Liz
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Below are the 10 most recent journal entries recorded in the "Liz" journal:[<< Previous 10 entries]
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04:02 pm
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Grow, tulips, grow!
We have many things coming out of the ground in front of our house. It looks like there will be many tulips. The grape hyacinths are already in bloom and the bleeding hearts will be blooming soon. I love spring!
Nothing too new is going on. I ran to California for a couple days for business this week, but after 11 hours of sleep last night, I'm back to my old self.
We've been playing Rockband 2 a lot, but for some reason, it's been freezing on us lately. We finish a song or 2 in our set and the whole thing locks up and we have to unplug the Wii. So frustrating! How are we ever supposed to make it through the 84 song set!?!
I better get started on some meatloaf and get ready to read at church tonight.
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09:13 am
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Promotion
All in all, this week wasn't so bad. I had a presentation on Monday and another one on Tuesday, but I made it through. My next design review isn't for another week and a half.
The best part of the week was Thursday, when my boss called me in to let me know that I got a promotion. This is my second promotion and I'm super happy about it.
It's that time of year again when all the tulips and bleeding hearts are coming out of the ground. It looks like most of them are returning, which I was pretty worried about. It seems some little critter eats our bulbs each year, but they didn't get to them all. We've had a very chilly winter (or at least that's the excuse the gas/electric company is using for our ridiculously high bills), so I hope the tulips made it through all right. I guess we'll see in a few weeks. The lilies are also starting to surface.
It has been gray outside for a week. So depressing. I'm very ready for spring and even more ready for summer. I hate being cold.
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08:36 pm
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Getting in Shape
I've been randomly signing up for fitness classes at work for a couple years now. In the fall, I was taking Zumba. It just seemed like one class a week wasn't enough, though. So, I signed up for all 3 classes offered at our facility. On Mondays, it's a toning class (hand weights, lunges, etc.). Tuesday is Pilates and Wednesday is Zumba (latin american dance aerobics). I've also been doing workout tapes at home on the weekends. This means I'm always sore. I guess it's a good thing and maybe I'll be in better shape. The only down side is that my knee issues are popping up again. I feel like an old lady trying to get down the stairs in the morning. Maybe getting a house with the bedroom on the 2nd floor wasn't the best idea.
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08:02 pm
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Brochures
I'm so weird. I love planning trips and requesting brochures for whatever adventure we're planning each year. The other day, I got a North Myrtle Beach booklet and today it was an Outer Banks booklet. I haven't looked through the Outer Banks one, but enjoyed looking through the first one. I saw a super sweet resort, but it's slightly pricey and might be further from the action. I also love that every hotel seems to have a lazy river. I can't wait to see what the Outer Banks have to offer.
Is it Spring yet? I'm done with Winter. We had some pretty snow this morning, but it's super cold tonight. Sunday should be warm, but I just know it'll get really cold again afterwards. Brrr.
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08:59 pm
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TV Shows I've Watched
I took this from Matt's journal. Turns out I don't watch too many of these shows.
1. Bold the shows you watch/used to watch.
2. Italic the shows you've seen at least one episode of.
3. Post your answers.
50. Quantum Leap
49. Prison Break
48. Veronica Mars
47. Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
46. Sex & The City
45. Farscape
44. Cracker
43. Star Trek
42. Only Food and Horses
41. Band of Brothers
40. Life on Mars
39. Monty Python's Flying Circus
38. Curb Your Enthusiasm
37. Star Trek: The Next Generation
36. Father Ted
35. Alias
34. Frasier
33. CSI: Las Vegas
32. Babylon 5
31. Deadwood
30. Dexter
29. ER
28. Fawlty Towers
27. Six Feet Under
26. Red Dwarf
25. Futurama
24. Twin Peaks
23. The Office
22. The Shield
21. Angel
20. Blackadder
19. Scrubs
18. Arrested Development
17. South Park
16. Doctor Who
15. Heroes
14. Firefly
13. Battlestar Galactica
12. Family Guy
11. Seinfeld
10. Spaced
09. The X-Files
08. The Wire
07. Friends
06. 24
05. Lost
04. The West Wing
03. The Sopranos
02. Buffy the Vampire Slayer
01. The Simpsons
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12:16 pm
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Nothing Exciting
The first few weeks of work have been busy, but nothing too exciting is going on. The end of last year was very rewarding. I received an unexpected bonus and raise. I've only received a bonus once before and I've never been given a raise at the end of the year before. Our company has an annual raise schedule, which is August for me and I just had a decent raise at that time. For the last week at work, it seemed like between Josh and me, we were getting something every day. It's nice to feel appreciated.
Now it's the new year, with new goals and more chances to impress people. It's just a lot of work!
We've been carpooling with Larry pretty consistently this year. It's nice to only drive 2 times a week. The only tough part is that I'm taking fitness classes on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays, so I have to wrap up work early and the guys have to wait around for me to finish. This means I have a hard time putting all my time in for the week and they are working extra. I really enjoy the classes, though. I'm taking a toning class, Pilates, and Zumba. I took Zumba in the fall last year, but I haven't done Pilates since last spring. I feel like work is so demanding and I need to get in the habit of taking time away to be active. Especially since it's too cold to ride my bike or play outside.
I'm thinking about going to my 10 year high school reunion. There are so many people I haven't seen in a very long time, plus it's nice to have a reason to see my parents. We're also trying to visit the White House this year. We set up some possible dates and are waiting to hear back if we've been accepted. Josh pulled together a group of about 25. We're also looking into celebrating our 5 year wedding anniversary on a beach in South Carolina this year. I've requested brochures and I can't wait to look them all over. I think I enjoy planning the trip almost as much as going.
Current Mood:  mellow
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01:47 pm
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Christmas and New Year
For Christmas, we took 2 days off of work beforehand and flew to Josh's sister's place in California. We had a nonstop flight, which was great. It was also on the biggest plane we've ever been on. Our flight arrived pretty much on time and we got our luggage without a hitch. Unfortunately, we were supposed to meet Josh's Dad at the airport 2 hours later and his flight was delayed 2 more hours. So, Josh's sister and Mom picked us up and Josh's brother-in-law picked up his Dad much later. Josh's Mom also arrived the night before after a delayed and missed flight.
We had a great time during our break. We went to a family amusement park one evening before Christmas, where they had everything lit up in pretty white lights. We watched the Peanuts characters put on a Christmas show, while we sipped hot chocolate. We also rode some fun rides.
After the Christmas vigil, we decorated sugar cookies for Santa. Christmas morning, we opened all of our gifts, had a great breakfast, and then a wonderful dinner. My niece was especially fun to watch on Christmas as she danced around after she opened each gift.
We also went to the Monterey Aquarium and Bubba Gump Shrimp Co., where a Forrest Gump person was sitting on a park bench, talking to people, and handing out candy. The aquarium was really neat and we watched the workers feed a huge tank of tuna, barracuda, and other fish. We saw some otters, jelly fish, and many other interesting water creatures.
One of my favorite parts of the trip was the Jelly Belly Factory Tour. We were able to watch the entire process of making the jelly beans. They were working on lemon ones when we went through and it smelled great. Plus, I've never been in a room with so much sugar before. After the tour, they gave us little bags of jelly beans and I definitely ate all of mine that day. Josh is still working on his bag. If you ever need to learn how to ration food, he is the master.
Besides the fun around the area, we played a lot of games and watched movies. Josh is always the Smarty Pants and Stephanie and I make great Dancing with the Stars partners.
On New Year's Eve, we headed home and had enough time to unpack and watch the TV specials to bring in the New Year.
We had a full 2 weeks off of work, so we had some friends over that last Friday of our break. We played a little more Smarty Pants and our new TV Scene It game.
We've made it through our first week of work and I guess it's going okay. Nothing has slowed down any. I did get Rockband 2 and another guitar for Christmas, so we've been playing that most nights.
Our Tivo receiver has been frizzing out on us lately and it's been really frustrating. It didn't record one of the college football games for Josh and it randomly resets itself and we have to wait 5 minutes for it to reboot. We figured we'd just need to buy a new one, but Josh is working with someone right now to troubleshoot it. I don't know how we'll know it's successful until it fails again, but it'd be nice if it worked again.
Today, we're going to the Adams' to watch the Titans game. They have become Ravens fans, but we warned them we would be rooting for the Titans. We like the Orioles, but I don't think we'll be getting on the Ravens train any time soon.
We don't have any big trips planned this year, but I'm sure it'll end up being exciting anyway. We always find ourselves busier than we planned.
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06:22 pm
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Thanksgiving and Visitors
This year, we spent Thanksgiving with my parents in Alabama. We had a full week (Monday to Monday) there. We went for walks, ate lots of good food, and played many games. Dad, Jake, Josh, and I went to the theater to watch Quantum of Solace. Mom and Dad showed us a couple homes they like as they got ready to put their house on the market. After Thanksgiving, we spent the next few days putting up the Christmas tree and some decorations. We also braved the crowds on Black Friday (later in the day) to do some Christmas shopping. For the first time in my life, I won croquet when we played with my parents. I also won a round of video poker. I'm a pretty reckless player when it's not for real money and I usually lose. As always, we had a really good time and love spending time with my parents.
In mid-December, Matt and Missy came out to visit us and the area. The first day we they were here, Josh and I took the day off and went down to D.C. We walked around the monuments (WWII, Korean War, Vietnam, and Lincoln), went to the newly renovated American History museum, and wandered by the Pageant of Peace (Christmas trees). We had to work the rest of the week since I had a class project due that Wednesday and work can be very busy at the end of the year. Tuesday evening, we just relaxed at home, played Rockband, and played Chocolate Trivial Pursuit that Matt and Missy bought for us. Wednesday, we went to a crab place for crab cakes. We celebrated Matt's upcoming birthday with some cake. Thursday, we did more relaxing, finishing off the Trivial Pursuit game. They left Friday, but it was very nice having them here.
We finished off our last few weeks of work for the year and spent Friday and Saturday evening with the Macejkas and Adams. We got to meet Larry and Ashley's dog, Einstein. He was getting over pneumonia, so wasn't too playful, but is a very nice dog.
We are halfway through our break. I'm happy we have another week off, but, of course, it is going by very quickly. We have been doing a lot of game playing and movie watching, but I'll have to go into more detail later.
Hope everyone had a Merry Christmas and hope you have a Happy New Year!
Current Mood: relaxed
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11:52 am
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Almost There
I have one more hectic week and then the rest of the year, hopefully, will be smooth sailing. I have a customer presentation next Wednesday, but I'm thinking it won't be too bad. The preparation leading up to it is the hard part. And then there's another customer presentation to help someone else prepare for on Thursday. It may be a long week, but knowing that Thanksgiving break is around the corner makes all the difference.
So much has happened in the last two months:
- Josh and I celebrated our 4 year anniversary
- We met up with my parents, Josh's parents, and some of my extended family for our college's homecoming
- We watched the original Star Wars trilogy with Larry and Ashley (over 3 weeks)
- I traveled to the west coast for business
- We went to a pumpkin patch with Charley, Amanda, and Scarlette
- We went to pumpkin festivals with Mike, Sarah, and Ethan
- We carved pumpkins with Larry and Ashley
- We celebrated Halloween with Mike, Sarah, Dragon Ethan, Charley, Amanda, and Yellow Jacket Scarlette
- We had a Rockband party with Larry, Ashley, and Charley
- I cut Josh's hair for the first time (although I plan on a do-over sometime this weekend)
- Josh and I beat Lego Indiana Jones
- We went to my company group picnic
- I got a couple bonuses and a raise at work
- We saw an advanced screening of Madagascar 2
I'm sure there are many things I forgot, but that's all I can remember for now.
Now for a great weekend with no real commitments.
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06:12 pm
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Birthday
Yea! Today's my birthday.
A lot has happened between Rockband and my birthday. From the frequency of me posting, I'm sure you think that all I've been doing is Rockband. That's not completely true (although would be if life were perfect). We went to California for July 4th to visit Josh's family. I had a business trip in August. Immediately after landing, Josh and I drove to Williamsburg, Virginia. We enjoyed Busch Gardens and Water Country. My parents came in to town for a couple weeks. We went to the Maryland State Fair and enjoyed other local entertainment. Last weekend, we went to a friend's wedding, which was beautiful and fun. This weekend, we're celebrating my birthday.
I noticed in the local paper yesterday that IKEA was celebrating 20 years in Baltimore. I looked at the events and they said they'd be passing out birthday cake to everyone on the 14th. If that's not enough to get me to go to IKEA, they also had a promotion that they'd give a $10 gift card to anyone who was born on September 14th. Hey, my birthday's on the 14th! So, we went to IKEA, I got my $10 gift card and we walked around and found the party cake (which was really good).
After IKEA, we went to the Orioles game. They have an all-you-can-eat left field club at Camden Yards and I've been wanting to try it out. What better time than on my birthday? So, we spent the extra money and were ushered up to the air-conditioned club level. We found our seats and then went to get our hand-stamped for food. It's all you can eat hot dogs, sodas, nachos, peanuts, popcorn, and ice cream sandwiches. We started off with hot dogs and drinks, and had a couple baskets of nachos, popcorn, and some ice cream sandwiches. I had 3 drinks plus a bottle of water I brought. It was a toasty 95°. The club level with concessions and bathrooms are air-conditioned, but the seating is not. It was nice to take a break from the heat every now and then. It was also nice to go into a non-crowded, higher scale bathroom throughout the game. I'm glad we did it once. And I think I got my money's worth in sodas. Plus, the O's won and Liz pitched 8 of the 9 innings. Maybe now they'll start making Liz jerseys.
We will be enjoying brownies instead of cake this year. My Mom made me a fantastic red velvet cake while she was out here, so I didn't think we should have another cake.
Here's to another exciting year!
Current Mood: cheerful
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