Photos from Trip Home Part 2

The Space Needle:


Pike Place Market ... this is the fish mongers .. you know them as the guys that throw the fish. They are lots of fun to watch and talk to!



The Pike Place Sign:



I have lots more photos but I thought this was a good start :)

Photos from my trip home Part 1

I finally have the pictures all uploaded from my trip home ... well most of them. I thought I would share several of them here and try not to make this like your uncle's-sisters-boyfriends-friends-cousin slide shows from a vacation where you could care less! *lol*

Me in front of the Space Needle:


Me again!





My twin Heidi :)

Starbucks

I can't believe I have blogged this long and this is my first real Starbucks post. My twin Heidi is what reminded me of it after I saw her picture of her at Starbucks I realized I had to get mine out here too!

I grew up real close to Seattle land of Coffee and home to The Original Starbucks. I've always liked coffee and as a little girl I used to have coffee with my grandpa. One of my earliest memories with him is me sitting on his lap in his recliner with my little kid sized china cup with my coffee and a sugar cube in it and being told that to drink out of a china cup like a lady you must have your pinky finger extended. I remember thinking it was funny because he had a work accident several years before and part of his right pinky finger was cut off, so his would always stick out. I also used to get dressed up and do 'beauty ups' with my grandma and we would have coffee or tea like elegant beauty-up ladies that we were. I guess I've always had a love for coffee.

Even during high school I would drive to school and would stop in the mornings and get a coffee on may way, usually some sort of a Mocha or Latte. In the summer I would switch to iced mocha's. I also would go up to Seattle for the sole purpose of getting a Starbucks from the original Starbucks.

When I went home last month and my twin Heidi came down for a weekend her requirement was she wanted to visit the original Starbucks and so after we got there this was our first order of the day and of course had to have photo taken in front. Oddly enough, my drink in my hand is not coffee ... it is a Vanilla Bean Frappachino but still awesome! That morning I already had some caffine and didn't need any more of it.

Now that I've moved away I've been fortunate to have Starbucks near me, the closest one being 2 blocks away and within a 10 mile radius I can tell you where 5 of them are. Not bad even though I miss the coffee stands on every street corner and parking lots of grocery stores and strip malls like they have out there in WA.

Yes, another Kenny Chesney post =)

By now you've probably realized that I am a Kenny Chesney fan ... and if you hadn't, well then you may be even more blonde than I!

Anyhow, I thought it only fitting to share my prized photo of when I met Kenny Chesney before one of his concerts.

Please try not to drip drool on the keyboard, it can cause short circuiting =)

Some people's cats ...

I love my furry child Abbie alot but right now she's working the nerves. Saturday mornings I sleep in, on a good morning until 10 or 11am. This morning she decides no not going to happen and wakes me up at 7:45. (I didn't get home until 3 from Dawnn's and stayed up till after 4 to read) so I was not pleased. I tried to ignore her but she's too smart for that and jumps up and stands on my hip as I'm laying on my side and howls. For a 7 pound cat she's got lungs! So I sit up and talk to her, soon as I do this she turns into nice sweet Abbie again and starts purring and "talking" in her little cat chatter and then jumps down and fetches a toy and brings it up. She wants to play.

I'm sorry but I don't get the luxury of sleeping 18-20 hours a day like she does. I finally threw her the toy - and still being half asleep forget she fetches - and I lay down and back comes the toy. I finally took the toy and shoved it under my pillow and turned away and pulled the blanket over my head and ignored her. After about 10 minutes I heard her jump down and run out into the living room and play with her plastic donut toy - very noisily. I finally gave up and got up just before 9.

I don't think she has taken a nap all day! Right now she's running around playing with her plastic ball with the bell in it. A few minutes before that she had a mouse ...

I know most parents wish their kids would take naps and are exhausted ... is it wrong to be exhausted wishing your cat would take a nap?

I'm a bad blogger ...

I hadn't posted since early this week. It was pointed out to me by someone that I was a bad blogger for not updating my blog. It's not like I haven't wanted to, I just haven't had time :)

So here's a recap of my week ... or the semi exciting things at least ...

I am going to see Keith Urban in February! He is coming to Lansing and I knew about it for some time and said no you can't afford it Emmy don't go. Well I still can't really but I got a spot bonus at work so I decided to put some of that towards tickets and asked a friend to go with me and I am now the proud owner of 2 Keith Urban tickets! Now I'm excited and want February 11th to be here fast!

I got my borders done for the Traveling the US/Major US Cities Swap I signed up for back in August/September :) I got them done with help from Dawnn who has saved my butt on them ... so if you were in that swap and think that Idaho and Orlando borders suck ... talk to her =) They don't suck, they are awesome! I am just glad to have them done. I felt a sense of done-ness (is that even a word?) when I ziplocked the last baggie and shoved them all into this oversized puffy envelope and put them on the kitchen table to go postal on Monday. Now I can't wait to see what comes back to me :) I may have to post some pictures of them because I think they will be awesome!

Not too much else went on this week ... I am on a high priority project at work, have been since before Christmas with 2 other co workers so that has been consuming most all of my time at work. We had it originally finished in time, turned it in for review, etc. and then the head cheese peeps came back with, 'why not this instead of this?' so we dropped everything and attacked that, then partly through that got shifted in a total 180 degree towards something else in the project. Our poor boss is pulling out her hair right now I think because she has had to put everything she is doing on hold to work on this too. Then at about 4:45 yesterday we find out we can stop what we are doing as we are going to play the corporate politics and bypass a few on the ladder and just go to the top. Not a bad thing in this case. So now we have a totally new direction to go on this that is different from what we have been doing. So looks like an intersting Monday is shaping up :)

I think that is it for now. I have some more randomness to post but I will do that after I refill the Cherry Coke =)

More random stuff I case'd =)

[A is for age:] - 27
[B is for booze of choice:] - Margarita's or Cosmo's
[C is for career:] - Help Desk Analyst
[D is for your dad's name:] - Dave
[E is for essential items to bring to a party:] - Board Game, Munchies
[F is for favorite song at the moment:] - "Living in Fast Forward"
[G is for favorite game:] - Clue
[H is for hometown:] - *sorry will not release that info at this time*
[I is for instruments you play:] - Hmmmm nope I'm not that talented, but I do play the radio well :)
[J is for jam or jelly you like:] - Raspberry
[K is for kids?] - Not yet
[L is for living arrangements:] - Apartment
[M is for mom's name:] - Jan
[N is for name of your crush ] - Kenny :)
[O is for overnight hospital stays] - When I was born and when I was 5 and had pneumonia at Christmas.
[P is for phobias:] - Spiders
[R is for relationship that lasted the longest] - 6 years
[S is for sexual preference:] - Hot guys :)
[T is for time you wake up:] - Alarm goes off at 7:10, I'm rarely up before 7:25am
[U is for underwear:] - Pink high cut today
[V is for vegetable you love:] - I don't love vegetables but I will eat lettuce
[W is for weekend plans:] - Cropping
[X is for x-rays you've had:] - Teeth, wrist, knee, ankle
[Y is for yummy food you make:] - Red Velvet Cake, Taco's and Enchilada's
[Z is for zodiac sign:] - Taurus

Random info about me ...

I saw this on another blog and had to case it ...
2 Names you go by:
Diane
Emmy
2 parts of your heritage:
Norweigan
French
2 Things that scare you:
Spiders!
Never getting married
2 of your everyday essentials:
Internet
Cherry Coke
2 Things that you are wearing right now:
Old Navy fleece pj pants things
Tennessee Vols TShirt
2 of your favorite bands or musical artists: (given that Kenny Chesney's a given on that list!)
(at the moment) Bon Jovie
(all time) The Beatles
2 Things you want in a relationship (other than true love):
Honesty
Sense of Humor
2Truths about me:
I am a procrastinator
I always have my toenails painted
2 Physical Things that appeal to you (in the opposite sex):
Great Smile
Eyes - bright and smiling
2 of your Favorite Hobbies:
Scrapbooking
Photography
2 Material Things you want really badly:
A Canon Rebel Digital Camera
New bed and bedroom furniture
2 places you want to go on vacation:
Carribbean
Australia
2 Stores you Shop at:
Meijer
Target
2 Stores you like to Shop at when traveling to the big city:
I think am in the big city ... but ok
Bath and Body Works
Barnes and Noble

What happens at Dawnn's house on New Years Eve ...

stays at Dawnn's house =) Or better yet titled, When the Sun Goes Down ... everything gets hotter when the sun goes down *lol*

Happy New Year's Day! I had a great time last night at Dawnn's house. There were about 15 of us or so there and as night went on went down to about 10. I got there early to help get things tidied up and to cook up my goodie I brought (Taco Ring - a Pampered Chef recipe) although they didn't end up in ring form, but it was still yummy. Spent alot of time holding her friend Kim's newborn daughter, what a precious doll! She is 7 weeks old and is such a sweet baby. Never fussed except when she was needing to be changed or hungry ... although I think Julie did pinch her once and that got her started crying *lol* I can feel my little baby clock going, especially after holding her for so long last night!
As far as the rest of the night ... see title of this blog :) I will say I've done something new ... belly shots. I have seen them but have never been the one that they are performed on. For those that don't know about these, you lay some poor gal on the table, or kitchen counter, in this case and fill up her belly button with a shot of whatever you want to drink and then the guy or gal comes over and drinks the shot out of your belly button. Very hard to keep from laughing I will say but it was fun ... *big grin* Dawnn has pictures and I'm sure one of two will end up on her blog or mine ...
The rest of the night ... well can't tell ya! Except I will say some in attendance probably have bite marks in interesting places *lol, thanks Gabe*

Today (New Years Day) I slept in, I didn't get home until after 3 and then got up and got groceries and then sat down to work on some of those swaps I've been holding off on doing. I have gotten 2 completely done and the third is almost done, I'm almost halfway there!

Until next time .. take care!