My 25 Things - I'm a follower

1. I like making lists and I REALLY like marking things off as being done.

2. I've lived in Illinois, DC, Hawaii, Nashville, and Australia. In the past 5 years. I have a Massachusetts phone number, and I refuse to get a Tennessee driver's license.

3. I often wish chewing gum wasn't invented - I hate it when people chew it loudly and snap it in confined spaces.

4. Makemake au i ka hula a me 'olelo Hawaii. I like to hula dance and speak Hawaiian. I have Kumu Em to thank.

5. I LOVE ice cream. LOVE it. I guess my dad's motto (if you don't eat enough ice cream, you'll get sick) stuck with me.

6. I am going to take a sewing class (to learn to sew with a machine) and I'm very excited. This will help speed up my quilt-making process substantially.

7. I have recently started to like white wine and champagne (I have liked red for a while). Thanks Lou and Lee & Amber.

8. I'm worried about where the CG will send us and somehow that translated into me pestering the Commandant about it in my dream the other night.

9. I have a Master of Arts in Latin American Studies. So far, it's brought me Jen P, Jen M, Marta K, and my husband. I haven't done anything productive with the degree itself yet. Perhaps I'll go back to school again and get something useful.

10. I won my school spelling bee in 5th grade.

11. I stick my tongue out when I'm concentrating. Just like my sisters.

12. I wish I lived closer to my sisters. I love them and miss them a lot.

13. The number 4 has been my soccer number and my favorite number for a long time. I think it was because I really liked Joe Dumars at an impressionable age.

14. I like taking photos and want to learn how to take better pictures.

15. I really miss both Hawaii and Australia. Sometimes it seems like a dream that we really lived there. A really great dream.

16. I only saw Goonies in the past 5 years... Jen M, I have you to thank for that.

17. I know the military phonetic alphabet (alpha, bravo, charlie, delta...). I rehearse it when I'm getting my teeth cleaned or any dental work done.

18. I have started liking drinking hot tea. Before, I just thought it tasted like dirty water. I want my cuppa! I think Irish Breakfast with milk is my favorite thus far, well, and chai with milk.

19. I promote Google (gmail, picasa, etc), Netflix, and Etsy like I have stock in them. I don't. I have Starbucks stock and it's crashing like a bad computer or whatever crashes dramatically.

20. On our first date, Shad asked me where I grew up. I said, "Wyoming." He said, "The State?" I said, "No, the city." I asked him where he was from. He said, "Jupiter." I said, "The planet?" Hahaha.

21. I know more about surfing, basketball (sports in general), and the Coast Guard than I ever thought I would now that I am married to Shad. I even laughed at his Dirk Nowitzki joke this week. (They sometimes call him Irk Nowitzki because he has no D). Hahaha.

23. I like JEOPARDY. It's one of the few tv shows Shad and I watch regularly. I kind of think that we're almost like in the movie "White Men Can't Jump" - almost.

24. I know the first verses to both the Brazilian and the Australian national anthem. I'm sure that will come in handy someday.

25. I'm thankful for my family and friends!

WW: A sculpture at my place of employment

(taken on my camera phone)

And yes, they're babies climbing up a DNA.
Someone thought this was a good idea.
Me? Not so much.

The currency results...

At the time of the original posting, these are the exchanges...

57 Reais = 24.61 USD
220 Mexican = 15.96 USD
5 Pounds = 7.41 USD
25 Canadian = 20.55 USD
100 Costa Rican = .18 USD
10 Turkish New Lira = 6.25 USD
5 New Zealand Dollars = 2.81 USD
50 Euros = 66.78 USD

For a total of $144.55 USD
*note, I rounded to my own discretion. Deal with it.

So here's the tough part - Swiss Miss guessed $140. Ricardo guessed $146.70. I never specified if it was closest or closest without going over. Beth, good try with $120.

And being the "nearly everybody wins" as associated with my maternal heritage, Swiss Miss and Ricardo get a prize. I just have to figure out what it is, and how to get it to Swiss Miss. Swiss, anything you miss from the great US of A?

I think I have my sign

Regarding grocery stores, that is.

The other day when I went to Kroger, I saw this...



Kroger loves me! That's reason enough to be a loyal customer, eh?

Sneaky Sneaky

We go to a huge church here in the South. CO and I looked around last Saturday (we go to a Saturday night service to avoid the crowds) and were still overwhelmed by how many people were there. We really miss our old churches - Cape Cod Vineyard, Elevate, and the Docklands Church. There's just something about a small church that makes us feel recognized, loved, and part of something... I don't know how to describe it. Yes, the bigger churches have ways to be more involved, but often it comes quicker in smaller churches.

We've been here about a year and a half now (minus the six months in Australia), and have been going to the same church since February of last year. And we've never joined a small group because you have to be a member first. And being a member requires commitment (as well it should). But, with CO in school and the church being a 30-40 minute drive away, it was hard for us to commit to much more than weekly services.

Until now. Our upstairs neighbor told me about a Bible Study going on in our neighborhood, and that sounded good to me. Turns out it's at our church. And I signed up for it. I'm still not quite sure if I'm allowed to go. Wait - yes, I just said that! I'm not sure if I'm allowed to go to a Bible Study!! No one asked if I was a member, so maybe their requirement is for their House Groups/Small Groups/whatever they're called, but anyway, I sure felt sneaky!

Not that he's exact or anything...

CO and I share a car. Last year, I dropped him off at school and picked him up. This year, I get spoiled and CO drops me off at work every morning and picks me up in the evenings on his way to and from school. I work 8-5, but sometimes it takes me a little bit of time to wrap up whatever project I'm working on, and actually head downstairs to where he picks me up. Here's today's dialogue about what time he was going to pick me up (done via email).

CO: What time should I pick you up today?
me: Just after 5, is that ok?
CO: Yes, see you then.

...

CO: Running 12 minutes late.

Who says that? TWELVE minutes late? Not ten, not fifteen. Twelve.

That's my husband.

Go sister go!

lobster
Originally uploaded by tuppus

Today my sister is running a marathon (her first) in Arizona. I think I'm a bad sister because:
a) I'm not going
b) I don't even know what city it's in!

But anyway, I'm really excited for her that she's doing this incredible thing that I don't know if I could do. She's been training in MICHIGAN. Recently. Training for a marathon in Michigan in winter is NOT something that I'm really eager to do. So just there she gets major credit.

As I type this she's already running and has been running for a few hours. I hope she's doing well and gets an unexpected second wind :)

Although I can't be there, I am thinking of her and I do love her! I love you lobby!

Go sister go!