Dear blog,

Dear blog,

I know my apology probably doesn’t mean much to you these days, but I’m sorry. I’m sorry for neglecting you. I’ve been in a rut… a serious writing rut.
But, today, in keeping with the new life and growth that this spring season is bringing, I make a renewed commitment to GIVE YOU SOME ATTENTION! 
So here I defiantly say ‘poo poo’ to my writer’s block! I am back with a vengeance! Kicking butt and taking names!
 
I’m off for now… to start composing my first comeback entry… besides this one…

Wednesday Pick Me Up

I knew there was a reason I took a mental break from work this morning to check my blog updates! That's how I discovered that I've been tagged by Heather at Heather Drive!! This is a fun one that has already brightened my day just thinking of all the things that make me happy.

The Rules:
- List 10 things that make you happy
- Tag 10 other bloggers and link back to the person who tagged you

Ten Things That Make Me Happy:

1. Saturday mornings with Mr. Tote one one side, Ozzy between us and Athena on the other side, trying desperately to get close enough to suck on my ear. Silly kitteh.
 
2. A perfectly seasoned, perfectly medium-rare filet mignon.
 
3. Giving friends and family homemade gifts.
 
4. Looking at silver jewelry from a beach vendor with my best friend in our lounge chairs on a beach in the Riviera Maya. (enough prepositions in that one??)
 
5. Christmas decorations. Lights, ornaments, nativities, garland, I love it all!
 
6. Spending time with our families.
 
7. Walking in my backyard, looking at all of the beautiful flowers in my garden. Hurry, SPRING!!!!!
 
8. Weekend trips up north. So impromptu, so rewarding.
 
9. FISHING! I love fishing!
 
10. The soundtrack to Wicked. "... we're gonna make you POP-U-LAR"
 
Now, onto the tagging!!
 
1.Lynsey at The Foster Following
2. Renee at A Taste of Life
3. Brittany at Superwoman
4. Megan at 1 Funky Woman
5. Elly at Elly Says Opa
6. Mary Ellen at Mary Ellen's Cooking Creations
7. Roeshel at The DIY Show Off
8. Molly at You're Talking Jibberish
9. Kimi at The Millers
10. Linda at Craftaholics Anonymous
 
Have a wonderful Wednesday, all!

Test Post - Help!

Bear with me. I am testing out creating my posts in MS word, as opposed to uploading pics and messing around with the screwy Blogger editor formatting. What do you use to create your posts? This all started while I was scoping out Centsational Girl's tutorial on fixing photos.

100th Post Winner

I almost forgot about this, but when I was getting ready to post my low-fat zucchini bread recipe, I remembered that today is the day for me to announce the winner of a wine bottle cheese tray, in honor of my 100th post.

So without further ado... Drumroll please!

6
Timestamp: 2009-09-06 23:59:49 UTC

The sixth comment comes from Jenn!

Congrats, mama! I love this picture of you! Send me an email and Ill get your brand new cheese tray in the mail!

Thanks for all of your lovely comments. It's such a treat to have such wonderful readers.

Housewarming Party Pics Long Overdue

While I am waiting for everyone to weigh in on my 100th post giveaway post, I figured I needed to share some pics from our housewarming party… from July. I know, I know, these are waaaay overdue. But summer just flew by and I’ve been very busy. I promise my regularly scheduled blogging will resume soon. So, without further ado, I welcome you into my home for our housewarming party. Boy, this sounds really bad since I only have pics of the party food, not the house, but it’ll have to do for now.

I am excited to share an idea that I found in a recent issue of Real Simple magazine, a subscription I received as a birthday present from my parents. Anywho, it’s amazing what you can get for free. Inspired by what I saw in Real Simple, I went to my local Lowe’s and raided the paint samples to use for labeling dishes at the party. I grabbed colors that coordinated with our kitchen. This is a great idea! I think they would really work well as place settings for a dinner party or around the holidays, which are coming up so fast come to think of it!

Coming soon... my mom's potato salad recipe and the party's desserts.

Cutest Couple EVER

These two are so darn cute!

Blog Changes

I have made a few recent updates to my blog that I'd like to share/brag about (especially since I had to figure out the html code on a few of them to makeit all work for me).

1. I have created a three-column blog so that I can highlight more areas without them running long down only one side of my blog.
2. Twitter - now you can follow me on Twitter and see what I am up to in the upper left corner of my blog. I have Twitter hooked up to my phone so I can Tweet at any time. So high tech, I know.
3. LinkWithin - now you can see similar posts that may be of interest to you at the bottom of each new post.
4. AddThis! - now you can take any of my posts that you enjoy and share them on your Facebook, on Twitter, via email, print them and add to your favorite websites.

Happy Friday!

Courtesy of: http://asbojesus.wordpress.com/2009/05/07/719/

One Month Hiatus

My co-worker and I on the course at Grand Traverse Resort in Traverse City, MI

Dear friends, I confess to being a horrible blogger for the last month. Let's start with what's happened since April 5...

• Easter
• We closed on our house
• We renovated our house
• We moved into our house
• We lost a dear friend, Chris Keene
• I turned 27 years old
• I went to Traverse City for 5 days to manage/coordinate the largest event I plan all year (this is the main reason for the lack of blog entries)

All of that aside, I am getting the internet hooked up at our house today (yippee!!!), so here's a list of what's in store in the upcoming entries:

• Easter Treats
• House pics before and after renovations
• VRT - you, too, will be amazed
• The garden
• The furniture
• Traverse City Chocolate Fest
• John's blogging quest

Much more coming VERY soon!!!

I've been tagged!

I have been tagged in a little blogger picture game by Lynsey at The Foster Following.

The rules: Open the 6th picture folder on your computer, open the 6th photo and blog it. Write something about it. Then tag 6 more people to do the same.

This picture was taken at an event on August 30, 2007 that I was invited to, to check out a new hotel property. I brought Matt and my parents. This is me with Greg Kelser, basketball player from the 1979 Championship Spartan Basketball Team. I definitely had a case of celebrity awe... until the next morning (aka football Saturday) and I had Matt snap this one...

Yes, that's Tom Izzo, coach of the Spartan men's basketball team!!! I really need to get this one framed!

And for my 6 people to tag:
1. Molly at You're Talking Jibberish
2. Amy at Life in the Junction
3. Ameron at Sweet Country Lovin'
4. Marie-Etta at Adventures in Holy Matrimony
5. Anne Marie at A. Day. In. The. Life. Of. Anne. Marie
6. Renee at A Taste of Life

And since I like to reminisce, here's some additional pictures from that weekend...

My dad sorta likes the Spartan cheerleaders.


And it's ANOTHER BEAUTIFUL DAY FOR FOOOOOTBAAAALLL!!!!!!!