I Need Your Help!

Every year I enter the Army Digital Photography Contest and this year I'm having a bit of difficulty deciding what photos I should enter into the landscape/nature category.

So...I'm going to post seven pictures and a poll with corresponding number so you guys can help me choose which ones I should enter. If you have any comments or suggestions about the photos and why you think I should pick them, feel free to give me your feedback.

The poll is located at the bottom of this post, please choose your top 3 photos. Thanks!

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Halloween Costumes

*I previously scheduled this post as I am currently in Poland buying oodles of pottery and eating my weight in pierogies*

Normally I don't put much thought into my Halloween costumes and generally I dress up in whatever I happen to have around the house. This year, for some reason, I decided to actually dress-up and buy a costume.

So...who am I going as this year?

Sookie Stackhouse! Specifically as her dressed in her waitress uniform. I've already got the shorts and blonde hair. I just need the shoes, shirt and apron. Oh yeah, and a gap in my teeth. Now if I could only wrangle an Eric or Alcide look-a-like to accompany me...

Anyone going to dress up for Halloween? If so, what are you going as?

Finally!!!

So, I was browsing around on iTunes yesterday and look what I found!

I have been waiting for this cd for years! No joke, Michael did a few Christmas songs a few years ago and I wished that he'd done an entire cd. Now I no longer have to wish for that. If you're interested, it comes out on October 24th.

10 Things You May Not Know About Me

I haven't done one of these posts in a long time, so I thought I'd share a few facts about myself that you guys may or may not know.

1. I didn't date in high school. Like, at all. In fact, I only had a date to one dance and both of my proms I went with friends. At the time it really got me down and almost made me feel like something was wrong with me, but looking back on it, it doesn't bother me. I'm sure there were guys that did like me, but just didn't tell me for whatever reason.

2. I graduated from Oklahoma State University in 2006. To say I'm excited about this football season is an understatement. I'm pulling for us to finally win a national championship and to put the other university in our state to shame.

3. I used to be really shy. Sometimes I still am. Depending on the person I'm around it can take me months to warm up to them. Sometimes it only takes a few hours, but once I know you and am comfortable around you, I'm can be a complete ham.

4. My two all-time favorite books are Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan and Summer Sisters by Judy Blume. I've read Summer Sisters almost every summer since I turned 16 and I've read Joy Luck Club numerous times. If I read a book more than once, it's a testament to how much I like the writing.



5. I don't like the dumb blonde stereotype, but sometimes I can be really blonde. For example, the other day I was singing my new favorite song, "Cheers, Drink to That" by Rihanna, and I was wondering about one line where it sounds like she says, "Don't let the bar studs get you down..." So I was thinking, "What in the heck is a bar stud?" Then I realized she was NOT saying bar stud, but bastard. Yeah.....

6. I'm one of those girls who tries to be confident, but most of the time I second guess myself. Especially when it comes to clothing. Ever know girls who always look put-together even when they are wearing a t-shirt and jeans? I'm not that girl. Hence, why I love Pinterest and Polyvore, because they give me outfit combos plus accessories that I'd probably never think of myself.

7. Sometimes I wish I could be a travel agent, but I'm not sure in the age of internet that there is so much of a demand for travel agents.

8. I tried a couple of dance classes a few weeks ago because it was a task on my 30 Before 30 List. I had visions of me wowing the teacher with my natural talent that I hoped I might have. Turns out, I'm pretty uncoordinated and it takes me forever to get a routine down.

9. I'm not a fan of thrill rides and the only place I will ride thrill rides like rollercoasters and rides that drop you 13 stories, is at the Disney Parks. No idea why I feel like I can do it there and nowhere else.

10. My biggest pet peeve with my husband is that he hates having his picture taken. I'm so jealous of all these other couples that oodles of pictures together, because I'm lucky if Sean will take one picture with me a year. In all honesty, it makes me more sad than mad.

Boot Love

I just bought the cutest pair of Franco Sarto riding boots on Ebay for more than half of what they were originally. They aren't even pre-owned! Granted, they are last seasons or maybe the season before that, but I could care less!

Oh Ebay and bargain shopping....how I love thee!

Question of the Day: Heroes at Home

Today's Question of the Day is concerning Sears program "Heroes at Home".

Now I'm not sure that you all know what it is, so if you don't, I'll include a brief explanation, as well as the link to the actual site from Sears.

The Heroes website

From what I gather, the program is designed to help active-duty service members provide a good Christmas for their family. I interpret that to mean that the program is designed for families that might have trouble otherwise providing a good Christmas for their family. When I worked at Sears several years ago, that is how it was conveyed to me and that's how I've thought about the program for the past few years. Now, I realize not everyone has the same view of the program as I do. That's fine, if you want to buy yourself a new TV with it, then that's your right, but just know that's not what I think the program was originally designed for. (And yes, I have known someone via online that used the giftcards to upgrade to a larger TV)

So imagine my surprise when I see how ridiculous people are being about this program. There are hateful messages everywhere on Facebook about how Sears screwed families out of their giftcards and even people going so much to say they got the giftcards the last couple years and are angry they didn't this year. Have people forgotten that this program is not a god-given right? That people are donating to this program out of the goodness of their heart. You don't NEED to get a giftcard every. single. year.  I also read a forum post yesterday where a wife who has been seperated  from her husband for almost a year and had repeatedly complained about how awful he was and why they were getting divorced, told everyone she had applied for the program. It's shocking to me how ungrateful and entitled many of these people are. 

Although technically since Sean is active duty, we could apply for it. I don't, because we aren't hurting for money.  I understand that there are years where things are tight and you want to give your kids a great Christmas, but if year after year that is you and your family, then you need to adjust something in your finances.

It's almost to the point where things have turned so ugly about this program, that I wish Sears would just do away with it, but then I realize that would punish the people that might actually really need something like this.

What are your thoughts on the Heroes at Home program and some of the ungrateful attitudes of military families regarding it?


Also, I'm aware this is a hot topic, so keep your responses civil. If you don't, I will delete your comment and you will be banished from this blog. No joke!

What I've Been Up To

First of all, thanks for all your thoughts and kind words on my last post. It felt good to finally share what was going on with all of you and your support is amazing. Totally made my day and made me feel a lot better about the whole situation.

Now on to what I've been up to lately.

1. I've been craving fried pickles off and on since we moved to Italy. Finally I caved, looked on Pinterest and decided to make them myself. What resulted was a mind-blowing experience of fried (well actually baked) pickles and homemade ranch dressing. Here's the link: Fried Pickles.

A few notes about the pickles: One, I used the stackers pickles instead of the rounds. Two, I halved the recipe. Three, I didn't use the recipe for ranch that they did. Instead I did equal parts of mayo and buttermilk mixed with a package of Hidden Valley ranch.

2. Several weeks ago I bought Adobe Lightroom 3 to compliment my Adobe Photoshop Elements that I already had. I'm still waiting on the manual that I ordered for Lightroom 3 so I can learn how to use it, but I've already used it a few times to reduce the noise in several pictures I took last summer in Greece and it is AMAZING. So, so glad I bought it.

3. It's my Min-Pin, Boomers, birthday today. He is 4! I'm one of those people that celebrate my pets' birthdays. So yeseterday he had part of a Happy Meal as his birthday treat. Here is a picture I took of him this morning.

4. I still haven't gotten all my Denmark pictures edited. Mainly because I just took some portraits of a friend the other day and I've been editing those pictures. I'm very pleased with how her pictures turned out. Here are a few samples. On a related note, if any blog readers in the Vicenza area would like some photos done, just let me know.

5. I bought my ticket home for Christmas this year. I'm super excited about it, especially since I missed Christmas at home last year, but the only downside is that Sean isn't able to come with. With tickets coming in just under $1000 per person, it's not feasible for us both to go home. So, being the great husband that he is, Sean told me to go home. I think he's pretty pumped about being off work at that time and doing whatever he wants, although I don't have any doubts that he's going to miss me.

So...that's what I've been up to lately!