Green Thumb?

I have planted a garden for the last 5 years, and have always had pretty good luck, especially with tomatoes. Well, this year just wasn't my year. I planted my garden a little late because it seemed like we had 3 winters... whenever it started to get nice, it would get freezing again. Anyway, my tomatoes took FOREVER to ripen, and even a few weeks ago when we pulled the plants out of the garden, there were still tons of green tomatoes all over the vines. I also tried something new this year - watermelon. This spring when I bought my plants, I really wanted cantaloupe (I've had some success with cantaloupe in the past), but the store was out so I bought watermelon instead. Hmmm, I'm not quite sure what happened. I got two watermelons, but they were both the size of apples. Hopefully I'll have better luck next year!

I love fall, but with it comes loads of yardwork. Um, now that I think of it, it seems like I do tons of yardwork all year long. Oh well, it's definitely worth it to have an entire yard of mature landscaping. Anyway, this weekend, we filled 11 of those big paper lawn and garden bags, along with 5 more black trash bags... all full of wisteria clippings and leaves from all my trees. I even cleaned my gutters this week - I hate that chore! The bummer part is that my trees and wisteria haven't dropped all their leaves yet, so I'm not finished yet, but the majority of the work is over!

8 Things

I was tagged by a couple of people for this one, so here goes!

8 TV shows that I love to watch:

1. The Office
2. Chuck
3. BSU Football
   
4. CSI
5. Law & Order
6. Greys Anatomy
7. What Not to Wear
8. House Hunters

8 favorite places to eat:

1. Costa Vida
2. Melting Pot
3. Mona Lisa
   
4. Smokey Mountain
   
5. Dong Khanh
   
6. Yokozuno
   
7. Bangkok Thai
   
8. Whitewater Pizza
   

8 things I did yesterday:

1. Attended a conference session on Humor in the Workplace
2. Listened to an inspiring speaker at the closing session of my conference
3. Went shopping at Nordstroms (gotta love shopping in Portland!)
4. Took the Max from my hotel in Portland to the airport
   
5. Flew home!
6. Changed the time on my watch for the 3rd time this week
7. Did some cardio, abs, and yoga at the gym
8. Ate a late dinner at Costa Vida

8 things I am looking forward to:

1. Getting my spare bedroom painted & back in order
2. Finishing my fall yardwork - raking, trimming, and cleaning the gutters (not that I like doing this, just that it is hanging over my head)
3. Seeing family over Thanksgiving and Christmas
4. A relaxing weekend
5. My cruise to the western Caribbean this spring
6. Warmer weather so I can ride my motorcycle again
   
7. My next massage... guess I better get it scheduled!
   
8. Getting Christmas cards and letters in the mail from all my friends :-)
   

8 things on my wish list:

1. Paying off my mortgage
2. A new car... still figuring out which one!
3. Remodeled bathrooms - I've updated the rest of my house, but my bathrooms are stuck in the 80s
   
4. Someone to magically shovel all my snow this winter - last year was a killer!
5. Season 4 of The Office and Season 1 of Chuck on dvd
   
6. A project table for my office - I love the one at Pottery Barn
7. Traveling to visit all my college buddies - New York, Virginia, Utah, Texas, etc.
8. A ceiling mount for my projector

Wow - that was harder than I thought! The first couple under each category were easy, but then I struggled to fill almost every one. Hmmmm.... Anyway, here's the last one:

8 people I tag:

1. Mandi
2. Mandy
3. Nancy
4. Liz
5. Courtney
6. Colette
7. Katrina
8. Val
   

Laughing in My Sleep

I have known for years that I talk in my sleep. I have always thought I only talked when I'm super tired, but I don't really know that for a fact. I attended a conference in Portland this week and shared a room with my co-worker Mandy. The first morning, she told me that I had been laughing in my sleep - well she actually used the words "cracking up". Wish I could remember my dream! What funny things do you do in your sleep?

History in the Making

On January 20, 2009, Barack Obama will be sworn in as the first black President in the history of the United States of America. Regardless of my own political beliefs, I am proud of how far our country has come, that we can look past race in electing the leader of our nation.

I do, however, have something I just need to vent about. I believe that we should vote for whomever best represents our viewpoints and beliefs on key issues. I have been frustrated over the last couple weeks as I have heard person after person indicate that they were voting for Obama because he is black and that is so inspiring, or they were voting for him because he is young and charismatic. While I agree that it is inspiring to elect a young, black, charismatic president, I was disappointed when people based their decisions solely on these elements instead of the main issues.

All in all, this Presidential election was definitely an exciting one to follow. I think that we need to pull together as a country and stand united, especially during these tough economic times. I will do my best to support and stand by our newly elected President.

New Appreciation

I have been working out at the Boise State Rec Center now for almost three years. I am definitely a social exerciser, so I enjoy the group exercise classes. I typically take classes over my lunch break - usually lift, spin, step aerobics, or circuit training. I decided to try something new tonight - yoga (Stephanie - aren't you proud of me?!) I am one of the most inflexible people I know, so this class was quite interesting! It's probably a good thing I didn't have a camera with me :-) It amazes me how random unnatural poses can be such a good workout - I can tell I'm going to be sore tomorrow! Take this pose for example - the Eagle Pose:Yeah, I know, she makes it look easy... but I dare you to try it! You wrap one leg around the other, hooking your foot behind the opposite leg, sit back a little, and then wrap your arms up. Try standing still without wobbling and stand there for a while. Not so easy, huh! Here's another:
This one looks even easier, but it's actually kind of painful :-) I think it's called the reverse triangle or something along those lines. Once we held this position for a while, we had to keep the one hand on the ground and straighten the front leg. I am pretty sure that with some of these poses I stretched certain muscles for the first time in my life! In any case, I gained a new appreciation tonight for yoga, and I'll definitely be going back to try and perfect my skills :-)

To Die For

I LOVED the downtown crepe restaurant The Square and was so sad a couple of years ago when it went out of business. Not only were the crepes fabulous, but the tomato basil soup was amazing. Ever since then, I have been on the lookout for a replacement tomato basil soup. Well, I found it! I bought this creamy tomato basil soup at Albertsons this week, and it is to die for... I didn't realize how literal that was, though, until I looked at the nutritional information. Unfortunately, now I realize why this soup is so yummy - one cup of soup is 52% of my daily fat! Yuck! Guess this is the last time I'll enjoy this creamy tomato yumminess.

Punk Rockin' It

Jen and I went shopping a couple weeks ago for our Halloween costumes. We both have two Halloween parties to attend this year and wanted something cool. We loved all the wigs at the Costume Shop, so decided to put together costumes around our hair styles! What I thought was going to be a simple costume turned into quite the ordeal... I not only had to buy the mohawk, but had to buy a bald cap, toupee tape to adhere the mohawk to the bald cap, spirit gum (and remover) to make the bald cap stick to my skin, latex makeup to blend the bald cap to my skin, plus my clothing, shoes, cool pink eyelashes, black lipstick & fingernail polish, etc. Tonight was the first party, and it took about an hour to put my entire costume together. Guess that's a good trial run for Friday night!