Seriously, Penny?

My dog has gotten way too smart for her my own good.  Twice tonight, yes twice tonight, she cried at the door and when I got up to let her out, she ran to the couch and sat in the warm spot where I was just sitting.

For real, Dog?

Hard time blogging.

Could you tell? I've finally realized one of the main reasons why I have such a hard time putting pen to paper. Or finger to plastic. It is because there are a lot of things that I want to talk about that I would like to keep private from people I know. 

It's the weirdest thing that I'd be more comfortable going over my future plans and inner thoughts and struggles with strangers rather then my closest friends and family.

But at the same time, I can't do what I want to do with this blog without being able to post pictures and get specific.  So even if I don't tell anyone about this blog or post it on Facebook, it may one day be found.

Conundrum.

Updated to include: One girl I read sometimes even shows her naked boobs! BOOBS! I'm not even willing to share my 5 year plan.

Things I did tonight instead of watching T.V.

 I went to 2 thrift stores tonight and got so many amazing finds.  I ran home as fast as I could and started 2 re-purposing projects on what I got.

 I got this awesome mirror for $7.99!

 The color is Gypsy Magic. It doesn't look this pale in person.

 I got this odd painting of school children for $3.99.

 I'm only painting the frame so it doesn't look as worn.

Crap, now I have to purchase travel insurance...

John & I are almost completely done planning our trip in September 2011, which is now officially less than a year away! We are skipping town on September 13; leaving sunny PA for our half way point in Florence, South Carolina. The drive is going to look something like this:

 570 mi. - 10 Hours

I'm pretty sure the road is purple and everything! We are spending the night at The Hilton Garden Inn, which I am proud to say is numero uno on TripAdvisor. I prefer to stay at the nicer places when you are in Podunk, USA and stay at crappier places in Tourist City, America. We booked a whirpool room because it was only 10 bucks more. Yes, I'm aware its a HGI, but I'm keeping my expectations low. As long as it doesn't look like this, I'll be cool:

The morning of the 14th, we're back on the road, heading to good old Orlando to check out the new Wizarding World of Harry Potter.

Oh, Hello there. 

We'll be staying at the Royal Pacific Hotel on property for 2 nights.  Not only is it the cheapest of the 3, but it is the only one I haven't stayed at. As Michael Scott would say: Win-Win! Then, we are driving through the swamps on Florida to Ft. Lauderdale.  We're going to stay one night at the new Hyatt Place near the cruise port. According to google, it's 2 u-turns and the farthest thing from a straight line drive to the port. 

On the 17th we are boarding the (present) biggest ship on Earth; the Oasis of the Seas.  It will be my 5th Royal Caribbean cruise & John's first. I've never cruised with a boyfriend before.  I've cruised twice with my sister and twice with friends.  This will be interesting. Anyhow, we'll be rocking out on that baby for 7 nights.  On the way home, we'll stay at the same HGI in Florence half way. No fun min-trips on the way home. :(

Here are some shots of my on previous cruises with RCCL: 

Transition or Position

I have just become bashfully aware that I am at this strange transition in life. 10 years ago, I was 15. Not driving, painfully awkward, unsure, longing to grow up. 10 years from now I will be 35, hopefully married, in a better house, with 2 kids and with a providing job.

The oddest part to me is as I just wrote that, I realized that the way I just described myself at 15 is exactly how I could describe my self right now at 25. Painfully awkward, unsure, longing to grow up.

I am scared to think that I'll be feeling the same way at 35.

Blog Commitment Issues

Just can't stick to something, can I? Hey - I'm still not smoking. I stuck to that.

HOW TO KEEP IT FROM SNOWING IN YOUR TOWN

Every year we have our first "big snow" and I can never find the boots I bought last year after the first big snow. So I always go out and buy boots after the first big snow. And guess what? It never snows again for the whole season after buying the boots. So, if you don't want it to snow, just go out and buy ugly horrible boots that you wish you had a week earlier when you got snow in your shoes while digging your car out.

Secondly, what the hell happens to the boots I buy every year? I think the same monster eats them who eats one sock each from all your pairs. Maybe I didn't realize I wasn't buying boots, but rather renting them.

New Homeowner

I made a tiny mistake the other day. I put my trash out on the wrong day. Not a big deal. However, I happened to pick the windiest day known to man and I put out a lot of trash. I came home from work to see that my neighbors houses were strewn with my trash that wasn't picked up.

Nice.

Hi neighbor!

I'm not sure what was more embarrassing; the mistake itself or the mad-dash-walk-of-shame to gather it all.

My House

John and I were looking for a house for the LONGEST time. (Maybe like 6 months.) But we looked at over 60 houses and it seemed a lot longer. We had a very specific type in mind. A piece of crap cheap foreclosure. You would think there is a lot. And there is. However, I'm not paying full price for it. So it was hard. We eventually found this gem in a neighborhood we were very interested in. Not a good school system but we are SO not to that point in our lives. (Hey Bud, where's the RING?) Anyway, here are some pics.....

Gorgeous right? ;) We snatched that baby right up!

Well, then it looked like this:
And then it looked like this:

(New windows, roof, door, siding, etc..)

The inside looked a little like this:
(I am going to progress the pictures in the same fashion, section by section.)
(John's Mom & Realtor. This is literally what it looked like. You're lucky you can't smell it.)
And now...


How about the gorgeous kitchen?
Yummy! I wanna eat in there...
(Ikea Kitchen.)
Yes, that is a tiny bat hanging over the sink. Don't ask.

Now for the dining room. You can see a little of it in the first photos.
I didn't take before shots of everything but here's more shots:

This is going to be the man cave/den.
"After" shots to come when room is completed.

Oh, can't forget the bathrooms:
(Expanded.)
and


And the bedroom:


"After" shots to come when I feel like cleaning it.


(My then-preggers sister.)
And now a BABY!
(That fits the before & after theme of this blog right? Ok, moving on.)

Upstairs bedroom which is now my studio, office.

That's all I've got for now. More to come...