Blizzard Aiden Photos

Here are some pics to go with my past post. A couple of the snow, a couple of my huge hotel room I had all to myself!

Thank you Pontiac!

Another crazy winter storm hits Wisconsin! Whatever happend to a couple snowfalls that accumulates to a lot of snow? I feel like we now either get a dusting or a downpour! This is a downpour! We probably got at least 12 inches out there. It's crazy windy outside however so you can't really tell how much total we got b/c in one spot there is 3 inches and the next spot a yard over has 3 feet.

Last night was out Christmas party with all my college friends. It was down in West Bend which is about 1hr and 45min from GB. I knew they were calling for strong storms but I sat around for over 6 hours on Saturday and not a drop of precipitation fell so I said screw it and went to the party. It started raining around Fond du lac and rained the whole way to West Bend. It started snowing when we were there and we didn't stay too long, I think I left at like 8:30. Well when I got out and had to scrape 3 inches of heavy snow from my car I knew it was going to be bad. I wanted to get home though so I ventured out through the snow covered streets for the highway. WI-33 from WB to 41 was really bad but it was to the point where I didn't know where to turn around b/c I was so worried I would get stuck and honestly, I have this unrelenting worry of going in the ditch and being stuck. Knock on wood I've only gone in the ditch once and it was right by my moms work. The work crew next door just pulled my car out so no biggy. But the fear of going like 45 down the hwy and losing control and going in the ditch makes me freak out to think about. I have this worry I'll roll over or go into water or something crazy. So I took it slow and eventually got to the hwy.

The hwy wasn't bad and there were actually some cars driving so it was easy to just go behind them and keep going. There were drifts in the road and you couldn't really see where you were going. Then the snow started blowing and it pretty much was a white out. If it wasn't for the vehicles in front of me for the most part, I would have probably driven right into a ditch. From WB to Oshkosh it should probably only take an hour - it took me a good two hours to get there. I had been following one car in particular for quite some distance and when they exited I called it quits and exited too. I was so nervous and my shoulders were so tight from stress I almost cried. I went to the gas station, got a gatorade and some pretzels and asked for the closest hotel. I went through the snow drifts (almost got stuck in the hotel parking lot) and got myself a room. By this time it was after 11:00p and I pretty much didn't car what it was going to cost, I couldn't go another mile.

The hotel was nice and really quiet. I didn't sleep too well b/c all I could think of was trying to get home the next day. The only good part was that I did get to catch up on my cable tv shows. I don't have cable at my apartment (b/c I'm cheap) so I did get to watch a little MTV, HGTV, TLC and History Channel. That was pretty worth the $85 I had to spend for the 12 hours I was in the room!!

The next day wasn't so bad b/c it was light out so you could see when the snow drifted. The worst part was the hotel parking lot! It kept getting drifted in with snow so I waited like 30 min for the snow plow to plow out the main road so I could get out. The last way I wanted to start my day was by getting stuck before I even left!

There were still lots of cars traveling and I just took my time and made it home. The 45 minute drive took me about 1 hr and 20 min so not too bad. The roads were really icy and I just told myself "don't care what others are doing, just take your time and let them pass you." It amazes me how stupid lots of people are and drive like 50-60 mph in the weather we had. Stopping suddenly wasn't an option today. There were only about 2 'fresh' cars in the ditch. (definition of fresh cars - cars that just went in the ditch and still had people in them.) All the rest you could tell had been there for some time b/c they had snow and the orange stickers on them. All I can say is I thank God for the Kia that led me to the exit on Saturday night, the safety of driving home today and my Pontiac for getting me there! Stay safe out there!

New Music - Good Music

There's a couple new songs that are out now that I am loving! I think you should check them out:

Sunny Sweeney - "From a Table Away"


Tim McGraw - "Felt Good On My Lips"

The Band Perry - "If I Die Young"


Jason Aldean - "My Kinda Party"

Thompson Square - "Are You Gonna Kiss Me or Not"


Jerrod Niemann - Check out his whole album, it's really good. But my favorites are:
"They Should Have Named You Cocaine" and "What Do You Want"


Methods of Mayhem - "Time Bomb"

Christina Perri - "Jar of Hearts"


What's your favorite 'ear candy'?

Things I Like....

- waking up and being in a good mood
- feeling grateful for the way my life as been so far
- having family that I'm close to and can depend on (and they can rely on me)
- when a friend invites you to do something
- summer when it's nice and sunny but not too hot out
- having a cookout with all your friends
- getting invited to weddings
- when you get your hair done and it looks great
- the smell of your hair when you get it done (I know, chemicals and all but I love it)
- giving a good tip
- when grocery shopping is done
- a full gas tank
- starting the week with all the clothes washed
- pay day
- puppies
- all the leaves changing on the trees and the gorgeous colors
- people who work hard to make a living
- farms
- sitting at the bar with a cold beer, surrounded by friends
- putting money in the jukebox and playing all the songs you love
- laughing
- street dances
- fireman's picnics
- county fairs
- beer
- people watching
- clean houses (especially mine)
- weekend plans
- high school football games
- mittens
- traveling
- taking pictures of said travels
- anticipation (sometimes the wait is better then the actual event)
- getting a new shirt
- wearing new shirt and getting compliments
- getting compliments in general
- being told you're doing great at work
- the first snowfall of the year
- the first warm day of spring
- putting up the christmas tree
- christmas lights
- Labor day
- when all the family gets together for Thanksgiving
- when a night that you're having a blast drags itself out so it's not over too fast
- going into the bar and having the bartender know you (and your drink)
- when someone says you're pretty
- sunglasses that fit well
- coupons
- seeing other people happy
- sad country love songs
- concerts
- spending time with people you don't get to see much
- giving presents
- planting flowers and having them actually live
- shooting rifles (and hand guns)
- everyone gathering for hunting season and playing cards in the garage
- playing Skip-Bo with my Grandma
- the Saturday after Thanksgiving when we go shopping
- seeing my cousins
- being tall
- heels, sandals and clogs (I love them all)
- jeans that fit great
- going to the movies
- outlet malls
- the feel after you work out and you feel you accomplished something
- cycling classes (I miss this most)
- old barns
- going to the back 40
- cowboys (real cowboys)
- Jordy Nelson
- cooking a meal and it actually turns out great
- fireworks and the 4th of July
- a good tan
- winning at the casino
- Canada
- oversized chairs
- Michael Waddell
- piers and lighthouses
- finding a good book you can't put down
- mad-bomber fur hats
- deep fried mushrooms
- Friday night fish fry's
- finding a new song you can't get enough of
- bonfires + beer + friends
- helping someone
- kit kats
- organizing
- painting
- water (oceans, lakes, rivers, streams, creeks and brooks)
- dreaming of plans to build a house
- farmers markets
- the huge bouquets of flowers from the farmers market

Moving

Today's my first day in a new cube at work. They are doing a bunch of re-arranging and I'm one of the people that gets moved. I'm excited yet I'm a little upset. Of course when you've been in a desk for 16 months you get a little rythm down, you know where everything is, it's a flow you have going when you do your work. Today I'll have to develop a new flow. It's weird too b/c obviously a cube only has two walls, one on the left or right and one in front of you and a small on that is on the side of the cube w/ the aisle. The cube I've been in was a four person cube. So like the picture above (but without the table in the middle separating the two spaces), two people in the cube w/ their backs to one another and then the aisle and the exact same thing on the other side. So when you walk down the aisle at work it is like two cubes w/ four people that you walk past. Obviously you get to know the people in your 4 square really well. Where I'm moving to is a two person cube, so you have the two people on one side sitting back to back and then across the aisle is a one perosn cube which has a large wall facing the aisle so you can't look into their cube or really talk to them. It's going to be weird and I'm not sure I'll like it! The only good thing is that every person I sat with in my old four person cube is being moved so at least I'm not the only one! Wish me luck in my first new day in the cube!!

The Thank You Note

Is the rule of a thank you note dead?

Weddings guests can now be invited to the formal day on facebook, twitter and myspace. Heck, we don't get the call anymore that people are engaged, we get the facebook status update. The day of gifting the toaster or blender is dead - now its fresh green cash we're stuffing into cards and throwing in a slit in a box. But with all this informality, is the thank you note being lost too? Can typing thank you on a facebook page or @ someone on twitter make up for receiving that little card in the mail addressed to you and opening it to find a hand written thank you for the gift and attending the wedding? Granted, we don't usually hang on to these notes, frame them, or put them in our memory boxes, but they're still nice to receive. I have been to 4 weddings this year so far and I can count 1 thank you note that I received. Not to mention the graduation parties that I gave money for - 2 - and the thank you notes I got - 0.

Is it an old time thing to write thank you notes now? Is it something that's considered optional and you don't really have to do it? Is standing up at a wedding and saying thank you enough now? Maybe I'm old school but I refuse to believe the thank you note is dead - it still lives on with this girl.

Random Thoughts

1) Leaving on Wednesday for DENVER!!! I'm so excited to go with two of my good friends! We are there until Sunday and we plan on having a blast checking out the city!

2) I get my stitches out tomorrow - yes! Just in time for the trip.

3) Don't you hate when you find a shirt at a store and you LOVE it but they don't have your size. Then you go online to order it and they don't either! And there is no other store close you can go to check it out - bummer.

4) I CAN NOT believe it's August already?! Where did the summer go?!

5) I'm so ready to have 3 days off of work - hip hip hooray!

6) We had a work bonfire on Friday night and it just solidified my love for friends, fire, beer and good times.

7) Haven't been to a fair in yrs and I am going this year - mark my words!

8) One of my new favorite songs is Farmers Daughter by Rodney Atkins. It makes me wish my dad was a farmer....he's more like a lumberjack though.

9) Half way through my weddings for the year. One thing I think you can do w/o at weddings - the garter/bouquet toss. I refuse to go up for them anymore b/c I am seriously the only one of my friends not married.

10) I hate going on vacation b/c I never know what to pack. Do you pack warm and cold? Do you pack flip flops and shoes? Will I need a swimsuit? I wish I could just back my whole closet b/c I know when I wean something out that's going to the shirt I wish I had to wear!

11) I have a lot to do in two days...and I need to clean this apartment before I leave so I come back and it's not a mess!

12) Sundays are the worst day of the week. I don't like to go to sleep b/c I know when I wake up it's Monday - yuck.

13) My kidney stone bills are all finally paid! Again - hip, hip hooray!

14) The old Pontiac is in desperate need of an oil change but I just don't want to go there. I hate sitting in that waiting room watching CNN while they do it - BORING!

15) The search for new car is stalled. I can't make up my mind. Used vs. New. GMC vs. Ford. Car vs. SUV?

That's about all my randoms for today - have a super week!!

Training Days

Yes! Two days until the weekend!!!!

Yesterday I was a little nervous b/c I decided I needed to get more involved in work (b/c there are lots of groups you can join) so I signed up w/ my supervisor to do some training with the new hires. I had an hour and a half to talk about a day in our job. I thought, heck, that's not bad at all. Then I realized it's their 3rd day on the job. They just learned how to log into the computer system yesterday! So i started to get nervous. Just like any job, there's lots of lingo or names of systems you use to do your job that it does take some time to learn. Well our whole job is on the computer so how am I suppose to talk to these people and not use lingo. There are no "lam ens terms" for these systems! So it got a little difficult to explain but I love they did learn something!

Oh - second thing. If you don't already know, I'm 25 and single so I'm always looking for a future bf. It's like embedded into me now, I can't get rid of it. Where better then work is there to look for a future "suitor?" So when I walked in the room I saw this cutie. As a habit I always check for a wedding ring. I mean we are that age where everyone is married practically and he just so happened to have that hand where I couldn't see it. To get to know everyone we went around the room and introduced ourselves. Of course he was last!!! The anticipation!!! And guess what - married and just had his first child. crap. When is this company going to hire some single guys my age?!?!