Yes, I'm still alive

So I kinda fell off the blogging planet, but then today, on my day off, I was reading some blogs and all of the sudden, I decided, I want to be a blogger! When I asked my Twitter peeps what I should do to become a blogger, my cousin Donna gave me some good advice - WRITE! So here I am! Feel free to share my blog with your friends and family! I'll try to keep you all entertained!

Some fun things have happened over the fast few weeks. 

1. I moved in to a new apartment - literally across the hall from my old one! When I moved in to my last apartment, it was kind of a last minute thing. My old roommate lost her job and got a new one out of state just a few weeks before our lease was up, so I was desperate for an apartment and ended up in a studio. For the first year or so, I was OK with it, then it started to get annoying. I wanted a living room and a bedroom - more than just one big room and a bathroom, so when my landlord called asking if I was staying when my lease was up, I inquired about one bedroom apartments. He told me he had one available right away, so a few days later I looked at it and started moving my stuff in the same day! I had some issues with getting my gas and cable all set up, but now Chip and I are all settled in our new apartment and we love it! 

2. I got in to graduate school!! WOO-HOO!! I applied to Master of Public Health programs at Cleveland State University and Case Western Reserve University in January. I heard back from Cleveland State in the middle of March that I was accepted. I waited until early April to hear back from Case, but then decided Cleveland State was a better fit for me and sent in my acceptance of admission letter so it's official! The Cleveland State program is MUCH more conducive to working a full time job and going to graduate school, as all of the classes I have to take are offered online, on weeknights or on Saturdays. I am super excited and can't wait to start in August! I would start now if I could!!

That's about all that's going on here!! I'll write more as fun stuff happens!!

Peace out!

30 Day Challenge - Day 23 — A video

This is a video of my adorable furry friend Chip! Despite my numerous attempts to buy him cat toys that he will play with, he insists on playing with the few stuffed toys I have (yes, I still have some stuffed toys! Don't judge!). This is one of his favorites - we call it Monkey Toy! This video captures his personality PERFECTLY!

30 Day Challenge - Day 22 — A favorite joke

I don't really have a favorite joke! I'm not that great at telling jokes! However, there is one that always stands out in my mind, if only because my dad used to tell it to me ALL the time! I guess that kind of makes it my favorite!


Here it goes!


A girl was reading a book in the living room when the phone rang. She picked it up, “I am ze viper, I know where you live.” Oh well she thought, it’s probably a joke. Two minutes later the phone rang. The girl picked it up, “I am ze viper, I am on your street.” This time the girl was a little scared so she locked all the doors and windows. Two minutes later the phone rang, “I am ze viper, I am on your driveway.” Now the girl was really scared so she took the phone with her and hid in the closet. The phone rang again, she picked it up, “I am ze viper, I am at your door!” This time the girl freaked out. She heard the doorbell, ding dong ding dong. The girl gathered up all her courage and slowly walked to the door, and opened it. The viper said, “I am ze viper, I am here to vipe your vindows!”


It's more an eye-roller than anything else. But that's my dad for ya! :-)

30 Day Challenge - Day 21 — A favorite recipe

A couple weeks ago, I said one of my favorite foods was homemade macaroni and cheese so today, I will share with you the recipe!

½ cup of elbow macaroni
3 tablespoons of flour
3 tablespoons of butter
2 cups of milk
1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup minced onion (sometimes I add this, but usually I don't)

Dash of pepper

2 cups of cheddar cheese

Heat oven to 350º

Cook macaroni. While macaroni cooks melt together butter and flour and cook for a couple of minutes. Add milk and cook on medium heat until sauce thickens, stirring the whole time (so it doesn't burn on the bottom). When sauce thickens and coats the back of the spoon, add cheese, onion, salt and pepper and stir until melted.  Add sauce to cooked and drained macaroni, pour in to a baking dish and bake until bubbly - 45 min. - 1 hr. Then ENJOY!

Kraft Macaroni and Cheese this is not! It is MUCH better!!

30 Day Challenge - Day 20 — A Hobby of Mine

Yes, yes, I fell off the planet I know! But I'm back!

So I'm sad to say, I don't really have any hobbies at the moment! The closest thing I have that comes to a "hobby" is playing golf and I haven't done that in MONTHS! Partially because the person I used to golf with the most is now my ex and partially because there are really only about 4 months in Cleveland that have golf-worthy weather (at least in my mind!)!

I must say, that as I write this, I kind of miss it! I'm not a huge fan of team sports, mostly because I sucked at them as a child, so when I started to golf I felt like it was right up my alley because I knew if I sucked I wasn't letting anyone down but myself!

Hopefully the weather will get nice soon and I'll be able to go to a driving range and hit some balls!

P.S. - One of the reasons why I love golf? This guy!



His name is Ryan Moore and he is NOT hard to look at!

30 Day Challenge - Day 19 — A fun memory

Wow...this is a tough one! I have had so many good memories with my family and friends!

I think some of my funnest memories though are the ones that center around watching TV with my parents growing up. With me mom it was L.A. Law...with my dad it was Married with Children (when I was too young to actually get what was going on and being said...that show is DIRTY!!) and old episodes of Dragnet. Dragnet was on Friday nights. My mom would usually work Friday nights so it would be me and my dad watching Dragnet waiting for her to get home. A lot of the time, she would bring home Chinese or pizza and we'd just hang out and eat and watch TV. My brothers were younger, so they'd usually be in bed already so it would just be the 3 of us. I loved that time with the two of them!

Another fun memory I have is when my girlie cousin's would sleep over. The three of us would sleep in my parent's bed and be giggly and goofy. Before we went to bed, my dad would read us a Berenstein Bears book...our favorite was Berenstein Bears Learn About Strangers!!

I have so many other good memories, but these are the ones that stick out the most!

30 Day Challenge - Day 18 — A baby photo

I don't have any pictures of me as a baby on my computer, so instead you're going to get a picture of me holding my friend's baby, my "niece", when she was just a couple of weeks old! It's hard to believe she was ever that small...she will be 3 in a couple weeks. 

30 Day Challenge - Day 17 — A photo of my family

This is a picture of the 3 most important men in my life...my dad and my brothers! They are the best dad and brothers a girl could ask for!!

Yes, I know my dad has his eyes closed...but that's such a dad thing for him to do!! I heart my guys!

30 Day Challenge - Day 16 — A favorite food

I LOVE LOVE LOVE food! And not just because it helps me sustain life. I just thoroughly enjoy food. So picking a favorite is rather difficult!

One of my favorite foods is homemade macaroni and cheese!! It takes more time and effort to make than the stuff out of the box (obviously), but it is so worth the time and effort!

When I make homemade mac and cheese, it's always the recipe my mom used. The recipe is even in her writing, so I always think of her when I make it. I've thought about trying other recipes (I hear Paula Deen has a good one) and I'm sure it would be good, but it will never be as good as my mom's!

Cute side note - my brother asked me for the recipe one day so he could make it for his girlfriend! I thought this was utterly adorable and I had to share that with you all! :-)

30 Day Challenge - Day 15 — My celebrity crush

For this post, I couldn't pick just one person so I'm giving 2 - one is an actor and one is a musician!

First, the actor: Jimmy Smitts

Jimmy Smitts is the first celebrity I ever had a crush on. I remember being curled up on the couch with my mom watch L.A. Law and thinking "OOO...that boy is cute!". Then L.A. Law ended and I didn't really see Jimmy Smitts much any more. Then I moved in with a friend who ADORED West Wing, which he was in and I immediately fell in love again! THEN I saw him in Season 3 of Dexter fell in love even more!!

Now, the musician: Stephan Jenkins, lead sing of Third Eye Blind

I ADORE Third Eye Blind...they one of my favorite bands and have been since I saw them for the first time in  1998ish. This may be because the lead singer is HOT HOT HOT!! He is even more attractive in person.

Well, now that I'm all hot and bother looking at these 2 handsome men, I'm going to get back to work entering data...and day dreaming!!

30 Day Challenge - Day 14 — An old photo

So I realized I didn't post anything on Saturday so you get 2 posts today!! And because I cheated one day and just referred you to a previous post, you are going to get 2 pictures here!!

These are both VERY old pictures and I love them dearly.

These are my grandparents wedding pictures!! I love the sepia tone of the pictures and just think they are both gorgeous!

30 Day Challenge - Day 13 — Something I want to buy

I want to buy a Keurig!!

I've wanted to buy one for a loooooong time, then I had my first actual cup of coffee from a Keurig when I was visit my cousin down in Texas in the fall and I LOVED how yummy the coffee was and how easy it is! Then I went on a work trip to Chicago a couple of weeks later and there was a Keurig in my hotel room...LOVED IT! I wanted to find a way to shove it in my suitcase and bring it home with me!!

I have a coffee pot, which I use, but I'm not very consistent in my coffee making skills. I try to avoid making coffee for anyone other than myself. I drink it if I don't like it, but I don't want to subject others to my poor coffee making!

I have gift cards to Macy's, who happens to sell Keurigs, but they seem so much more expensive there (did I mention I can be cheap?!). One of these days, I will buy one...and it will be a good day!!

30 Day Challenge - Day 12 — Something I bought recently

Last night, before heading over to a friend's apartment for a night of Sex and the City and yummy food, I picked up a bottle of Barefoot Moscato!

This stuff is my new obsession!! It is a very sweet wine but I'm OK with that! Barefoot also makes a Moscato Spumante, which I have yet to try, but plan on doing so when I find a reason to have champagne!!

30 Day Challenge - Day 11 — A photo of me taken recently

Here is a picture of me and my brothers taken on Christmas Day 2010!

The one in the middle is my 22 year old bro and the one on the right is my 19 year old brother. And yes, the 19 year old brother is taller than both me and my 22 year old bro...and my dad for that matter!

This picture was taken on my cell phone, which doesn't take the best pics in the world, but it's of my brothers and I so I love it!

30 Day Challenge - Day 10 — A photo of me taken over ten years ago

I'm totally cheating with this one today!!

For a picture taken of me over ten years ago please see 30 Day Challenge - Day 07 — A favorite photo 


I have very few pictures of me in digital form that were taken over ten years ago. And the ones I do have are HIDEOUS and I refuse to post them!


Sorry guys! I failed you on this one!

30 Day Challenge - Day 09 - Pet Peeves

Oh dear! I have a nice looooong list and not a lot of time to write so I'll just give my top 3!

1. Drivers who don't use turn signals or move over when emergency vehicles are approaching.

2. People who makes faces at what I'm eating or say what I'm eating looks gross. Guess what? THEN DON'T EAT IT!!!

3. Study monitors who can't properly do their jobs (I would in clinical trials research and we have monitors who come out and make sure we are doing everything correctly. Some of them SUCK at their jobs but then tell me what I'm doing wrong...DO YOUR JOB!)

What are some of your pet peeves?

30 Day Challenge - Day 08 — Something I Crave

Hmmm....I could go many ways with this post, but I think I will pick the thing I am craving the most.

Right now, I crave a relationship. Not in a "OMG, I'm single and alone and I have to find a man to make me feel whole" kind of way. More in a "I'm ready to meet a decent guy, get married and have kids" kind of way. I know I'm only in my late 20s, and I have time, but I feel like I'm ready to move in to this stage of my life.

Now I just need to find me a mans! :-)

30 Day Challenge - Day 07 — A favorite photo

This has been, by far, the easiest out of all of these!!

This is picture of my mom and I, taken when I was 3ish. I absolutely love this picture - especially the heavy blue 1980s eye shadow my mom and is wearing!

As you may (or may not) know, my mother passed away when I was 14. This picture represents exactly how I remember my mom to always be. Even when she was sick, she always had a smile on her face!

I have this picture in a frame in my office at work. More than one person has asked me "Oh, is that you and your daughter?". They are surprised when I tell them that it's me and my mother. Then they proceed to tell me how much I look like her. I didn't always see it, but as I get older, I realize I really do look a lot like my mom...and that makes me very happy!

30 Day Challenge - Day 06 — A Fun Fact About Me

There are a slew of fun facts about me I could share, but this is my favorite!!

Every single phone number I have ever had, has contained the number "87" - my family's house in Cleveland, both houses in Bay, my work # when I worked at Cleveland State, my current work phone # and my cell phone number.

AND...my birthday is August 7th - 8/7. Coincidence?! Yeah probably, seeing as I've only actually picked one of those phone numbers, but it's still pretty cool!

30 Day Challenge - Day 05 — A favorite quote

I kind of had to go searching on the interwebs for this one, but then I found a quote I had heard before and really loved. 


"The greatest happiness of life is the conviction that we are loved -- loved for ourselves, or rather, loved in spite of ourselves." Victor Hugo


I feel this quote really doesn't need much explanation, so I will just leave you all to ponder!

30 Day Challenge - Day 04 — A favorite book

Hmmm...this is a tough one! Not because I have too many favorites to pick from but because I'm fairly ADD when it comes to books. I'll start to read one, then get side tracked by some other book or some other task or just sitting on my ass watching TV instead and never finish it!

That being said, I will have to reach far back in to the recesses of my mind, back to freshman year in high school and say the book that I enjoyed reading the most, even though it was for school, was To Kill a Mockingbird. I actually still have the same copy at home that I read almost 15 years ago (HOLY SHIT!!). I just love the characters and the writing style. And that there is some "court room drama" included in the story as well!

30 Day Challenge - Day 03 — A favorite TV show

SOOO easy...my favorite TV show right now is Dexter!!

Per IMDB Dexter is "a likable Miami police forensics expert moonlights as a serial killer of criminals whom he believes have escaped justice." It stares Michael C. Hall (YUMMY!), Jennifer Carpenter (who plays his sister on the show and was his wife until recently in real life...CREEPY!) and James Remar (also YUMMY!).

Dexter airs on Showtime, which I do not have. I watched the first 2 seasons streaming on Netflix, borrowed season 3 from a friend and am currently watching Season 4, which I'm getting in DVD form from Netflix. I have no idea what I'm going to when I'm done with Season 4 if Season 5 is not out yet...I might cry...seriously!

30 Day Challenge - Day 02 — A favorite movie

When I saw this was one of the topics, I already knew which movie I would pick!

A Bronx Tale

It stars Robert DeNiro (who also directed it) and Chazz Palminteri (who wrote the original play and then the screenplay), who is, quite frankly, one of my favorite actors ever! The movie is about a boy ("C") who witnesses a mob killing but doesn't turn the mobsters in. C eventually becomes a friend of said mobster. As you can imagine, C's father is none too pleased!

I remember the exact date. I watched this movie for the first time and with whom...February 1st, 1997 and I watched it with my 3 girlie cousins. It was after my cousin R's wedding. I was hooked after the first time I watched it. I have subsequently gotten my brother G hooked on it as well.

I was flipping through channels one night last week and saw that this movie was just starting...I had to immediately turn the channel or else I knew I would be up until 1am watching the whole thing!!

So if you haven't seen this movie...SEE IT!! You'll be happy you did!!

30 Day Challenge - Day 01 — A favorite song

This is my first "real" blog! I'm kind of excited! I hope I can stick with it and come up with interesting things to tell you!!

It is nearly impossible for me to pick just you favorite song...I like so many different kinds of music and have favorites for each. So I decided to post my favorite song of this week! My friend Abby, a fellow single chick in her 20s, told me about this song and now I'm obsessed!! I listen to it multiple times on the ride home from work (I have about a 10 minute ride home).

So here it is..."Jar of Hearts" by Christina Perri.

1st Blog

What up?! I've been wanting to start blogging for a while now but never knew where to start!

I'm stealing this idea from some veteran bloggers Donna and Shelly. I'll start posting tomorrow!

30 Days, 30 Topics.

Day 01 — A favorite song
Day 02 — A favorite movie
Day 03 — A favorite TV show
Day 04 — A favorite book
Day 05 — A favorite quote
Day 06 — A fun fact about me
Day 07 — A favorite photo
Day 08 — Something I crave
Day 09 — Pet peeves
Day 10 — A photo of me taken over ten years ago
Day 11 — A photo of me taken recently
Day 12 — Something I bought recently
Day 13 — Something I want to buy
Day 14 — An old photo
Day 15 — My celebrity crush
Day 16 — A favorite food
Day 17 — A photo of my family
Day 18 — A baby photo
Day 19 — A fun memory
Day 20 — A hobby of mine
Day 21 — A favorite recipe
Day 22 — A favorite joke
Day 23 — A video
Day 24 — A travel story
Day 25 — A favorite photo
Day 26 — A funny (true) story
Day 27 — A child I love
Day 28 — A place I love
Day 29 — A person I love
Day 30 — Hopes, dreams and plans for the next 365 days