Happy Birthday Dad!

Saw me some Arlo Guthrie last night! We went to the concert for my Dad's birthday. It was a good time.

RIFMY version 1

To counter act the super lame/cheesy wedding related posts, I thought I'd start a new series I like to call Random Images From My Youth (RIMFY). In this context, "youth" is being used very broadly, meaning any time since yesterday. :)




Today's winner comes to us circa early 1990s. That's my little sister Megan (now 16) on the left, me in the middle, and Lori (now 17) on the right. I remember this moment very well, as we were coming back from the Surf Club. The things that pop into my mind are: the TALL diving board, the "Welcome to our Ool, notice there is no P in it, please keep it that way!" sign, and orange arm floaties. We spent a lot more time at the MTZ Swim Club (aka the MTZ Bath Tub), than the Surf Club, but memories of summers at the pool are frequent and fond.

Anyrate, I hope you enjoyed the first installment of RIFMY! Lets hope there are more to come!

Wow...

We have REAL wedding plans going on here!


*As you know, we have a location!
*We also have a confirmed DJ!
*Also confirmed now is the photographer!

I have also called about the dress I want, started discussion with a Reverend, and pretty much decided what the groomsmen should wear.

Go us!

Wedding music

So we met the man who will most likely be the DJ at our wedding reception. He has over 30,000 songs (all digital) and he's very reasonably priced. We met with him at Filippo's Pizza in Mahomet. He was a really nice guy and seemed very experienced and flexible. He's done weddings at the Lake of the Woods several times, so he knows the pavilion very well. I think it's a good fit.

"You yourself begin all over again, in them, with them, and so there is something more to the world again"

There are several little humans in my life, all of which I don't get to see nearly enough. I miss them all dearly, so I thought I'd put some adoable pictures of them up on the blog.

This little dear is Shea. He is my first REAL nephew... or he will be come October. He is the product of Jon's sister Liz and her husband Derek. He is oh so cute and just learning how to crawl. I haven't seen him in over a month, which, in baby time, translates to dozens of developmental milestones that I have missed. He lives over three hours away from us right now, which deeply hurts my heart. Depending on their job situation, they may be moving closer to us somewhat soon, though! I hope i hope i hope!

I bought him that cute little hat by the way! I got it this summer from the Mono Lake Committee!

These little buggars are my cousins Cory and Jordan. They live in Oklahoma and are my Dad's sister (Julie) and her husband's (Kermit) kids. They are five yrs (almost 6!) and three yrs. They are crazy little heathens, but I love them to peices.

Recently my Aunt Julie asked Jon and I if we would be willing to be Jordan and Cory's legal guardians should something happen to both her and Kermit. Even though I'm sure nothing bad will ever happen to them, nor would we ever want anything to, it is very touching to be asked and to be so deeply trusted. I have some of the best memories of my life going to visit my Aunt Julie and Kermit with my sisters, and so I can't wait until Jordan and Cory are old enough to come visit Jon and I and stay for a week or something. I REALLY wish they lived closer, but even an 8 hour drive is worth it to see their nutty faces.

Weekend Update

Tonight we had CHILI DOGS (with cheese and onions)!!!!! Proves, once again, that you can be a vegetarian and still managed to eat junk food.



Also, check out today's Herald and Review. There is an article on Medicare Part D which quotes my co-worker Katie!

5+ years

Five years ago, my life changed forever.

On February 17, 2001, in a dark movie theater, I was quietly introduced to the one person I'd spend the rest of my life with. Of course I didn't know that at the time. Not for a couple more hours.

After the movie (Chocolat), we went to Steak & Shake and I finally got a good look at her. We clicked instantly. It's obvious why now; we were soulmates. In the following days and weeks, everything about life seemed better because of my having met Allie.

I'll never forget the night we met. Before our eyes, a chain of events was set in motion that neither of us had any control over: becoming best friends, falling in love, moving in together, making a life for ourselves, getting married, and then... we'll see what happens next! I'll gladly walk down any unknown path, because I know that with Allie at my side, the world will always be beautiful.

5 years and counting

5 years ago my life changed forever.


In the balcony of a dark, musty, old theater I met the person I will be with forever. He's a tall, skinny kid with blue eyes and a kind face. I love him so dearly and completely. He makes me laugh and smile and love.

Today we have our life together, about as perfect as it can get. We have so much behind us, but so much more to come.

My Jon... My Don Don... my heart

LED Throwies

This is really cool. I really want to do this somewhere... but I don't know where.

LED Throwies

Xfade!

I found this cool javascript effect (well, technically, I saw it posted on digg) that lets you crossfade images. I really wanted to try it out.

Just as I was looking for images to test it with, Allie showed me a couple photos of the Mono Basin (one in the summer, one in the winter) of almost exactly the same spot. Perfect! So check it out here. (If I really wanted to, I could have linked to off-site javascript and inlined-the styles, but eh. this is easier. I might do that next time.) The trees that are featured very prominently in the center of the "Winter" image are the same as the trees that are just off to the right of center in the "Summer" image. Apparently the Basin gets totally covered in fog for days at a time (which is what you see to the left of those trees in the "Winter" image). Allie informs me that it's called poconip, which is Paiute for "freezing fog." You can see more pictures of poconip on the Mono Lake Committee's website.

Be mine?

My Jon is a very sweet boy!
He gave me several fun toys for this here Valentines Day!




He got me this SUPER cute video game called Chibi Robo.




He also got me a new mouse. It matches my kitchen!!!


<3 Jon <3

A new post dawns

Note: this post is littered with random images that have no meaning or context.

So Netflix is pretty cool! Our free trial ends tomorrow, and I'm thinking we'll keep it. Supposedly cancelling it is pretty easy to do, so we'll always have that option.

My diplomas came in the mail this weekend. Apparently I graduated with "High Distinction" in Math/CS and "Distinction" in Physics. So that's pretty awesome. Now Allie and I just have to get all our diplomas framed and put them up somewhere cool.

Health care for all - including kitties!

I know, I know... I'm obsessed with my cat. But I have real Lenny-related news today! Because of our old kitty who is no longer with us (Herbie), Lenny had to be tested for FIV (cat HIV). Herbie was sick with FIV, and that's why we had to put him to sleep. But Herbie had been staying with us for over a month, and therefore put Lenny at risk for getting sick. I took Lenny in to be tested yesterday, and we heard back today that he's fine! Yay! <3 Lenny <3

Chairman Meow

My cat is a rock star.

Arts and crafts

This afternoon Jon and I (and Lenny) put together this wonderful adorable chest of drawers. My Mom bought this for us for Christmas, and it has been sitting in the corner of our bedroom since. We were nice and motivated, fresh from doing a load of laundry and a load of dishes, and we decided to embark on an adventure. This delightful chest of drawers came from, of course, Ikea, and matches our other chest of drawers and wardrobe. Everything from Ikea is god-awfully heavy and comes in about 4 thousand peices. The nice folks at Ikea do supply super-simple, word-free instructions and several mini tools to put it all together.

Here is pretty much what comes out of the box.

Here is Jon, awash in partially constructed peices.

Lenny was also very willing to help.

Another picture of Foreman Lenny inspecting the quality of our work.

Finally, we got it all together! We're quite pleased with ourselves!

And the finished product!!!!

((I know, what a long post about one peice of furniture! Just wait till I have a kid some day!! Haha!))

On and on and on...

Apologies for the lack of posts lately! This week at work was absolutely crazy - and in fact it is not even over! I have a planning meeting tonight for the campaign that I am the lead organizer for - The Campaign for Access to Emergency Contraception.
Go Rosie!


Also this week I think my family single handedly supported Decatur area hospitals! Lets list the injuries/diseases, shall we?

Lori (sister) - appendicitis

Dan (uncle) - something fell on him at work

Katlyn (cousin's kid) - bad flu

Peg (grandma) - funky recurring abdominal pain

Everyone is fine and out of the hospital now, but GEEZE!

Jon and I went to see Brokeback Mountain yesterday. Quite sad, really, but very good. It's always nice when films actually live up to the hype.

We also got our first NetFlix movie - Million Dollar Baby. We haven't watched it yet, but hopefully will tonight.


I'm really looking forward to next weekend. I belive we'll be going home for a combined birthday celebration for Jon and his Mom. I think my Aunt will also be in town, and I'm sure we'll get to visit friends at some point too. Yay!

Well, that's it for now, I suppose. Back to work getting redy for my meeting!

Movie time

So we're trying out Netflix. We're doing the two-week free trial. We'll see how it goes!