tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-77613370655432308132024-02-07T04:38:39.100-07:00julie.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger106125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7761337065543230813.post-5796317845565397572012-06-13T22:54:00.002-07:002012-06-13T22:54:42.912-07:00Revisiting my 30 before 30 list...<br style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;" /><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">First of all, what happened to my 20's?! I can't believe in less than 2 months, I'll be officially part of the 30's club. Remember </span><a href="http://julieannthorn.blogspot.com/2011/04/30-before-30.html" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">this post</a><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">? Well, I haven't made it very far.... I'm going to blame moving to different states twice in less than 6 months... and starting two new jobs... and my current job where I work 60+ hours a week. Too bad I didn't have "move to San Francisco" on here. And to be honest, some of these things are probably never going to happen. I've crossed them out because it was ridiculous to put them on here in the first place. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Here we go... </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">1. Sew myself an item of clothing</span><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> - </span><span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">need to dust off my sewing machine first</span><br />
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2. <strike>Start a new blog</strike> - <span style="color: #674ea7;">No point to this. I can barely keep up with this one!</span><br />
3. Swim with dolphins - <span style="color: #674ea7;">Not by 30. Have this on the agenda for our Hawaii trip in January!</span><br />
4. Buy a pair of Louboutins - <span style="color: #6aa84f;">I own a pair, but I did not buy them. But that still counts in my book. Yay! One check mark for the list!</span><br />
5. <strike>Go on a cruise</strike> - <span style="color: #674ea7;">Doesn't interest me. Not sure why I put it on my list in the first place. </span><br />
6. Plan a fundraising event - <span style="color: #674ea7;">I still want to do this, I just need to find the right cause and the right idea/plan.</span><br />
7. Go zip-lining - <span style="color: #674ea7;">Maybe in Hawaii.... </span><br />
8. Go sailing - <span style="color: #674ea7;">Add this to my 40 before 40....</span><br />
9. Join a women's networking group - <span style="color: #674ea7;">In my spare time I'll do this... 40 before 40. </span><br />
10. <strike>Spend an entire day doing absolutely nothing but watching movies</strike> - <span style="color: #674ea7;">This should've said "Sleep all day" because we know movies put me to sleep. </span><br />
11. <strike>Face my fear of ladybugs</strike> - <span style="color: #674ea7;">Not happening. </span><br />
12. Visit the Grand Canyon - <span style="color: #674ea7;">How did we live in Arizona for over 4 years and never see the Grand Canyon?! I'm not going back during the summer to visit so this one sure isn't happening by 30.</span><br />
13. <strike>Go on a hot air balloon ride</strike><strike> </strike>- <span style="color: #674ea7;">Again, what was I thinking? This does not interest me.</span><br />
14. Be my own boss - <span style="color: #674ea7;">Someday.... just not in the next 2 months.</span><br />
15. Sleep outside under the stars - <span style="color: #674ea7;">Too cold here. This isn't happening anytime soon.</span><br />
16. Meditate regularly - <span style="color: #674ea7;">I really need to be more in the moment and do this in the morning.... after my workout and before work. Add it to my "to do" list :)</span><br />
17. Eliminate red meat in my diet - <span style="color: #674ea7;">I've reduced it, but not completely eliminated it.</span><br />
18. Own a digital SLR camera and learn how to use it - <span style="color: #674ea7;">I own one.... but haven't completely learned how to use it yet. Dawn, can you come out here for a weekend photography workshop please?! </span><br />
19. Go wine tasting at a vineyard - <span style="color: #6aa84f;">DING DING DING!!!!!!!!! Three times, in fact! </span><br />
20. <strike>Become a Director with Stella & Dot</strike> - <span style="color: #674ea7;">Won't/can't happen in my new role with Stella & Dot</span><br />
21. Get into a regular fitness routine (yoga, ballet aerobics, etc.) - <span style="color: #6aa84f;">I'm training for a half-marathon.... this counts! Yipee! Check #3!</span><br />
22. <strike>Learn how to get my hair to look like <span style="color: red;"><a href="http://kimkardashian.celebuzz.com/2011/03/07/grand-opening-of-sugar-factory-with-kylie/kim-kardashian-030411-24/">this</a></span> </strike>- <span style="color: #674ea7;">It's getting close. Let's be honest, my hair will never look like this. </span><br />
23. Make more crafty things for our house... like <a href="http://tragicsensation.wordpress.com/2010/11/18/lima-bean-wreath/">this</a> - <span style="color: #6aa84f;">I made a welcome sign - this counts!</span><br />
24. Make wine - <span style="color: #674ea7;">I wanted to go last weekend, but it wasn't Napa and Stefan is becoming a little bit of a wine snob. Don't tell him I said that. </span><br />
25. Complete another 30 day Bikram Yoga challenge - <span style="color: #674ea7;">After the half-marathon.</span><br />
26. Host a fancy dinner party - <span style="color: #674ea7;">In my spare time I'll get to this one. </span><br />
27. Make a decision about having children (note how that one is worded) - <span style="color: #674ea7;">Notice the trend here? Everything is in purple. This included.</span><br />
28. Buy a new house with a bigger yard - <span style="color: #674ea7;">This will happen eventually. </span><br />
29. Try a float spa - <span style="color: #674ea7;">I think the only reason I put this on here was because at the time I wrote the blog post, I purchased a groupon for a float spa so I knew this would be an easy one to check off my list. Unfortunately it was in Arizona and we moved so I never got to use it. That's what I get for trying to cheat my own list. </span><br />
30. Learn how to cook <s>like my husband</s> a few decent meals - <span style="color: #674ea7;">I just told Stefan what I was doing and asked if he thought I could check this one off and this was his response: "No, you haven't learned anything." Hey, at least he's honest. No need to fight him on it either--- he's right-- I have no business in the kitchen! </span></div>
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<strike>Well, that was fun. </strike></div>
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<strike>Maybe I'll get a lot of these accomplished in the next couple months.</strike></div>
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<strike>This was such a great idea.</strike></div>
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<strike>Here's to my 40 before 40.</strike></div>
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<br /></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7761337065543230813.post-60129048351066927662012-01-09T23:50:00.001-07:002012-01-09T23:51:38.725-07:00BIG news!!!!!<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If you haven't heard from me in the past couple of days, you might need to sit down for this one.... or maybe just rest your jaw on your hand so it doesn't drop too much. Two major pieces to this story, so sit tight as I share some pretty crazy/exciting news!!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">On Friday, it was with mixed emotions that I resigned from my position at Progressive. I have spent the last 7.5 years with the company, 3 years in claims, 3 years in corporate training, and the last year and a half as an instructional designer. During my time as a trainer, I obtained my Masters in Adult Education/Training, learned a lot about project management, and found a real interest in instructional design. My time as a designer really made me realize that while I do love the entire process of instructional design, I am drawn to the analysis, planning and organizing side of training. It's just the way my brain works. I really couldn't be more thankful for my time at Progressive and for all of the opportunities I've been provided and the incredible people I've met along the way. I've met some amazing friends and colleagues that I know I'll stay in touch with for a very long time. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">With that being said, I wouldn't have given my notice without some sort of plan in place. A few weeks ago, I saw a posting on someone's facebook page that Stella & Dot was hiring for corporate positions. Being the curious person I am, I looked on the website just to see what positions were open. When I saw the "Manager - Field Training" position, I thought, "this was written for me." I decided to go for it - I had nothing to lose. The more I kept thinking about it, the more I really wanted it. The position involves doing some analysis with the existing training and determining the most effective ways to develop and deliver the material to the 10,000+ stylists out there, with developing some measurement strategies around what's working and what can be improved. Totally up my alley!!!!!! Besides the position, I just LOVE everything about Stella & Dot - the jewerly is a given, but the business model, the CEO and her innovative ways for changing the direct sales business to make sense for women today, and the fact that this company is still super small, but is growing extremely fast are all so appealing. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">I interviewed over the phone and in person and knew instantly when I met everyone in the home office that it couldn't be a more perfect fit. I was offered the position early last week, and by the end of the week, accepted. I couldn't be more excited about joining Stella & Dot as an employee and not just as a stylist repping their jewelry... now I get to do both!! And while I know I'll be working my tail off in a very fast-paced, always changing environment, I couldn't be more </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">thrilled for this opportunity. So I'm going from wearing my PJ's to work every day (at home) to actually getting ready and going to an office again! </span><br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This brings</span> me to the second part of the news....</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Remember <a href="http://julieannthorn.blogspot.com/2012/01/new-digs.html">this</a> post just a week ago?? It was all about how we're finally settled into our new home, loving the neighborhood, our house, and being close to our family. Well, that's still true.... </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">.....but only for a few more weeks.</span><br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">We're moving to San Francisco!!</span> </span><br />
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<div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Stefan and I knew this position was based in San Fransciso when I applied and while we are very happy being back home and did have a terrible moving experience to get up here, we also realize that life is all about opportunities. There's never a good time for anything. When opportunities like this come up, you just have to go for it - and that's what I did. </span></div><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">Now.... who's ready to plan a trip to SF to visit?!?!</span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7761337065543230813.post-38689736921159861042012-01-02T20:30:00.000-07:002012-01-02T20:30:13.624-07:00new digs...<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So, we're finally settled in our new place. At least, settled as much as we want to be at this point. Thankfully our new place has a basement with LOTS of storage, and while there are still plenty of boxes down there, at least it's "hiding" from our every day living space. We love our house-- it's in a great north end neighborhood, just a few blocks from Metropolitan Market and the Proctor District. The neighborhood is also very dog-friendly.... Brooklyn and Bentley like to say hi (bark) at every dog (and person) that walks by our house. They LOVE looking out the windows all day long.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">My office for working from home is perfect. My white desk is perfect against the gray walls, and one of these days when I get some spare time, I'm going to add a splash of yellow here and there to spruce it up a bit. I'm loving gray, white and yellow these days (thank you, Pinterest). I really want to refinish a bench and put this really gorgeous fabric on it that I bought.... but I've yet to find a bench that will work... just add it to my "to do" list. </span><br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">The house has become a home and we're loving it! </span></div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Here are a few pics:</span></div><span style="font-family: Arial;"><br />
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</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7761337065543230813.post-35684171860552553072011-12-21T20:30:00.002-07:002011-12-27T11:37:10.566-07:00Reason for the Season...<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This time of year we all get so busy with the holidays,that certain things happen and it really makes us sit back and reflect, and think about the real meaning of the season. I had one of those moments last weekend when my mother-in-law came over and told us about something she did a few weeks ago. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">She was heading to the grocery store and saw a lady on the side of the road near the store with a sign that said "laid off, two kids at home, need help"... We all see those people with their signs, and it's hard because you never know who actually needs help and who's doing it to pay for their drug/alcohol addiction. Something about this woman drew my mother-in-law's attention, and after she parked her car, she walked over to her and just started having a conversation. If you've met my mother-in-law, you know that she's got a very strong personality and with her thick french accent, you may not understand what she's saying some of the time. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">She began to talk to the woman, found out she was laid off from Walmart, has two kids, and was so embarrassed to be standing with a sign in front of the grocery store but was doing whatever she could for her children. She said that she was near Safeway earlier and they told her she couldn't be in front of their store, so she went to another store where they didn't seem to mind. My mother-in-law finally asked her, "so what exactly do you need help with?" The lady replied, "I really just need to be able to feed my kids. With my rent and utilities, I have very little money left over to pay for food." My mother-in-law said, "well, I'm not going to give you any money, but let's go inside and get you some groceries." They both went inside, my mother-in-law had a cart, and told the lady to get one for herself and they walked through the store. Some of the conversations went like this:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">MIL: "Do your children like fruit?"</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">Lady: "Yes, but it's too expensive."<br />
MIL: "That's not what I asked, do they like fruit?"<br />
Lady: "Oh, yes. They do."</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">(MIL puts some fruit in the lady's cart)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">MIL: "Do you eat meat?"</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">Lady: "Sometimes, when we can."</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">MIL: "Well, what kind of meat do you like?"</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">Lady: "Chicken, pork, whatever is the least expensive."<br />
MIL: "Is there any kind of meat you would like to have but haven't had in a while?"<br />
Lady: "A turkey would be very nice, because it would last a long time, but they're always so expensive, we can never afford it"</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">MIL: "Let's get a turkey and we'll have the butcher cut it in half so you can freeze one half of it"</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">They continued to go through the store, getting all sorts of food. Peanut butter, bread, vegetables, pasta, and even a couple boxes of cake mix for the kids. The lady continued to thank my MIL as she kept putting things in her cart. By the time they got to the cash register, the lady's cart was full. My MIL paid for the food, and the woman was so grateful. As they were walking outside, my MIL asked her, "how are you getting all of this home?" The lady said, "well, I have some extra money so I'm going to take the bus, normally I would walk, but I think it would be easier to take the bus with all of these groceries." My mother-in-law couldn't fathom the idea of this lady carrying all of the groceries on a bus so she asked her, "well where do you live?" The lady ended up living in an apartment that was on my MIL's way home, so she said "I'll just take you home, that will be much easier." Although, I'm sure my MIL would've driven across town to get this lady home. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">When they got to her house, the lady continued to thank her for the groceries and for being so nice to her. The lady told her children my MIL bought all of the groceries, and the children gave her a big hug and thanked her. One of the kids said "thank you so much, now I won't go to bed hungry tonight." The woman was so grateful, the kids were grateful, and my mother in law left with a full heart. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">When my MIL got home, she couldn't stop crying. She felt so good about being able to do something like this for a family in need, but felt so sad at the same time that there are so many other families out there who won't have food on the table for Christmas, and who have kids that go to bed hungry at night. It's unfortunate that it takes something like this to make you sit back and reflect, but it really put things into perspective for me, and I have a whole new appreciation, not only for my MIL, but for my family in general this time of the year.</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7761337065543230813.post-48770938265669410872011-10-31T16:35:00.000-07:002011-10-31T16:35:03.007-07:00Happy Halloween!!!<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I've never really been a huge fan of Halloween.... not that I'm against it or anything, it's just never really been a holiday that excites me. Maybe it has something to do with one little Halloween in 1987.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I was in Kindergarten at Beartooth Elementary in Billings, Montana. We were a couple months into the school year obviously, and Halloween fell on a week day. When I was little, I wanted to be a clown and a cheerleader when I grew up. So for this Halloween, I was a clown. My mom got me ready for school that day, and I had the wig, the makeup, one of my dad's old button down shirts, suspenders.... and for some reason, I wasn't just any clown, I was a FAT clown (hence the need to wear my dad's shirt). I had a pillow stuffed under my shirt so I would look fat. I'm sure my parents thought I looked so cute going to school that day. I got to school and wouldn't you know.... I was the ONLY kid dressed up in a costume. Apparently my parents were the only ones that didn't get the memo that we weren't supposed to dress up at school. Awesome.</span><br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><strike>I wish I had a picture of that costume</strike>. </span></div><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">Needless to say, although very traumatic for a shy kid like myself, I got over it and still had fun on Halloween dressing up through the years, and I still love answering the door and seeing all the cute kids in their costumes. Maybe I'm exhausted from moving and ran out of time, but we decided to skip the costumes this Halloween. And after seeing my friend Brittany's costume this year, I don't feel like anything could top hers anyway. I'm just so impressed.... </span><br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Here's what she looks like on a regular day:</span></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_6fy0T7O44K0ngf2_rdLCQ93geyI5fa2mdjYhyphenhyphen39JXMiVRIR_tK1E3ZfPPSGF_qE4XTSSiy-pp2gGm7rdZRsyKDTFW-vslye412XLYRNcFAtYVkAdUTu0JrUHSaVqHkG2JQPLyfu6dzXq/s1600/brit1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ida="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_6fy0T7O44K0ngf2_rdLCQ93geyI5fa2mdjYhyphenhyphen39JXMiVRIR_tK1E3ZfPPSGF_qE4XTSSiy-pp2gGm7rdZRsyKDTFW-vslye412XLYRNcFAtYVkAdUTu0JrUHSaVqHkG2JQPLyfu6dzXq/s1600/brit1.jpg" /></a></div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">And here she is, as Lil Wayne:</span></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0xwiPfXRpvl1jw6WqeBXc3LCL1xF1Bg4WaZZkFJE9UvKfJJb4ep9lEO8-H0kNFEpjgsV3kdUDAPxrv7I3SBfVGshn1yugZ27gR_G2SllvjUljFackT_-YGQme8Ln7W5mfn8kO6R_FAFHI/s1600/brit2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ida="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0xwiPfXRpvl1jw6WqeBXc3LCL1xF1Bg4WaZZkFJE9UvKfJJb4ep9lEO8-H0kNFEpjgsV3kdUDAPxrv7I3SBfVGshn1yugZ27gR_G2SllvjUljFackT_-YGQme8Ln7W5mfn8kO6R_FAFHI/s1600/brit2.jpg" /></a></div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Now THIS is awesome.</span></div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Happy Halloween, everyone!!!!</span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7761337065543230813.post-33030765636225598882011-10-13T22:34:00.001-07:002011-10-13T22:39:31.160-07:00MITP!<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> (That stands for "Moving Is The Pits!")</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What an adventure this has been!!! Holy moly..... </span><span style="font-family: Arial;">I feel like the last couple weeks have been such a whirlwind, I can't even keep track of the days anymore! All I know is the last Monday in September the movers arrived in Arizona... When they showed up 2 hours late, I knew things were only going downhill. When the truck arrived, Stefan texted me and said "um, I don't know if this truck is big enough for all of our stuff." The movers assured him everything would surely fit and they started wrapping all of the big stuff, bringing the boxes outside and getting everything inventoried for the truck. Around 7pm the main guy told Stefan that our original quote was "off" and based on the amount of stuff we had, our estimate was going to be DOUBLE than we were originally told. The guy said he could offer us a flat rate which would be on the "low end" OR we could follow them to a weigh station when they were done and just pay the price per pound that we were quoted, which would most likely be more than the flat rate. Three hours later at 10pm, they realized not all of our stuff would fit on the truck. "I told you so" was an understatement. So now they had most of our stuff on their truck (the rest in our garage that they would pick up in the morning), and they wanted more money. We felt stuck! We took the flat rate because honestly, I didn't want to follow them to a weigh station 40 minutes away after such a long day. I think that's their tactic: show up late, purposely bring too small of a truck to make you think you have more stuff than they originally quoted you, then stay extra late so you're too tired to follow them to the weigh station for an accurate quote. SO frustrating. Either way, they had our stuff, had our money, and they were on their way to Washington.</span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3lGmkE7CmDOdVEbOkUe-ynE_SXViD3GwJBHRiiNXpt1bc8vtTWZQCDMp_KYlzkm1Jqa3YF3Z4HQgfCJ9rckUan-I0cW6tZQ4jvNwYxpvUAIkU7F3R8IVY6UuBfVl0kyaFXzgH3cmAQ8pR/s1600/1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239px" oda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3lGmkE7CmDOdVEbOkUe-ynE_SXViD3GwJBHRiiNXpt1bc8vtTWZQCDMp_KYlzkm1Jqa3YF3Z4HQgfCJ9rckUan-I0cW6tZQ4jvNwYxpvUAIkU7F3R8IVY6UuBfVl0kyaFXzgH3cmAQ8pR/s320/1.jpg" width="320px" /></a></div><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">We left a few days later.... our sleeping arrangements in the meantime consisted of this:</span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUPi80xhD9JDyOI4TByWx_nRSVmroAm9Y5PVGrttmVaqpmSJO5hQtb3oekn6610Mz2PP6DJoupyFiSRGgAb70GJiWPUqnnLqjZvUUn09HaTAMsFKrvrnPqqGGSS_Rm_8F-c7fY_DMq_WiW/s1600/2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239px" oda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUPi80xhD9JDyOI4TByWx_nRSVmroAm9Y5PVGrttmVaqpmSJO5hQtb3oekn6610Mz2PP6DJoupyFiSRGgAb70GJiWPUqnnLqjZvUUn09HaTAMsFKrvrnPqqGGSS_Rm_8F-c7fY_DMq_WiW/s320/2.JPG" width="320px" /></a></div><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">Thursday morning, we got up super early and drove to Vegas with all of the animals! Drugged up the kitties, and we were off!</span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPDP1zZXKl7JGCDP7qzjxHanAkqRAMtAK-Q_mUIJBaMGdUNbYdldfmuqE-K8jd92ZqdQ1m5qecK9hkoptCPU8z0liOdeYJfmuRMaRe8V_KJeiUyEsGJbKle0DK6yoo7L0epXrFa5eqaO4X/s1600/4.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239px" oda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPDP1zZXKl7JGCDP7qzjxHanAkqRAMtAK-Q_mUIJBaMGdUNbYdldfmuqE-K8jd92ZqdQ1m5qecK9hkoptCPU8z0liOdeYJfmuRMaRe8V_KJeiUyEsGJbKle0DK6yoo7L0epXrFa5eqaO4X/s320/4.JPG" width="320px" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">(The drugs are totally humane.... just make them a little sleepy, and made Oliver a little cross-eyed is all).</span></div><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">We dropped all the animals off at PetSmart for boarding in Las Vegas while we spent the weekend relaxing with family! My parents, brother Bob, sister-in-law Allison, brother Mark, sister-in-law Sandra, sister Debbie and brother-in-law Chett all were there and we had a blast (as usual)! Stefan and I also attended my friend Heather's wedding that weekend and it was SO beautiful! Heather and I were in the same sorority in college and she's been such a great friend over the years! Unfortunately, I didn't bring my camera that night but I know other people got some pictures. She was a gorgeous bride and I'm so excited her and her husband are in the process of moving to WA too!!!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">After our Vegas weekend, we continued our roadtrip, stopping in Utah to stay with my brother and his family for the night. My nieces Katie and Heather made dinner when we got there (DELICIOUS enchiladas!!!) and we got all the animals ready for their next adventure in the car! We left bright and early (well it wasn't bright, it was still dark out) the next morning, and drove for 15 hours before we finally arrived in Washington! If we did it all over again (which we're not), we would probably split that up into two days... Stefan had to stop at one point because he was too tired and we both slept in the car for a couple hours! We were so excited when we finally got to our new house! </span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQ3SoQtxpbMVoxVCNaIOLS12kJHZ1ZurJAslZmqcyhAnD44GoDxf4yCBQ3S-qCCJ8UTBv5TySgaHpoWjSWGHezX8fXFH5mi0xRdjjIo2bKFW0Fya5r8Qyq5K3aqj88gto8LGattePD9kRC/s1600/5.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239px" oda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQ3SoQtxpbMVoxVCNaIOLS12kJHZ1ZurJAslZmqcyhAnD44GoDxf4yCBQ3S-qCCJ8UTBv5TySgaHpoWjSWGHezX8fXFH5mi0xRdjjIo2bKFW0Fya5r8Qyq5K3aqj88gto8LGattePD9kRC/s320/5.JPG" width="320px" /></a></div><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">When we arrived, my parents were there and my dad was painting. He went the day before and got a couple rooms done and was just finishing the downstairs when we got there. This was our first time actually seeing the house, and we absolutely love it!! It's in such a perfect neighborhood and the house is super cute. It's a little smaller than our Arizona house, so not all of our stuff fits, but it's got cute old charm and there's plenty of storage in the basement for all of our stuff that won't fit! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">The next few days we (well, mostly my dad) spent finishing up the painting before the movers arrived.</span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYHupidxjsPG5ZjkVKkcJBXkp8Hl4o96sKomrz-6fvsEvirspsveNvaSOnmPJkLSaygFd911w_ctJlxUQVVFTF86IhCF1ZjOr1jwtjBQ9-gbIEA_J0cGr-6eeniUf7KJSAAMC7FgEVu6P3/s1600/8.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239px" oda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYHupidxjsPG5ZjkVKkcJBXkp8Hl4o96sKomrz-6fvsEvirspsveNvaSOnmPJkLSaygFd911w_ctJlxUQVVFTF86IhCF1ZjOr1jwtjBQ9-gbIEA_J0cGr-6eeniUf7KJSAAMC7FgEVu6P3/s320/8.JPG" width="320px" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></div><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Brooklyn even tried to help.... </span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlN0vcB7NwNGMYoiW8iMBnmi9G1nzLQsD6-V7FcEHwAsvT6mxgc6U6PW4T4dYD5oaMAkiqOMHXAHqDqMHKLtJVQ2QpxX6Bir2BDiNhhmhlrNr1BLH8D0PeAOMlngRjhSQ7JvPslvkoMPOt/s1600/6.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239px" oda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlN0vcB7NwNGMYoiW8iMBnmi9G1nzLQsD6-V7FcEHwAsvT6mxgc6U6PW4T4dYD5oaMAkiqOMHXAHqDqMHKLtJVQ2QpxX6Bir2BDiNhhmhlrNr1BLH8D0PeAOMlngRjhSQ7JvPslvkoMPOt/s320/6.JPG" width="320px" /></a></div><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">I don't know if I'm ready to vent quite just yet about the movers. I'll just say they were the shadiest <strike>moving</strike> company I think I have ever dealt with. Never returning calls, promising us a discount, then retracting the discount because I mentioned the words "Better Business Bureau" during a conversation, changing the names of their supervisors, making up random employees names that they say I spoke to (and when I call back they say they've never heard of someone by that name), delaying our delivery time, movers not showing up until 5PM when they were supposed to arrive at 9AM...... and then our broken stuff..... oh, do we have a list of broken stuff. I know they're material things and it shouldn't matter.... and honestly, I am just glad our stuff is here, broken or not, because I was starting to doubt our stuff would ever show up after the conversations we were having with the company. Cuts in our couch, broken glass, broken mirror, several broken bowls, glasses..... the list goes on and on. It's more irritating than anything. Thank goodness I bought extra moving insurance from an outside company.</span><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqf6lcdlp6ChH1QffijvFU84dYlB-p5aTf2tlKNOGL4r8d_chcaWzKQZxjQ7WfKtCU_dYQCXyiXp9wxyMJWsaXMdUFD2AVIkg0ncS1qnjMTXG0WjQCBppHd3n1RvfcVaqSN3S2RBmW1ZGp/s1600/9a.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239px" oda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqf6lcdlp6ChH1QffijvFU84dYlB-p5aTf2tlKNOGL4r8d_chcaWzKQZxjQ7WfKtCU_dYQCXyiXp9wxyMJWsaXMdUFD2AVIkg0ncS1qnjMTXG0WjQCBppHd3n1RvfcVaqSN3S2RBmW1ZGp/s320/9a.JPG" width="320px" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiReFc1Mh-CWqbTjMtYrYmH9gOmrehL9TzceDfLpzepzRaioSoWFL1CNvjZ5QJWOrUMCjwRldSGfwn6s8i6W-GUp_1uk-UAUwHoiQjJhL7IYRtTslTWDGVSaGjVukFoZi4F8zy2nQ10cYsy/s1600/9b.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239px" oda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiReFc1Mh-CWqbTjMtYrYmH9gOmrehL9TzceDfLpzepzRaioSoWFL1CNvjZ5QJWOrUMCjwRldSGfwn6s8i6W-GUp_1uk-UAUwHoiQjJhL7IYRtTslTWDGVSaGjVukFoZi4F8zy2nQ10cYsy/s320/9b.JPG" width="320px" /></a></div><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">Aside from the movers, we're in our house, it's all painted, and it's starting to feel like a home. We LOVE walking up the street to Metropolitan Market with the dogs, and being back in North Tacoma and so close to our families. We've still got some unpacking and organizing to do, but since Stefan and I are both very OCD about making sure our house is neat and clean, give us a week or two and we'll be ready for visitors!!</span><br />
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</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7761337065543230813.post-80514618510773031542011-09-11T13:20:00.000-07:002011-09-11T13:20:36.321-07:00Trading the desert for the soggy PNW<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Well, after four wonderful years in Arizona, we've decided to make our way back up to the northwest! </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We've had so much fun the past four years, learning so much about ourselves, our relationship, and what we want in life, that we decided it's time to move back "home."</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">I'm so fortunate to work for a company that allows me to work from home, and with that, allows me the flexibility to really work from anywhere. Stefan has been wanting to get back into juvenile probation and with his contacts up in Washington, he has a much better chance of doing something he loves up there. Since we've been down here, the juvenile court/Maricopa County has been on a hiring freeze with no real timeframe for when they'll start hiring again. With Stefan not working right now, we figured there was no better time to head back up to Washington.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">The decision seemed sort of quick, but we've been talking about it for a while now. We knew that Arizona was somewhat temporary, and ultimately we wanted to be back in Washington. After our trip home a couple weeks ago for Stefan's dad's retirement party, we realized that nothing was really keeping us in Arizona and Washington was our home. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">As soon as we got back to Arizona, I talked to my boss, looked at some houses online, my parents went and looked at them for us, taking lots of pictures, and we made it official once I got the final okay from my work. Our moving truck gets here on September 26th and we'll be in Washington the first part of October! </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">While we're really excited to be closer to our families, we're still sad to leave our friends and life in Arizona. We've met some amazing people over the last four years, and it's going to be really tough to say goodbye to everyone. I'm not thinking of it as a "goodbye" anyway, because I know we'll be back to visit, I'll be back for work, and I'm pretty sure we're going to want to escape the rain at some point. After several weeks of 100+ temperatures, I'm really liking the idea of rain right now though!</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">A few things we're going to miss about Arizona:</span><br />
<ul><li><span style="font-family: Arial;">Our friends in AZ - We never thought we'd be able to find "new" friends like the ones we had back home, but I can honestly say we've truly met some amazing people down here that we'll miss dearly (and that better come visit us)!</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial;">Our house - No need for a pool in Washington, but we really did love the home we made for ourselves here</span></li>
</ul><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUWT1WYPzeEU3zIQ99U1EZwkwe7asARRYWbqvuKOKfV31yRKyKJpqZtDphNtYDwZ2dC_xYqUwxgk5B_97mjPCxlZ8nR0rVQflHqQrixEv5TrYBafK4r7EM1yW4P0ujFpgGar-aQaFYljsB/s1600/DSC00008.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUWT1WYPzeEU3zIQ99U1EZwkwe7asARRYWbqvuKOKfV31yRKyKJpqZtDphNtYDwZ2dC_xYqUwxgk5B_97mjPCxlZ8nR0rVQflHqQrixEv5TrYBafK4r7EM1yW4P0ujFpgGar-aQaFYljsB/s320/DSC00008.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><ul><li><span style="font-family: Arial;">My work - I love the people I work with in Arizona and am so thankful I got to work with each and every one of them!</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial;">Hikes - I used to think the desert was ugly because it's so brown and lacks greenery and water, but we've gone on several hikes in Arizona and the scenery is absolutely gorgeous. Different from evergreens, but beautiful in its own way.</span></li>
</ul><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDoKLnhWKF5_-0FRGfQZIHvIvvxbz32Ng6Pg7lwPKxga8_qNz40iwY9C9js4H2OpRhNaMgLlw_2DfTltQZPql9JNRtEUPBbBlocSlUTjYS2NkoQHJZG_n1wbb6GReMab1TvM_KBHwY-R_2/s1600/IMG_4676.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDoKLnhWKF5_-0FRGfQZIHvIvvxbz32Ng6Pg7lwPKxga8_qNz40iwY9C9js4H2OpRhNaMgLlw_2DfTltQZPql9JNRtEUPBbBlocSlUTjYS2NkoQHJZG_n1wbb6GReMab1TvM_KBHwY-R_2/s320/IMG_4676.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><ul><li><span style="font-family: Arial;">Grimaldis & Oreganos - The two best pizza places........ ever.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial;">Eating outside 9 months out of the year</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial;">Spring Training</span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;">Monsoons</span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;">Doggie Daycare - We were so lucky to have such wonderful people take care of our pups the last few years, they treated Brooklyn & Bentley like their own dogs and we'll miss all of them so much!</span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;">Flower - Our cleaning lady</span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;">Sedona</span></li>
</ul><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyZ4POqj8w7gl-JjZQ2yziFN-sE3lCOioECzoJZY7MAY71vgAeFVCzBGCgyWEzwYCXKIC6KF4gwFWDcOP3Yp3AIOydFxz5ZH5LbKBYQ0sEReCzG2L2g6lDXDe9Nal-dNDTczRPhHMJZcfG/s1600/IMG_3585.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyZ4POqj8w7gl-JjZQ2yziFN-sE3lCOioECzoJZY7MAY71vgAeFVCzBGCgyWEzwYCXKIC6KF4gwFWDcOP3Yp3AIOydFxz5ZH5LbKBYQ0sEReCzG2L2g6lDXDe9Nal-dNDTczRPhHMJZcfG/s320/IMG_3585.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><ul><li><span style="font-family: Arial;">My Arizona Stella & Dot girls</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial;">Our favorite bartenders at The Keg, Drew & Megan</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial;">Lizards! I love seeing them run all over the back wall in our backyard</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial;">New Years Eve with Alli & Bronson at Ruth's Chris</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial;">Being able to drive to Vegas for the weekend</span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;">The sunrises and sunsets</span></li>
</ul><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHhTZJM9LMCpAnhE0mu80DeuGi3EsDEnsfvtohgb_PGzUlk6Un76ENGIf7HEQQ5UsTvB6OcsCEa2m8pyLsYdgtXvHDKm7z3fT6LcJ1MINs0G7rYCahTWm4Y5JDaNus4EKcfVRR-Qd-JqNI/s1600/IMG_0779.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHhTZJM9LMCpAnhE0mu80DeuGi3EsDEnsfvtohgb_PGzUlk6Un76ENGIf7HEQQ5UsTvB6OcsCEa2m8pyLsYdgtXvHDKm7z3fT6LcJ1MINs0G7rYCahTWm4Y5JDaNus4EKcfVRR-Qd-JqNI/s320/IMG_0779.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;"><br />
</span></div><span style="font-family: Arial;">A couple things I won't miss:</span><br />
<ul><li><span style="font-family: Arial;">The bugs - I'd gladly trade in the large "crunchy" bugs in AZ for slimey slugs of the PNW any day!</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial;">The summer</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial;">Houses that all look the same</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial;">The Arizona Cardinals </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial;">The newscasters</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial;">Sheriff Joe </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial;">Gross hard tap water!! </span></li>
</ul><span style="font-family: Arial;">It's been such a wonderful experience and we're so grateful for the time we were able to live here. We're going to miss our friends so much, but know we'll be back to visit very soon!</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7761337065543230813.post-53657103355710548712011-08-08T19:34:00.001-07:002011-08-08T19:43:59.105-07:00Dear Hetty,<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Dear Sweet Hetty,</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I've always believed that "everything happens for a reason," but I sure as hell don't understand this one. It was just a couple months ago that we were planning our trip to San Francisco. After chatting over facebook and text, we were both so excited to attend our very first "Hoopla" -- Stella & Dot's annual convention. We had never met, but Tandy, our Stella & Dot upline, set us up. THIS, I know, happened for a reason. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I hadn't had a roommate in years. I'll be honest, I was actually pretty nervous to have a roommate, especially one that I had never met before. I checked into the hotel before you, got up to the room, unpacked my things, and made sure I was as tidy as could be. I unpacked everything--- made sure everything was perfect. I gave you the bed closest to the bathroom, because that's the bed I would've wanted. I made sure my things were tucked away behind my bed so you wouldn't think I was a complete slob. I went across the hall to Tandy, Christine and Zandra's room and remember telling Tandy how I was a little nervous meeting you, almost like it was like meeting my roommate in college for the first time! I went back to our room and a few minutes later heard your little knock on the door. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We embraced in a hug like we were friends who hadn't seen eachother in years. So cliche, I'll admit, but I knew I liked you the second I met you. We both got ready quickly for the fashion show, and we helped eachother pick out our jewelry--- you had on the sofia pearl bib and paired it with an older white brooch that I had never seen in person before. In fact, I don't even know the name of it. You had a cute linen dress from Banana Republic that you were going to wear to the fashion show.... but we (you) were running late and you had to still check in downstairs and get your "swag bag." You ironed your dress and the hotel iron leaked water all over it. While you went downstairs to check in, I used my hairdryer to dry your dress. We walked down to the fashion show and so many other stylists just loved your necklace/brooch combination. After the fashion show, we viewed the new fall collection together. We loved the same pieces. We weren't sure about some of the pieces. We had the same taste. </span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAleydAeBK_vSWH_7f_a7KlXVNet0Tx4tmx6GSCkOeocE6IX9M3URzg4y90iTLaskrrm6pBPjUKiNdzOjHIZgdx1ZRa4hZOj2vmm3uCEvox4PCJQDNjw_IS8UbutwJCr34glITyF0NiaNZ/s1600/fashionshow.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320px" naa="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAleydAeBK_vSWH_7f_a7KlXVNet0Tx4tmx6GSCkOeocE6IX9M3URzg4y90iTLaskrrm6pBPjUKiNdzOjHIZgdx1ZRa4hZOj2vmm3uCEvox4PCJQDNjw_IS8UbutwJCr34glITyF0NiaNZ/s320/fashionshow.jpg" width="238px" /></a></div><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After that, we were both starving and tried to find a place to grab some food down in Union Square... We saw Tandy and Christine on the street (along with about 20 other gals in S&D jewelry). You wanted to find a place to eat outside because the weather was so beautiful. You being from Alaska thought 75 degrees was "nice out".... I (with my Arizona blood), thought it was a little chilly. We walked down towards the mall, another S&D stylist asked us to take her picture with her mom, and then she asked if we wanted our picture together. </span><br />
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<span id="goog_1599582431"></span><span id="goog_1599582432"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJl1Qr01IkWCDZty9dT5Oe70dBs49h8rdmf5LKJlMntS553BabL5uaqzKmwdd8itHRBLiIltyA7oyL5bDJ-UpU1crSWPaDp2SnVMg706L9cT9HlJOd3svPzuj-FXy3N7RAvoVaJzuuVpwr/s1600/union+square.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240px" naa="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJl1Qr01IkWCDZty9dT5Oe70dBs49h8rdmf5LKJlMntS553BabL5uaqzKmwdd8itHRBLiIltyA7oyL5bDJ-UpU1crSWPaDp2SnVMg706L9cT9HlJOd3svPzuj-FXy3N7RAvoVaJzuuVpwr/s320/union+square.jpg" width="320px" /></a></div><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After we realized there weren't many outdoor places to grab food, we started walking back towards the hotel, smelled pizza, looked at each other and I immediately knew I had found a girl after my own heart. You had a slice of pepperoni and I had a slice of cheese pizza. We chatted over our pizza and beer--- you told me about life in Alaska, your two sweet daughters, Ella and Adelaide, and your husband. I remember telling you I loved the name Ella and that if I ever had a daughter I told you my favorite name for a girl (that I rarely share with ANYONE), and that we would call her Ella for short. I thought the name Adelaide was so beautiful, too. Addie, for short. Somehow it came up that you and your husband had a little plane. I remember being so impressed that you and your husband owned a plane. I texted Stefan later in the day and told him, "I don't know how I got so lucky with my roommate, she is absolutely perfect-- and guess what, her and her husband have a plane! How cool is that?!" </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We then agreed that it would be a good idea to find a liquor store so we could have a few drinks in our room. (Again, we were meant to be). I found a liquor store using the GPS on my phone, and we headed to Eddie's Liquor Store. You told me how you loved beer, and you found one of your favorite beers at Eddie's... one that you loved in college, brewed in Colorado. We also got some champagne and peach nectar (we thought it would be fun to have mimosas in the morning), and you were so excited about all of the fresh fruit at the tiny liquor/convenience store that you couldn't find regularly in Alaska. We headed back to our hotel with our brown paper bags and got ready for the Gem Fatales Team Dinner at the Parc 55 hotel. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We met up with some Arizona stylists in the lobby at the Parc, and found a bunch of other stylists down at the bar grabbing drinks before dinner started. The line was long, and we were assured the line was just as long upstairs where our dinner was being held. We were one of the last ones to be served at the downstairs bar, and figured there would be plenty of seats at the dinner upstairs. Instead of getting "a drink" we thought it would be a better idea to share a pitcher (yes, PITCHER) of white sangria. We each had a glass full of sangria in hand, and I carried the pitcher up to the dinner. The room was packed. There were no seats together. For a second, I thought it would be a better idea to leave and share our sangria in the bar downstairs than be separated in the room of 400+ stylists. We started walking up towards the front of the room with a few other girls, when this woman came up to us and said "we have room for two at our table".... In almost a desperate tone, I said "We're two! We're sharing this pitcher of sangria, we need to be together!" As we walked towards the front of the room, I thought "oh no, why is this lady taking us to the table with the giant RESERVED sign?!" We sat down and I whispered to Hetty, "This is Tysh Mefferd's table. She's sitting right across from us." You had no clue that was Tysh at first. I felt a little awkward, but it was pretty funny at the same time. Two girls who started with S&D less than a year ago were sitting at a table with veterans. Jessica came to our table, Blythe, and even Maya Brenner (who I told you was my celebrity girl crush). Even though we felt completely out of place at that dinner table, I wouldn't have wanted to be there with anyone else. </span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEib32TlISqfvIxOqfJ19jK5iG1FkLFtZGjCzqTdw0gGK5xxBCouKRJb-6FfvS9wa9f0DRuZNaRoU74vzA-WFZn1FgcDSkPbYIVVBh5CE4dx4_bSB7KRRemU6xdKMlqusFtn-sk39iGMJKv6/s1600/gem+dinnner.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240px" naa="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEib32TlISqfvIxOqfJ19jK5iG1FkLFtZGjCzqTdw0gGK5xxBCouKRJb-6FfvS9wa9f0DRuZNaRoU74vzA-WFZn1FgcDSkPbYIVVBh5CE4dx4_bSB7KRRemU6xdKMlqusFtn-sk39iGMJKv6/s320/gem+dinnner.jpg" width="320px" /></a></div><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We finished our pitcher of sangria, and as we toasted our last glasses of the pitcher, I happened to glance over at Tandy at the table across from us, and as she caught us saying "cheers," I'm pretty sure she was thinking something along the lines of, "yep, those are my girls!" </span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfwiaCWVpgsUGmBO3RtXjNGYlwwi8wzrFFFskSgftUcPVZ0Zrmw1RqigWM352xt4QkmWlaoB9ydTRZE6rX39TyLQLxJROfAsW0ecJA10Dzz9vSqd4Vjgz3B91Hu0WA8Lr2U0KesUMVQYqm/s1600/pitcher.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320px" naa="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfwiaCWVpgsUGmBO3RtXjNGYlwwi8wzrFFFskSgftUcPVZ0Zrmw1RqigWM352xt4QkmWlaoB9ydTRZE6rX39TyLQLxJROfAsW0ecJA10Dzz9vSqd4Vjgz3B91Hu0WA8Lr2U0KesUMVQYqm/s320/pitcher.jpg" width="238px" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We got our pictures with Jessica and Maya, and had such a fun night. We found Tandy and Christine down in the bar after dinner, and had a few more adult beverages to end the night.... </span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRx2opB7ZdoJeBJ-1lLLpiRv7cL9unD7HxDQsZkEFvEIDbjhk1XX93I1QCwnT-DGL01fd0inKXHo_wgyu4lZs1TVLRoCJP2aCucU22Nyhe7F-Cd8thQAPIYZLdP9FV1bCOxEdRWX2GrvBI/s1600/jessica.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240px" naa="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRx2opB7ZdoJeBJ-1lLLpiRv7cL9unD7HxDQsZkEFvEIDbjhk1XX93I1QCwnT-DGL01fd0inKXHo_wgyu4lZs1TVLRoCJP2aCucU22Nyhe7F-Cd8thQAPIYZLdP9FV1bCOxEdRWX2GrvBI/s320/jessica.jpg" width="320px" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyp_zQgc_30ZAjpEdSxDCoTG-byTY7LOavBmCiTL8VI6_cM_93MlxqDjX7c3hKJ5fZdklKJBlCOoKwMt0IuGfIlUiK0d8K_VrDrch6P0EuYFGAgriUxlWUejyLdnBMY7_Fz7CBpc_yp_mZ/s1600/maya.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240px" naa="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyp_zQgc_30ZAjpEdSxDCoTG-byTY7LOavBmCiTL8VI6_cM_93MlxqDjX7c3hKJ5fZdklKJBlCOoKwMt0IuGfIlUiK0d8K_VrDrch6P0EuYFGAgriUxlWUejyLdnBMY7_Fz7CBpc_yp_mZ/s320/maya.jpg" width="320px" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">For some reason, I took a picture of the four of us at the end of the night...</span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUEj-aNNy1TEXL6kmSu_TUnWewD-WWwXFb6BNnWazHbdIqe4AjrkSz7FGj14j-r9_414bhVjBOYuwTZ3trX_G63az9tHhpGyuorOChbdmNa2w88-tScTeweQa6Uf5nD4FdXWXaDpkJ6zHc/s1600/night1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240px" naa="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUEj-aNNy1TEXL6kmSu_TUnWewD-WWwXFb6BNnWazHbdIqe4AjrkSz7FGj14j-r9_414bhVjBOYuwTZ3trX_G63az9tHhpGyuorOChbdmNa2w88-tScTeweQa6Uf5nD4FdXWXaDpkJ6zHc/s320/night1.jpg" width="320px" /></a></div><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">With my combination of beer, sangria, and vodka, I wasn't feeling so hot the next morning. Needless to say, we didn't end up having our mimosas that we thought was such a great idea the night before. We went to all of the same training sessions together, and even though the training is intended for us to network with other stylists, we stuck together. We still chatted with other stylists, but we were inseparable at the same time. </span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhy0lnzxKXsGxfeBugBrz8g0iOec4I7QY64kMuGX1qiJyI5c_bdO_-osX13zgUjHflo3We-TOjyyrMhpj35fDKYR3-G9rhgCxWBijS4mdie_kiHQXHcFIni-X-D8JpiKOWyvVMBnkb8XKWz/s1600/training.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240px" naa="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhy0lnzxKXsGxfeBugBrz8g0iOec4I7QY64kMuGX1qiJyI5c_bdO_-osX13zgUjHflo3We-TOjyyrMhpj35fDKYR3-G9rhgCxWBijS4mdie_kiHQXHcFIni-X-D8JpiKOWyvVMBnkb8XKWz/s320/training.jpg" width="320px" /></a></div><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">I got used to people being so shocked that you were from Alaska, that I almost started answering all of the "typical" questions for you. "You live about an hour from Sarah Palin, you're the only one here from Alaska and one of the very few active stylists in Alaska." You were famous. The reactions when you told people you were from Alaska were hilarious. It was almost like you were from a foreign country. I'm sure you get that a lot when you travel outside Alaska. You never got annoyed though. You loved everything about Alaska and were proud of your roots.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">That second night, we had our dinner cruise. It was so much fun figuring out what jewelry we were going to wear to each event. I remember we were trying to figure out how to tie two La Coco Cupchain necklaces in a knot. You had one of mine and yours and neither of us could figure it out. I said "We'll have to find Kelly Bird. She'll show you on the bus ride over there." You ended up with only one, and it wasn't tied in a knot, but your outfit (and jewelry) was still perfect. We had so much fun on the cruise. We rode on the bus next to each other, bought each other glasses of wine (although I was trying to cut back after the night before), and took so many pictures on the water. We went upstairs and talked to the boat captain for a long time. He told us about his children, and how his two daughters grew apart after the years, and how their age difference probably contributed to that. You told him how you hoped your daughters would grow up to be best friends one day. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">We didn't stay out late that next night-- we had way too much fun the night before! We took another "end of the night" picture, and you can clearly tell the difference between the night #1 and night #2 pictures. </span><br />
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</div><span style="font-family: Arial;">We spent the entire weekend together. The final night was the gala with all of the stylists. Christine invited us both to her senior director table for the dinner. We had a blast that night with the other girls from our team.... we danced the night away and created great memories. Neither of us could believe the weekend was coming to a close. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Our last night....</span><br />
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</div><span style="font-family: Arial;">The next morning we said our goodbyes. I was heading to visit my friend who lived on Russian Hill, and you were going to do a little shopping for your friend who needed you to pick up a gift for his wife. After your shopping, you met up with your friend on Russian Hill before your flight left back to Alaska. We soon figured out that both of our friends on Russian Hill lived two doors apart. Talk about a small world. We said our goodbyes at the hotel, and I told you to plan a trip with your family to Phoenix, and to plan it around a monthly Stella & Dot meeting so everyone could see you again. You were so excited about planning a trip to Phoenix. We didn't even have to say "let's keep in touch" before we went our separate ways - it was more like we knew there was no way we <em>couldn't</em> stay in touch. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">When I came home from Hoopla, I was on this wonderful high. The weekend was so much fun and I wouldn't have traded it for the world. It was absolutely perfect (minus that one little hangover). You were the perfect roommate and the perfect "instant friend." Whenever anyone asked me about Hoopla, they got to hear about you. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">Fast forward 3 weeks. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">My nephew got married on July 30th in Sterling, Colorado. You told me you went to Colorado State University in Fort Collins. You had heard of Sterling. 99% of people have never heard of Sterling, Colorado. Another one of those weird similarities. On July 31st, my family and I went out to the North Sterling Reservoir for the day, to relax after a fun wedding weekend. When we got back to our hotel that night, I noticed I had 5 missed calls from Tandy, a text message that said "call me, I have something to tell you," another message from Tandy that said "call me as soon as you get this, no matter how late it is," and another message from Kelly Bird that said "call Tandy as soon as you can." </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">Tandy: Hello?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">Julie: Hey Tandy, it's Julie.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">Tandy: Hey Julie, I'm sorry to have to tell you this, but Hetty was killed in a plane crash with her husband and two girls yesterday. </span><span style="font-family: Arial;"></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">Not possible.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">"Oh my gosh, I can't believe it" were the words I kept saying over and over again. Tandy was obviously crying, and thinking back, I was just in complete shock and denial. I don't even think tears came out of my eyes because I was so shocked. I just didn't believe the words Tandy was saying. It didn't make sense. It couldn't be true. I JUST saw you a few weeks ago. You became an instant friend. We had so much in common. You were going to come to Phoenix. You were just so happy. You had everthing going for you. It just couldn't be true.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">I layed in bed after I got off the phone with Tandy and googled the accident, read a couple articles, looked at your facebook page, looked at our pictures from Hoopla, and re-read the text messages from Tandy and Kelly. I went to sleep that night and woke up with black mascara all over my pillows. And when I say "went to sleep," I mean that I layed my head on my pillow and cried. I didn't really sleep. How could I? I continued to think about my conversation with Tandy, all of my conversations with you, and the disbelief I felt about the whole situation.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">The next day, we went to breakfast with my family before heading to the airport. While we were sitting in the restaurant, the song "If I Die Young" by The Band Perry came over the speakers and it brought tears to my eyes. Over the last couple weeks, prior to your passing, I have been obsessed with this song. I love the melody, the way the words come together, and have played it on repeat on my ipod. In fact, on Saturday before my nephew's wedding, we were at my sister's bar setting up for the reception and I played it on the jukebox at the bar. Twice. I was at lunch the other day with some co-workers and it came on in the restaurant and again, brought tears to my eyes. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">Getting on a plane and heading to Cleveland for work was extremely difficult. I was emotionally drained. I was on a plane. I was by myself and completely vulnerable. I was only left with thoughts. Thoughts of you. Thoughts of you and your sweet family on Saturday, enjoying your perfect afternoon, heading to your family's cabin on your plane. The plane that I was so impressed with. As much as I don't want to think about it, I can't help but think about the horror you and your family experienced that afternoon. I keep trying to get that out of my head, but looking at all of your pictures on facebook, especially the one of your husband checking the oil on your plane and your daughter Ella standing next to him, I just can't get it out of my head. You didn't deserve it. Why was this meant to happen to you and your precious family? </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">So many things have gone through my head lately, paired with so many different emotions. Why was I impressed with your plane? I feel guilty that I was impressed with such a material possession, something that you didn't think was a big deal at all. I shouldn't have thought it was a big deal either... and now I feel guilty that your plane ended up being the vehicle in which you spent your last moments. I have these breakdowns. Stefan mentioned a Honda "Pilot" the other day, and I just broke into tears. Little things. I know this will pass at some point, but it still makes me wonder why I'm taking it so hard. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">I talked to Tandy a few nights ago for about an hour. We spent the entire time talking, laughing, sharing memories, and even shed some tears. I told her that I don't understand why, after just knowing you for a short amount of time, I'm having such a hard time coping with all of this. She told me it's okay to grieve, and it's our way of paying our respects to you. It shows how much of an impact you've had on our lives in such a short amount of time, and gives credit to the amazing person you were. She said, "You can grieve because you think that person is amazing." So true. I told Tandy how hard it is to move forward with my Stella & Dot business, knowing you're not able to move forward with your business, and building your team in Alaska like you were ready to do. She assured me that I need to take some time and just let myself take everything in and grieve like I need to. We also realized that you'd probably be pretty pissed at both of us if we gave up on our businesses because we were grieving your loss. I know you want us to move forward, and I can promise you we will, but I'm telling you, it's going to be difficult. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">We have a team tomorrow in Phoenix, and Tandy asked me if I would be willing to share some stories about you. I told her I would be so happy to share your beautiful spirit with other women in our little S&D family. I'm so thankful to have met you and can't wait to tell others how amazing you were. I warned Tandy that I may start crying, so she'd have to crack a joke or tell a funny story so I didn't completely breakdown and lose it! I'll make sure that people can get to know you as a person for who you were, and not just for how you left us so suddenly. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">I know that you were put in my life for a reason. Your infectious smile and positive energy will leave an everlasting impression in my mind. I cherish the weekend we spent together and it makes me smile thinking about all of the weird similarities we shared. While we were not best friends or relatives, you truly left a lasting memory in my life. I will be forever grateful for getting to know you, and can't wait to </span><span style="font-family: Arial;">share another pizza and beer with you when I see you next... </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">I'll miss you, sweet Hetty. </span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7761337065543230813.post-20505891894081724862011-07-03T14:21:00.000-07:002011-07-03T14:21:46.094-07:00Thorne... minus the E.<div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Did anyone know it's hot in North Carolina in June? And muggy?? Holy moly. I thought I could handle the heat. 90 and humid is just plain awful though!!! Despite the weather, we had so much fun last weekend in North Carolina for the Thorne Family Reunion.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We attended a funeral when we arrived for Stefan's grandmother, Maggie. She passed away just before the reunion, and it was perfect that so many family members and friends could be there to celebrate her life. I loved hearing all the stories about Grandma Maggie because I heard Stefan in so many of those stories. She made sure her kids were well-disciplined and showed respect. Discipline and respect might as well be Stefan's middle names. Her demeanor, love for her family and love for life were truly wonderful to hear about. It made me see so many of Stefan's traits in his dad and now, his grandmother. Simply beautiful.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The family reunion was really fun--- meeting so many Thorne's from all across the country. I thought I had a huge family.... this one is pretty big too. I love learning about genealogy and the Thorne's are uncovering so many different family lines all over the place! We even got more information about the Thorne vs. Thorn differences.... </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This is what we already knew: When Stefan's dad was born, they misspelled his name on his birth certificate. He was supposed to be "Setler Thorne, Jr." However, his birth certificate reads "Sellas Thorn Jr." They completely messed up the first name, and dropped the "e" on the last name. We were known throughout the reunion as the Thorne's without an E. Everyone knew us.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This was new to us: During one of the meetings, another family member was talking about genealogy and she said that in her research, they found that the original name was spelled T-H-O-R-N (no E!) and over time, the "E" was added!!! There's also another line of Thorn(e)'s out there that added an "S" at the end.... Thorns. Very interesting. But we all felt good hearing that the Northwest/Southwest Thorn's have the correct spelling of the last name. :) You know how I am with misspelled words!</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Thorne, Thorns, Thorn.... we're all the same family, and I definitely felt that throughout the weekend. We had so much fun and can't wait to see everyone again!</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiomxBkaTO49zBti5EUYq4cOg4mPgMvW_bPWNtH2wUIVLZ1bRUlFKogD25HEcOTVPM9u0HJqL09UUtjyY8Upzvj4snFk5r9ZvwsDs4WZ5elgVYFH6yBwQnYE5eEa72bOSv4qm8ZopLIPslc/s1600/IMG_5612.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiomxBkaTO49zBti5EUYq4cOg4mPgMvW_bPWNtH2wUIVLZ1bRUlFKogD25HEcOTVPM9u0HJqL09UUtjyY8Upzvj4snFk5r9ZvwsDs4WZ5elgVYFH6yBwQnYE5eEa72bOSv4qm8ZopLIPslc/s320/IMG_5612.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7761337065543230813.post-67296083566154461642011-07-03T14:01:00.000-07:002011-07-03T14:01:21.717-07:00Wannabe Blogger<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A couple weeks ago, my friend </span><a href="http://campbellcuties.blogspot.com/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Dawn</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> and I went to an Arizona Crafters Night Out at </span><a href="http://www.sweetcakescafe.com/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Sweet Cakes Cafe</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> in Mesa. It's a fun event for a bunch of crafty bloggers/business owners in Arizona. Before you start laughing that I was at a CRAFTING event because I'm not very crafty, I want you to know that I sponsored the event for my Stella & Dot business. BUT.... because I was a sponsor, I was lucky enough to be able to buy a ticket in advance! (They sell out like hotcakes!) But, since I didn't want to go and just sit there as the only non-crafter, and non-business blogger, and have people wonder what business I was doing there, I got my friend Dawn a ticket too. You see, we're both blog stalkers. </span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_R1mRdP-1XKUZTk6b4XQFeOrg6d4i7819UmHwQu6opvNw93f3RYUXdUhXm9fd1BWUWxjR1TGmAZYI5rlWPji6MxPEk5zmjVOd8y5s3J_9XgHL35YA5KrvRQ9NaA2M0OQ0CT66-wlgpVep/s1600/dawnjuliegno.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="255" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_R1mRdP-1XKUZTk6b4XQFeOrg6d4i7819UmHwQu6opvNw93f3RYUXdUhXm9fd1BWUWxjR1TGmAZYI5rlWPji6MxPEk5zmjVOd8y5s3J_9XgHL35YA5KrvRQ9NaA2M0OQ0CT66-wlgpVep/s320/dawnjuliegno.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We got to the event and felt like we were among celebrities. Blogging celebrities. We follow all of these blogs, and then when you meet the people who are behind the keyboard, you kinda feel a little weird introducing yourself. It's almost like you have a post-it note on your forehead saying "I'm the one that got your site views up to 56,000 last month." Two good things here: 1) I didn't introduce myself and say that, and 2) they didn't know how much of a blog stalker I really am. </span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhftUNjg1bz_qkDw24SqqxCT0KoFmnCZUq4inZYBwk2vkaZe8Y51y6owMNjcYJgd0vzcBoBYoiJS21k8pYSb0Aq8-mMr-XBlAmLALS8-HkJN_nbzW8o90Nr0GoLfjyRquMunG5JfQ-Vyoi1/s1600/sweetcakes.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhftUNjg1bz_qkDw24SqqxCT0KoFmnCZUq4inZYBwk2vkaZe8Y51y6owMNjcYJgd0vzcBoBYoiJS21k8pYSb0Aq8-mMr-XBlAmLALS8-HkJN_nbzW8o90Nr0GoLfjyRquMunG5JfQ-Vyoi1/s320/sweetcakes.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhE9RIzztmT-n_GMdex5qupo-Rl1tf-Be9G9fac5ObFdZfycce2Dp4aUYqKZesWo0xETlLyQ3hiuQyG_Q3zNtntluBHo__QQJB_w6TnRvYPcX8904UsIEy55ZbQwNKlk3J4OnCjpPJvT_Ax/s1600/juliebloggernight.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhE9RIzztmT-n_GMdex5qupo-Rl1tf-Be9G9fac5ObFdZfycce2Dp4aUYqKZesWo0xETlLyQ3hiuQyG_Q3zNtntluBHo__QQJB_w6TnRvYPcX8904UsIEy55ZbQwNKlk3J4OnCjpPJvT_Ax/s320/juliebloggernight.jpg" width="213" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">See, I can be crafty.</span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We made these cute cupcake toppers, thanks to Kim at the </span><a href="http://www.thetomkatstudio.com/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">TomKat Studio</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">. Yes, she was there. Second time I've been in her presence. She's famous to me, okay? </span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-1wuF30r4ZRtyhw3bRRtwN01JzGJydEW3Xx03509tZJMXE5l540C9nTZR5555Vv09fFXZWY9QhteB_-8sJ01qPUvjDiOdTXcP__FCEJvaqkVLR4SiqAV0jo59EGKx-y_uyQFoDrsD_adw/s1600/sweetcakes2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-1wuF30r4ZRtyhw3bRRtwN01JzGJydEW3Xx03509tZJMXE5l540C9nTZR5555Vv09fFXZWY9QhteB_-8sJ01qPUvjDiOdTXcP__FCEJvaqkVLR4SiqAV0jo59EGKx-y_uyQFoDrsD_adw/s320/sweetcakes2.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We had so much fun, and towards the end of the event, Dawn and I had a blogging epiphany. More to come on that at a later date.... :)</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And since I don't have a "real" camera yet... these photos were all stolen from <a href="http://campbellscanon.blogspot.com/">Dawn</a> & Jessica from <a href="http://sierrastudiosphotography.blogspot.com/">Sierra Studios Photography</a>. </span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7761337065543230813.post-86866257759533980022011-07-03T13:37:00.000-07:002011-07-03T13:37:45.861-07:00Long weekend in Seattle<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We had a whirlwind trip to Seattle a couple weeks ago... started out with a graduation party for my nephew, Zak who graduated from my alma mater, Curtis High School on Friday... The weather couldn't have been more perfect to have an afternoon BBQ!! Stefan made some delicious ribs, we had my mom's famous potato salad, ham dip, a fruit pizza, fruit salad, corn and cake. My brother and his wife put together a picture collage of different pictures of Zak-- I remember when he was born and can't believe how quickly time flies!!</span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwQL3gnfM1Y7n4S0e_OEzk4-3awIdXcXMq6ldyvz6U6OnOcwl9tRz8cpZgEvd-F3HVH5Uk5lPFrHFMkF10WwEnjt6RIt9MJ_WMmG9smysyxQB55L366rTbTRQU6WkyeXIm0ArxVv7hzLde/s1600/zaksparty.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwQL3gnfM1Y7n4S0e_OEzk4-3awIdXcXMq6ldyvz6U6OnOcwl9tRz8cpZgEvd-F3HVH5Uk5lPFrHFMkF10WwEnjt6RIt9MJ_WMmG9smysyxQB55L366rTbTRQU6WkyeXIm0ArxVv7hzLde/s320/zaksparty.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxUkO6OLyepgPkVlg1K5CJtsBddSUvNFeAt0RXO1t8YRUaatTNVrRVfjq_XfYCUFJdp_t_fkj0WSxM4f8AjVjduaof9uZOcf4Xihme-tVowx8xH23bpYs6ygs3BgeDra-54kr49HOpvqdW/s1600/zaksparty2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxUkO6OLyepgPkVlg1K5CJtsBddSUvNFeAt0RXO1t8YRUaatTNVrRVfjq_XfYCUFJdp_t_fkj0WSxM4f8AjVjduaof9uZOcf4Xihme-tVowx8xH23bpYs6ygs3BgeDra-54kr49HOpvqdW/s320/zaksparty2.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The graduation was, to be honest, just like any other CHS graduation. Mr. Cowan, my biology teacher back in the day retired after 30-something years teaching. Other than that, it was pretty much the same. :) After graduation, Stefan and I met up with some friends at none other than the Ale House. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Saturday we celebrated our friend Breanne and her husband Danny's wedding at the Tacoma Country and Golf Club in Lakewood. The wedding was absolutely beautiful!! Perfect amount of people, beautiful setting and decor, great food, and such a fun reception! (Stefan even did the dougie). It was great to see some old friends and pick up like there was no time in between the last time we saw each other. We had so much fun creating some fun little words with the scrabble pieces at the tables :) Even though we were exhausted after the wedding, we met up with some friends at E9 for a little karaoke. No, not me.... we watched/listened, and when they kicked someone out, we figured it was our time to leave, too. Gotta love Tacoma.</span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhH4SgOA5tmkEqIUghfeLQhS_XoCAgwBlm_3wpG7fAqEM5YNzX-bFUXdvleLa-xtgnBeTkk18oAaBO5LWNJWXIacpNyp9Hv4DPOdo3HWaIuy5KChdTuhgH7fDPJjFZ8GRw8hOnjA6uPW9WV/s1600/wedding1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhH4SgOA5tmkEqIUghfeLQhS_XoCAgwBlm_3wpG7fAqEM5YNzX-bFUXdvleLa-xtgnBeTkk18oAaBO5LWNJWXIacpNyp9Hv4DPOdo3HWaIuy5KChdTuhgH7fDPJjFZ8GRw8hOnjA6uPW9WV/s320/wedding1.jpg" width="239" /></span></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgu0XLKFcKGnJKkBz37tgpEIryv7YYBVp1hoKC-XqyHKUV_1HGgaFxdbUm63ENQvDV3ZZxVUGwtLKsC6Gy358VbWRFdmZaMgp36F0Cbui4h0rZZbty7KutSpXZ0NaFElpFDmdNw8kgShOtJ/s1600/wedding2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgu0XLKFcKGnJKkBz37tgpEIryv7YYBVp1hoKC-XqyHKUV_1HGgaFxdbUm63ENQvDV3ZZxVUGwtLKsC6Gy358VbWRFdmZaMgp36F0Cbui4h0rZZbty7KutSpXZ0NaFElpFDmdNw8kgShOtJ/s320/wedding2.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">On Sunday, I had brunch with my good friend Jordan in Seattle before heading to a trunk show in Wallingford with an old friend from intermediate school/junior high/high school! It was great seeing AJ, her sister, mom and meeting some of her friends! </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We ended the trip with a wonderful dinner at Shenanigans. I simply cannot get enough seafood when I'm back home. Definitely one of the things I miss most about the PNW! Until next time!!</span><br />
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</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7761337065543230813.post-84171950849568197152011-06-14T22:06:00.001-07:002011-06-14T22:07:07.026-07:00pizza.<div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I have a confession to make. </span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I'm obsessed with pizza. </span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It's my favorite food by far, and if I could only eat one thing for the rest of my life, I'm pretty sure pizza would be the thing I would pick. Cherries would be a close second. Followed by crab legs. But pizza would definitely be my first choice.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I've realized over the past few months that I </span><s><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">could be</span></s><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> am a pizza connoisseur. Seriously. Whenever we go to a new restaurant and I don't know what to get, I always go for the pizza. I'm not sure if I'm just waiting to find my new favorite, or if I'm just terrible at venturing outside of my comfort zone. I love pizza. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This isn't going to be a very exciting post, rather, it will probably just point out how crazy and obsessed I am, and what a dull and boring life I lead. I can't believe I'm devoting an entire post to pizza. Anyway--- here goes...</span><br />
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<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What I like:</span></b><br />
<ul><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Thin crust (but not too thin where it tastes like a cracker)</span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A blend of cheeses (plain old mozzarella is too boring, unless it's fresh mozzarella on a margherita pizza)</span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Pineapple</span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A good sauce makes a perfect pizza</span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Cooked in a brick or wood fired oven</span></li>
</ul><div><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
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<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What I don't like:</span></b></div><div><ul><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Thick crust (I don't want to wait an hour for my pizza to cook)</span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Weird toppings (and no, pineapple is not weird)</span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Too much grease on the top (probably why I don't usually opt for meat toppings)</span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Crust (yes, I leave the crust on the plate like a little kid)</span></li>
</ul><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My favorite restaurant pizzas (in no particular order, because I realize that I don't have just </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">one</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> favorite):</span></div></div><div><ul><li><a href="http://www.grimaldis.com/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Grimaldis</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> (cheese only)</span></li>
<li><a href="http://www.oreganos.com/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Oreganos</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> (pineapple + cheese)</span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Howards (a family favorite in Montana-- my family would probably disown me if I didn't include this one)</span></li>
<li><a href="http://www.aznypdpizza.com/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">NYPD</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></li>
</ul><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When Stefan and I went to New York a couple years ago, we went to the original </span><a href="http://www.grimaldis.com/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Grimaldi's</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> under the Brooklyn Bridge. We waited for about 45 minutes outside (in December), and it was DEFINITELY worth the wait. New York definitely has the best pizza. </span></div></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I actually waited for 3 hours once for a pizza. </span><a href="http://www.pizzeriabianco.com/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Pizzeria Bianco</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> in downtown Phoenix is apparently pretty famous. Not famous enough to wait 3 hours though. It was good, but not </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">that</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> good. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The frequency of my pizza consumption will probably catch up to </span><s><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">me</span></s><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> my belly some day because I eat it several times a month. I had a quattro formaggio pizza from </span><a href="http://www.piatti.com/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Piatti</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> in the U-Village on Sunday with <a href="http://jensen-journeys.blogspot.com/">Jordan</a>, and then tonight we had a </span><a href="http://www.nakedpizza.biz/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Naked Pizza</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">, which is a new franchise concept that just opened in Arizona. It was good for being a "healthy" pizza. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">At least once a week Stefan and I have a conversation that goes something like this:</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: magenta;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Julie</span></span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">: What do you wanna do for dinner?</span></div><div><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Stefan</span></span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">: I don't know, what do you feel like?</span></div><div><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: magenta;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Julie</span></span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">: You probably don't want what I want.</span></div><div><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Stefan</span></span></span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">: No, we're not having pizza again.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What's YOUR favorite pizza or food obsession??</span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7761337065543230813.post-33596943458688859302011-06-02T13:57:00.001-07:002011-06-02T13:58:07.815-07:00A little catching up!<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I can't believe it's already JUNE!!!!!!! Here's a little bit of what we've been up to:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We finished the office. FINALLY. After issues with the furniture, Stefan's dislike at first for the color on the walls, and finally getting the chairs. It's pretty much done. Now we just have to put a few more things on the walls to try and distract Stefan from the color.</span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjO_FwEUomme4O5x5Z3HFBupEifkkDQp8OT7jgTdjAbmo025o65XQIcRVOxxe6V3cyXNX6sQHvre3JaSMs4DSyhbjZLUutcWLrCv58-CY_T_44fb-eHLDf6b3vFGV0HDqQ54Nb9RKZWNT4T/s1600/office.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjO_FwEUomme4O5x5Z3HFBupEifkkDQp8OT7jgTdjAbmo025o65XQIcRVOxxe6V3cyXNX6sQHvre3JaSMs4DSyhbjZLUutcWLrCv58-CY_T_44fb-eHLDf6b3vFGV0HDqQ54Nb9RKZWNT4T/s320/office.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I've been VERY busy with Stella & Dot (which I LOVE!) I've been doing so many little events here and there, combined with trunk shows galore! I'm having SO much fun and couldn't have asked for a better gig! I promoted to Senior Stylist in April and am hoping to promote to Star Stylist in the next couple months! </span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKonEH0fX7c_OIAwAoSQ4OvZH8NNz58Fsxmd65xlcjrGihakor6lnmddOawOvGN5piPJorpoxn2rt0LAt0S32_Yf-YYCkgcsLhRYvrV8UKc7fTx4VQ1j4TMlQ1q8lzC9nZyxt3Dx2aJ-bS/s1600/urbanspice.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKonEH0fX7c_OIAwAoSQ4OvZH8NNz58Fsxmd65xlcjrGihakor6lnmddOawOvGN5piPJorpoxn2rt0LAt0S32_Yf-YYCkgcsLhRYvrV8UKc7fTx4VQ1j4TMlQ1q8lzC9nZyxt3Dx2aJ-bS/s320/urbanspice.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Lindsey and Bryce visited us in March... we watched the Huskies win two games in the Pac-10 tournament (WSU and U of A), went to a spring training game and enjoyed spending time with our good friends from WA!</span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdDjZP8E4ldGn0f4qo1cyjOPM3NKP_9Sb4ajUgr5Meh9s2CgpILwG7watW7LcSzXnf7AamH3P1F56P1X00LMkBEXrSIEqotNClSfiA5xh-q2NoTM1iRxxtgq9JEQXeCzpbo8MqeNvmfhnP/s1600/lindsbryce.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdDjZP8E4ldGn0f4qo1cyjOPM3NKP_9Sb4ajUgr5Meh9s2CgpILwG7watW7LcSzXnf7AamH3P1F56P1X00LMkBEXrSIEqotNClSfiA5xh-q2NoTM1iRxxtgq9JEQXeCzpbo8MqeNvmfhnP/s320/lindsbryce.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Stefan's mom spent her 65th birthday with us the following weekend in March and we had so much fun shopping, wine tasting and exploring new places. We ate at this FABULOUS place called Cafe Monarch. It's one of those places where the owner is the chef, who is also the waiter, and also the dishwasher. It's a tiny little place in Old Town Scottsdale, no set menu, just whatever he feels like serving that day. I told him to surprise me, and just not to include any melons in my lunch because I'm allergic. The food was AMAZING!!!! And the restaurant is BYOB... so fun! We will definitely be going back again!!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Stefan got a new grill. Ever since we've been co-habitating, I think this is his 6th grill? I don't keep track any more, but I can't complain when the food is so delicious. :)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I went to Seattle the first weekend in April for some trunk shows and to visit family. I had so much fun seeing old friends and eating fabulous food. Lots and lots of seafood. Nothing like it. As my dad was going through some old boxes in their house, we found a giant box full of old notes from when I was in junior high and high school. Talk about hilarious! I found so many funny notes from my friends, I was able to share some of them at one of the trunk shows that weekend and we couldn't stop laughing. The things that were important to us back then: boys, who liked who, when we were going to get our FILM developed from the prior weekend, who was going with who to upcoming dances, and who was mad at who. SO funny. </span><br />
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</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We've got a busy summer ahead of us... hopefully this will make the hot months go by quickly and we won't even notice the 115 degree weather! Here's what the rest of the summer entails:</span><br />
<ul><li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Seattle next weekend for a wedding and graduation</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">North Carolina for the Thorne family reunion towards the end of June</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">San Francisco the first part of July for the annual Stella & Dot convention</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Montana in July to see my nieces's baby and a Stella & Dot trunk show at my cousin's boutique</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Colorado the last weekend in July for my nephew's wedding!</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial;">Possible trip to Vegas in August</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial;">Vegas the last weekend in September for a mini-family reunion and a wedding</span></li>
</ul><span style="font-family: Arial;">Bring on the frequent flyer miles!!!</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7761337065543230813.post-34461140166203547832011-06-02T13:33:00.000-07:002011-06-02T13:33:33.115-07:00Weekend with the Horners<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What a fun time we had with my sister and brother-in-law this past weekend!! It was such a short weekend and went by WAY too fast. In just a few words, here's what our weekend consisted of..... </span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Bottle of Crown.</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Bottle of Vodka.</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">BBQ.</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Breakfast casserole.</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">27 holes of golf for the boys.</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">5 hours at the spa for the girls.</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Shopping.</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Pool time.</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Sunshine.</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Relaxation.</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Keg.</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div align="left" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Good food, good times, good company.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuIW2tt9Jarj-8SufqS2QVT9eisY03J7UFUxE85QaZAuCx2XIt719vo2oByfhdwnAZkr7gH_H6idXYmK7_iMenvIHX0j7v32LZh0zzd-Adzm7zWWL-JsrZuiskgkLh5QQLSrQfSjQg64c9/s1600/IMG_5566.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuIW2tt9Jarj-8SufqS2QVT9eisY03J7UFUxE85QaZAuCx2XIt719vo2oByfhdwnAZkr7gH_H6idXYmK7_iMenvIHX0j7v32LZh0zzd-Adzm7zWWL-JsrZuiskgkLh5QQLSrQfSjQg64c9/s320/IMG_5566.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7761337065543230813.post-77219819340527472682011-04-10T21:14:00.000-07:002011-04-10T21:14:20.937-07:0030 before 30...<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I'm turning 30 <em>next year</em>. </span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">30. </span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">3-0. </span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Thirty. </span></div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Dang.</span></div><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">While I continue to try and deny that I'm no longer in my mid-twenties and soon will exit my twenties all together, I decided to come up with a list of 30 things I'd like to do before the big three-oh. When I hear the words, "bucket list" I think of myself as a gray-haired woman jumping out of an airplane. If 30 is freaking me out, I sure don't wanna imagine myself with gray hair. So this is <strong>not</strong> a bucket list. Got it? </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">Moving on. Here's my list, in no particular order:</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">1. Sew myself an item of clothing</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">2. Start a new blog</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">3. Swim with dolphins</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">4. Buy a pair of Louboutins</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">5. Go on a cruise</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">6. Plan a fundraising event</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">7. Go zip-lining</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">8. Go sailing</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">9. Join a women's networking group</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">10. Spend an entire day doing absolutely nothing but watching movies</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">11. Face my fear of ladybugs</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">12. Visit the Grand Canyon</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">13. Go on a hot air balloon ride</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">14. Be my own boss</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">15. Sleep outside under the stars</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">16. Meditate regularly</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">17. Eliminate red meat in my diet</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">18. Own a digital SLR camera and learn how to use it</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">19. Go wine tasting at a vineyard</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">20. Become a Director with Stella & Dot</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">21. Get into a regular fitness routine (yoga, ballet aerobics, etc.)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">22. Learn how to get my hair to look like <span style="color: red;"><a href="http://kimkardashian.celebuzz.com/2011/03/07/grand-opening-of-sugar-factory-with-kylie/kim-kardashian-030411-24/">this</a></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">23. Make more crafty things for our house... like <a href="http://tragicsensation.wordpress.com/2010/11/18/lima-bean-wreath/">this</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">24. Make wine</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">25. Complete another 30 day Bikram Yoga challenge</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">26. Host a fancy dinner party</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">27. Make a decision about having children (note how that one is worded)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">28. Buy a new house with a bigger yard</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">29. Try a float spa</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">30. Learn how to cook <s>like my husband</s> a few decent meals</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">Other things that didn't quite make the cut.... not because I didn't <em>want</em> them to make the list, but because I wanted to at least make the list realistic. We're running low on time here, remember? Maybe for the 40 before 40 list. I can't believe I just said that.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">1. Go on a Safari in Africa</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">2. Visit NYC in the spring</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">3. See the Northern Lights</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">4. Build a custom closet (or have one built)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">5. Refinish an old piece of furniture</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7761337065543230813.post-50170991689334499522011-03-15T21:18:00.001-07:002011-03-15T21:31:22.447-07:00Unintentionally crossing paths.<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">While I have plenty of things I could (and should) be doing tonight for work, Stella & Dot, and preparing for my mother-in-law's visit this weekend... something came over me tonight and I realized that all of that could wait. </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A few weeks ago, I was at the UPS store right up the street from my house mailing some jewelry that I gave away during a recent facebook contest. As I was standing in line, this woman walked into the store with her cute little daughter and mentioned that she was picking up some flyers she had printed. Penny at the UPS store commented to the woman about how cute the little girl was on the flyer. I glanced over, saw the beautiful little girl, and smiled. The woman told Penny that she would leave a few flyers at the store for anyone that was interested. I ran and got some groceries next door, and then kept thinking about that flyer. I have no clue what made me continue to think about it, but as soon as I was done putting my groceries in the car, I went back into the UPS store and grabbed one. It read: </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"Kate's Crusade. Silent Auction and Fundraiser" </span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If you catch me at the UPS store or running errands any other day, I'm usually pretty oblivious to my surroundings. Oprah could walk through the door and I would have no idea. I don't remember details and I certainly couldn't tell you what the person looked like or said to me when I picked up my drycleaning tonight. I have no clue why I have such a vivid recollection of that day in the UPS store.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When I came home, I immediately went to the website on the flyer, </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.katescrusade.com/">www.katescrusade.com</a></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">, which led me to Kate's website, </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.prayforkate.com/">www.prayforkate.com</a></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> and her </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/mcraekate">Caring Bridge site</a></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">. A little girl battling brain cancer. I recognized the picture of Kate from my friend Dawn's <a href="http://campbellcuties.blogspot.com/2011/02/please-pray-for-kate.html">blog</a> who had recently posted her picture with a prayer request after the family found out her cancer had resurfaced. </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I literally spent the next couple hours reading Kate's story with tears streaming down my face. Ok, they were gushing out of my eyes, not even close to a little "stream" of tears.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Something about this beautiful little girl stole my heart. I began searching for a phone number or email address from the websites. I found email addresses for both parents and sent them both emails. I realized after reading the updates that they were traveling to Houston the next day to start a new round of treatment for Kate. They didn't have time for me. I submitted my information on the Kate's Crusade Website. I was impatient (I know, no surprise there). I finally called the UPS store and talked to Penny. I knew she couldn't give me the woman's name or contact information but I begged her to at least send an email to the woman who placed the order for the flyers and give her my information. I made her repeat my information back to me. Twice. Within an hour I had an email from a woman named Janette.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I told Janette that I wanted to help and would do anything I could, both personally and with my Stella & Dot business, donating my sales commission, whatever I could do to help this family. She told me more about Kate's Crusade on Saturday and asked if I wanted to donate anything for the silent auction. A couple days later, I dropped off a necklace and S&D gift certificate for the auction. It was the least I could do in such a short amount of time. I asked her about doing an event after Kate's Crusade was finished and she gave my information to their event planner. I can't wait to help this family even more.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">You think your world is small? Janette lives less than a mile from me, on the same street, just on the other side of the main road. We've walked by her house several times when we take the dogs for a walk. And Kate? She attends the elementary school that I can see from our bedroom window upstairs. Funny little world we live in, isn't it?</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So that brings me to tonight. Janette posted a link to pictures from Kate's Crusade on Facebook and I just sat at my computer and watched the pictures roll by.... I sat at my computer for over 30 minutes, watching them replay over and over again. You know those times where you don't even realize time has gone by? It was one of those moments. I thought that writing would help put my thoughts into words, but even now, there is no way to describe the emotion and power of those pictures from <a href="http://imagesinspirehope.elizabethfiorephotography.com/">Elizabeth Fiore Photography</a>. The entire community came together for sweet Kate McRae and her family. I absolutely love this community. While a lot of the people at the event know Kate and her family personally, there were so many others who only know of her story, like me. </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Life is truly incredible. We always seem to try to intentionally cross paths with people... whether it's trying to meet our future spouse, a celebrity crush, or just someone we really want to meet. Why is that? Why do we try so hard sometimes? I realized that when you let go of the control, things will happen how they're supposed to happen, and it's usually when you least expect it. Unintentionally crossing paths with someone really makes you put life into perspective. Why on earth did I become so obsessive about making sure I got a hold of that woman at the UPS store?? People come in and out of our lives all the time. When it occurs without intention, it makes you truly appreciate the reasons why and allows you to build and regain faith in just letting things happen they way they're meant to happen. </span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7761337065543230813.post-26537371224524619422011-02-25T12:52:00.001-07:002011-02-25T12:55:02.149-07:00Oh, Flower.<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My first confession (and some of you already know this) is that we have a cleaning lady. Yes, I work from home, have Fridays off, but hear me out.... Before she cleaned our house, I'd like to think our house was pretty dang clean all the time. Stefan and I are both neat freaks and like a clean house and I was a little confused as to why he was trying to convince me to hire her. We got her name from one of Stefan's co-workers and we figured we'd give it a shot--- once a month to do a deep clean and all the things I hate doing (toilets, dusting the blinds, cleaning the baseboards, etc.). We can easily take care of the rest. The night we came home from work after she had cleaned our house for the first time, I think our jaws dropped to the floor. Our house looked brand new. The carpets looked brand new, and we were afraid to mess up the lines on our suede couch. She is amazing! All this time, we thought we did a great job cleaning, and then she comes along and shows us up. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Now, her name is Flower. Well, Stefan's co-worker calls her Flora, but we write the check to Florencia. I like Flower and that's how she introduced herself so that's what we're going with.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">The one thing about "Flower" that normally would drive me crazy, is how she puts things back in our house. I don't know how she manages to move our giant couch to vacuum under it-- there's no way I could do this on my own, I have no clue how she does it. Sometimes I wonder what she's thinking when she puts things back the way she does. I captured a few things for you to see what I'm talking about....</span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjODes-mcj0m1T4dIg84xKsEvdjUPUssoQTLYRF2qmudrITPSebaa01Jd-CMx43nCvQfotbc1KiHYJJ9rVjgEZvGWPB3oOUz-VuxU65Y7molXjmNGCA2tTn3VQe05S_TM0hX-SEyO6Y2XEU/s1600/closet.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" l6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjODes-mcj0m1T4dIg84xKsEvdjUPUssoQTLYRF2qmudrITPSebaa01Jd-CMx43nCvQfotbc1KiHYJJ9rVjgEZvGWPB3oOUz-VuxU65Y7molXjmNGCA2tTn3VQe05S_TM0hX-SEyO6Y2XEU/s320/closet.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Looks normal, Right? Notice the drawers and where they pull out. How the heck am I supposed to get anything out of the drawers if they're pushed up against a jewelry cabinet?!</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXYOI4WMMJNI1r-Vz5a7_ZfZq9mrAMzSbzKtsE2lkO_jt8GH0G0vtM6QvpUb0IysREzgslTmj5h1DAdtiI16H7mNvfhOY0CLWLmbmwks9DESdGsxEutjI89DTWp5DJYcVM34iFvh3H73i0/s1600/picframe.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" l6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXYOI4WMMJNI1r-Vz5a7_ZfZq9mrAMzSbzKtsE2lkO_jt8GH0G0vtM6QvpUb0IysREzgslTmj5h1DAdtiI16H7mNvfhOY0CLWLmbmwks9DESdGsxEutjI89DTWp5DJYcVM34iFvh3H73i0/s320/picframe.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">It's cool, we'll turn our heads to the right whenever we wanna see this picture.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9nc29QE8p5BN0Trssb8z8EA44ZQxP-B4Awi8jPxnh49mIQWJ-781A8OSrrZoepBDTord_pd2rr23pDSriSBz9AbeAoYZL551_2AzvmzF3QOgfquTnwIYty5F_D_f2lHHFVa5fmYx3CCTC/s1600/stefanshoes.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" l6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9nc29QE8p5BN0Trssb8z8EA44ZQxP-B4Awi8jPxnh49mIQWJ-781A8OSrrZoepBDTord_pd2rr23pDSriSBz9AbeAoYZL551_2AzvmzF3QOgfquTnwIYty5F_D_f2lHHFVa5fmYx3CCTC/s320/stefanshoes.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Good thing Stefan never sees this blog. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">He likes his shoes a certain way.... and it's obviously not the way she put them back this time.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh42s0_d8TYqoM4EZ1dNs_2SW1B_tRvhbzZdM0kkt76maSVbsxicV-_hyphenhyphen6kybGDE4A-cU4T5E3uaeBm-6yrWbloy_VZ5BGBusVWaMdNtiUITmAB-w1NpAO2DgtooQvgsHX4EnHCIc9DBWtb/s1600/toothpaste.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" l6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh42s0_d8TYqoM4EZ1dNs_2SW1B_tRvhbzZdM0kkt76maSVbsxicV-_hyphenhyphen6kybGDE4A-cU4T5E3uaeBm-6yrWbloy_VZ5BGBusVWaMdNtiUITmAB-w1NpAO2DgtooQvgsHX4EnHCIc9DBWtb/s320/toothpaste.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">I don't think the holes for the toothbrushes were meant to hold the toothpaste.</span></div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKWSxjbNsP5wP6CFztSKgu_yLAYn8CTDDMNx0GP4RzkeyoiAyXOMiYGBZLbdsLWiz_FRRzmiORs0HbIJw3Eqzia-rnaOjQ0rVwqBZr-w9m7qasQUQPW2RZZ_OJzmSUKaz3yDXE12yA-70a/s1600/towel.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" l6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKWSxjbNsP5wP6CFztSKgu_yLAYn8CTDDMNx0GP4RzkeyoiAyXOMiYGBZLbdsLWiz_FRRzmiORs0HbIJw3Eqzia-rnaOjQ0rVwqBZr-w9m7qasQUQPW2RZZ_OJzmSUKaz3yDXE12yA-70a/s320/towel.jpg" width="320" /></a></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Towel art.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6L21Zs2ydWyjbMvc7qypYa0CeLEkPKuscFLnhY3gT6Uf-zn9E64Uh5NPfVih06ENu7qmmk4qcCobNg-nZyxbXSNox6aBZluTP3Pg5Ztbc5EFjcOHp-ubdGNhVDe_lAaUK6vT9tya7CwRC/s1600/tp.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" l6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6L21Zs2ydWyjbMvc7qypYa0CeLEkPKuscFLnhY3gT6Uf-zn9E64Uh5NPfVih06ENu7qmmk4qcCobNg-nZyxbXSNox6aBZluTP3Pg5Ztbc5EFjcOHp-ubdGNhVDe_lAaUK6vT9tya7CwRC/s320/tp.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Hotel Thorn.</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKPOJfsbjGkqNb5sPHDoTBdjICi-FTUW_nLGc6lzTY4RFIIN5L5ux8Wcf7aoasIDk-0Te4hUvyasoycW35z7Y5uql0d6XZuicdmTOVE5PlDlIRVuDKEiNxE1LN97VuVPLIAwsDRzpepIpq/s1600/bar.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" l6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKPOJfsbjGkqNb5sPHDoTBdjICi-FTUW_nLGc6lzTY4RFIIN5L5ux8Wcf7aoasIDk-0Te4hUvyasoycW35z7Y5uql0d6XZuicdmTOVE5PlDlIRVuDKEiNxE1LN97VuVPLIAwsDRzpepIpq/s320/bar.bmp" width="320" /></a></div><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">While she does a great job cleaning every single bottle, she doesn't always put them back in the "right place" or the exact angle where she found them. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">To clarify, this post is in no way, shape, or form an intention to complain about our beloved Flower. I would much rather come home to things put back in weird places than to not have her clean our house because she really does an amazing job. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It just makes me laugh.... and really curious about what her house looks like :)</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7761337065543230813.post-24040858974103608032011-02-02T20:07:00.003-07:002011-02-02T20:10:27.277-07:00Working from home...<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I couldn't be more thankful for the flexibility in my job that allows me to work from home on a regular basis. I live about 45 minutes away from the office, and the drive really has never bothered me. But once you get in the habit of NOT having to get up at 5am, and NOT driving 27 miles to work each way, and NOT having a crazy drycleaning bill, or NOT having to fill up my car every few days, and NOT having to pay over $400 a month in doggie daycare..... it's hard to switch back! I've gained my independence in this role and it's forced me to really figure things out on my own and take ownership in my time management and project management skills. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">While I absolutely love seeing the people in my office, a lot of the times I have a ton of work that needs to get done and I'm actually a lot more productive at home. When I tell most people I work from home, they respond with, "Oh, I would never be able to do that. I'd be too tempted to watch TV or do other things around the house." The reality is, sometimes put a load of laundry in, or run to the post office, or call my dad in the middle of the day.... but as long as my work gets done by the deadline, that's all that really matters in the end. I end up being more productive at home because I don't have as many distractions. I have music playing but don't think I've ever had the TV on for more than background noise-- it's weird. My dogs can't carry on a conversation for 45 minutes, so they're not much of a distraction either. </span><br />
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<u><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My work in the office days:</span></u><br />
<ul><li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Alarm clock goes off at 4:30am, get out of bed around 5am</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Drop the dogs off at daycare by 6am</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Drop off Stefan at work around 6:45am</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Work by 7am</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Pick up Stefan from work around 5pm</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Pick up the dogs around 6pm</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Home by 6:30pm</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Dinner, then log back into my computer and do a little more work at home</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Length of my day: about 14 hours</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Amount of work that realistically gets done: 9-11 hours</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Time spent driving, running errands, socializing, etc: <strong>3-5 HOURS!!!!!!! </strong></span></li>
</ul><u><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My work from home days:</span></u><br />
<ul><li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Alarm goes off at 6:30am, get out of bed by 6:55am</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Work starts around 7am</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Done around 6pm, sometimes earlier/sometimes later</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Stefan drives to work by himself and the dogs stay home with me.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Length of my day: 11 hours</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Amount of work that gets done: 10-11 hours</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Time spent driving, running errands, socializing: um.... <strong>maybe 20 minutes</strong> if I have an errand to run.</span></li>
</ul><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Even though I still feel like an idiot learning my "new" job, I wouldn't trade it for anything. Having the flexibility and awesome "work environment" is so worth it!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">...even when I have these two craving for attention :)</span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgC3p8QyCyX7K18Ijm1Zkzcn1kOvbMLoEuTZ_QcveAOeXiQCXYGtXxPoRGuWzJEDaFEHKD6badoJOqHOAMudhLCOSOp2EQS4c7oiYppU8tLoB3-pzedmYWhEiWNjZpINt3pcKvNOxowQXD7/s1600/bentley2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="236" s5="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgC3p8QyCyX7K18Ijm1Zkzcn1kOvbMLoEuTZ_QcveAOeXiQCXYGtXxPoRGuWzJEDaFEHKD6badoJOqHOAMudhLCOSOp2EQS4c7oiYppU8tLoB3-pzedmYWhEiWNjZpINt3pcKvNOxowQXD7/s320/bentley2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjh-D4dS9kXquL7gL44GLnrUEBCyR6aqdYGD0TmXFp_I7b3DkrDx3iU_bkf2vPMhqVRdT5cXkg7bA5bceQ9pxEw2At8UmP0N9RS2VoVAbbb4HrL0e5uod4t7AgHohY0sUkaCTzBQTf6ulF6/s1600/brooklyn.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="235" s5="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjh-D4dS9kXquL7gL44GLnrUEBCyR6aqdYGD0TmXFp_I7b3DkrDx3iU_bkf2vPMhqVRdT5cXkg7bA5bceQ9pxEw2At8UmP0N9RS2VoVAbbb4HrL0e5uod4t7AgHohY0sUkaCTzBQTf6ulF6/s320/brooklyn.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh17vRhaIXAt9V8crujdJQktCHktsTH_t-eAE2eV7FIlmb6Xkz8D6Vp1Jztt_uFepu25ZFU7c9-shmftyavYabMi947g1CVolzDmajOHaTueSsZYlN6msh0swWVpUvc9qviYw1jR4MJasCw/s1600/bentley.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" s5="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh17vRhaIXAt9V8crujdJQktCHktsTH_t-eAE2eV7FIlmb6Xkz8D6Vp1Jztt_uFepu25ZFU7c9-shmftyavYabMi947g1CVolzDmajOHaTueSsZYlN6msh0swWVpUvc9qviYw1jR4MJasCw/s320/bentley.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7761337065543230813.post-2235906229379319582011-01-17T20:19:00.001-07:002011-01-17T20:22:35.106-07:00Adventures with LasikSo I finally took the plunge.... After all the contemplating, (remember <a href="http://julieannthorn.blogspot.com/2010/08/to-lasik-or-not-to-lasik.html">this post</a>?) I finally got Lasik surgery!<br />
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I wore glasses for the last time Friday morning and arrived at <a href="http://www.goodeyes.com/">Barnet, Dulaney, Perkins Eye Center</a> at 7:30am. I agreed to do a video testimonial, so I felt like I had the paparazzi following me around the whole time I was there. In fact, there were about 5 people that kept looking over at me, trying to figure out who I was, and why on earth there was a guy following me around with a giant videocamera. It was pretty funny and I'm sure I looked fabulous with my surgical cap, no makeup, and glasses (for the last time).<br />
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After the Valium, I was feeling great.... and then about 20 minutes later, I was out the door, with my Terminator sunglasses and almost perfect vision. The procedure was absolutely flawless and much easier than expected (it took less than a minute to do each eye!) I went home and slept for a good 3 hours (I love it when sleeping/resting is in the doctors orders) and woke up to clear and perfect vision!!! I was supposed to "rest my eyes" the first night, but I was just too excited that I could see without contacts or glasses that I kept opening them. I even went outside and looked at the stars for a few minutes. Such an incredible feeling.<br />
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The worst part? Seeing this gross mark from the suction thing they put on my eyes!! I can't feel it so I guess it doesn't really matter, it just looks gross, and it'll go away eventually.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6gL6pAzVLoC1GNJ1mMeeCqW0z-9pDl67JQ1t6fMRLtPjBeVPvA5VLLRO5NzAraAXDrUTUFMP-5tNpS7EY0W9vqgPlEDoIYkVvfZEOfuwekNoSf_TwF4hBUz_67SQ60UT5BWrQSMmuCV7W/s1600/eyesuction.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="263" n4="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6gL6pAzVLoC1GNJ1mMeeCqW0z-9pDl67JQ1t6fMRLtPjBeVPvA5VLLRO5NzAraAXDrUTUFMP-5tNpS7EY0W9vqgPlEDoIYkVvfZEOfuwekNoSf_TwF4hBUz_67SQ60UT5BWrQSMmuCV7W/s320/eyesuction.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
The next morning I had my post-op visit at 7:45am and I can't describe the feeling when I read the eye chart for the first time without glasses or contacts and could read the line that was just below (better than) the 20/20 line!!! I have BETTER than 20/20 vision.... what the heck?! I went from worse than 20/400 to better than 20/20..... A-MAZING! <br />
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As soon as we got home, I was so excited, I patted my chest for Bentley to jump up and give me a hug and then all of a sudden---- SMACK. Paw right in my eye. I RAN to the bathroom, started pouring the bottle of artificial tears in my eye, thinking I could get whatever I thought got in there out as quick as possible. No luck, my eye was burning and felt like something was scratching my eyeball everytime I blinked. I decided to "rest my eyes" again and laid down upstairs for about an hour and a half. When I got up and realized nothing had changed, I called the eye center and talked to the on-call nurse. She asked if my vision was blurry so I covered my left (good) eye, and sure enough, super blurry out of my right eye. Scared the crap out of me. She told me to head straight back and the doctor would check to make sure everything was okay.<br />
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I arrive and the doctor tells me to cover my left eye and read the eye chart. Just a few hours earlier I was reading the "better than 20/20 line"..... now, I couldn't even see the giant "E." He looked at my eye and said, "well it looks like the flap of your cornea is displaced, I'm gonna call Dr. Rivera and he'll be in to complete the surgery right away." SERIOUSLY!??!! I couldn't believe it. I sat in the waiting room for a little while longer until the surgeon, Dr. Rivera and his team of nurses came to save the day. <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgz8y69czsBPrqzW2X2JQAirhMrkz8v8D_7EWiE40E6Vhi2K4LHFeE4HLgpSrR9oMmdqx8-Z4W96rYtLuvti153HxMD6dH9v1aRA-GACNp9QuVrgk1tXt2xSRJREo3MY3IfuJF5Qto0pktv/s1600/eyecut.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="293" n4="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgz8y69czsBPrqzW2X2JQAirhMrkz8v8D_7EWiE40E6Vhi2K4LHFeE4HLgpSrR9oMmdqx8-Z4W96rYtLuvti153HxMD6dH9v1aRA-GACNp9QuVrgk1tXt2xSRJREo3MY3IfuJF5Qto0pktv/s320/eyecut.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">You can barely tell in this pic...</span></div><br />
This procedure to fix the flap was worse than the actual Lasik procedure, one--- because there was no Valium involved, and two--- because I had no clue what to expect. It wasn't a routine procedure where the surgeon talks you through it and it only lasts a few seconds. I could feel every poke and prod in my eye and I was sweating bullets making sure I didn't move an inch. Needless to say, once it was done and over, while I was still a little blurry out of the right eye, at least it didn't feel like someone's fingernail was scraping at my eye everytime I blinked.<br />
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And now--- almost back to normal again. After tons of eyedrops, a good nights sleep last night, my fabulous sleeping goggles, and ice cream (ice cream always makes me feel better), my eye is doing MUCH better.... and Bentley has since apologized. (Although I accept full responsibility for my stupidity in letting him jump on me). <br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">It was so much fun saying "adios" to all this junk!!!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Tahoma;">My parents flew in on Wednesday night and left early this morning. We had so much fun this last week and time always flies when they visit. We spent a lot of time relaxing, did a little shopping, played LOTS of Apples to Apples, danced and boxed on the Kinect (ask me for videos if you want a good laugh), and watched some home videos that my parents organized and converted to DVD's as a Christmas gift (I'm not sure if Stefan was more embarassed of me or bored, either way, we had lots of laughs watching some of those!). We had a really good dinner at the Keg, played with the pups a lot, went to see Little Fockers (hilarious!) and Stefan cooked a fabulous ham dinner on Christmas Eve and a turkey dinner on Christmas! We ate like crazy, met up with some friends for dinner one night and then went back to their house for wine and dessert! Yesterday, we went for a hike at Wind Cave at Usery Mountains and it was absolutely GORGEOUS! I think a lot of people dismiss the Arizona scenery as being beautiful, but it really is stunning. After the hike, we went shopping and I got my first sewing machine!! I've been wanting one, but haven't really taken the plunge because I have such little patience when it comes to figuring things out on my own so I was VERY thankful to have the expert (my mom) here to show me what to do! We even made a custom dog bed for the pups yesterday so they have a plush bed in the car!! Spoiled? Of course. (The dogs, I mean. But I guess I'm a little spoiled too).</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Tahoma;">As always, it was a great visit with my parents and went by way too fast. My parents left for Utah today to see my brother and his family, and we went back to work. I love having time off, but reality has to come back eventually.... Hopefully I'll steal some more pictures when my parents post theirs, but for now, a couple from the hike and the dog bed I made!</span><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgt13JQeQFOF9PM6rSC8KrovH_TpPNhVpeFz4rBAx1mKkDeHoXLRZP6f5FqtxykYCuX4DFGkkMejX5VXKMc0-_NwqpdGl_9RfbR4-2drLQckUA8qr8DNDfKNUgKoZozs3B8H0ZwxRmC1S0I/s1600/IMG_5474.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgt13JQeQFOF9PM6rSC8KrovH_TpPNhVpeFz4rBAx1mKkDeHoXLRZP6f5FqtxykYCuX4DFGkkMejX5VXKMc0-_NwqpdGl_9RfbR4-2drLQckUA8qr8DNDfKNUgKoZozs3B8H0ZwxRmC1S0I/s320/IMG_5474.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGz5gl1FOX6YU9H_FM7AzwxwEsX3CLTjuZMvB8MQ-hdLmapsMXncdMmOd4OAIS5U_c7D7ULy6DwU7M-r-cVfp2AYu9AoccRveN_DT8q9ueUklYCB8HBVvUom6aASaEIQNuXNEgp03jw8sf/s1600/IMG_5475.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGz5gl1FOX6YU9H_FM7AzwxwEsX3CLTjuZMvB8MQ-hdLmapsMXncdMmOd4OAIS5U_c7D7ULy6DwU7M-r-cVfp2AYu9AoccRveN_DT8q9ueUklYCB8HBVvUom6aASaEIQNuXNEgp03jw8sf/s320/IMG_5475.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7761337065543230813.post-26908099109635452822010-12-21T08:00:00.001-07:002010-12-21T13:04:58.781-07:00Brooklyn is on the naughty list...<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Tahoma;">It was a typical work from home day yesterday, I was on a conference call and the dogs were just laying down in the living room like they usually do. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Tahoma;">I heard a little rustling and didn't think anything of it. I continued on my call and heard more rustling and one of the dogs walking around. I got up to see what was going on and I see Brooklyn prancing around with something in her mouth. She looked so dang cute that instead of telling her "no," I made her sit (while I was still on the call) so I could take a picture.</span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUmJJTuFgc91WzeQBLgAVB1c9KhEpCHKAihEECpn5TBGNVA1rwyfRE-u9AlZXAyJ5tLUcvjGgy2mgLPNn65eLQr-ZMpPGwry1wnC88hMdLGnVJI0Pz_4ddPV0cxnqo-4yldENUkOecE5-_/s1600/badbrooke.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Tahoma;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUmJJTuFgc91WzeQBLgAVB1c9KhEpCHKAihEECpn5TBGNVA1rwyfRE-u9AlZXAyJ5tLUcvjGgy2mgLPNn65eLQr-ZMpPGwry1wnC88hMdLGnVJI0Pz_4ddPV0cxnqo-4yldENUkOecE5-_/s320/badbrooke.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Tahoma;"><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Tahoma;">That "something" she had in her mouth was a box of chocolate covered cherries that Stefan had just put under the tree that morning. When I sent him the picture, he said he hid it as far behind the tree as he could without me being able to see it. Apparently Brooklyn could smell it and thought she would give me an early present! She must have known that the one thing I love the most on Christmas is a box of Queen Anne milk chocolate covered cherries!!!</span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIWImS4qGQghITlTAi20sALq7oN8mD7vH93LTLZgXdEakGS_I_fund3eCoMJxzWTz-DLzGEVFL7bz0vFPzwsOGZInnSxaqXM2HuzGx3fyZQEDdHiaCu0EJbtVN-1pZvNtaq9AEX1Bimauw/s1600/queen+anne+blog.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Tahoma;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIWImS4qGQghITlTAi20sALq7oN8mD7vH93LTLZgXdEakGS_I_fund3eCoMJxzWTz-DLzGEVFL7bz0vFPzwsOGZInnSxaqXM2HuzGx3fyZQEDdHiaCu0EJbtVN-1pZvNtaq9AEX1Bimauw/s1600/queen+anne+blog.jpg" /></span></a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Tahoma;"><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Tahoma;">I've since hid the cherries IN the tree so she *hopefully* won't get to them again....</span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6PrFimNIWfV1dtUIPgQ6Lw64WsRxTG93TgL2vjtKnmGEGkMpDZe0JzFwpXwFeGyRDF4FwcRaSZqjRrCYjC8k3SBN9skTHMd7h3TDdZG3blQj62oxi4TAgweOAws06wQkCFUx-2P8ww2JN/s1600/IMG_5425.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Tahoma;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6PrFimNIWfV1dtUIPgQ6Lw64WsRxTG93TgL2vjtKnmGEGkMpDZe0JzFwpXwFeGyRDF4FwcRaSZqjRrCYjC8k3SBN9skTHMd7h3TDdZG3blQj62oxi4TAgweOAws06wQkCFUx-2P8ww2JN/s320/IMG_5425.JPG" width="240" /></span></a></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7761337065543230813.post-9182864425456388602010-12-20T17:52:00.004-07:002010-12-21T10:56:38.866-07:00Catching up!<div style="text-align: center;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Tahoma;">My blog has become neglected!!!</span></span></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Tahoma;"><br />
</span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Tahoma;">With the holidays upon us and my new business, we've been very busy, but we're having fun, so I guess that's all that really matters!</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Tahoma;">Just a few things we've been up to:</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Tahoma;">Stefan's mom was here for Thanksgiving - it seems like we spent the entire weekend shopping! We went to the Chandler Mall, San Tan Mall, Scottsdale Fashion Square and a few other stores in between. After she left, I was thankful I was already pretty much done with my Christmas shopping because I don't know how much shopping I had left in me! We had a great Thanksgiving, thanks to Stefan's fabulous cooking!! </span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBPHnYtlkBQp1Qy8BQ1OQlyS_-mCg6wdClQm0Bp4p8xr3KW6uy3NikbRHcxJYaHdVYGOT2v9YFwA_w9X2x1GTJTbVhdv7eHwY8gNX8XatZoBqkk71d6qB9yj_vaN-kSzQasGh9O6wIrHqR/s1600/IMG_5409.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Tahoma;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBPHnYtlkBQp1Qy8BQ1OQlyS_-mCg6wdClQm0Bp4p8xr3KW6uy3NikbRHcxJYaHdVYGOT2v9YFwA_w9X2x1GTJTbVhdv7eHwY8gNX8XatZoBqkk71d6qB9yj_vaN-kSzQasGh9O6wIrHqR/s320/IMG_5409.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Tahoma;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">Lunch at Modern Steak</span></span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Tahoma;"><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQ1WSshjMfPsL74V0c0iNz1zs3Z7X9-Wj2E8pAfn9g4O3q-vvN_-kQu2DwbV-we3EfS4mR-zyJ7wS7YAJwqr_XHERqaDTGtbx9mzo-1aiOTLXtWuxHNk2iAMu2yWE_-__ROQXGP9QycL6h/s1600/gigibrook.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Tahoma;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQ1WSshjMfPsL74V0c0iNz1zs3Z7X9-Wj2E8pAfn9g4O3q-vvN_-kQu2DwbV-we3EfS4mR-zyJ7wS7YAJwqr_XHERqaDTGtbx9mzo-1aiOTLXtWuxHNk2iAMu2yWE_-__ROQXGP9QycL6h/s320/gigibrook.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Tahoma;">Gigi and Brooklyn watching Stefan's football practice</span></span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Tahoma;"><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Tahoma;">We've been getting everything ready for Christmas and my parents arrival on Wednesday! I even decided to get a little crafty this year and made this giant Noel sign for our living room! It was super easy (right up my alley since I have very little patience when it comes to stuff like this).</span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrLP-82wM-y6b3Us5kgEtCWT9bYZmcVvTtqPPo-a09w0DZW8pXfov00WdkcsPzLl2MYEaTN-bfcWnrsDzuLEtjXP7G7MGa8btHHLDKjZ6dIeUjOQ2p40JqAJ9iCKE6BDz3M11MD-VSvwQH/s1600/IMG_5424.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Tahoma;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrLP-82wM-y6b3Us5kgEtCWT9bYZmcVvTtqPPo-a09w0DZW8pXfov00WdkcsPzLl2MYEaTN-bfcWnrsDzuLEtjXP7G7MGa8btHHLDKjZ6dIeUjOQ2p40JqAJ9iCKE6BDz3M11MD-VSvwQH/s320/IMG_5424.JPG" width="240" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Tahoma;">My finished sign (and Bentley being bad on the couch).</span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Tahoma;"><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjff_OsqqXM4iYyxKuxO0xmTuuZvRz8TvIbo15gbmlgQ2L7_R2UphiD40RujuaIfUlSktPx0VtaTrbTPS9CB6TvFUVNpwkjRIhOALedztX-6dzqGK9Jm9_8WzzGIxgNc839BRdXxvVYkcLQ/s1600/IMG_5426.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Tahoma;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjff_OsqqXM4iYyxKuxO0xmTuuZvRz8TvIbo15gbmlgQ2L7_R2UphiD40RujuaIfUlSktPx0VtaTrbTPS9CB6TvFUVNpwkjRIhOALedztX-6dzqGK9Jm9_8WzzGIxgNc839BRdXxvVYkcLQ/s320/IMG_5426.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Tahoma;">I LOVE getting Christmas cards!! </span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Tahoma;">(I just need to figure out a better way to organize them.)</span></span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Tahoma;"><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Tahoma;">We had my work year-end event and it was SO much fun... a scavenger hunt through Old Town Scottsdale! We were in teams and were given clues as to each of our three destinations and had to spend all the money on our Visa giftcards that we were given without going over, and including exactly a 20% tip. After a couple margaritas, beer and a few glasses of Chimay, somehow our team won, coming in with a penny to spare! </span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPLoLWCCq4jzcEw-bVfVqEifEnYDiYPtPEH3VrwWOIQV_SThIuNae0VuX0G1JDr9t5AiAVJv5XtuELGRl_LngYu1UEXWwjE6h5vLCQOJ-QRAjnALAUdot9R71xv5_zOWZSMwudD3EYbDNY/s1600/tom%2526rob.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Tahoma;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPLoLWCCq4jzcEw-bVfVqEifEnYDiYPtPEH3VrwWOIQV_SThIuNae0VuX0G1JDr9t5AiAVJv5XtuELGRl_LngYu1UEXWwjE6h5vLCQOJ-QRAjnALAUdot9R71xv5_zOWZSMwudD3EYbDNY/s320/tom%2526rob.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Tahoma;"><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Tahoma;">We went to the Desert Botanical Gardens with Amy and Jim for their Christmas Luminary display and it was absolutely gorgeous!!! It was a perfect night with great friends!</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Tahoma;">I had my Stella & Dot launch party and it was so fun!! Since the party I've expanded on my jewelry samples and can't WAIT for the parties coming up! I'm traveling to Seattle and Utah in February and am so excited about this new business!! </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Tahoma;">I'm still in the midst of getting our office set up with the new desk. We ended up ordering two more pieces to make it work perfectly! We didn't want to order the extension until we had the corner piece set up because we weren't sure it would fit. If our measurements are correct, we should have exactly 1 inch to spare. I'll post pictures when the office is complete, I can't wait!!</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Tahoma;">Stefan had an implant placed in his mouth and I couldn't help but take this picture right afterward when I told him to smile:</span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-SJbfu8zyjtq4G72uHNdQtdnoFnEP6G83F5dxabTdTtYD1zCH0TW8pvjx1qx1vX4mUTtgTMjuSz-9YA4H68j6GGQYTBSSnLmwWgVFFjn29gwk9ROHnl7fYk__7BlXCDnZIA6TA_QbcjsS/s1600/stefanmouth.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Tahoma;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-SJbfu8zyjtq4G72uHNdQtdnoFnEP6G83F5dxabTdTtYD1zCH0TW8pvjx1qx1vX4mUTtgTMjuSz-9YA4H68j6GGQYTBSSnLmwWgVFFjn29gwk9ROHnl7fYk__7BlXCDnZIA6TA_QbcjsS/s320/stefanmouth.jpg" width="239" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Tahoma;">Good thing he never checks this blog or he might kill me for posting this!</span></span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Tahoma;"><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Tahoma;">Other than that, we're enjoying the gorgeous 75-degree December weather and we're excited for my parents to arrive on Wednesday night! We've got Stefan's team Christmas party at our house Wednesday afternoon so that'll keep us busy until my parents arrive and our vacations begin!!</span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJBFVe-0fmJePsBtH3ZUcTXdktYsIi2MfB4YgHWjaqqb8wCu3642u4bv0J1UWApQyWAtnPm9W-d8IRZOejAYbxTYT7uysvHD5QByJtg73-4u42rvWxPsB5PKMDhG-CxUGq7r7MjNdlArto/s1600/dogssanta.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Tahoma;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJBFVe-0fmJePsBtH3ZUcTXdktYsIi2MfB4YgHWjaqqb8wCu3642u4bv0J1UWApQyWAtnPm9W-d8IRZOejAYbxTYT7uysvHD5QByJtg73-4u42rvWxPsB5PKMDhG-CxUGq7r7MjNdlArto/s320/dogssanta.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7761337065543230813.post-43639255594753381172010-12-08T17:28:00.001-07:002010-12-08T17:28:34.564-07:00Exciting news to share!!!<div style="text-align: center;">I feel like I need to start this post with "no, I'm not pregnant."</div><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div>Different kind of exciting news going on here! I've been very busy the last few weeks, (not to mention taking a break from my blog after posting for 30 days straight) but I am so excited and happy to announce that I am starting up my own Stella & Dot business!!!! Stella and who? It should just be called Stella and GORGEOUS. It's a jewelry line--- I know, I know.... you probably have the same reaction as Stefan did, "you just want a bunch of jewelry, don't you Julie?" <br />
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I've been actually thinking about different business ventures for the past couple years now... I've had about 8-10 things go through my head and while I'm sure I would've gone full force with whatever I started, this just happened to be the most perfect thing for me and I couldn't be more excited! My friend <a href="http://jensen-journeys.blogspot.com/">Jordan</a> emailed me and said she just had a Stella & Dot party and I would love their stuff. At nearly the exact same time, my cousin who owns a boutique in Montana was having a Stella & Dot trunk show at her store! I looked into it further and voila, here we are!<br />
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I'm having my launch party this weekend and attended a Stella & Dot event with my local director on Monday night--- this stuff is BEAUTIFUL!!!!!! Half of the line is less than $50 so it's affordable and SO versatile. I'm obsessed. But, I guess it's good to be excited about your product than to fake it, right? <br />
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If you want to invite your girlfriends and host a trunk show to earn free and half off pieces of jewelry, let me know! Or if you wanna sell it yourself, check out my site below. I'm planning trips to WA and UT in February... Any excuse to travel and I'm there! <br />
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<strong>Check it out!! </strong><br />
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<strong>SHOP</strong>: <a href="http://www.stelladot.com/juliethorn">www.stelladot.com/juliethorn</a><br />
**Orders placed by 12/14 will arrive by Christmas!<br />
<strong>LIKE IT </strong>on <a href="http://www.facebook.com/juliejewelry">www.facebook.com/juliejewelry</a><br />
Thanks for your support y'all! <br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">As my 30 days of thankfulness comes to a close, I couldn't possibly leave out the two people who have raised me to become the person I am today. There are so many things I'm thankful for when it comes to my parents, so I'll keep this to the things that I feel have impacted me the most.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Being raised by two liberal-minded people really shaped the way I turned out. And I'm not talking politics here. My parents were so open-minded and they supported whatever I chose to do. They didn't force me to do anything, and really allowed me to make my own decisions (so long as they weren't against the law or against their standards/values, etc.) and allowed me to learn from my mistakes. They were not pushy with politics or religion and always made it clear that if I believed in myself and stand for my beliefs, nothing could get in the way of my success. I think it's pretty incredible that my siblings and I are split down the middle with regard to our political preferences. Some might find it weird, I find it pretty cool. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">My parents instilled a fair amount of discipline. While I wouldn't agree with that statement when I was growing up, I'm pretty sure they knew what they were doing when I got grounded or had something taken away for a while. For the most part, I was a pretty good kid. My siblings always tell me that I had it easy compared to them, and I'm pretty sure that's true. Either that, or I was just a better kid and didn't NEED all that discipline. :) Once I got in trouble for something, you better believe I never did the same thing again. Sneaking out in high school? Yah... the night my dad was standing at the front door when I was trying to sneak back in was the last time I ever did that. I'm not sure what was worse... the feeling of getting caught or having to listen to my dad's lecture for the following hour or two.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">My parents also instilled very good morals and values. One thing that always sticks in my mind that my dad always said is, "friends will come and go but family is forever." Always send thank you notes, call your grandparents, send a card or call your family on their birthdays, respect your elders, save your money (I'm not very good at this one, but thankfully Stefan is).... I could go on and on. I think you get the point, they're pretty awesome parents.</span><br />
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</div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The personalities of my parents are those that complement each other in the best possible way. My mom is the most patient person in the world (and the person I would always go to whenever dad said no) and my dad is one of the funniest people I know (and now usually has a hard time saying no if I ask for something to be sent to Arizona). I take after both of them for very different things... I love to read, hate to cook and I'm a little forgetful (thank you mom), and I manage my life through lists and tend to stress out a lot, obviously taking after my dad. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">They both have provided for me in a way that I am forever grateful. If I ever have children, I want to be able to raise them in a way that allows me to provide them everything they need and whatever makes them happy, just like my parents did for me. There's a difference between being spoiled and providing for your children. Some might say I was spoiled, and maybe I was. The most important thing is that I am truly grateful for my childhood, my upbringing, and having the best parents in the world.</span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiV1rMw4ciKn2o_0gNBDu_cS5ZD1_CwfDB45rRm3mRwTG2FcPR3xjAPvBxg4rdcSsXqkw-mBlKyM4J_v89pa-u2-uAm6ggw4Hk7BU2uyqowjw2hGCWQCSBDSAEwIGsaIRMG663NNg7DBnIw/s1600/m%2526d3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiV1rMw4ciKn2o_0gNBDu_cS5ZD1_CwfDB45rRm3mRwTG2FcPR3xjAPvBxg4rdcSsXqkw-mBlKyM4J_v89pa-u2-uAm6ggw4Hk7BU2uyqowjw2hGCWQCSBDSAEwIGsaIRMG663NNg7DBnIw/s320/m%2526d3.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7761337065543230813.post-70785505161518850242010-11-30T07:22:00.000-07:002010-11-30T07:22:30.977-07:0030 Days of Thankfulness - Day 29<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Today, I am thankful for my extended family. </span></span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Have I ever mentioned how much I love my family? I have a very LARGE family.... my dad's parents had so many siblings that I don't even know if I can name them all. German Catholics. Yah, they know how to make babies I guess. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">When we went to a family reunion in Portland several years ago, my dad was the emcee. A guy that likes to be the center of attention and talks a lot... emcee? Really? He was awesome. But wanna know what was even more awesome? HUNDREDS of Voellers. So many people I had never even seen or heard of in my life. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I love family reunions. With everyone so spread out, it makes it difficult to keep up with people you don't see on a regular basis. We used to have family reunions pretty regularly with my dad's siblings and their families. SO... MUCH... FUN. Those were some of the best memories I had growing up. Sand castle contests, talent shows, we always had the best time. After my uncle Kenn passed away, everything sort of fell apart.... literally. Unfortunately, we don't have any of those family reunions anymore, but that doesn't take away my love and thankfulness for my extended family-- aunts, uncles, cousins, second cousins, etc. I love them all dearly.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">On my mom's side of the family, I also have several aunts, uncles, cousins and second cousins. Family reunions in Montana at the annual pig roast and spending time out at my grandparents house on the lake were always so much fun. I miss my grandparents so much, but am thankful for the many memories we shared.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">And finally, as part of my extended-family, I couldn't be more thankful for my in-laws. My mother-in-law Ghislaine, father-in-law Sellas, brother-in-law Romuald, sister-in-law Wendy, niece Alexi and SO many other aunts, uncles and cousins. I would be here a week if I listed out everyone!! I had the chance to meet a majority of the French family on Stefan's mom's side when we were in France several years ago and Stefan's dad's family when we went to a family reunion in North Carolina a few years ago. As our Christmas present this year, Stefan's parents are paying everyones way to go back to the Thorne family reunion next year. I couldn't be more excited! (And don't worry, I didn't spell my last name wrong.... that's a post for another day!) </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I love my family and extended family more than words could ever describe. </span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0