ING Race Photos

My number for ING - I had a great run!











John, Cindy and me before Jason took off to watch the start.








Oooh, la,laaaa.....Craig and Stacey - they are so cute!









Greg, Craig and Stacey - good friends from running club.







Craig and I after the run. I look horrible but I feel great.

Funny Family Pictures

These are some funny pictures from my dad's surprise birthday party earlier this year. It was a lot of fun.

I'll start this off with Allison, my sister. She's the craziest of the bunch. HA!!

This is a good picture of everyone.

The four stooges.............

Rae - she will be so happy this picture is on the web.

Then there's me. I make my parents so proud.

Ah, Peter. Always up for some good eatin'.

Random Entries

This is Harrison and Heather. Our sister-in-law and nephew. Unfortunately Adam was out of town this week but Harrison and Heather came over to hang out with Jason, his dad, Annie and me back in June. Harrison is a little over year and he is as cute as can be.



He is trying to pat his head and rub his belly at the same time - Uncle Jason is going to be a great influence on him.......








He's hilarious - laughing away.









This has nothing to do with Harrison's visit but I didn't want to make a separate post with 1 piece of art. This is my first piece - its small but the point of this exercise was to get a feel for the brushes and see what happens when you mix the different colors. I don't have the primary colors yet but those will come later. For now I will just use what I have. See that easel? That's the one Leigh gave me.

House Decorating - A Work in Progress

Here is our bedroom - there is not much to look at right now because this will be the last room to get finished in the house. But I love my, I mean our bed. Please excuse the mess.











Here is one corner of the guest room. Look how clean it is. I cleaned this room out on Sunday - I feel so refreshed. No Cats allowed in this room so if any kids or people stay over they will be kitty hair free!









Here is another angle. Look at the pretty table I added. See how cute? That picture above the table is me. Sally (lala) painted it when I was little. I have some more art that I would like to hang but I need to get it re-framed. My aunt Judy made a really cool piece of art for me when I graduated high school but the frame is now 13 years old so a new one would make it look updated and refreshed.


Jason painted our white plastic table and chairs on the back porch this weekend. I love it! He's not quite done. We also got some pretty red seat cushions at Target! It will look good!











Here is my version of an herb garden. Cilantro, Parsley, Basil. Its sitting on a new table we purchased last weekend. The porch is looking better and better!











Oh yeah, here is the pantry door Jason hung for me. Uh, Love it!!

















Here is the butterfly I hung above the kitchen sink. She's so pretty.










Here is one of the tables I Gold Leafed this weekend. Its a work in progress. I am going to get some bronze to mix in there as well. It is a lot of fun though! I figure if I really mess it up, I can just sand it. I got this idea from a table Sally made for Sarah - its on Sarah's side porch and it's so cute.





Here is the new mirror in the living room. It adds so much to the room too. Still a work in progress but it does look good.









Close up of the mirror.
















Last but not least, my flower pot and little stand. They are so pretty and add so much color! So far I have managed to keep them alive for two weeks!

4 Years

Sunday the 6th will be my 4 year anniversary with my company and I have accomplished a lot in those 4 years. I have never been with any company more than a year and a half so this is pretty cool. When I started I had no idea what I was doing and the best thing my first boss did was to throw me into the mix and it was sink or swim. Well, it's safe to say I swam and fought through the rough parts and here I am. I learned about conduits, loan quotes, LLC's, LLP's, Trusts, Single Entities, NNN Properties and Sale/Leasebacks. I learned about each state and their individual requirements for surveys, new entities and how to get a certificate to operate that new entity (and the cost). The best part is I will never know it all and that's what keeps me coming back to this crazy world day after day. There is always something to conquer and there is always a deadline. I never consider myself a competitive person but really, I think I am. I compete all of the time - I love the thrill and in my world that is a closed loan and a satisfied borrower. I love the emotional roller coaster I ride day in and day out. I think it's a sickness........

Besides accomplishing things at work I experienced other things as well. I ran my first 1/2 marathon........and then 4 more. My sister moved to Boston and we have grown closer with our brother. I have had some friendships dissipate and re-kindled old ones with some really great people. I have made new friendships that I hope to keep forever. I got married and learned how to accept another family as my own. I purchased a house with Jason and we were able to furnish it which is really great! We also went through a rough patch which made us grow stronger together. That rough patch also led me to enter the art world and now I am trying to craft the art of drawing & painting. Are you seeing the same pattern I see? I seem to keep choosing paths that I will never completely figure out but they will always challenge me. I do have a sickness.....mmmmmwwwwuuuuaaaahhhhh!!!! (evil laugh)

I dare say I have a fantastic life and I am one of the luckiest people I know. Life is good.