exciting. (Of course, several jokes were made about the episode of Friends when Monica is such a freak about her wedding china.) JP was also already working on the turkey. We arranged the flowers we'd gotten and set out the chocolate Thanksgiving-themed lollipops straight from Jacques Torres.

Our friends brought delicious food to go with our turkey, dressing, and roasted green beans. Molly brought squash casserole, her sister Katie brought sweet potato casserole, and Harper brought apple dumplings and pumpkin pie. It was all so delicious.

The whole day was far more perfect than I could have imagined. It really made me realize how thankful I truly am for the friends I have here and the life I have with my husband. I had a defining moment during dinner (I describe it as my movie moment). JP and I were sitting at the head and foot of the table (another first!) and at one point everyone at the table was laughing really hard about something. So there we are surrounded by friends who love us and the sound of their laughter and JP catches my eye across the table and gives me a little wink. Now JP will probably read this and roll his eyes at my sentimentality, but for me...it was just one of those awesome moments when you feel such a rush of happiness and contentment with your life.

I hope your Thanksgiving brought you happiness as well. Now on to the Christmas season!

Time's slipping away.

I feel like the time is just FLYING by. Just a little over 4 months until I'm officially Mrs. Ashlee Haynie.

Work is going well. I'm enjoying my new job, though it took me a few weeks to get used to. It's still very much a learning process, but enjoyable for the most part.

JP and I started a couple of registries at Bed, Bath & Beyond and Target. At first we couldn't seem to think of much to register for, since we recently moved in together so most of our things are either brand new or very gently used. But after the initial searching, my love of having new things took over and suddenly everything that wasn't brand new needed to be replaced! Thank goodness for JP, who is oh-so-logical about every choice. And every once in a while one of us will say, "Man, it's too bad we don't have a [insert object here, i.e., mattress pad, heating pad, ironing board]" and then the other will exclaim, "Add it to the registry!"

For those who don't know, JP was recently cast as an extra in Men in Black III (I was tempted to use the line from Superstar about having a chance to "be an extra in a film with positive moral values" just now). They've been using him as a model to build different alien creatures for the extras in the movie. The transformations have been pretty awesome and I can't wait to be able to post pictures! I'm so proud of him!
My mom and grandmother surprised me with a unexpected visit a couple of weeks ago. They flew in on a Wednesday and left on a Sunday. It was so cool to have them here! I did not take nearly enough pictures! I don't know how that happened, but when I loaded them onto my computer, it looked like we only visited two places. And we definitely did more than that.

It's hot! Daddy told ya...

It's about that time again. Time for family to start pouring in. My bro Brandon and his girlfriend Xan (that name rocks, by the way) are arriving Thursday and then my siblings Kaley and Elijah are coming in next week. Yay!!!! I love having family visit and introducing them to my life here.

In other news it's HOT. I recently told a friend of mine that New Yorkers are just babies and that it's not really hot, compared to Georgia, but I SOOOOOOOOO take that back!! (Also...no offense to my New York friends.) Apparently the temperature yesterday broke a record. I think it's gotten up to 104 this week? I know Georgia understands this, but in Georgia you get to leave your air conditioned work place and get into your (hopefully) air conditioned cars to travel to yet another air conditioned building. Here I have to walk to the bus stop in the heat, wait for the bus (sometimes a good 20-30 minutes on bad days) in the heat, walk to the subway in the heat, then walk to my office in the heat. Thank goodness we have an air conditioner in at least one room. And thank goodness the temperature will go down sooner than it would in Georgia. Haha.

Speaking of the heat, it was pretty hot on the Fourth of July, but we had fun anyway. It was a bit of a worlds colliding day since it was three different groups of friends who somehow ended up hanging out together. It was a lot of fun. We went out to Governor's Island to see She and Him in concert for free! If you don't know She and Him, it's Matt Ward and Zooey Deschanel (from Elf and also 500 Days of Summer). They're so great! Despite the heat, they were worth the wait. Lots of fun.

JP is back!

Ok, so it's been 4 weeks since JP got back...but I've yet to proclaim it via blog. It's been crazy since he got back. He returned on a Friday, then his family came to visit the following Monday. Then that next weekend I went home to go to Micah's graduation (though I didn't make it and I don't feel like going through that whole story), but then I came back on that Sunday with Mallory in tow. She spent two fabulous weeks with us and just returned home this past Monday. Things finally feel like they're getting back to normal! Whatever normal means...

But having Mal here was a lot of fun. It was her first time riding on a plane and her first time in New York. So very very fun. I love having family visit. The only thing that sucks is that I'm not on vacation so everything has to revolve around my work schedule. Ugh. But it's ok. We make do.

It's nuts to play the tourist a bunch of times in a row. I've been to the same places a lot of times now! But it's also let me get to know the city a lot better. I'm getting to where I can tell you how to get to different places without consulting my iPhone. I have a general idea of which trains stop at which stations. If we're somewhere unfamiliar, but I see a subway station ahead, I have the confidence to say, "Eh, let's just get on a train here and figure it out." It's so much fun when you know what you're doing!

Random weekend home.

Two Mondays ago I was feeling very down. Distance from JP is hard when I'm living in a brand new city by myself. Thankfully, I do have my fellow Georgian friend Molly living up here and we try to hang out a lot, but it's not like we can hang out every day. So for the most part I wake up, go to work, come home, figure out something easy to eat, watch some TV, play on the internet, go to sleep alone...Repeat. Don't get me wrong, I love living here. It's not like I'm second guessing moving here. It's just not the same being here by myself.

But I digress...back to two Mondays ago. I was feeling very down in the dumps and I couldn't stop myself from putting up a woe-is-me status on Facebook about wishing I could go home for a couple of days. (You should know that normally I despise it when I see other statuses of this kind, but we all stumble sometimes, don't we?) Well before I knew it, my flight attendant friend Ollie had me on a flight home for the following weekend.

It was really great to go home for no good reason. It had been two and a half months of seeing no family, of missing out on certain foods, of not riding in or driving a car...the weekend was just very magical.

Saturday I went to visit with my future mother-in-law for a little while. I'm incredibly lucky to get along with JP's mom so well. Before I even knew JP, I respected her so much. She's a great lady with great talent and I have always enjoyed being around her. How could I not love her when she was playing the matchmaker without me even knowing it?

Later I grabbed lunch at Chick-fil-A (oh and I'd also had it for breakfast) with Amy and Becky. I've missed them so much. It was fun chatting about everything and nothing and sending Becky into the Twilight Zone. And I got to meet Amy's sweet baby! She is just too precious. I debated sticking in my suitcase, but decided against it.

I got my Zaxby's for supper, then completely surprised Lisa by showing up at her apartment. Definitely an amazing moment.

Sunday I went to church and sang a song. I kind of got choked up a little when I first got to the microphone to practice...I guess I miss singing a whole lot more than I realized. And I guess my vocal chords did too - it was a little rough at first! That's one thing about not having a car...I used to sing nonstop if I was driving by myself. And also if I was driving with someone. But I'm not about to belt it on the subway or the bus with my earphones in. That would be crazy.

The rest of the day was spent shopping with my sisters and my mom. I really miss them a lot. And my mom was amazing about this whole thing. Her response to my coming home proposal? "Hell yes!" I know it's hard for her to send me off on my own and to know that it's not always easy for me, but she has made it so easy for me. She is so supportive, no matter what, and is always there when I need her (if she misses my phone call, she beats herself up for it, but she always calls back pretty quickly!). I had to catch a 6am flight Monday morning and who got up at 2:30 with me? My mom. I know it sucked to have to put me on a plane again, but she did it anyway. Seriously the best Noni Lamb I know.

So yeah, that was all pretty great. And now I'm super pumped about Colby visiting this weekend. We will be painting our own garden gnomes. Amazing.

Resume done!

I was stressing about having to do a resume because I really hate trying to remember when I worked where. And I was dreading trying to list everything I do at my current job (which is a lot). But then I got on my computer and voila! I found a resume I'd saved on here after I graduated. All I had to do was update it. And on top of that, I remembered that I'd actually already made a list of my work talents in an email I sent to the office so I just copied and pasted. Yessss. Resume? Done.

So now that my grandparents know about the move, now that JP and I have definitive plans to look for an apartment, now that I'm actually talking to an office there about a job...it's really hitting me. Every day I think about the things I'm going to miss. So...here's a list of a few of them.

1. My family. Duh. In 24 years, I've never lived more than a couple of hours from any of my immediate family. And for 20 of those years, I've lived with them. We're all so close and, truth be told, I'm terrified of not having them to run to. I really am. That's not to say that I don't think I can do it, because I know I can, but it will definitely be the biggest adjustment and it will be accompanied with lots of tears. And Bruno will also be missed. He loves me so completely and unconditionally. And he lets me dress him up.

2. My friends. I am a people person. I like to be liked. I love hanging out with groups of people and having fun with them. I like having friends who I can tell anything to and know I won't be judged. I like having friends who only want the best for me. It will be sad not to be able to call up Lisa, Doug, and Niccole and plan a weekend in the mountains together. It will be sad not to be here for Amy's kid. It will be sad not to be able to call Becky up for drinks. It will be sad not to try and see my FPD friends every few months (haha). I have to start all over!

3. Colby. I've never felt closer to another female. She is truly my twin, inside and out. I love that we can talk about anything that comes to mind, no matter how stupid. I love that we tend to like/dislike the same people. I love that she still likes to act like a kid with me. I don't know what I'm going to do without her.

4. Chick-fil-A. Yes, this list is in a specific order. I could eat there multiple times a day (and have) and for several days in a row (and have). There is only one Chick-fil-A in New York, located in the dining hall of NYU so I'm not even allowed in. Will I attempt to sneak in? Of course. There are also locations in New Jersey. Will JP and I take a bus into Jersey at least once a month? Of course.

5. My accent. As much as I say I won't let it happen, I have to face the facts. I tend to talk and pick up the mannerisms of people around me. I think I'll be able to keep a trace of it, but I'm pretty sure I won't be able to keep it up completely. I am very saddened by this, and not looking forward to the speech lessons my mother will undoubtedly give me over the phone.

6. Theatre. I have really enjoyed my time on the stage. I have now had experience as a main role, as well as being in the chorus and honestly I don't like one more than the other. They are both so fun-I just love being on stage and singing. But I have no desire to do it profesionally. So I'll miss doing it in the community.

7. Snow days. Every winter I live in hope of snow because it means I won't have to go into work. I doubt that will matter in New York...

I'll post updates of more things I'll miss as I think of them.

Coffee is better than I thought.

So I was bored when I got up this morning because absolutely no one is at my house. So I've been using Stumble to surf the web (or the interweb, as my dad has started saying for some reason). A minute ago I stumbled onto http://www.industrialjoe.com/index.php/resources-news-links-friends/15-things-youdidnt-know-about-coffee which is very interesting because I LOVE coffee. I am a very devoted coffee drinker and basically can't make it through a morning without it. I can seriously tell a difference if I don't have it. I'm aware that is sad, but hey, it's ok according to this website!

I'm not going to copy and paste everything over there, but I here are a couple of the more interesting ones.

If you smoke or drink alcohol, then drinking coffee can lower your chances of getting heart or liver disease. WHAT?? I've been protecting myself and didn't even know it. Now the next time my conservative little sister tells me that I'm destroying my liver I'll just tell her that I'm counteracting that by drinking even more coffee than I do alcohol. Take that, little sis!

Colon cancer is not as prevalant in coffee drinkers. Are kidding me? Coffee may be able to prevent CANCER? Why hasn't anyone jumped on this and come up with a cure for cancer derived from coffee beans??

If you coursely grind coffee beans, then you can use them as an exfoliator! Rub coffee beans on your face! I'm so going to do that soon...

Anything can happen if you use your imagination...

I am horrible at time management. Really horrible. I've known that I'm leaving tomorrow morning (Thursday) and not coming back until Monday (Labor Day) and what did I do? I put off packing until 11:00 tonight. Ugh. It's done though. And now I should go to bed. But instead I will tell you about the make believe games I played as a child.

I have 6 brothers and sisters who made for great playmates. However the games that stick out most in my mind involved the four oldest of us. Brandon, Kaley, Brittany and me. Brittany and I are 5 years apart so the four of us are very close in age. I realized today that all of our games were based on either a TV show or a movie. Isn't that nice.

1. The Independence Day Game. When I was in 2nd or 3rd grade we went through a stage where every day we'd pull out the couch bed in the living room and watch a movie. It was usually Independence Day, though I don't know why. Then we made up a game where one person sat in the middle of the bed and the other people (the aliens) would get under the bed and beat on the bottom of the bed with our feet (which was probably not good for the bed now that I think about it). The beating would hopefully make the person bounce around on top and therefore put them within range for one of the aliens to grab them from underneath.

2. Power Rangers. This was around the same time as the first game. I was always Kimberly, the pink ranger. Brandon was always Jason, the red ranger and the leader. Kaley was always Billy, the blue ranger (who, incidentally, was a boy...). Brittany always wanted to be Kimberly, but we'd tell her she either had to be Trini, the yellow ranger (who, coincidentally, was Asian), or she could be the monster that we had to fight. Most of the time she'd give in and be Trini, but sometimes she'd just get mad and say she wasn't playing. She'd go to another corner of the yard to play by herself and we'd just pretend she was the monster anyway and attack her. We jumped around, kicked at each other, and leaped off the swingset. Every time we'd hit the ground we knew to roll about 10 feet because that's what they did on the show.

3. Street Kids. This came from us watching Free Willy every day. And this was when I was probably in 5th grade. Maybe 6th. There wasn't much to this game. We'd just get empty backpacks and put crackers and stuff in them, sling them over one shoulder, and ride our bikes around. We'd always pretend we stole a cake, then we'd put pretend ketchup on it, then the cops would come and we'd have to scram. And someone always pretended to step in the cake as we ran away.

4. Orphanage. My favorite. This came from watching Annie. The land we lived on at the time was surrounded by 5 or six rows of pine trees. We'd get in there and rake the pine straw in such a way that we created pathways and rooms with it.That was our orphanage. We each had our own room. Every time we played, we'd have a new kid (usually Kaley), the cop that brings the new kid (who would double as another orphan - Brittany), the seen-it-all-knows-it-all kid who's been there forever (Brandon), the lady who runs the orphanage (me), and the drunken cook (also me). Oh yes, I would make their food and accidentally spill alcohol into it. I don't know where I got that from.

Sounds like fun, huh?

What's love got to do with it?

Who the hell made up the game of tennis?

My brother Elijah is obsessed with the game of tennis. Months ago he attempted to explain the rules and scoring of the game but I was completely lost after "when you have a score of zero, then it's love." Huh?

This past weekend I went and watched Elijah play two sets... or is it matches... I don't know, he played against two different people and each time someone had to win six games two out of three times. Does that even make sense? It barely does in my head.

Anyway, I at least learned the scoring part of it. But I still don't understand why it is the way it is. My conclusion? Out of all the games involving a ball, tennis was the last one invented. By the time Mr. Tennis got around to coming up with a new ball game, all the rules and scoring had been used. So he had to come up with something completely crazy in order not to sound like a knock off of another already-invented game. Well way to make up a game that makes ABSOLUTELY NO SENSE, Mr. Tennis.

Here's what does make sense:
1. Two players (raqueteers?) use a raquet to hit a ball over a net.
2. If the ball goes out of the big square, it's out and the other player scores.
3. You have to win by two.
4. When you serve, it must go to the opposite square on the other side (this one's a little iffy since it sounds like a random rule thrown in there for the heck of it).

Here's what doesn't make sense:
1. The scoring is not normal in that it goes 1, 2, 3, etc. Or even in twos or fives or tens. It's completely random in that it goes from zero to 15 to 30 to 40. And then that's it.
2. When it's zero, you can't even call it zero. You call it love. What?
3. When it's tied, you don't say 15-15, but you say 15-All. Ok.
4. When it's tied at forty, you don't even say 40-All. You say Deuce.
5. After Deuce, there are no numbers anymore. Since you have to win by two... point units... then depending on who gets the next point, you call it an Add In or an Add Out. Then if the opposite person scores the next time, you're back to calling it Deuce.

Are you lost yet? If you're not then you at least like tennis enough to know how to follow it or you are related to someone who makes you feel obligated to know what's going on.

Of course, this is all coming from a person who grew up in a football-loving family but never learned the scoring until her senior year of high school. I didn't have the faintest idea about first downs until someone kindly clued me at a HOCO game. The only football terms I knew were "touchdown," "field goal," and "go Jackets."