I've been had

There's something going around in the blog world and it's not the nasty flu virus attacking the real world. It's this game of tag, and Sara got me. And because I'm such a loser and stalk GR, she didn't even need to leave me a comment announcing my tag. Not only that, but I've already listed 100 things about myself on this blog---so this is going to be an additional seven things. And it's going to be difficult because my 100 list took me a few days, but what the hell----I enjoy talking about myself [hence my blog!]


The rules:
Link to the person who tagged you.
Post the rules on your blog.
Share seven random and/or weird facts about yourself on your blog.
Tag seven random people at the end of your post, and include links to their blogs.
Leave a comment on their blogs so that they know they have been tagged.

[I noticed they don't say anything about pictures with the facts, but I'm going to add some just for your viewing pleasure, okay?]

1. If I could look like anyone in the entire world, it would be Gisele Bundchen. She is so freaking hot/perfect/gorgeous with her 6 foot frame [almost there], tan [not even close right now], perfect sized boobies [HA!], and long, flowing locks [nope, chopped mine off]. Take a look and try not to feel inferior:


I LOVE those flowy empire waist dresses but I always feel like I'm wearing a sheet or something. How can she do it and still look slim? Nate just informed me that Gisele is pregnant with Tom Brady's baby. How does he know more about pop culture than me?!

2. In college I was a Gamma Phi Beta [or I guess I still am]. I'm pretty sure my sorority was known for our fun, party girls to put it nicely.
My husband was [is] a Pi Kappa Alpha, or "Pike." They were also known to be a little out of control but fun. Nate always said if I was a dude I'd be a Pike---which I guess is a compliment?
3. I can be a little neurotic sometimes. For instance, as I lay on the couch with my computer on my lap, I wonder if it can send poisonous rays into my reproductive organs thus making me infertile. Or sometimes when I get a sore throat I convince myself I may have West Nile fever or meningitis. I don't know why I think these things but I just do. So sue me. :)

4. When I was a kid I wanted to be a dentist solely because of the bad ass mechanical chairs. I was fascinated with how they moved up and down and reclined. Then I experienced the torture known as braces [three separate times!!!] and wanted nothing to do with teeth ever again. Ironically, we moved to Milwaukee because Nate was an alternate at Marquette's dental school [which didn't pan out, and now he's going to P.T. school starting in June.]

5. My GPA in high school was a disgusting 3.996. I missed being one of the "Top Ten" students by 0.05. It's just ridiculous to think I cared that much about grades in HIGH SCHOOL, isn't it? My college GPA was slightly less dorky but not by much. I guess you could say I'm a bit of a perfectionist, huh?

6. I love hot/humid climates, dripping-with-sweat-from-the-instant-you-step-outside climates, so-hot-the-steering-wheel-burns-your-hands climates. When I tell this fact to people in Milwaukee they look at me like I have West Nile virus, which just goes to prove I fit in here really well:)

7. My middle name is Lorene and I hated it when I was a kid. Now I really like it, especially since it was my Great-Grandmother's first name and my mother's middle name. I'm totally passing it down to my future daughter. It's pronounced "Lor-EEN" not "Lor-AINE" thank you very much.

Okay, now I have to tag the following: Jen, Kim, Ronee, Teresa, Jenn, Lisa, and Stephanie. I picked you girls because either I'm not sure you'll actually do this, or because I know you haven't done this type of thing before. A lot of my frequented blogs have done something similar before....and we all know how I like variety:)

Storytime

There once was a newlywed who had a touch of crazy buried inside. The crazy came out when moving to a new habitat. Or sometimes for no reason at all.

Her loving husband put up with her instability but sometimes, he went nuts as well. Thus resulting in the "packing tape episode" pictured below:


There once was a newlywed who balanced on the edge of heterosexuality. Words like, "metro" and "gay" rang out through the house. Then the newlywed emerged from the basement with a new scarf for his pea coat. This said scarf was a. a hideous shade of yellow, b. entirely too short, and c. inappropriate in itself for a straight man, let alone combined with a freaking pea coat.
The newlyweds loved each other despite their flaws [craziness and metrosexuality, respectively.]

Upon moving to this new habitat, the newlyweds encountered a serious problem: they did not have a working kitchen and thus, were forced to eat downstairs for all meals. Until one day the new wife took it upon herself to domesticate and nurture her husband. She created a "kitchen" complete with all the necessities:
Coffee grinder, coffee maker, coffee mugs [travel and stay-at-home], toaster, bread, and PB with honey. And ideal breakfast could be had in their space. The new wife was quite proud of her creation, as she spent much time organizing and supplying said 'kitchen.' When the new husband saw her creation he said, "That's it? All you did was plug the toaster into the wall."

As you can imagine, the new wife was not happy with the new husband. Her excitement over a working kitchen quickly morphed into disdain for her husband. And he, of course, continued to kiss her buttocks to make up for his sarcasm.

Ah, the life of newlyweds. Full of fun, full of randomness, and full of pictures:)

As you wish

[don't you guys LOVE the movie The Princess Bride? Best quote ever=the title of this post]

I've had a lot of questions about the infamous G.A. and G.R. which is quite ironic, considering I am one of the most computer illiterate online stalkers in the world. Meaning, I may love the internet but I'm totally clueless when it comes to a lot of this stuff. I just stumble my way through.

But I will do my best to assist you, my blog readers! Don't lynch me if I'm completely wrong okay?
For Google Analytics, you'll need a google account. I think that means you need a gmail address. I highly recommend creating a gmail addresss anyway [if you blog] so you can keep all your blog stuff together. I would suggest linking your comments to this gmail account and also adding your gmail address to your blog profile, so people can contact you outside of comments. Don't worry, crazies won't hunt you down TOO often. And if they do, this new gmail account can be a catch all and won't be your 'real' account anyway.

So after setting up a gmail account, you'll need to go to http://www.google.com/analytics/
You'll follow the prompts to sign up for a new account.
You'll go through the general information, then contact information, then accept the user agreement. Then comes the tricky part: adding your tracking system. I think this is where people screw up the most. If you have a Blogspot account I can help you. Once you get the code from GA, you'll log into your blog and go to "layout" and then "page elements" because you need to add a new element to the bottom of your blog. You want to select the "html code" option for this element, then paste the code into this new part of your blog. Then go back to GA and follow the prompts. It will tell you if you added the tracker correctly because it can't detect your blog otherwise.

It will take about 24 hours to see if it works. And once it DOES work it still only updates every 24 hours. So I can't see how I did today until tomorrow morning. Does that make sense? Whew, my head already hurts.


Moving onto G.R.:
You'll need to go to http://www.google.com/reader
I'm pretty sure you need a gmail addy for this one, too. So just suck it up and do it! :)
After following the prompts you'll end up at your home page, and the left side of the screen should look like this:
Where it says "Add subscription" is where you'll add your favorite blog's urls. You'll have to copy and paste the site's address and then you'll be good to go. You can then click on a blog title on your left hand column and read it right inside this window. Lauren, here is your blog through my G.R. Shame on your for not updating in 4 days! Once you've read all the posts on a blog, click "mark all as read" and the title will go back to a normal font. It will be bold when there is a new post [that is the exciting part!].

You can even organize the blogs into categories to keep you sane. For instance, I have a "crafts" section, a "friends" section, an "other people" section [which is full of people I just 'met' through blogging], and "photography." You add these categories by clicking on the "manage subscriptions" button. Does this make sense? Whew times two.

And finally, questions about backgrounds for your blog. Look at the right hand column on my blog under "design" and you'll find a nice little tutorial by Suzanne Hart. The important thing: you must download digital scrapbooking paper that suites your fancy. I suggest a plain paper for your main central column but go wild for the outer border and also the header border. You need to save these three papers to an online account. I use photobucket for this part. You'll grab the url for these papers and plug them into your html code of your blog. I know, I know, that part freaks me out, too. I hate that stuff but once you figure it out each successive time is much easier. You just paste your new papers onto the codes of your old papers.

I use photoshop to design my blog header and my side bar buttons. That is a little bit more complicated and is a whole other blog post. Heck, I'm still learning photoshop myself! But I like doing that part because it's like digi-scrapping and I'm trying to get better.

I hope at least one of you found this helpful. Just make sure to set aside time for this stuff or you'll go bonkers trying to hurry through. Good luck!!

Analyze this

I've used Google Analytics for a whole month now. So I'll show you my graphs if you show me yours? The nerd in me can't resist a good table or graph. Sorry if this is boring for you all but I think it's pretty cool.

In the past month, I've had 4,192 visits from 1,012 visitors. Good work, people. That number is crazy to me so let's analyze, shall we?

First of all, holy crap. The world is watching my transitional life! Japan? Singapore? Bulgaria? Wow!



And for my fellow Americans, way to work it, top 10 states! The Show Me State is holding it down for me but The Dairyland is a close second. Kind of symbolic, huh? The coolest part is I've had visits from 41 states! Even Hawaii but not yet Alaska. I'll have to recruit from the final 9 states I suppose:)



Yesterday was my all time highest visitor rating! Mondays are always the highest trafficked day but at 209 visits from 138 visitors, yesterday beat my top score by over 10 people. The dips always occur on Saturdays [what, are you people busy or something?] and my worst day was right after I moved. I suppose you listened when I told you I'd be gone for awhile, huh? Well all but 35 of you listened:)




And now for my top 10 referral sources: a vast majority of you type me into your browser [is that the right term?] but check out The Seven Spot! Sarah's referral for my "motherly love" post kicked some major A! Then comes Kristal with her fantastic blog. Gotta love links to other blogs, right? How else would be blog hop?
One of my favorite parts of the referral source option is checking out which blogs are linking to me, even if they've just referred one visit. I've found some fantastic bloggers this way because I have 63 sources right now.

As for my most popular content? I think it's just the opening page [I'm assuming that's what the / means]. But look at my Mom's journal post! Wow! And I never knew so many people read the "Why Blog" or the "100 Things About Me" links, either. Glad I have them on there!



Visitor Loyalty? That sounds intense, doesn't it? It's interesting to me that a majority of my visitors have only stopped by once this month. That makes me a little sad...I guess I didn't hook enough of you. But then I skip down to the 9-50 time mark and feel a little happier. For the past 30 days some of you have been busy blog surfing! I won't even touch on the 3 people who've visited over 200 times in the past month. WOAH.

So does anyone else use and love Google Analytics? Anyone else care to show some graphs?
Why does this type of detailed, organized stuff make me so happy? Oh, that's right....because I'm a Type A:)

Because I like projects

Sometimes I wonder if I have too many hobbies, too many projects, that possibly contribute to my general sense of being overwhelmed at times. But then I think of one more thing I NEED to do and the list just gets longer.

My newest idea? Making a fabric covered headboard. I've always wanted a real, grown up bed but figured we should wait until we have a house to really settle into the "adult bed" idea. Don't ask me why, that's just how I think. But then I started toying with the idea of making my own headboard for a temporary solution and found this link:

http://blissfulbegonia.wordpress.com/2007/11/04/how-to-make-a-fabric-covered-headboard/


Very helpful and inspiring. I'd totally make mine some sort of textured white fabric to match the curtains and duvet cover. It's going to be fabulous. Then I scoured the internet for some store-bought beds for ideas. Here is one from JCPenney that I like a lot:
That is basically a headboard with covered rails for the sides. I could totally do that, right? And voila, there is a fabric covered bed for us to enjoy before we buy a real wooden bed. We'll see if this all pans out. Because I totally forgot to announce that my wonderful Mom is coming up for an Artic visit in three weeks! She is coming for a three day weekend and plans on doing crafts and projects with her only daughter as we catch up on some much needed girl time. She may even bring her sewing machine in case we decide to whip up some curtains...but now I'm thinking we could make a headboard. Who knows what we'll create!

So yeah, my project list is a little bit much:

~decorate the whole duplex
~finish the kitchen
~fully unpack
~find room for all of our stuff
~make a headboard
~learn how to sew
~then sew some curtains
~learn photoshop
~then design our wedding album
~start a scrapbooking side business
~train for a full marathon
~keep up with the internet world [blogging, email, myspace, facebook]
~be a good wife [meaning, take time for my husband amongst this madness]
~be a good mommy to Henry [meaning take the poor guy outside even when it's sinfully cold]
~get regular with church-going
~plan a kick arse vacation
~oh and of course work full time, and then some, because we have to pay the bills somehow!

Whew. It's all fun and good stuff but I need to pace myself, too. Otherwise the inevitable "Julia freak out" is going to hit hard.

So mondays CAN be fun?

First of all, I'm about to break up with Blogger. She's acting up again, taking YEARS to upload pictures. She is officially on probation.

Secondly, I didn't have to work today!! I called in first thing this morning and it was kind of iffy, but my boss came through a hero stating, "I'd really like you to enjoy a day off." Thank the Lord in heaven. Much needed indeed.

So what did we do all day? Let me show you.

1. The refrigerator arrived! It's beautiful, just like my husband in this picture:

The only problem is that our kitchen floor is far from being finished so we have to store the fridge in the dining room. Not optimal but it will do. We are very happy, can you tell? Also can you tell that "operation Teepee Brown" is complete? The detail painting is done for awhile at least.

2. We started polyurethaning our cabinets. It sucks big time. First you sand, then vacuum, then wipe, then polyurethane, then wait two hours and start all over again. We have two coats done and I really want to stop here. It's just like a plastic seal so it doesn't really stain them too much and I like the end result. BEFORE:
And AFTER:
Big difference, huh? I can't wait until we put on the hardware, add the shelf liners and have storage! But I've decided that if we EVER renovate a future kitchen of our own we will be purchasing finished cabinets. This unfinished stuff isn't worth the saved money, in my opinion.

3. I finally bought stain for my neglected "H." I went with my favorite style of wood which is "dark as hell." The darker the better for me, so I went for it. BEFORE:
And AFTER:
The grain still shows up and I really like it. Can't wait to hang it up somewhere!

4. Speaking of hanging things on walls, I had a miniature breakdown last night. I freaked out because the place doesn't feel like ours, or comfortable, or homey without my pictures hanging on the walls. So Nate lovingly hung our big fat mirror in our bedroom! Now I feel much better.
Of course, once our kitchen is done, guest bedroom cleared out, and storage space is available I'll feel much more comfortable, too. I just keep reminding myself that we won't be living in chaos much longer. But Mr. OCD is really kicking in these days and I'm struggling with cardboard boxes in general. Only a few more weeks, right?

5. We went to Target, a.k.a. The Black Hole of Doom. Seriously, how is it possible to spend $70 on 11 measly little items. And we didn't even buy anything fun just random cleaning supplies, razors [the culprit, I swear!], and gum. I used to love Target but lately I despise it because they are so inconveniently located in this city and they suck away all of our money.

6. We researched vacations. This is our new pass time! But we aren't getting anywhere because now the list is even longer: San Diego, Vegas, Fort Lauderdale, Miami, Cancun, Cozumel, and Cabo San Lucas have all been added to our possibilities. I really hope the travel agent emails me back soon to help with this decision. But until then it's fun to dream:)

So yeah, Mondays aren't so bad when you don't have to work. Too bad it can't always be like this!

Three things

1. I gave my blog it's monthly face lift today, so for those of you who read through Google Reader, you may want to see the new decor:) I'm completely guilty of reading blogs the lazy way through GR, too, and miss the real layouts.

2. I've spent my day off doing the following: sleeping until 9 am [went to be at 10 pm!], laundry, car wash [it was hideous and felt neglected], and scouring the internet for our anniversary trip. My new idea: KEY WEST! I'm still keeping Napa and Boston at the top of our "must see" list, but right now the beach is calling. And we've always wanted to see Key west. Look at these pictures and try not to drool:

Do you see what I see? The LOW in May/June is 78 degrees. The low, people. The highs are in the 80s which is my ideal temperature. This aspect sells me instantly on Florida. Also, I really want to keep this vacation under 2k for the hotel [5 nights], flights, and food/drink. It CAN be done but we just need to research a bit. I'm also toying with the idea of Mexico because it's usually inexpensive but we'll see. Right now I'm all about Key West but I have to run it by the big guy when he gets home.

3. Apparently, I might have the day off tomorrow. My boss and co-workers basically told me on Saturday that I looked "tired" and "worn out" the whole day. I think they feel sorry for me and my dark circled eyes because I've been working my arse off there then attempting to work 0n the house in the evenings. So they've pulled some strings and told me to call in the morning, just in case they get hit hard with new evals, but otherwise I'm off tomorrow! Cross your fingers that we don't have a rash of ankle fractures on our death trap ice because I'd LOVE another day to breathe. Not to mention that Nate also has a day off so I could actually spend some time with my husband for once. Shocking concept, I know.

My milkshake brings all the boys to the yard...

Blogger is being a little skank tonight and took approximately 5 minutes to upload each picture. Why does it have to be such a finicky little baby sometimes? Anyway...

This post is about dancing. I don't get the pleasure of gracing the dance floor very often nowadays. But when I do---usually at one of the numerous weddings we attend---watch out. A few glasses of vino and I become a regular Chris Brown. Why are you laughing? I'm serious, in my own head I'm a very good dancer. But in real life my friends tell me I only know one dance and that would be the infamous "Booty Dance." It mostly involves me squatting down to get eye level with my friends, then shaking my rump in a fit of liquid courage. It's extremely sexy, let me tell you.

I'm one of the lucky ones in the world to have these entertaining images captured in photos. Very expensive photos taken on the most important day of my life: my own wedding. Now I really don't know what got into me that fateful night because I wasn't extremely intoxicated or anything, so I'm going to blame it on the euphoria felt when surrounded by your bestest friends and greatest family on the happiest day of your life. That, and the fact that I got to hand select some of my favorite "booty shaking" songs prior to the big night. Gotta love D.J.s who listen to their brides:)

So without further ado, I present to you just a tiny fraction of obscene grinding pictures from our wedding. Trust me, there are countless others that didn't make it into this post mostly because of Blogger's attitude problem. I tried to steer away from my commonly selected shots for knot bios, myspace, facebook, etc but they all get jumbled together in my head sometimes. Enjoy!

Meet Megan, my miniature twin. She is actually a fabulous dancer but she humors me sometimes and comes down to my level. I am not kidding when I say she can do the best Beyonce impression EVER [for a tiny little white girl.]

The Sprinkler. Totally classy, I know. I love Lindsey in the background of this one.

What? My little brother can break it down on the dance floor? Mmmmmmkay! I believe this was a part of the "Air Force Ones" series.

I don't really know what's going on here, but I'm pretty sure it's rather inappropriate.

Now meet Keri, my partner in dancing crime for many years. We enjoy bumping, grinding and partaking in Mexican dance offs together. She beat me in Mexico, for the record, but the judges were only swayed by her curvaceous figure. Right, Keri?

Oh yes, then there is the "pointing your fingers nonstop" series. Love that one.

I present to you The Dogg, a.k.a. Milldogg, a.k.a. Sarah. She is such a fabulous dancer she created her own dance move called "The Mixa." It's quite popular amongst the young kids these days. She has the power to make me lift up my gown to show a little leg. Not good.

Our cousins Joey and Michelle bust a move. Isn't she the cutest thing ever?

Danny. Of course, there's Danny. He pulled out the old school moves and nearly split a seam in his pants. Possibly the funniest moment of the night.
This would be the Rodger Rabbit. Is it a problem that one of our guests captured this moment live and put it on You Tube? He missed the opening moves but you get the point:




Meet Brian, master of the "fish out of water" move.

And now for the real reason for my post: Chris Brown. I am obsessed with his dance moves. I watched his VMA performance multiple times while slightly drooling. I just figured out how to post a You Tube video on my blog and decided you should probably watch Chris break it down. After that, you'll need to watch "Live in Color" from America's Best Dance Crew. Their little routine is what caused my severe hip injury. Just watch the last little bit when they squat down low. You'll understand my pain.





What have I done?


I have a date with my first 26.2 mile run on October 5, 2008. No backing out now, folks. I officially paid and signed my life away on the waiver. Basically I had to promise to train and not die, so we'll see how that goes.

And all of a sudden this full marathon is a real thing and very, very scary. I guess this means I need to start running again, huh? :) My 'too stressed, too busy, too cold' excuse has to give sometime.

I'm going to run my first full marathon!!

metro hubby of mine

J: Your new 'backpack' came in the mail today.
N: Really? My Patagonia one?
J: Yes, your really metro-sexual, name brand bag you purchased for school [that doesn't start until June.]
N: [Runs over to the box with wide eyes and tears it open.]
J: OMG. That is the LARGEST backpack I've ever seen in my life. It's too big, Nate.
N: That's what she said.
J: Stop with The Office quotes, you aren't as funny as Michael.
N: You really think it's too big to wear to school?
J: Well, it looks big enough to carry two Henrys in but other than that I guess it's fine.

[looking at each other, wheels turning simultaneously.....]







All I can think of is this: My husband is now officially a Jessica Simpson wanna be.He'll totally make new friends in PT school with that thing, right? Especially if Henry tags along to each class. They'll be quite the pair.

Henry: Mom, I simply don't have the time to attend classes with Dad. I'm a very busy person.
H: Seriously. Leave me alone. I'm doing my Sphinx pose, woman.

Sam: When are you people going to leave my house already? My schedule is totally thrown off and I just can't take this chaos anymore.S: Feed me. I'm wasting away to nothing!
Just a typical night in this house. Never boring!
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