What Celebrity Do YOU Look Like?!

Thanks to my hubby for finding this fun gizmo!

You can also "morph" into different celebrities. Here is me morphing into my top match, Hilary Duff:

MyHeritage: Celebrity Morph - Family tree template - Genology

10 Skills You Need to Succeed . . .

I got this article from my lovely daddy! It was written by Dustin Wax.

A very interesting article . . . I tried to apply it to myself to see what I need to work on to become more successful . . .

1. Public Speaking --> check! I got the wonderful opportunity to give a speech at the Glenhill Appreciation Dinner at Penn State Behrend (my junior year of college) to recognize donors whose personal gifts to the college have reached the $50K - $99,999 level. I also was picked to give a speech at graduation for college. Of course I was nervous, and looking back I cannot believe that I was actually able to do that, because I always get butterflies in my stomach when I have to get up and talk in front of people. But they truly were amazing experiences that I will never forget.


2. Writing --> check!? I believe I am decent at writing . . . . never received any awards for it . . . and English was my worst subject, but I still got A's and B's.
3. Self-Management --> check. I am probably one of the most organized peepz I know. I keep a calendar book with me so that I always know what my schedule is like. As far as strong sense of discipline . . . ehh . . . I keep myself on track. I do not work out every day like I would like, but I make sure to get some activity in during the week.
4. Networking --> still working on this one. I consider myself a fairly social person, and I love to meet new people. . . I just hate asking people to do things for me. I am the person that loves to do things for other people.
5. Critical Thinking --> check. I believe I have a natural ability for critical thinking . . . and often do over analyze things. I guess that is one reason I thought accounting would be a good profession for me.
6. Decision Making --> ugh . . . this is probably my biggest need of improvement. Going with the critical thinking thing and me over analyzing things . . . it tends to take a bit longer to make decisions. That and always wanting to make other people happy and do what they want makes me tend to not say what I want or think. I am getting better though.
7. Math --> check. My best subject in school by far (not including gym class)! Although the use of calculators all throughout school have made my brain dependent on them!
8. Research --> oh the joys of internet! I remember back in the day you needed to use encyclopedias and almanacs and other books to research, but now you have endless information at the click of a finger!
9. Relaxation --> hmm . . . this is a tricky one! I definitely love my relaxation time, but I have to admit I am probably more stressed most of the time. I really do need to loosen up a little and just go with the flow. I think Shane has helped me a lot on this.
10. Basic Accounting --> check! Yay! I am an accountant, so I better have some basic accounting!

Ok . . . so I really need to work on relaxing, decision making, and networking. What do you need to work on?!

God Does Amazing Things . . .

Ok so I usually do not like talking about this subject with other people, because I do not believe in forcing a religion on someone . . . and it is just always a touchy subject, but I just have to tell you what happened this weekend.

After my contact sports post, some amazing things happened. Shane and I went to church on Saturday night at SFCC. A wonderful church community that we can proudly say we are a part of. The message was about the story of Jonah. I won't get into that, but basically what I got out of it . . . God continues to test your character in order to make you a better person and a person that He wants and knows you can be. You cannot avoid this, but you must face these "tests", especially if you DO want to become a better person. I of course, applied this to my contact sports situation. It was the most recent issue that truly tested my character. And at first I wanted to avoid the confrontation, and quit. I did not want to be a part of that because of how it made me feel and how it made me act. But now, through this message, I know that I do need to face this so that I can work on my character and learn to control my competitiveness and aggressiveness. I am excited to take on this test of character.

Also, I mentioned that I wanted to play volleyball as it has been way too long since I have last played! And wouldn't you know it?! . . . I got asked to be a sub this weekend! I got to play over three hours of competitive volleyball, and it was such a blast! I met a bunch of new, awesome people, and had so much fun!

Another thing that God amazes me with is my wonderful husband (one week until our 1 year anniversary!!)! He is always there for me every step of the way, and for a guy that never talks that much . . . when I need him to give me some advice, he seems to be able to know exactly what to say. I keep growing closer and closer to him, and every day I grow more in love with him (I'm sorry . . I know this is too mushy for you).

God does some amazing things though, and I am so thankful for everything He has ever given me or taught me.

And another thing . . . . one of my best friends, KT, celebrated her 24th birthday yesterday!! So HAPPY BIRTHDAY KT!! Unfortunately I was over 400 miles away from her, but we will all celebrate in four months on our BFF cruise!!!

Kt is also getting married next year and I am lucky enough to be a bridesmaid in her wedding! Soooooooooooooooooo excited!

Yay! :-)

Contact Sports: Watch But No Play

This post was inspired by the American Gladiators show from Monday. Militia got a little fired up in the gauntlet, making this highly contact competition even more interesting . . .



So what's my point? My point is that I have been playing sports competitively since I was in 9th grade in high school (nine or ten years ago?? . . wow time flies) . . but I have always been involved in non-contact sports (volleyball, track & field). Not until college . . . where I started doing intramurals (flag football, basketball, soccer, etc) did I begin to get myself into the ruthless and aggressive "contact" sports. And let me tell you . . . it is COMPLETELY different playing these sports. People get so aggressive! And I'll admit it . . . I am a competitive person and do not like to lose! I do not let people push me around, but I also do not initiate the contact. I have been involved in some minor scuffles, and I can honestly say after every game that had these aggressive, dirty players I look back on the game and just think how un-fun it was! I feel terrible about myself that I stooped to the other persons level, and for an intramural or league game . . it is just not worth it to me when people play like this. I am out there for a good time, some exercise, and to meet some nice people. And contact sports just do not do this for me . . . (minus the exercise and peepz on my team) however, watching contact sports is always entertaining! And it's sad to say but I think people enjoy watching these contact sports (football, basketball, etc.) for that very reason of having that competitiveness and aggressiveness. So I will leave the playing to other people who enjoy beating each other up mentally and physically, while I stick with my volleyball and track and only watch the crazy contact sports.

Harry Potter : Half Blood Prince Trailer! and Theme Park!

Finally another movie for my viewing pleasure!!



and I can't wait for THIS!

Home Sweet Home (Erie, PA). . . I miss you!

from Flickr

Shane and I moved from Erie, PA to Fredericksburg, VA over two years ago (Shane got a really good job offer) . . . I can't believe it has been that long already! We had a really hard time when we first moved as we are both HUGE family people. We cried pretty much every night for the first month . . at least. Everyone told us. . "it will get easier . . don't worry . . " and although we do not cry every night like we used to, we still miss our families, our friends, and gulp . . . dreary Erie!

You all know about the soon addition to our family . . our niece! And being so far away from the new experiences, the fun, and the joy she will bring . . . . it just kills me! My best friends get together almost every weekend for the "ushe", and it makes me so sad that I can not be there. I always feel so left out. And of course my parents, my grandparents, my parent-in-laws, my brothers and sissies, all the pets, and the rest of the fam . . . . we are missing so much of their lives!

And dear old Erie . . . the mistake-by-the-lake . . . I do not know why people talk down on you so much, because I miss so many things about you!

• Waldameer (Amusement park with a brand new rollar coaster that even my dad and mom said they would ride! They really aren't old! ;-) . . . The coaster is ranked the #2 wooden rollar coaster in the world and #3 overall by CoasterFanatics)


• Presque Isle State Park (sand volleyball, paddle boat renting, soaking up the rays, taking the doggies to run around off leash . . .shh. . don't tell . . . , swimming around, wave jumping, greasy food eating, boating, sunset watching, relaxing)


• Erie Zoo (They have renovated this soooo much since I was younger and it is just great to be able to see these amazing animals . . although I do always feel bad they can not be in the wild and free, I truly value getting to see their beauty and intrique up close)


• The Bayfront (Just a peaceful ride that my grandpa always used to take me on . . around the dock to see the beautiful scenery)


• Downtown (I am not a big partier . . . but going downtown every once in a while is always a good time. My fav . . . the Plymouth)


• The Snow (Living in Virginia does not give you much snow. We get lots of ice, but no snow. And because my hubby loves to ski and because I am still learning . . . I wish we were around snow more . . I know . . you think after living in Erie for 22 years you would be sick of all the snow, but when you NEVER get it . . . you start to miss it!)


• The Warner (My parents and I used to always go to Broadway or Philharmonic shows, and although I wouldn't say I am a very artistic/musically inclined person, I looooooved these!)

Those are not all of the things Erie has to offer, but those are my favorites and those are what I miss the most. Hopefully soon we can get some good job offers so we can move back to where we belong! Pray for us!

The Oldest Fair in the Nation!

My wonderful hubby and I decided to go to the annual Fredericksburg Fair on opening Friday night. We got there about 6:30 and left around 9:30 or so. Overall it was a great night out! We haven't been to a fair in a loooooong time, so we were definitely hungry for some greasy food, lots of hicks, carnie rides, agricultural animals, and fun . . .

My personal favs were the animals and the food!

Also, when I made Shaney watch the Miss Fredericksburg Fair pageant, I thought I kept hearing "boooos" and I was like "well that's pretty rude", and then later found out we were right next to the cow barn and they were all "moooooo"-ing! I was pretty happy with the winner though. She seemed the most down to earth and "real".

We were also entertained with some ATV cross country course riding! We saw a four year old driving around on one of those things and he won his heat!! He was so tiny!! And later we were front row joe for an accident where one of the older riders was going off a jump and his front end starting going underneath him . . . he then jumped off, and the ATV rolled over top of him! He was fine! Thank goodness! But I had my hands over my mouth for a very long time! And then later, in the same race . . right at the end a guy went off the jump to the finish line and he landed all weird and had to jump off the ATV right before it went into the fence 100 gazillion miles per hour. He was luckily ok too, but had a limp. I just couldn't believe we saw two accidents in one race! Crazy!

Below are some pics from the fair! Enjoy!

Shaney and Me @ the Fair

(me with some messed up hair)

The Tortoise and the Hare!

This Wallaby was the only animal where we weren't allowed to go up to the cage.
It was trying to pick a fight with the emus next door!

Yum! Greasy fair food!

Here is the four year old kid driving the ATV! Crazy!

Aww! This mommy was licking it's baby clean!

The baby was born only 20 days ago and was the cutest thing I have seen!


Rock Star!
Seriously . . . he peed for like five minutes. Not even joking.

Wacky Waving Inflatable Arm Flailing Tube Man!
. . we had to.

Can't go to the fair without a funnel cake and some sugar lemonade!

I got to feed the llamas! This one was soooo excited about the food!

I tried to feed her baby but she wouldn't let me! She wanted it all for herself!

I took this pic of Shaney so I could get the lady to his left holding some balloons in a very wrong way.

I think she caught on to us though. Right after we took this pic, she turned around.


Can't go to the fair without getting these goodies either!
Cotton candy, fudge, and a candy apple! Yum!

Do you run? . . . .

ok so last night i was at the local gym . . running away on the treadmill when a guy came up to me and said "do you run?" . . . . . . umm . . .yeah! obviously . . . i AM running right now. . .

but funny that i knew what he meant when he said that . . . because that is actually the third or fourth time since we moved to fredericksburg that someone has come up to me and asked if i do track & field (which i used to do . . . in highschool and college . . over TWO years ago . . ). it's crazy how people can tell just by looking at your physique! i would say half the people picked out my events (jumping), but last night he thought i was a middle distance runner . . ha! i wish i had any endurance what so ever! i ran the 400 meter dash (one time around the track) once in highschool . . . ideally you are supposed to "sprint" the entire thing, but i was not trained for it and not sure how to run the race so i started out with a mad dash and was doing pretty well . . . but as soon as i got around the last bend and saw the straight away . . wooooo eeee!! i was completely exhausted. i had to literally stop and catch my breath. by then the other runners were caught up so i decided i needed to at least finish! so i was huffing and puffing the last 100 meters, but i finally made it to the finish line (2nd place maybe?) and said "i am never doing that again". all the props in the world to long distance runners. . . i don't know how you do it!

but with this also comes my excitement of the 2008 summer olympics!

(especially because one of the girls i competed with in highschool, Sheena Gordon, tried out for high jump and triple jump, and because i just love watching track and how talented people are and wish i could be that good!)

8.8.2008

it's amost here!!!

My 4-D Niece!

yesterday bry & sommer had their 4-d sonogram for their baby girl!!

i am getting more and more excited!!!! but also more and more bummed that i won't be there the minute she is born!! :-( we live about 6 1/2 to 7 hours away from erie, pa (where the baby will be born), and there is just no way we can get there in enough time unless sommer is in labor for a loooong time, but i don't wish that on her at all! i told them they just have to take lots of pictures and remember everything so they can tell me all about it!

the time is coming near though! they had their last baby class monday, and got a tour of the hospital! they have their bags all packed and are ready for the day! i can't wait to share the baby pictures with you! :-)

So I Wish I Could Dance . . .

there is this show on tv that i have taken a liking to . . A LOT! it's a show called so you think you can dance.

my nostalgia for dance has always been inside me, but has been brought out even more since i have been watching this show. thanks to my lovely parents i started dancing when i was about five years old. i did everything . . . tap, jazz, ballet (pointe), acrobatics, and adagio. i then decided that i wanted to give it up around sixteen or seventeen to become ungirly and do sports (track & field and volleyball particularly). ever since then i have missed it, but i haven't truly thought about starting it back up again until this show brought back my love for dance. i have looked at dance places around town, and i was then quickly brought back to how expensive it is for dance lessons. another issue is that i want to take hiphop . . .i think it would be a fun type of dance i have never tried, . . . but with that also comes my very white skin. as for whether i bust out the cash for the lessons. . . who knows?! but i do know that i will always have that place in my heart for dancing and all of the training, sweat, tears, broken toenails, long nights and weekends, sore muscles . . and for that time at the very end of the season when all of that stuff doesn't matter anymore because you are out there sharing your heart and your passion through an incredible performance.

and for those interested in the show and want to see a snippet (one of my favorite dances of the season). . . here ya go:



and in case you're wondering who i'm rooting for . . . i'm a big chelsie fan along with josh, will, and twitch! they are all amazing though, so i'll be happy with anyone winning!

UPDATE!!! last nights show was probably the best one overall! i enjoyed every single performance, but here is my top pic: