Embrace The Camera

My embrace the camera isn't quite me in my pjs with my hair a mess but I snagged this picture of Hobbs during her and Tank's play session. She wasn't really happy, I think she had had enough of his rough housing. 

I imagine these words going through her head::

Maybe if I hide my face he won't see me laying here.

You should join in on the fun of the embrace the camera. Head over to Emily's get check out the details :)

On another note: Everyone else may be getting irritated with all the royalty wedding news going on but I am not going to lie I am getting really excited! Mom and I are going to wake up in the morning at 4 a.m. and watch it together. I am a huge fan of the Today Show. I am watch it every morning and have been for over a year now. Since I get up and go over to get the kids ready for school and on the bus this is pretty much the only show with "substance" (for lack of better words) on TV so early in the morning. I have become such a huge fan of everything Today Show and cannot wait to visit NY again for it will have better meaning to me :) anyways with that tidbit of information The Today Show has been broadcasting from the Royal Wedding all week and just the excitement of all of it is just building up inside of me!!!! Sorry for everyone else who is ready for the day to be over.
Well I need to get ready for my full day of class. The thing I love about tuesdays and thursdays is that I get to go to yoga and circuit training between my regular classes!!! Yoga is so relaxing and circuit training is really helping me to shed some of these pounds and get muscles ;) I actually have lost 11 lbs. in the last 4 weeks!!! wootwoot GO ME!!!
50 Q&A6.If happiness was the national currency, what kind of work would make you rich?I would be helping people. Anyone from little kiddos to old people in the nursing homes and hospitals. I enjoy putting a smile on people's faces and by doing so it always puts one on mine :) Sorry so short but I am on the run today!
Have a Great Day everyone! and please keep the people of Alabama, Georgia and all the others effected by the horrible tornadoes last night.

Today I am going to start my first "favorite" of my series of favorite things to post. If anyone else wants to join in on this please feel free to do so. I am just going to be posting on no special day of the week something that is my favorite thing. It might be something materialistic or just something I am thankful for. A lot of times I find myself thinking more of the things I want to buy and not the things I already have. By doing this "Favorites" I think I will be able to help me realize how lucky I am to have the things I do have in life and be happy with that. So here is my first favorite post.

It would be my Canon Rebel XS. I bought this baby in 2009 with some of my graduation money. Technically it is a gift from all the people that love me and are really important in my life. I use this camera all the time!!! It takes some amazing pictures and lets me capture memories that would otherwise be lost if no pictures were taken. I am probably going to cry like a baby the day this breaks or quits working. 

50 Q&A Day 5

5.What is the one thing you’d most like to change about the world?

One thing I would like to change most about the world....wow I am pretty sure it is going to be hard to just choose one! The list could go on forever. I guess I will just have to pull the easy card on this one and say: The one thing I would like to change about the world would be that there would no longer be any poverty. I believe that if everyone was "comfortable" with their money status and didn't have to worry on a daily basis there would be less stress and more happy people. 

Currently Watching::: THE VOICE!!! lovin me some Blake Shelton :)

So last night I decided to venture down stairs to my scrapbook room. I knew going down there would be slightly disastrous to the eyes. For some reason and I hope its not just me but every time I get crafty and decide to create something I make a huge mess! The good thing with my scrapbook room being in our basement is that I can just turn the lights off and leave and not have to move around it on a daily basis and my Mom doesn't ever go downstairs so she doesn't tell me when it needs cleaned. Tonight I was extremely angry with how I had left the room last time I was down there creating stuff so I decided to do some major cleaning.  I took some pictures of the before then of the after. So here it is::

 WOW! so embarassing!!!

 MUCH better
I decided to hang some Christmas lights around the ceiling and I love the new touch!!!

 Page making/assembling desk

 Shelf that holds my Cricut Carts and some of my own stamps.

 I decided to create a scrap paper box. That thing is going to save me some money. The stack in front of it is just half of my scrapbook paper. It needs organized into categories but I didn't feel like messing with that tonight so this is where it ended up.

 Cricut Center. I am thinking about decorating that wall differently but I am just not sure what I am going to do yet. 

Shelf that holds sewing machine, little totes (blue- adhesives, green-random, purple-cards and card making supplies.)

Here is a little tour of the stuff in my room::

A- totes mentioned above

B-Scrap paper and filing cabinet of memories and important info

C-Jugs of beads

D-Paper organizer I made but don't use at the moment

E-Sewing basket

F-Cricut Center.

There is a good bit of finishing that needs to be done but this room serves its purpose and I don't want to put too much money into it when in a couple years or sooner I will be moving out and who knows what Mom and Dad will turn this room into. I dread the day I have to pack all of this stuff up for moving, it is going to have to be very organized. I can just imagine all the boxes that will be hauled out of this room! I will just worry about that when the day comes. 

Here is my 50 Q&A::

4.When it’s all said and done, will you have said more than you’ve done?
I hope that when its all said and done I will have done more than what I have said. I try to not just talk about doing things and I am trying to live in the moment more here lately. Anthony once told me that he didn't think about stuff far into the future because he might miss something important in the moment. If we all live for the future or the "what could be" we can't make the impossible possible or accomplish things and thoroughly enjoy enjoy every moment of our lives!!!

Happy Monday everyone! Today I am super busy..I watched Miss Molly for a little bit this morning but now I am getting ready for class then the rest of the day I have some extreme studying and note card making to do so sorry not a long and interesting post but I need to prepare for this anatomy and biology test that is next week. Maybe I will be back on later this evening to check out other's answers to the 50 questions...have a great monday everyone!!! I will leave you with my 50 Q's answer:::


3.If life is so short, why do we do so many things we don’t like and like so many things we don’t do? 
hmm that one is a hard one. I have read this question like 10 times and really don't have an answer that I really love. But I guess I could say maybe we do the things we don't like because we enjoy pleasing others and make them happy and maybe we like the things we don't get to do because we don't have the opportunities to do so. 

Easter Sunday

Happy Easter Everyone! 

Here are some pictures of our wonderful Easter Sunday :)

 All of us kids on Grandma's front porch. From left Maddy, Avery Molly, Me, Evan, JK, Tank & Vincent

 Anthony and I with Tank

 Amazing food!!!

 Blowing bubbles 

 Anthony blowing bubbles

 My little man taking a break from chasing the bubbles

Check out the Easter Bunnys awesome egg hiding skills.

I had a wonderful Easter Sunday. We woke up and got ready for church in a slight rush ofcourse and then attended 10:30 mass. Church was packed and Jk and I showed up late so we stood on the steps outside of church. It was a very nice day so we got to enjoy church outside. After church JK and I went to Wal-Mart to pick up a chocolate pie for dessert at Grandma Spiker's then came to the house so I could get my camera. Then we headed to Grandma's for the day. We enjoyed amazing food and spent time together. I am also going to start a "My Favorite Things" posting. I will be posting these on a random day of the week. These things are helping me have subjects to blog about and keep me up to date on blogs. My goal is to blog almost every day of the week. So wish me luck!

50 Day Challenge

2.Which is worse, failing or never trying?

I would say never trying would be worse than failing. When you fail you can try again, know your potential, or are able to say you have attempted something. However if you never try you will never know your potential and you will never learn what it is like to loose at something. The problem with not trying is you will never know if you can and it just leaves you with the question of "could I have.." or "would I have been able to.."

OH-IO... Spring Game, Some Egg Coloring & 50 Challenge

Today Anthony and I went with our friends Jon, Michelle, and Kaitlyn to the Ohio State Spring Game. It was Anthony's first football game, making it our first game together :) The weather was actually pretty nice, a little windy with a chill here and there but no rain and it was kind of warm. Here are some pics from the game. Did I also mention we had awesome seats...third row from the field at the 45 yard line :)

 Talking to my Momma! "Hey Mom I am at the SHOE!!! OH-IO!!!"

 I love that smile...well that one is a little fake ;)

 That would be Anthony and Jon way up there at the top!!!

 Can you see them now?! man they look so tiny.

 Terrel Pryor #2

 Brutus Buckeye

 Anthony and I after the game

 Tonight we all colored eggs at Grandma Spiker and Dave's since tomorrow is Easter.

Here is Avery with her first stripped egg that I taught her to do.

 Evan and his red egg

 Molly and her orange egg

 Maddy and Avery

 Aves and I with our favorite eggs!

 pretty eggs

 My favorite egg

 After coloring we had a little photo-shoot in the livingroom. Photographer: Anthony :)

All of us cousins minus Jk and Bri.

 Silly faces

 Us girls

 Us with Grandma.

Well I hope everyone has a wonderful Easter and I will post pictures from our day tomorrow. Here is my first of the 50 day challenge:

1.How old would you be if you didn’t know how old you are?

I would say 21 or 22. I would say this because I pretty much do stuff that most people this age would be doing. I feel as if I have accomplished stuff in my life but I feel there is still a lot to be done. Like graduating college, getting married, buying our first house, maybe getting a brand new car, starting a family etc. 

50 Day Challenge

So I am going to try this 50 day challenge thing I got from my friend Alyssa . So here are the questions I am going to answer hopefully one everyday! wish me luck because I am not very good with staying on top of these challenges :)

1.How old would you be if you didn’t know how old you are?

2.Which is worse, failing or never trying?

3.If life is so short, why do we do so many things we don’t like and like so many things we don’t do?

4.When it’s all said and done, will you have said more than you’ve done?

5.What is the one thing you’d most like to change about the world?

6.If happiness was the national currency, what kind of work would make you rich?

7.Are you doing what you believe in, or are you settling for what you are doing?

8.If the average human life span was 40 years, how would you live your life differently?

9.To what degree have you actually controlled the course your life has taken?

10.Are you more worried about doing things right, or doing the right things?

11.You’re having lunch with three people you respect and admire. They all start criticizing a close friend of yours, not knowing she is your friend. The criticism is distasteful and unjustified. What do you do?

12.If you could offer a newborn child only one piece of advice, what would it be?

13.Would you break the law to save a loved one?

14.Have you ever seen insanity where you later saw creativity?

15.What’s something you know you do differently than most people?

16.How come the things that make you happy don’t make everyone happy?

17.What one thing have you not done that you really want to do? What’s holding you back?

18.Are you holding onto something you need to let go of?

19.If you had to move to a state or country besides the one you currently live in, where would you move and why?

20.Do you push the elevator button more than once? Do you really believe it makes the elevator faster?

21.Would you rather be a worried genius or a joyful simpleton?

22.Why are you, you?

23.Have you been the kind of friend you want as a friend?

24.Which is worse, when a good friend moves away, or losing touch with a good friend who lives right near you?

25.What are you most grateful for?

26.Would you rather lose all of your old memories, or never be able to make new ones?

27.Is is possible to know the truth without challenging it first?

28.Has your greatest fear ever come true?

29.Do you remember that time 5 years ago when you were extremely upset? Does it really matter now?

30.What is your happiest childhood memory? What makes it so special?

31.At what time in your recent past have you felt most passionate and alive?

32.If not now, then when?

33.If you haven’t achieved it yet, what do you have to lose?

34.Have you ever been with someone, said nothing, and walked away feeling like you just had the best conversation ever?

35.Why do religions that support love cause so many wars?

36.Is it possible to know, without a doubt, what is good and what is evil?

37.If you just won a million dollars, would you quit your job?

38.Would you rather have less work to do, or more work you actually enjoy doing?

39.Do you feel like you’ve lived this day a hundred times before?

40.When was the last time you marched into the dark with only the soft glow of an idea you strongly believed in?

41.If you knew that everyone you know was going to die tomorrow, who would you visit today?

42.Would you be willing to reduce your life expectancy by 10 years to become extremely attractive or famous?

43.What is the difference between being alive and truly living?

44.When is it time to stop calculating risk and rewards, and just go ahead and do what you know is right?

45.If we learn from our mistakes, why are we always so afraid to make a mistake?

46.What would you do differently if you knew nobody would judge you?

47.When was the last time you noticed the sound of your own breathing?

48.What do you love? Have any of your recent actions openly expressed this love?

49.In 5 years from now, will you remember what you did yesterday? What about the day before that? Or the day before that?

50.Decisions are being made right now. The question is: Are you making them for yourself, or are you letting others make them for you?

Happy Earth Day and Good Friday!

Today is my last day of house/dog sitting in Zanesville. Tank is ready to go home, he misses his buddy Turbo. We will be home tonight at like 7:00, I am pretty excited myself to be able to sleep in my own bed and just be home. I enjoyed my week with the house to myself and loved being so close to everything. 

Tomorrow Anthony and I are going to the Ohio State Spring Game. It is supposed to rain but I am hoping it doesn't or atleast not for very long. This will be Anthony and I's first college football game together and his first game ever. I am pretty excited :) After the game we are coloring easter eggs with my family. 

I hope everyone enjoys their Easter and take time to remember what Easter is all about :)

I have gained 20 lbs. since I graduated in 2009. Although it is all equally distributed over my body I HATE it!! As hard as I try I cannot keep my bedroom clean. I still have a huge rubber maid box with my summer clothes sitting by the closet from switching seasons from last fall. My bed is never made when I leave the house. I have laundry coming out of the wazoo. I have the worst study habits ever and facebook is my downfall when it is test time. I have 291 emails in my inbox and I cannot stay on top of it. I can't wait to have my own house but I know that my goals for now will only bring me closer to that point in my life. I wouldn't be able to financially handle the responsibilities of my own place. I actually suck at saving my money! I always feel this need to go buy something and I can't fight the urge. I miss my Grandpa Spiker terribly and dream about the day I get to see him again. I used to have an idea of what I wanted to do with my life but recently decided to try something different, so for once in my life I don't really know where it is going which scares the crap out me (and my Mom). I am the oldest grandchild on both sides of the family so I have a lot of littles looking up to me, which I LOVE!!! I day-dream of having a brand new vehicle but secretly I LOVE my Jeep even with all of its flaws. I am a huge procrastinator and almost everything is done last minute however I cannot stand to be late for anything. Those two don't typically go hand in hand but thats me. I would much rather be wearing my short jean shorts, a tank top, my barn boots and riding around in the zuki any day. I am a Daddy's girl and enjoy going to the junk yard with him. Even though we argue frequently my Mom is one of my best friends. I am an older sister and that scares me more than anything. I pray every night that Jonathan will learn from other people's mistakes and realize that he has everything at his finger tips. I pray that he stops at every stop sign, doesn't drive too fast, doesn't give into peer pressure, and that we will always be best friends no matter what happens or how many arguments we get into. I have a strong urge for cookie dough blizzards, sour cream by the spoon, fruit smoothies from McDonald's, milk shakes from Steak N Shake. The whole previous statement is the reason for the first couple sentences of this post.
But this morning like every morning I woke up to this text: "I love you SO much baby!" from Anthony and that  makes everything better and gets me through yet another day of craziness and reminds me that my life is perfect in its own special way!!!

well the last time I posted I forgot to write about Tank's first booboo. He was running through our front yard after my older dog, Diesel, who doesn't like him very well and Tank decided to jump on him. Diesel laid into him and left Tank with a mark on his face. 

It really is not as bad as it looks. The blood just hadn't clotted yet so it was a little runny. All it really is is a tiny hole thing. Today it is already looking better.

Today my Aunt Lori and Uncle Matt are heading to New Jersey for their anniversary. It is a much needed trip  for them  With three kiddos they don't get away very much by themselves. I hope they have a great trip. While they are gone I am going to be house/dog sitting for them. So it is going to be so nice to have the house all to myself for a couple days. I am hoping to get some hardcore studying in and just enjoy a quiet house. So right now I need to pack up some of my stuff and get Tank's cage cleaned out and packed in the car because my little buddy is joining me :)

Easter Egg Banner

Hello Everyone!
I know two posts in one day...I haven't done this before (I know I haven't been on this blog long but I had another one before this). Anyways I was feeling crafty on my way home today and decided to try something real simple. So I got home and fired up the Cricut and started to make an easter egg banner. Here are the directions if you want to make one yourself::
I cut fifty 3" ovals with the Plantin Schoolbook Cartridge. I chose 5 different patterns of scrapbook paper.
Then I took some purple thread and threaded through the ovals (eggs) and just made a simple banner out of the eggs.
My banner took 18 eggs so now I have a bunch more to make so there are going to be a couple throughout the house. I hung mine on the shelf thats in our kitchen and am probably going to hang the other above the kitchen window. You could even cut out letters that say "Happy Easter" or "Hoppy Easter" and attach them to the eggs. Here are some pictures of my finished product!

thats my favorite egg! kind of has a rustic/barn theme to it...might try to make a different one with more papers from this collection.

Very Productive Saturday!

 I don't know what got into me, if it was the fact that it was raining almost all day yesterday or maybe the fact that I needed to be studying but I was in a "cleaning mood" yesterday. I am not going to complain about it either because I got so much done. Here are my accomplishments:

-11 loads of laundry!

-moved all the furniture in living room and swept with Grandma's Rainbow Sweeper

-cleaned and organized dvd and entertainment shelf area

-scrubbed the front door

-windexed windows

-swept and mopped kitchen floor

-cleaned Dad's bathroom (went in detail and got on hands & knees and scrubbed the nooks and crannies)

The list doesn't seem long but the 11 loads of laundry is what I am the most proud of! Doing it was the most time consuming. In between the other little things I was doing I was focused on starting a load, unloading dryer and folding all the clothes. The other distraction would have been this 14 week old puppster I have that follows me every where! and when he isn't following me I am busy looking for him and what he might be getting into. Needless to say it wasn't the easiest task of cleaning I have ever done.

Anthony got off last night at 7 so Dad and I met him at Sams Club so we could go out to eat. We decided on Red Lobster! I didn't really know what I was going to order because I am not a real big fan of seafood but I knew for sure I was going to eat some of their biscuits!!! I ordered the Lobster Pizza and Dad and Anthony ordered the Admiral's Feast. It was all so delicious but the biscuits were still my top fave :) My Aunt Lori makes them frequently so I am going to have to get the recipe from her and make them sometime soon. After dinner Anthony and I went to visit Grandpa and Grandma Kuhn. Grandma called me sometime last week and said she had some canisters to give me for my future house. They are the cutest things ever! They are bee hives and they have bears sitting on them trying to get in. They will look so cute in my log cabin one day!!! Thanks Grandma!!!

Today I get to go open the pool and start cleaning with the other guards. This summer I am going to return to lifeguarding, I was offered the head lifeguard position so I am looking forward to working this summer (:

I hope everyone has a wonderful Sunday!

UPDATE:: i washed this comforter yesterday because Tank kept thinking it was his pee pad or something. this morning he pulled it off the box and made a bed for himself.