My Dad

I will have a full recap of the Ohio Bloggers meet up tomorrow, but I wanted to take some time to talk about my dad today. There are 2 people in my "real life" that know about my blog, and they don't know what it's called. So the likeliness of my dad reading this is extremely rare, but I wanted to write it anyway. Especially since I didn't get to spend the day with him yesterday.

OSU vs that team up north - in the shoe, 2012

My dad and I are exactly the same. This means that we don't always get along - I want to be in charge of everything, and so does he. Luckily for me, he is really laid back, and 90% of the time he deals with me. 

I have always looked up to him in every aspect of life. He is smart, hard working, and built a company from the ground up. I wanted everything he had. He went to OSU, I went to OSU. He bought a house by 25, I bought a house by 25. He had a family by 30, and I'm . . . well . . . not quite there. 

My first Christmas - 1983

So lately I've been thinking about everything my dad has done, and how awesome his life has been. Then I start thinking about how I feel like my life has been not as awesome. And the more I think about it, the more I know that I have to stop comparing myself to him. He is the best father there is (other than his constant farting), but he isn't me, and I'm not him. He is a great role model for me, but I need to write my own story. 

My prom - 2001

So while I absolutely love my dad, and I will always look up to him, I'm not going to try to be like him in every single way. But, I am going to continue to do my best to follow these characteristics:

• Be frugal (although let's be honest dad, I will always have to have more than 2 pair of shoes). This also means being smart with all investments.
• Do my own yard work. While it may be easier to pay someone, it's not money well spent, as the feeling after working your butt off in the yard is amazing.
• Keep up on all the scheduled maintenance for my car.
• Cherish family, and visit as often as possible.
• Love the Buckeyes and attend as many Buckeye sporting events as possible.
• Remember that a cold beer at the end of a long day does actually make things better :)

I leave you with this amazing picture that 100% sums up my dad. He is always happy with himself, and never cares what anyone thinks. 

How was everyone else's Father's Day? 

Thursday Thoughts (Randomness Everywhere)

~ONE~

Thanks to everyone for the condolences for my family friend. It was an INSANE weekend at home with lots of family in town. That included SO much food, lots of catching up, and of course some drinking. I hate to say we had a good time, because there were many rough times, but it's always good to see family that I haven't seen in awhile. 

~TWO~

I had an amazing time at the wine tasting last Thursday, and ended up buying 4 bottles of wine. I don't even like wine! 

I look more drunk than I was. And I need to learn to not put my hair in a ponytail!

Two of them were for my mom (she asked me to buy them), one of them is the only kind of wine I really like (Riesling), and the last one I bought because the bottle looked cool. I have full confidence that it will consumed by one of my friends before the summer is over.

The last bottle is the cool one. Although you can't tell in this picture.

~THREE~

Luthor's birthday was on May 18th, and I just got around to giving him his birthday treat (canned food). He is modeling his gorgeous haircut in this picture. As my friend says, "The hit with a lawnmower look." I cut his fur with scissors because he freaks out over the noise of clippers, and about every six months I have a meltdown over his extreme amounts of fur that is all over my house, so I chop it off.

~FOUR~

I took the plunge today, and ordered my very first Erin Condren planner. Or, I will once I can get through on the website. I've been piecemealing my planners for years, trying something new each year, and hating it each year. I never have EVERYTHING I want in one place. I always end up with extra notebooks and envelopes full of stuff. I'm beyond excited for this planner, and can't wait for it to arrive. I hope it is the planner of my dreams! 

~FIVE~

I'm going to my first blogger meet up on Saturday. I'm not nervous yet, but I'm sure I will be once I have to start getting ready. I've never met anyone that I've only known on the internet, so this will be interesting. But, this is one of the reasons why I wanted to start a blog - I loved the idea of the blog community. Plus, it will be the last time to meet Shane before she moves to Australia. If you are in Ohio and are a blogger, you should consider going. It's at a brewery, so it's right up my alley :]

What are some of your random Thursday thoughts? 

Thursday Thoughts

I absolutely HATE the gas station in the morning. I mean I hate the gas station at all times (who wants to pay $3.99 for a gallon of gas!?) but in the morning it's sooooo much worse. I swear everyone in the world stops at a gas station in the morning. They get their coffee, or their cigarettes, or their breakfast, or their gas. And since ALL of the people are there at once, it's difficult to get in and out without being worried about someone crashing into you. Yes, I forgot to get gas last night and had to endure the three-ring circus this morning. Hopefully I won't have to do that again for a LONG time.


It rained and rained and rained yesterday, and now everything is super green and gorgeous. Plus, because I had to go to the gas station this morning, I drove to work the back way and enjoyed the scenery even more. Baby cows even made an appearance, meaning my mood was instantly changed.

Fresh spinach from my garden! 

I'm going to a wine tasting tonight with a friend. It's at a restaurant we really like, and they are bringing in the winery people. Only thing is, I really don't like wine. But my friend's birthday is tomorrow, so I will endure it. I just hope I don't have a killer headache tomorrow morning.


Yesterday was "National Hug Your Cat Day," and while I did hug them both, I didn't get a picture. I figured that was too dangerous while hugging Kal-El since he tried to chomp me. Luthor of course snuggled into the crook of my neck and purred. 

Luthor - my snuggle bunny.

Unfortunately a close family friend passed away Tuesday. I will be heading up north tomorrow for the funeral. The family all lives in Florida, and will be staying at my parents house. I know it sounds terrible, but it will be nice to see everyone. In today's super crazy world, I don't get to visit with people that mean a lot to me as often as I would like. I need to re-prioritize some things in my life. 

What kind of thoughts are you thinking this Thursday? Did you hug your cat yesterday?

The Memorial

Spring of 2002 was my first spring as a college student. That spring was also when I joined a sorority, and the first year I went to The Memorial with my dad.

The Memorial is Jack Nicklaus' golf tournament. He designed the golf course, and it sits right here in Central Ohio. 

Side note: The house I grew up on was on a golf course. This golf course hosts an LPGA tournament every year, of which I have been to almost every year. I even volunteered a few years. I started golfing when I was about 6 years old. My dad is a huge golfer, and has been since he was 11. We would compete in parent-child tournaments every year. There is a history of golf between my dad and I. 

I think this was first place my freshman year of high school.

That first year I went the tournament the weather was absolutely terrible. It was raining and actually cold out. But I had the best time of my life. And ever since then, my dad and I have gone to the tournament every year (I even made the trip home when I lived in PA for two years). This year was no exception, and the weather was perfectly fabulous. 

One of my dad's college friends works for the PGA, and a few years ago he moved back to the Central Ohio area. Ever since then we have not only gotten tickets into the tournament, but access to some of the hospitality houses on the course, which include food and drinks. 

Yes I took a few bites before I remembered to take a picture. 

They are super strict about pictures - if they even THINK you are trying to take a picture they will take your phone. So I don't have any pictures of the actual golf, but I was brave enough to take this one while I was relaxing a bit.

Yes, I have super pasty white legs.

This picture was taken about the time I saw Jack Hanna. He and his family rolled up on an 8 person golf cart and went into one of the houses that was behind me. I wanted SO badly to go say "hi" and meet him but I didn't have the guts (read: Not enough alcohol in me).

We walked around the course for a solid 4 hours and saw lots of golfers, some at multiple holes. It was a perfect day, and I felt like I got a solid workout in since that course is nothing but steep hills up and down. And although the beer was free, I only had a couple, because the sun was cooking me (yes I applied sunblock twice), and all I wanted was cold water. I actually paid $5 for a bottle of water. In my defense, I thought I was going to die of thirst, and was having hallucinations of ice cold water, so I kind of HAD to buy it. 

I had a great time, and I love spending the one-on-one time with him. Seriously this tournament is about the only time we do something together that doesn't involve my mom or sister, and I love it. Plus it's always nice to spend an amazing day outside watching world class golfers.

Have you ever been to a golf tournament? What did you think? 

Life Lately

I hope everyone enjoyed their long weekend, and remembered to thank the vets and active troops for the freedom to have a BBQ and do whatever we want for three days. 

For me, it was a MUCH needed break. The past two weekends were packed with events and scheduled things to do. This long weekend really got me back into my normal mode. 

Friday after work I enjoyed a bonfire at the neighbors. Of course this involved lots of kids and s'mores, but to my amazement, Cooper was on his best behavior. And by best behavior, I mean he only stole one graham cracker (thankfully without chocolate or marshmallow), and didn't poop in the yard without me noticing to pick it up. Unfortunately that bonfire set my allergies to insane, and Saturday was not a good day for me. But it wasn't a big deal, because I had 3 days to get everything done, I took Saturday to lay around with my allergies and watch movies. 

Sunday I did all of the yard work, and went for a swim (more on that next week). Then Monday rounded out the weekend with deep cleaning my first floor. A lot of work, but it feels SO good to have everything clean! 

A lovely (and slightly blurry) shot of me, but super cute of Luthor. Every time I sit on the couch, he is in my lap in less than 30 seconds.

I'm seriously looking into a cleaning company to come clean my house. I'm not sure the frequency I want yet, but I DREAD coming home and having zero time for myself because I have to clean. It's not terrible in the winter because there really isn't anything else to do, but when it's nice out, I just do not want to spend my time inside cleaning. I have to find a good place that will have someone who can deal with Cooper. Do you get your house cleaned? How often? Keep in mind, it's just me and the animals, but it gets dirtier than I like quicker than I like. 

I do have real posts coming - I've been working on scanning in old pictures so they aren't so boring :]  Thanks for hanging in there with me! 

May 20th???

I seriously do not know where time goes. 

The day starts and I feel great about what I'm going to accomplish. I have lists and I have goals that I need to make some progress towards, and I'm ready to kick some ass. 

By the time I arrive to the office, I usually have about 30 emails to go through from the night before. So I enjoy my breakfast while I deal with that, and before I know it, it's time for our daily meeting at 9AM. 

For whatever reason after that meeting until lunch time seems to disappear right before my eyes. I honestly don't know how this happens EVERY. SINGLE. DAY. 

One email leads to another issue to another issue and so on. I feel like I have ADD the way I bounce around things at work. But I feel that's part of the job - deal with it as it comes up. 

Anyway, the point of this post is that I need to find a way to keep on schedule everyday, and still put out all the fires that pop up. 

And along those lines is blogging. The past two weekends, along with my evenings after work, have been booked 110%. This weekend - NOTHING. The goal is to get caught up on everything (including housework - yuck!) 

I love blogging and all of the people that I have met so far. I am going to continue to work on this blog and do my best to have regular posts. Just don't expect it until next week. I found out yesterday afternoon I have to make a trip to Cincinnati on Thursday. 

Until next week, I leave you with a diaper cake I made for a friend's baby shower. This is my third time making it. It's not has hard and time consuming as you would think. Next time I will take pictures of the process so I can do a tutorial. And I'm 100% sure there will be a next time, since all I seem to do these days is go to baby showers and kids birthday parties. 

Have you ever made a diaper cake before? For whatever reason, I don't like the 4-wheeler for girls. Do you have a version of a diaper cake that's good for girls? 

Blogger Swap

Today I'm linking up to reveal the results of my latest blogger swap. 

From time to time I find these swaps, and I decide to join in. it's a great way to meet new bloggers, it's always fun to get something in the mail, and it's even more fun to shop and send a package of goodies to someone!

I entered the Diva swap (because fitness is the absolute last thing on my mind), and I was paired with Lindsay from Cowboy Boots and an Apron. She got married the weekend before we were paired up, and from what I could tell from instagram, it was an awesome wedding! She isn't blogging much these days but you can find her on instagram here. A real sweetie, with a love for Kiki LaRue and her two furbabies. 

The Diva swap was open to anything for the swap, and as I discovered quickly, Lindsay shared my love of notebooks, post-its, and pens. It turns out I shipped her some of the same things she shipped me!

See that super cute tissue paper? That's what she packaged my gifts in. It was wrapped all nice and cute, and I felt like such a smuck for using the smallest box possible, and using airbags for packing material with zero concern for presentation. And this is strange, because if you know me, any gift you get from me will be the best wrapped gift in the room. Note to self - make future boxes look cute.

Anyway, it was full of fun stuff!!

I LOVE notepads and post-its. I don't know where she found the puzzle piece, but it's perfect! I can't wait to use it.

Pens in fun colors, and that write amazingly. 

And the essentials - nail polish, snacks, and a mason jar for my drink. 

Not pictured was a Better Homes and Gardens magazine. That was the biggest thing for me - I LOVE getting and reading magazines, but I won't spend the money on them. I can't wait to sit on the patio and enjoy reading it. 

Overall it was great getting to know Lindsay, and a super fun swap. Thanks to Candra and Alicia for hosting such a fun swap - I can't wait to do it again!