99 Red Luft Balloons...

I saw this 99 Things post on (my Button Swap Partner) Vicki's blog over the weekend and thought it looked like fun! You're supposed to bold the things you've done. (By the way, if you'd like to be blog button swap buddies - just lemme know and take my button there <--- on the left so I know to add yours!)

1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightening storm
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping (but it was a private pool)
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been a passenger on a motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Kissed a stranger at midnight on New Year’s Eve
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Got a tattoo
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee

I've done 36 of these.
How many have you???

Doing a quickie

Yeah okay, not as dirty as the title may make you think (minds out of gutter people, lol...)

Going through my G-Reader before bed, I came across this fun survey/questionnaire that Angie posted on her blog.

1- Get the closest book, go to page 18 and write the 4th line down.
"Yes, we change and behave out of character, but not as often as we would like..."
-Writer's Guide to Character Traits (one of hubby's new writing books)

2- What’s the last thing you’ve watched on TV?
This "Prince Charming" movie starring Christina Applegate. Last time I saw it was on TV the last 5 minutes got cut off =(
3- Without checking, guess what time it is?
3:58am
4- Check, it is…
3:56 am

5- Outside of the computer noise, what do you hear?
The TV

6- When you got out the last time, what did you do?
Picked photos up at Walgreens, dropped Jay off at my mom's, got gas, saw Cowboys & Aliens with hubby, got dinner at Wendy's, then picked Jay up.

7- What are you wearing?

Black capri's, purple scoop neck shirt

8- Before answering this questionnaire, what were you watching?
The Prince Charming movie

9- Did you dream last night?
Yeah but don't remember what it was of

10- When is the last time you laughed?
Probably this evening, playing with Jay

11- What is on the walls of the room you’re in?
2 picture frames - one's a collage frame with 12 pictures of us and family members, the other is our family portrait we took for the upcoming church pictorial directory
12- Did you see something strange today?
Nope, not today

13- What do you think of this questionnaire?
It's okay

14- What’s the last movie you watched?
In theaters, we just saw Cowboys & Aliens today - I enjoyed it! On TV I just watched that Prince Charming movie

15- Should you be multimillionnaire, what’s the first thing you would buy?
Pay off all our bills/debt and put some aside for Jay's education
16- Tell us something about you we don’t already know:
I'm 25% Bohemian...?

17- If you could change something in the world outside of culpability and politics, what would you change?
Get rid of anyone that would ever harm a child
18- Do you like to dance?
Sure
19- Georges Bush?
I think he was alright - wasn't great and didn't come across as *that* bright, but he got us through 9/11 and there hasn't been anymore major attacks on US soil since. I think with Presidents, there's a lot behind the scenes that we (the average citizen) don't know about. I do know that a lot of people in our military aren't fond of Obama though (at least those that I know)
20- What would be your daughter’s name?

Alexandria Nicole, but we'd call her Alexi for short
21- And your son’s?
Our son's name is Jaydran Alexander, but we call him Jay for short

22- Did you ever think of living abroad?
Maybe Canada, but no, I've never seriously considered living anywhere else.
23- What would you want God to tell you when you’ll go through heaven’s gates?

"C'mon in!"

Book Survey

Angie posted this book survey not too long ago and I thought it would be fun to do and share!

1. Favorite book - To be honest, I don't reallly think I have just 1 favorite. I have several I really liked and some series I really love/d but as far as one single book that stands out above all the rest... I can't really think of one!

2. Least favorite book - Breaking Dawn, the last book in the Twilight Saga. This is honestly THE WORST book I have ever read. Took me nearly 2 weeks to wade through that piece of crap and it was just horrible, horrible, HORRIBLE! It built up to a climax that never happened, was longer than necessary and it was just a terrible book in general. I want those 2 weeks back, Stephanie Meyer.

3. Book that makes you laugh out loud - This Chicken Soup for the New Mom's Soul book I recently got. Kids really do say the darndest things! lol...

4. Book that makes you cry - I almost cried at the end of book 10 in the Sookie Stackhouse series when a certain character gets killed off at the end. Granted, they already killed off this character in the TV series so I have no clue how they plan on doing some of the Sookie storylines from the later books, but it was a character I really started to like in the books and it was so sad to see them go!

5. Book you wish you could live in - The Sookie Stackhouse books, of course! All the supernatural creatures you read about in fantasy actually co-existing and coming out about it to the world?? How neat!

6. Favorite young adult book - I guess the Harry Potter books, although I don't really read much young adult fiction these days, I'm usually picking books up in the Sci-Fi/Fantasy or Mystery/Thriller sections

7. Book that you can quote/recite -
Probably none, as I don't often reread books

8. Book that scares you - World War Z was a bit scary in the sense that the way it was written made the whole Zombie Apocalypse seem like a real possibility!

9. Book that makes you sick - Not really sure...

10. Book that changed your life - I guess maybe Jesus Freaks: Voice of the Martyrs as reading what some of these people went through all because they refused to turn their back on their faith was pretty inspirational!

11. Book from your favorite author - Currently my favorite author is Charlaine Harris who wrote the Sookie Stackhouse books, so I guess that whole series

12. Book that is most like your life - Chicken Soup for the New Mom's Soul, I can totally identify with that one!

13. Book whose main character is most like you - I've been told I remind people of Luna Lovegood from the Harry Potter series!

14. Book whose main character you want to marry - Eric Northman from the Sookie Stackhouse series

15. First "chapter book" you remember reading as a child - Not sure if I read it or if my mom read it to me but I remember we read The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe by CS Lewis together. Otherwise I'd probably say it was Meet Samantha from the American Girl Doll books

16. Longest book you've read - Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, which is 870 pages

17. Shortest book you've read - probably one of Jay's board books that's like 4-6 pages, lol...

18. Book you're most embarrassed to say you like - The Trylle Trilogy by Amanda Hocking. It was littered with typos and gramatical & sentence errors throughout but I liked it enough to keep reading all 3 books. Take the cheesy/corny-ness of Twilight plus the teenage romance and make it about a troll changeling who goes home to her kingdom and you basically have this series. It was dumb, but I liked it.

19. Book that turned you on - there's several parts in the Sookie Stackhouse books that turned me on & I ended up waking up hubby for, lol...

20. Book you've read the most number of times - I don't really reread books... I guess I would say Catcher in the Rye and Huckleberry Finn as I read them for class at 2 different times in high school.

21. Favorite picture book from childhood - Goodnight Moon, Monster at the End of the Book, Pokey Little Puppy, I Help My Mommy, The House that Had Enough... I'm sure I could go on!

22. Book you plan to read next - I'd like to read Game of Thrones but that all depends on whether or not hubby ever finishes reading it (I've read like 4 books already since he's started it), if not... either The Stand or Hunger Games.

23. Book you tell people you've read, but haven't (or haven't actually finished) - I started reading Lord of the Rings once but couldn't get past the 2nd chapter, I got too bored.

24. Book that contains your favorite scene - I... don't know.

25. Favorite book you read in school - Catcher in the Rye

26. Favorite nonfiction book - The Chicken Soup books. I love those!

27. Favorite fiction book - the Harry Potter series and the Sookie Stackhouse books

28. Last book you read - Physical book: The Girl Who Played With Fire by Steig Larsson (I want to read book 3 but it doesn't come out in trade paperbook like the rest until March 2012!!!), eBook: Ascend, book 3 in the Trylle Trilogy

29. Book you're currently reading - I just started reading The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland Into a Ship of Her Own Making which I won in @AmyGeek's blog giveaway a few months back.

30. Favorite coffee table book - The 2 that I have: Mythology - the DC Comics Art of Alex Ross (I LOVE his art and technique!) and the Wicked Grimmerie

Getting to Know You Sunday

It's still Sunday somewhere, right?

1. have you ever gone to see a movie by yourself?
Yes, but only twice that I can recall. First time was The Avengers, you know, the one starring Uma Thurman as Emma Peel and they're trying to pretend it never happened as it was that bad and so they're release a new Avengers movie with Iron Man, Thor, Captain America, etc next summer? Yeah, THAT Avengers movie. I thought it looked good though and I was in Junior High and really wanted to go see it and no one else did so I went by myself while my mom went shopping around the mall as this was back when we still had a movie theater in the mall, lol... the other one I saw myself was rather recent and was Black Swan. Everyone was talking about it and I was curious, hubby had no interest in a ballet flick so, bored and 9 months pregnant I went to a matinee by myself, lol...

2. would you rather go through a tornado or a hurricane?
Considering I've lived in Illinois most of my life and are used to them and the drills by now, tornado.

3. have you made summer vacation plans?
Kinda...? We're going to a wedding out of state just before 4th of July other than that though we don't really have any plans for this summer.

4. what's your favorite accessory?
Oh I don't know... I guess my wedding and engagement rings as they're the only pieces (other than my earrings) that never come off.

5. have you ever been thrown a surprise party?
No.

6. are you friends with your neighbors?
Not yet - haven't really had a good chance to meet them yet as we've only lived here for a month and the weather's been pretty crappy for the most part

7. what's the last movie you saw in the theater?
We saw Thor on Mother's Day with my in-laws

8. what's your favorite food network show?
I don't watch Food Network much but I guess it's that Man vs. Food show... or is that on the Travel Channel?

Wee Bit Wednesday

After seeing several of my blog friends post today, I decided to have a little fun and take part in Wee Bit Wednesday this week!

{one} have you ever been stuck in an elevator?

Haha yes! I mentioned this on Twitter when it happened, but for those of you who don't follow me on there or missed it... January 1st my father-in-law was admitted to the hospital and was there for most of the month. Hubby and I visited him a few times and one time we decided to go stop down in the cafeteria for some food. On the way back up we got in an elevator with the repairman in it, as he said it was okay and he'd get us to the floor we needed. 2 RN's got in with us. Well... we reach the floor to get off on... and the doors won't open! And to top it off, I was 9 months pregnant at the time! LOL... this had typical TV show/movie moment written all over it! Fortunately the repair guy got the doors open in just a minute or 2 and no, I didn't go into labor - hubby read my mind though as we were in there and told me not to dare open my mouth and say it! lol...

{two} have you ever ridden on an elephant?

Nope, but I have relatives who have!

{three} have you ever met a well known celebrity?

I think I've met a few has-been celebs in the past at like meet and greet signings but the best and most memorable was the time I met Phoenix from Linkin Park. This was summer 1999 and I went to this huge Christian rock festival (Cornerstone Festival) downstate. Linkin Park's album didn't come out for another 9 months or so and I had no clue who he was at the time. He was doing his last tour or whatever with his former band Tasty Snax. Me and the church group of girls I was with that weekend met him at one of the merch tents and him and his bandmates were flirting with us, trying to get us to come to their show later in the day. It was pretty funny!

Another memorable "celeb" I've met is NFL running back Michael Turner (or "Turner the Burner" as we called him college). He went to NIU and played on the team during the same time I was there and was one of our star players at the time. My roommate and I met him at a party - we went out on the back deck for some air and he was sitting out back, just chilling with a couple guys. As a courtesy we all said a quick hello, although we didn't realize it was him until some drunk guy came stumbling out onto the deck and was all "Whoa! You're Michael Turner!" and congratulated him on all the hardwork he did on the football team!

{four} do you have any food allergies?

No, no food allergies.

{five} do you know how to sew?

No, which is sad and a bit surprising as my mom is a seamstress, doing costuming for various local theatre productions and other alterations for people and her mom was great at sewing too. I totally suck at it - I even fail at sewing a simple button back on as it usually falls off within several wears! lol... I've tried in the past, making stuff like a small stuffed star with my grandma but yeah... never been good at that!

{six} did you get an allowance when you were young?

Yep! I think we started with a $1 when I was little and it increased like a $1 every year. By the time I was in high school I think I got about $20 a week, but $10 of that was for mowing the yard and part of the field behind the house.

{seven} how often do you fill up your gas tank?

I  haven't filled up my tank in ages! I usually put about $20 in when I do go to the gas station and that gets me 1/2-3/4 of a tank depending on the price of gas. I usually go to the gas station about twice a month, maybe less.

{eight} have you ever been stung by a jelly fish?

Nope!

{nine} have you ever been robbed?

Yep, twice! First time was in either Jr. High or High School - I don't remember which, but I had about $100  (all birthday money I had just gotten recently) that I had on me as it was a Friday and my parents and I were going out shopping after school. For gym class we had to change into uniforms and we had lockers. Locks were optional and I never used one at the time. I had it when it changed, and gym was my last class of the day, but when I went to spend it later in the day it was gone! My told the school about it and they did nothing, citing I shouldn't have had that kind of money at school and that I should have used a lock on my gym locker. /facepalm...

The other time was shortly after I got my license and a car when I was 16. My parents put in an aftermarket CD player for me and I kept CDs in a binder stashed under the carseat. Well my parents were having work done on the house and we had a dumpster in our driveway for a week so I had to park on the street at night. One afternoon I went to get in my car to go pick my boyfriend up and sat down in the drivers seat and saw that everything was dumped out of the glovebox and onto the passenger seat! Then I noticed the CD player was gone and just wires hanging from the dash where it should have been! My CDs were all gone too (I had like 100 of them!) as well as my car owner's manual (which was in a leather type case - we think they thought it was more CDs). The busted out the small triangle window in one of the backseat doors and let themselves in that way. The glass place said it would have been less expensive to replace had they busted out one of the bigger windows! The insurance company gave me some money for my losses so I could buy a new CD player, get the window fixed and buy some replacement CDs, but still...

{ten} what is the worst haircut you’ve ever had?

When I was in 3rd grade I got a Bob haircut. I liked it at first, but as the day went on, I *hated* it. By the end of the night I was going around the house with a paperbag over my head! LOL... another terrible haircut was also in grade school during the years I had bangs. My little sister had bangs cut and I wanted them too so mom let me get them cut. Bad idea - my hair is naturally curly/wavy and the bangs NEVER laid flat. I never made that mistake again! lol...

Ten on Tuesday: Books

I like to stay away from posting too many memes/surveys on here as a lot of them get repetitive but I saw this one on Angie's blog and it's a bit different and thought it'd be fun to share/post on here!

So, without further ado, Ten on Tuesday: Books!

1. When someone asks you for a book recommendation, what is your go-to book?
Depends on who it is - if they're old enough and like vampires I usually recommend the Sookie Stackhouse series by Charlaine Harris. If they're younger and into fantasy I would recommend the Harry Potter books

2.  Do you buy your books, or are you a library patron?
Well up until 2 weeks ago we technically lived in the county so we couldn't get a library card without paying $100/year so I didn't bother... that might change in recent years though now that we live in the city! Currently though I buy books or I borrow them from friends and relatives.

3.  E-readers, yay or nay?
I can see the point in them and I do have the Kindle and Aldiko apps on my Droid with a handful of free books, however I much prefer having a physical book to read. Unfortunately, it's harder to read a physical book than it is to read something on my phone while I'm handling a baby... but oh well!

4.  What was your favorite book as a child?
Oh geez, lemme see... Goodnight Moon was a favorite, There's a Monster at the End of This Book, The House that Had Enough... as for chapter books, I LOVED The Babysitter's Club books.

5.  If you could be any character in a book, who would you be?
Um... I guess maybe Sookie Stackhouse as she's an average girl who has such great adventures in a supernatural universe where vampires and weres and other fantasy creatures exist. Plus she gets with some pretty hot guys (<3 Eric Northman and Quinn)

6.  What book would you love to see turned into a movie?
I can't wait to see World War Z on the big screen, it was such an interesting read!

7.  What is your all-time favorite book?
I guess maybe Catcher in the Rye as it's a classic I never get tired of

8.  How many books do you read at once?
Depends if you count self-help books like Chicken Soup or child-rearing books as I tend to keep those as bathroom reading. Other than that, maybe 2 at the most but I like to read one book at a time if I can.

9.  What is your favorite book genre?
Definitely the fantasy/sci-fi section of the books store!

10.  Which Harry Potter book is the best?  Or haven’t you read them at all?
The 3rd one - Prisoner of Azkaban. I liked the book a lot and the movie is probably my favorite one too!

ABCs

I found this fun ABC meme/survey over on Angie's blog and decided it'd be fun to do since Little Man is napping still and I haven't posted over here in awhile (feel free to check out my more active baby/family blog!).

We have a busy weekend ahead of us as WE'RE MOVING!!!

Yep, we found a house, they accepted one of our offers and we're closing on it tomorrow and getting everything ready and set this weekend - woot! So excited!

Now, onto the meme!

A - Age: 26, I'll be 27 on August 29th. Seeing that in print makes me feel old =/

B - Bed size: We have a queen. Growing up I always had a full, but got stuck with a twin in the dorms in college before moving my bed out there once I moved into an apartment. Once hubby moved all his stuff in here though he brought over his bed which is a queen! It's the perfect size for us, especially since he tends to take over the majority of the bed!

C - Chore you hate: Cleaning the floors, cleaning the bathtub and doing the dishes, although dishes won't be an issue after this weekend as our house has a dishwasher!! You have no idea how excited I am to finally have a dishwasher! lol...

D - Dogs: Hubby and I want to get one someday - maybe in the next few years now that we have the house and space for a doggie. We never got one before because I just didn't feel right about having a dog in a small apartment and with no yard to run around in. We always had dogs growing up too - I didn't become fond of cats til I was in college and my roommate got one.

E - Essential start to your day: Going to the bathroom then feeding Jay.

F - Favorite Color: Different hues/shades of blue and black

G - Gold or Silver: White gold and silver - I *hate* the look of yellow gold

H - Height: 5'4-5"

I - Instruments you play: Piano and oboe, although it's been years... I really want to get a piano eventually though so I can play more. And I can play a few things on bass guitar, but it's currently MIA (I let my sis's friend borrow it last summer for "a few weeks" and it's been over 6 months... >.>)

J - Job title: Graphic Artist at my design job, Sales Associate at The Children's Place, wifey, mommy

K - Kids: Just Jay, who's now 2 months old (man time flies!) and of course our furbaby Tiger who's 2 and a half years old.

L - Live: Good ol' Rockford, Illinois where I've lived most of my life, save for the 2 years after I was born that we lived in upstate New York and the 6 years or so I lived down in DeKalb when I was going to school down there.

M - My mom's name: Louisa, pronounced Lou-eye-zuh. With my maiden name as her last name too, new people she meets are screwed when it comes to saying and spelling her whole name correctly! lol...

N - Nickname: Hubby calls me "baby" and "mommy" when he's talking to Jay, most call me Rach for short... people that know me from WoW call me by shortened names of my characters like Flour (pronounced Floor) or Yar. There's also my old internet handle of LPchick and the really old nickname of Peaches (but only 1 person still calls me that, if even, lol...)

O - Overnight hospital stay: Well obviously when I was born, when we had Jay, and then the week long stay we had when Jay was in the hospital not too long ago.

P - Pet Peeve: Nails on chalkboard, having to repeat myself, people repeatidly/constantly using the wrong form of words like too/to, etc.

Q - Quote from a movie from a book: off the top of my head - "Asssssss yooooooou wissssssssh!" -from Princess Bride, Wesley to Buttercup as he rolls down a hill

R- Right/Lefty: I'm a righty, as is my mom. My dad and sis are both lefties though.

S - Siblings: Blood-related just 1 sis who's turning 18 in a few weeks and is a senior in high school graduating next month (that makes me feel really old!). By marriage I have 4 brother-in-laws aged 31 (who's married so I guess that means I have another sister-in-law too), 24, 21, and 18 and a 12 year old sister-in-law.

T - Time you wake up: whenever Jay wakes me up, hungry.

U - Underwear: I prefer comfy over anything, usually briefs or boy shorts (which hubby likes best)

V - Veggies you dislike: Cauliflower, Beets, Asparagus... I tend to like most veggies though

W - What makes you run late: lol... me! Seriously, I'm pretty much late to everything that isn't work, lol...

X - Xrays you've had: Don't think I've had any...

Y - Yummy food you make: Hubby likes the recipe I use for Chicken Tetrazine (courtesy of my mom)

Z - Zoo animal: Snow leopards and monkey's are cute too!

Survey thingy

I haven't done one of these in forever (not since the Livejournal days I believe, lol...) but I'm bored and this seemed like an okay one so I figured why not?

Read my answers to this random survey a cousin of mine posted on Facebook after the jump =)