I got a going away present from my employers....

Check this out!

I am in love with this....

For Dezzie

So many years of living so close. The millions of phone calls, the tears about whatever, junk food, good movies, concerts. God, there is so much.
I don't know that there will ever be the right words for me to describe you. You mean more to me than air, than water, than a beautiful pair of heels. :)
To the man that helped make me such a wonderful woman. To the man that reminds me everyday that I am beautiful. To the man that has always accepted my decisions- right or wrong. I love you. I am so proud of you. I am going to miss you so much.

"If ever there is tomorrow when we're not together.. there is something you must always remember. you are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think. but the most important thing is, even if we're apart.. i'll always be with you."- Pooh

“It is more fun to talk with someone who doesn't use long, difficult words but rather short, easy words like "What about lunch?"”- Pooh

I dedicate this song to you.

You Are Candy Corn

Your Halloween personality is whimsical, colorful, and creative. You see Halloween as a time to get your creative juices flowing. Each year, Halloween can't start soon enough for you. You tend to go all out for Halloween. You decorate like crazy and always dress up.

What Halloween Treat Are You?

You Should Be a Gangster for Halloween

According to our quiz, you'd make an ideal gangster. Your runner up costume: Nurse

The Halloween Costume Generator

What Your Cute Monster Says About You

You are a very natural, real person. You're comfortable with who you are - and your spirit truly shines through. You are free of inhibitions and hang ups. Because of this freedom, you tend to be very creative. Your inner demon is greed. You can't help but lust after wealth and shiny objects. People think you're cute because you are so lively. Your natural glow makes you charming.

The Cute Monster Test

What Your Jack-o-Lantern Says

You are a gleeful, exuberant person. You enjoy a good party, and you even enjoy a good brawl. This Halloween, there is no question what you should be... a pirate! The candy you should give out: peanut butter cups

The Jack-o-Lantern Quiz

Spokane Washington here we come!!

Fishstick and I have had an amazing offer presented to us and we have decided to jump on it. It's exciting, scary and over stimulating to me. December 1, 2008 we will be in a U-Haul and on our way up to our new house (new to us, older in the grand scheme of things) to dig our roots in and really start our lives together as a married couple.

There are people and things I am going to miss like crazy but all in all this couldn't have come at a better time. Time for changes, time for new things. It's going to be wonderful!!

There is so much to do and I'm a little overwhelmed but I know that if I take 5 million deep breathes it'll all be done timely and organized.

Changes

are abruptly happening.

I'll be seeing this soon!

see Sarah Palin pictures



see Sarah Palin pictures

Hump Day fun

What Your Socks Say About You

You Are: - Quite cuddly - Downright adorable - Truly kind - Infinitely patient

The Socks Personality Test

You Are Having a Brown Day

Today you are your normal responsible, serious self. You're getting done what needs to be done. And you're not too worried about how you're feeling. While you're all business, you are still warm and approachable. You are busy, but you're not too busy for a little fun down time.

What Color Day Are You Having?

You Are a Chicken

You are a naturally curious and inquisitive being. You are often poking your nose where it doesn't belong! Collecting nuggets of knowledge is important to you. You enjoy knowing everything you can. You are very independent and strong willed. You don't like to be bossed around, and you do as you please. You are quite determined and able to take on challenges. You will “peck away” at a problem until it's gone.

What Animal Are You?

Your Hair Should Be Blonde

You are outgoing, light hearted, and a ton of fun. You don't take life too seriously, and you do your best to charm everyone you meet. You are very energetic. People tend to underestimate you, but you can get a lot done. You do tend to be a bit sensitive. If someone has a bad opinion of you, it truly hurts. You are cunning and clever. You are smart, but you aren't “book smart” or academic. Some people may think you're superficial, but they're not seeing the whole picture.

What Color Hair Should You Have?

Your Funky Japanese Name Is

Kayatakiku

What's Your Funky Japanese Name?

Da Count- real people

to the real people
without agendas
that go with their gut
that love with their soul

that try to understand
that are there when it really matters
and know when you're okay

the ones that you don't have to see every day
but crave their time when its been too long
that make you smile without trying
and cry with you when you're down

to the ones that sit on the kitchen floor drinking wine with you
and call from an outing to invite you there
the ones that take time to make you feel loved
and let you do the same in return

(to a couple of important women in my life, thank you)

Yowza

This song makes my mind think bad thoughts :)

RAWR

stole it from Joy!

Place an X by all the things you’ve done and remove the X from the ones you have not. Answer the 30 questions at the end.
This is for your entire life!

(X) Gone on a blind date
(X) Skipped school, college
() Been to Canada
(X) Been to Mexico
() Been to Florida
(X) Been on a plane
(X) Been lost
(X) Been on the opposite side of the country
(X ) Been to Washington , D.C.
(X) Swam in the ocean
(X) Cried yourself to sleep
(X) Played cops and robbers
(X) Recently colored with crayons
() Sang Karaoke
(X) Paid for a meal with coins only?
(X) Done something you told yourself you wouldn’t?
(X) Made prank phone calls
(X) Laughed until some kind of beverage came out of your nose
(X ) Caught a snowflake on your tongue
(X) Danced in the rain
(X) Written a letter to Santa Claus
( ) Been kissed under the mistletoe
(X) Watched the sunrise with someone you care about
(X) Blown bubbles
(X) Gone ice-skating
() Been skinny dipping outdoors
() Gone to the movies alone
(X) Got a speeding ticket

1. Any nickname? Katie-Did
2. Favorite drink? coffee
3. Mother’s name? Gloria
4. Tattoo? a couple with a few more to come
5. Body Piercing? have a few
6. How much do you love your job? I don't, it's a job
7. Birthplace? Fresno
8. Favorite vacation spot? Maui was the bestest
9. Ever been to Africa ? No
10. Ever eaten cookies for dinner? oh yeah
11. Ever been on TV? my hand has
12. Ever steal any traffic sign? no, cones thats a different story
13. Ever been in a car accident? too many
14. Drive a 2-door or 4-door vehicle? 2 door
15. Favorite salad dressing? this italian with blue cheese in it- YUMMY
16. Favorite pie? I hate pie
17. Favorite number? 10
18. Favorite movie? The Sound of Music
19. Favorite holiday? I love the 4th of July
20. Favorite dessert? Ice cream
21. Favorite food? Sushi
22. Favorite day of the week? I dunno, depends on the week
23. Favorite brand of body wash? I like the one with yogurt in it
24. Favorite toothpaste? Tom's
25. Favorite smell? pumpkin- baking candles whatever
26. What do you do to relax? read, tv, listen to music
27. How do you see yourself in 10 years? in a classroom and a house
28. Furthest place you will send this message? It’s a blog, it can go everywhere.
29. Who will respond to this the fastest? Don’t know. I’ll be blogging it.

:)
30. Who won’t bother to respond? Don’t know.

Toto, I don't think I'll be in California for a while

Business is taking me here......



Should be an interesting trip. Going for a conference and luckily I get to meet up with a few people I haven't seen in a long time! Kansas style BBQ here I come! Pictures to follow when I get back!

Autumn, It's coming....

Smells are changing- pumpkin, apple, spice
So warm and inviting.
This is my favorite time of year, the colors, the weather. Nothing like snuggling upwith a great cup of coffee, a soft blanket and a book.

From Wiki...

Autumn (also known as fall in North American English) is one of the four temperate seasons. Autumn is the period between summer and winter, usually in September (northern hemisphere) or March (southern hemisphere) when the arrival of night becomes noticeably earlier.

	Meteorological	Astronomical
Northern hemisphere	1 September - 30 November[1]	Autumnal equinox (22–23 September) - Winter solstice (21–22 December)
Southern hemisphere	1 March - 31 May	20 March - 21 June

Autumn starts on or around 7 August and ends on about 6 November in solar term.

In Ireland, autumn begins on 1 August and ends 31 October, due to the Irish calendar.

The word autumn comes from the Old French word autompne (automne in modern French), and was later normalized to the original Latin word autumnus.^[2] There are rare examples of its use as early as the 14th century, but it became common by the 16th century.

Before the 16th century, harvest was the term usually used to refer to the season. However as more people gradually moved from working the land to living in towns (especially those who could read and write, the only people whose use of language we now know), the word harvest lost its reference to the time of year and came to refer only to the actual activity of reaping, and fall and autumn began to replace it as a reference to the season.

The alternative word fall is now mostly a North American English word for the season. It traces its origins to old Germanic languages. The exact derivation is unclear, the Old English fiæll or feallan and the Old Norse fall all being possible candidates. However, these words all have the meaning "to fall from a height" and are clearly derived either from a common root or from each other. The term came to denote the season in the 16th century, a contraction of Middle English expressions like "fall of the leaf" and "fall of the year".^[3]

During the 17th century, English immigration to the colonies in North America was at its peak, and the new settlers took their language with them. While the term fall gradually became obsolescent in Britain, it became the more common term in North America, where autumn is nonetheless preferred in scientific and often in literary contexts.

Many ancient civilizations (such as the Amerindians and the ancient Hebrews) computed the years by autumns,^[4][5] while the Anglo-Saxons did so by winters. Tacitus states that the ancient Germans were acquainted with all the other seasons of the year but had no notion of autumn — though this is likely to be wrong, especially as a blanket statement (Tacitus wrote about Germanic tribes without firsthand knowledge and thus promoted myths as well as actual information). Linwood observed of the beginning of the several seasons of the year, that:

"Dat Clemens Hyemem, dat Petrus Ver Cathedratus;

Aestuat Urbanus, Autumnat Bartholomaeus."^[6]

In alchemy, autumn is the time or season when the operation of the Philosopher's stone is brought to maturity and perfection.^[6] It is also symbolised by the Metal element in Chinese astrology.

John Everett Millais, "Autumn Leaves".

Autumn's association with the transition from warm to cold weather, and its related status as the season of the primary harvest, has dominated its themes and popular images. In Western cultures, personifications of autumn are usually pretty, well-fed females adorned with fruits, vegetables and grains and wheat that ripen at this time. Most ancient cultures featured autumnal celebrations of the harvest, often the most important on their calendars. Still extant echoes of these celebrations are found in the mid-autumn Thanksgiving holiday of the United States, and the Jewish Sukkot holiday with its roots as a full moon harvest festival of "tabernacles" (huts wherein the harvest was processed and which later gained religious significance). There are also the many North American Indian festivals tied to harvest of autumnally ripe foods gathered in the wild, the Chinese Mid-Autumn or Moon festival, and many others. The predominant mood of these autumnal celebrations is a gladness for the fruits of the earth mixed with a certain melancholy linked to the imminent arrival of harsh weather.

This view is presented in John Keats' poem To Autumn where he describes the season as a time of bounteous fecundity, a time of 'mellow fruitfulness'.

Autumn in poetry has often been associated with melancholy. The possibilities of summer are gone, and the chill of winter is on the horizon. Skies turn grey, and people turn inward, both physically and mentally.^[7] Rainer Maria Rilke, a German poet, has expressed such sentiments in one of his most famous poems, Herbsttag (Autumn Day), which reads in part:

Wer jetzt kein Haus hat, baut sich keines mehr.

Wer jetzt allein ist, wird es lange bleiben,

wird wachen, lesen, lange Briefe schreiben

und wird in den Alleen hin und her

unruhig wandern, wenn die Blätter treiben.

This translates roughly (there is no official translation) to:

Who now has no house, will not build one (anymore).

Who now is alone, will remain so for long,

will wake, and read, and write long letters

and back and forth on the boulevards

will restlessly wander, while the leaves blow.

Similar examples may be found in William Butler Yeats' poem The Wild Swans at Coole where the maturing season that the poet observes symbolically represents his own aging self. Like the natural world that he observes he too has reached his prime and now must look forward to the inevitability of old age and death. Paul Verlaine's "Chanson d'automne" ("Autumn Song") is likewise characterized by strong, painful feelings of sorrow.

In North America, autumn is also associated with the Halloween season (which in turn was influenced by Samhain, a Celtic autumn festival),^[8] and with it a widespread marketing campaign that promotes it. The television, film, book, costume, home decoration, and confectionery industries use this time of year to promote products closely associated with such holiday, with promotions going from early September to 31 October, since their themes rapidly lose strength once the holiday ends, and advertising starts concentrating on Christmas.

Since 1997, Autumn has been one of the top 100 names for girls in the United States.^[9]

Although colour change in leaves occurs wherever deciduous trees are found, coloured autumn foliage is most famously noted in two regions of the world: most of Canada and the United States; and Eastern Asia, including China, Korea, and Japan. It can also be very significant in Argentina, Australia, Chile and New Zealand, but not to the same degree.

Eastern Canada and the New England region of the United States are famous for the brilliance of their autumnal foliage, and a seasonal tourist industry has grown up around the few weeks in autumn when the leaves are at their peak.

I am all that I am
I am strong
I am willing
I am loving
and loved

I know what I need
When I need it
How I need it
and where it will come from

I won't deal with those who don't
I don't have patience to be thought less of
I will not let the negative over take me
I know who I am

LMFAO

EHS alumni water polo game HNT

Yeah we got together, beat the varsity girls 11-2. And how did I hurt after the game, let me count the ways!





HHNT everyone!
Check out where it all started at Os's place! :)

Things are not always what they seem
People, places, things
Consistently changing, always moving

Left in an ocean of confusion
Left underwhelmed
Left with nothing but empty thoughts running through my mind

Time for adventures
Time for laughs
Time for a hop skip and jump into the unknown

Today I officially put another cap on- I am now a student again. I couldn't be happier and now it's time to rock it. This semester is one class and I'm good with that. I really need to get back on this horse slowly.

I've been mulling around a conversation I had a couple of weeks ago with a friend. We were talking about a class she is taking and one of the comments made was that there is no such thing as unconditional love. That even as children we are conditioned to know that when we are good we are loved more than when we were bad. And on top of that that most people lie and aren't going to truly give themselves over.

I have a hard time with both ideas. First, I don't think we are loved less when we are children and in trouble, I think discipline kicks in and my folks always let me know that I was in trouble because they loved me and wanted me to be a better person. It taught boundaries and levels of expectation but I don't believe that the love was ever less.

As much as I know that many people live their lives with a white lie here and a big one there I try my damnedness not to. I don't feel like that is a way I want to live my life. Will I find a more pleasant way of telling the truth if it could be a bit painful- you bet. I just keep hoping that it'll catch on. I would rather have the truth laid out, even if it hurts a bit, than have someone blow smoke at me over even the smallest thing.

How do you readers feel about something like this?

I <3 time wasters....

You Are Kayaking

You have a competitive spirit, but you don't like to compete alone. You do well in a partnership, where you can feed off the other person's energy. If you have the right partner, nothing can stop you. Your energy is infinite!

What Olympic Sport Are You?

You Are 32% Skeptic

You're not really all that skeptical. You don't really like doing research, and you often believe what sounds right. Occasionally, you have a skeptical instinct. You would be wise to follow that instinct. Some of your deepest beliefs may be dead wrong. Wouldn't you like to know the truth?

Are You a Skeptic?

You Are a Mango Flavored Popsicle

You are a very playful person. For you, summer is all about having a good time. You have a nearly undying energy. You're up for anything at anytime, as long as fun is involved. You keep active as much as possible. You don't feel comfortable if you have to sit still. You're a true kid at heart. You enjoy a popsicle as much as a trip to the amusement park.

What Flavor Popsicle Are You?

Your Feng Shui is Amazing

Your home is the perfect place to work, play, and unwind. Beautiful and streamlined - you understand the importance of design and flow. Your home is not weighted down by clutter, but it's not austere or sterile. You treat your home as well, and as a result, it treats you well!

How's Your Feng Shui?