My (Current) Bucket List:

*= Achieved! :D

*Marry my soul mate: Austin Hitch
-Finish writing "Elevator Confessionals"
-Get Published
-Be on the New York Bestsellers List!
*Challenge myself to a zipline/ropes-course
-Zipline in Costa Rica & see parrots in their natural habitat
-Go to a World's Fair
-Cheer on Olympic athletes at The Olympic Games
-Win a getaway/cool contest
-Make a difference
-Own a business
-Finish Architecture minor...or major?
-Meet President Obama & The First Lady
-Go to The Ellen Show
-Own a parrot...and teach it to tell my dog to sit
-Bi-plane Ride
-Hot Air Balloon Adventure
-River rafting
-Travel to Australia
-Hang out with Kat Von D for a day.
-Go to a performance at the Hollywood Bowl
-Buy a house
-Design & build our dream home
-Buy a new (hybrid?) car
-Camp/stay in a hotelish-treehouse
-Go to a horse race wearing a fun hat
-Meet a celebrity by accident (um, coincidence?)
-Travel to each Continent (perhaps excepting Antarctica? Burr! I dislike being cold!)
-Go to Paris (for the first time) with my sweetheart
-Be brave enough to donate blood for a good cause (I hate the feeling/sight of blood draws)!

A Multitude of Screens

What a day!  I'm frantically trying to apply for several jobs.  These would be defined as DREAM jobs.  I sure hope I manage to jump through all of these hoops in time for the deadlines I'm up against.  Is it just me or is there a shiny and glimmering hope emerging for our economy?  Granted this is just my opinion, but it seems that things are getting a little easier.  And thank you...I'll take a little easier, and don't worry I won't even beg for anymore than this taste.  I can be patient.  I have been very patient.

I feel like all I've done all day is stare at a multitude of various screen sizes.  It is odd how so much technology has infiltrated our daily lives.  Just to fill out these applications I have used an amazing array of media and technology.  This morning I found myself browsing for jobs on my husband's ipad2...then once I found my dream job is now accepting applications, well then...I just went crazy.  I found myself using shared folders in Dropbox to move documents and pictures from my laptop and my iphone4.  I found myself referencing printed out documents I have safely filed away (aka: The dates of my lengthy construction work history)...and then it hit me.  I am truly lucky to be using and taking advantage of all of these forms of information and technology.  Thank you again Steve Jobs.  Thank you to all who had a hand in raising the internet out of thin air (and then keeping in thin air as a matter of fact).  Thank you to those who created wireless internet connectivity.  (My printer can talk to my iphone too!)

Not only have I been lucky enough to use an iphone, an ipad, and my MacBook Laptop I realized I've also used several other screens today without even really realizing it.  When I finally took a break for a late lunch (of mac & cheese, what a staple! ;D), I read on my Nook with Glowlight e-reader.  Then later, I found myself staring at my TV Screen while I finished a TV episode streamed from Netflix.

I am grateful for these things.  I am thankful for all of this simplicity.  I should not take any of these things granted and I want to remind myself not to.


p.s. I used my husband's phone to take this picture, my first picture "test" on my blog.  Then I used Dropbox to add it onto my computer without plugging the phone into the computer at all!  Technology can be oh so helpful when we want to embrace it! ;D

Back in The Saddle Again...

Here I am, again.  Finally out of the winter blues.  Let's see if I am a writer still.  Although the weather is forecasted to be rainy all week I think I'm truly back!

Quite a lot has changed since I last had the creativity to write.  Or shall I clarify, the creativity to actually write on the great inter-webs!

The wedding and honeymoon are happily behind me and continue to glow as a wonderful array of memories I shall never forget.  Though, I of course have a new project.  Always looking forward to something.  Currently I am snagged on a moving theme.  Our current lease is expiring at the end of July.  So the way I see that, is this: we have three months to leisurely decide if we want to stay in our current place.  I like the location of our current home... geographically.  I LOVE the location/proximity to a great walking place for Lila.  But (yes, there is a but), I don't really like the people living around us.  Not that there is an actual dislike for them.  But I dislike their habits.  Taking a phone call out in the hallway at 12am?  I'm not really a fan of this.  Neighbors having 10 friends loudly trooping between floors to have a progressive party after 1am? No, I think not.  I actually went out into the hall the last time that happened to offer medical assistance, since obviously someone must be dying to have a crowd make that much noise that late.  Silly me, always assuming the best.  Neighbor with adjoining wall taking a shower at 12:30am?  Not a problem with me, that's acceptable.  And yes, I know that I could be dealt with the same type of neighbors as in my first two examples, but that will always be a possibility, and I'm willing to take this type of risk.

So far I'm pleased with the research I have been doing to make this next move as stress-free as possible.  Through my membership with the National Association of Professional Organizers last summer, I was introduced to a local company called karmaboxx. I love their purpose.  What a great idea!  Stackable, plastic, re-useable, recycled-material-made moving boxes!  Dropped off at your door and then later picked up at your new door!  And they have those nifty wardrobe boxes with the rod already in them for you to quickly and easily hang and move your entire closet's hanging articles!  And they think to include a furniture dolly with their bundle packages!  Awesome!  Cannot wait for the ease of that! And I checked on the current rates for U Haul trucks and am pleasantly pleased to note their prices (including gas/mile fees).  Okay.  So I checked all this info out because we have moved TWICE in the last year! Yikes!  And we didn't really pack smart or finish physically moving within a day or a week either of those times!  How exhausting that was!  And if anyone shall be kind enough to help us move yet once again, I would like to make it as easy on them as well!  (Though I think we may just end up leaving our new couch in this apartment because it almost was left/stuck in the tiny elevator being moved last time!) Lol!

As close as even two months ago I would have told you, "Move, again?!  No way!  What a hassle!"  Although, now I'm really looking forward to it.  Life is change, and change is good.  Boy, someone should take my temperature! That's another thing that has definitely changed.  I used to loath big changes.  Granted, Austin has helped me overcome this in our past eight years together.  But moving was still one of them for me, until very recently.  Now, as I am researching all of the places/opportunities we could have if we moved...  Well, I'm plain old-fashioned super excited!!!  And now, if you don't mind, I'm going to get back to searching for new apartments, again! ;D  Bring on lucky move number three!