#243

My stylist Jordan and I found a peculiar new wall decoration at work today. I almost had to do a double-take in wondering why this would be in my salon and how did it get there?

#243 - Say 'Hello' to my little friend...

I got a ladder and climbed up to take this photo and as soon as I snapped the picture, it turned its head in my direction. Just watching it turn to look at me, sent shivers down my spine and I jumped off the ladder!!Wish I could have gotten a better picture... Jordan was also freaked out by it, so neither of us were daring enough to grab it to either kill it, or run it outside. We went in search for one of my guy friends that works in Walmart to see if he was manly enough to take care of this insect, but instead I ran into my sister-in-law Amanda and her son Caleb. Caleb is 5 and I such a boy-boy, I knew he'd be excited to see a creepy bug, so I pulled them into the salon for a little show & tell. I told Amanda we were looking for a 'man' to rid us of this pest and shockingly, she offered to do it for us! I couldn't believe she was so tough...when I was cowering in the corner!!

Amanda climbed the ladder and with a tissue in hand, she reached out for the bug. Of course as soon as she got close, the bug took a big leap and flew into the air. (I didn't know a Praying Mantus could fly...guess we now know how it got into the salon in the first place!) It flew in circles for a bit and then landed on Amanda's shoulder!!!!!! I don't know how she kept her cool, standing on the highest step of the ladder, but she started to lower herself to catch her balance enough to grab the bug off her shoulder, but just then it flew away again. It landed on the ceiling and we just grabbed a broom and lowered it to the floor where Amanda just laid the tissue over it and picked it up off the broom to go flush it down the toilet.

OH MY GOSH what a woman Amanda is!! Once I saw it flying, I screamed and ran away! Ewwww so icky!! I just know if it had landed on my shoulder while I was standing on the ladder, I would have shook it off and fallen backwards and onto my butt!!! No way would I have kept my cool like Amanda did!

I'm so glad she was shopping today and I just happened to notice. Thank you Amanda for being our 'Knight in Shining Armour!' SO glad I didn't have to touch it!!!

#242

There isn't much to post here. I'm super excited for another chapter in my life and today was another big step in the right direction. More details to come.

My newest adventure - #242

#241

Last night/early this morning in Utah, there was a killer lightning/thunderstorm! It started at about 11:00 last night and went until after midnight - which technically means today, right? Ha! It was such a cool storm, I snapped as many pictures as I possibly could. Of course it was dark and getting a picture of a lightning bolt proved to be nearly impossible...especially without a tripod, so I went towards the water instead. Our gutter was clogged which made the water pour over the side of the house in buckets! Literally buckets!!!  I was shocked with how much water came down in just a short amount of time. I'm very happy it was after dark because I'm sure less people were on the roads. I bet it was nasty to drive around in.

I was able to get a few cool shots of the sheet of water coming down off our patio roof. It was fun to chill out there, snapping photos and cringing after every crack & boom of thunder. Awesome summer storm!

Very cool #241 - 'And the rain came down!'

#240's

We had quite the party at my parents house tonight. There are many birthdays in August (and the beginning of September) that we decided to throw a bash for ALL of the guests of honor. My stepmom Nancy's motto is always 'go big or go home' so we actually had 1 cake for each birthday honorees. So I took a picture of each person with their own cake. LOTS of yummy treats for all of us to eat - as well as celebrating with everyone. It always makes for a good party! Plus my dad's parents are in town, my Aunt Sharon & Uncle Bob came. As well as my Aunt Lori and her son Cody came with his wife Kim & kiddos. Its so great to reconnect and laugh. Love my Snow family!!!

#240's - The who's who of the birthday extravaganza!!

My dad - his birthday is on August 31st and he chose an ice cream cake,

pralines & cream ice cream with white cake

My nephew Dallin - his birthday is also on August 31st (the big 10!) and he chose Dunford donuts from Costco. This was my favorite cake of the night!

My bro-in-law Kelly - his birthday was on August 25th and he chose the classic carrot cake

And Kelly's wife, my sister Andee's birthday is on September 5th - she chose my dad's famous Almond Poppyseed cake. (Which is a family favorite...too bad I'm not a fan)

See, so many desserts and people to celebrate! Love you guys and I hope you all had/have a wonderful birthday!

#239

#239 - So cute...not so comfortable.


I thought they were a good idea and they matched my skirt so well!!! My sister Andee let me borrow her red flats, but since I stand up all day and usually stay in one place/position...2 hours into my shift I knew it was a bad idea.

I made it through the night, but my feet are super sore!! Oh the pain we go through to match an outfit! Thanks for letting borrow them Smalls - remind me never to wear them to work again, k?

#238

Its back ya'll!! Doesn't look the same...apparently its new and improved. (Sure, sure..I'll be the judge of that.) It only took them 10+ years to bring it back.

Simply life, simple pleasures, right?

Bringing back a classic #238 - Berry Berry Kix! Kid tested, Mother approved.

#237

We all have vices, am I right? My vice is 'smut' magazines. Now don't get your panties in a bunch, not the real 'smut' magazines that are XXX-rated, but the silly celebrity gossip magazine. They are just as ridiculous and trashy as those other adult magazines but for some reason I'm hooked. My favorites are People & US Weekly. They hit newsstands and magazine racks every Thursday morning and make for great weekend reading when I'm chilling at home, lying in bed at night or enjoying the fresh air outside. I'm not a huge fan of reality TV, EXTRA or E! News, but a little gossip & drama never hurt.

There are plenty of other magazines I could be buying that are along the same lines. Life & Style, Star, In Touch and OK magazines, but I trust People & US Weekly to be more closely accurate to the truth. Why that matters I don't know. US Weekly has a section that is called "Stars are just like us" and it shows pictures of the celebs grocery shopping, feeding their meter, lubing up on sunscreen or shoving their face with french fries. Its an absurd section, because of course stars are like us. They are human after all. Plus they have a section called "25 things you didn't know about me." This section I couldn't care less about. Do I really need to know 25 random things about Joe Jonas?...um no. But the rest of the magazine is pretty cool. Lots of juicy pictures of stars living their normal lives & some feel good stories about average people going out of their way to help their community. I especially love the crossword puzzle in People. Now that is entertainment for me - and I'm really good at it!

So yes I'm a sucker for these ridiculous, smut magazines. Its fun to look at the pictures and read the occasional life changing story. I will forever be a loyal reader of People & US Weekly magazine. . . I should maybe think about getting a subscription. Probably be cheaper...

#236 - The silly VICE I will actually admit too.

#236

Okay I didn't finish the challenge I set for myself yesterday. Life is just too crazy at this moment in time, so I don't know what I was thinking. I have SO MANY things to do and accomplish outside of a full time job, there was just no time for anything tonight....

Except for this...

#236 - It was a rough day and this is just what I needed. Thanks Joe and .... don't judge.

#235's

Tonight's pictures are kind of random. I was wanting to take pictures of 'textures.' Like making the picture look so 'life like' you could actually mistake it for a tangible world that you reach into it and touch. As if the picture was 3-dimensional or you could 'feel' the texture under your fingers from a recollected memory. Does that make sense?? I don't know how to explain very well. I'm practicing the pictures...I've seen some at art shows where the picture is so clear and so life like, its almost as if I could touch the object or feel the actual texture & sensation under your fingertips. I want to get good at that.

This actually going to be a 2 day photo challenge. Joe and I were brainstorming some interesting ideas about textures in real life & actually printed photos with no texture. So look for tomorrows photo - its going to fun playing around.

#235's - Day #1 in my texture photo challenge.

#234

Go Go Go Joseph you know what they say
Hang on now Joseph you'll make it some day
Don't give up Joseph, fight til you drop
We've read the book and you come out on top!

Thats right everyone, I saw Joseph & the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat tonight. It was hysterical and so well done! I had goosebumps the entire first act, just because I love all the songs and the cast members were so fun to watch! Hale Center Theatre did an incredible job. The stage, as always, was so cool - it even had colorful, lit up squares like on a disco dance floor. The costumes were neat and I was really impressed with the entire productions. From lighting, to props, to characters & audience interaction! GO HCT!!!!

Plus not only did I get to share 'Joseph' with my family & Joe, but I also brought along my good friend Joy! Today was her birthday and we gave her, her birthday wish! ;)  Thank you Joy for coming along with my family; your infectious personality is always welcome!!!  Happy birthday my wonderful friend. You know I love ya and I'm super pumped we have now hung out TWICE outside of my salon. Go us! (Now we should get together and watch Thor!!!!....oh and that Ellen stand-up. Let's make this happen!)

#234 - Sha la la la Joseph, you're doing fine! I'll be singing it all week!!!

**This picture was not originally taken 'portrait style.' For some reason blogger is uploading a picture that is clearly saved in landscape from, as a portrait. Sorry for causing the pain in your neck from having to look at this picture.

#233

Okay this picture was actually hard. I had to be very careful and snap at just the right time.

My Fantasy Football league starts their draft in 1 HOUR!! I'm super excited!! The next few months are going to be very exciting! I'm league commissioner this year. Hopefully I'll do a good job.

YAY for Team Anti-Strike. Let's GO!!

#232

Eh it was hard coming up with a picture this evening. I've plumped into a slump as of late and I keep forgetting to snap photos!! Something big or something funny will happen and I remember my camera....AFTER the fact. Its been quite a bummer. I'm hoping to shake this funk and get back into the grove. I mean come on, I only have 133 pictures left. ;)

Tonight I chose to take a picture of Andee & Kelly's dog Rosie. She the neglected one of the household. We have many pets here at The Blackstrom household and other than the fish, I think she gets the least amount of attention. Mainly because my sister has those 1 year old twin girls and Rosie gets overly excited and usually knocks one of them over. Plus Rosie LOVES to play with my dogs and my oldest dog Lucas has turned into quite the grump...so when Rosie wants to play, Lucas just snaps at her. Poor Rosie! She just wants to play!!!!

But she is quite the princess of the backyard and has the whole space to herself. It is her domain. She's been trained well, not only with 'sitting' and doing hand shakes, but she also knows the routine of the morning pretty well. I get up and take my dogs out to the bathroom and Rosie heads into the garage as to not 'distract' my puppies from doing their business. She is perfect at it and does it without being asked!!! She's a cutie.

Rosie is a lovable dog!! She has loads of energy and loves to rough house with my puppy Simon. Plus shes good at cuddling with you and she has the best 'puppy' face ever!! (I think she practices!)

#232 - Rosie Posie. The biggest of all the pets in the house, the smallest attidtude and definitely the biggest push-over!!  Look how cute she is...

#231's

Today has been the day of recovery. Recovering things that were lost/damaged, that needed replacing. My car has been returned to me in 100% perfect condition. Plus I received my new wallet, replacing the one I lost.

I was happy this evening. Sure I had my old wallet in my hand just a few short weeks ago, my car door was in mint condition only month ago. Its so funny how fast things change. But now, I have a new door and it looks better than new. I now have my wallet back, in better shape than the old one. .........................

Wow, I have delayed this posting long enough. I have been here in this 'editing' stage of over an hour. Joe put in the movie Meet Joe Black and my mind has been occupied and captivated. Okay, here goes.

Finally my #231's - The were lost & damaged, but I now have NEW replacements!

#230

Tonight was a wonderful night. We got to have dinner with 2 of my favorite friends, Paul & Lynda Lopez!!! It was a dinner that was much overdue. Unfortunately I only get to see Lynda & Paul when they come into the salon to have their hair done. And of course while they are there, I'm the one cutting their hair, so our visiting time is very limited. We have been talking about getting together for dinner for FOREVER!!! Well tonight it finally happened!!!

We've had it planned for a whole week and we stuck to it! No canceling, switching days or maneuvering schedules. I'm so proud of us!

Thank you LynDiva & Pablo for such a wonderful evening! (In fact its 11:20pm and they are still hanging out with us watching silly videos and laughing hysterically!! Good times!!!)

#230 - Finally dinner with LyLo & PLo

#229

My car is in the shop. Has been since Monday. I don't know if ya'll remember from a previous post, but my grandpa accidentally backed into our front passenger side door when we were down in Southern Utah last month. Luckily he didn't hit it that hard and it only impacted the door, nothing else. My grandpa's insurance company has been awesome and after assessing the damages & getting quotes from auto body shops, they are going to cover it 100% with no issues. They even offered a rental car, but that would just be silly. Why get a free rental car when you could drive around in this?...

My #229 - The beast. Joe's 1987 Chevy. Its huge, loud and very, very bumpy! I had to drive it ALL over town today and I think I have whip lash. You definitely feel EVERY bump...even the smallest ones.

#228

#228 - Empty. Bummer.


Nothing like waiting for something in the mail and alas, nothing. Oh well...there is always tomorrow.

#227's

 I found one!!! My cousin Johnnie had this real neat watch that I couldn't stop admiring while we were down south for our reunion last month. Its made with a 'slap bracelet' which were super popular when I was in grade school. Gosh EVERYONE had a slap bracelet!! I remember they even came with fabric around them and with all sorts of colors! It was in the '80's and early '90's, so they were always florescent/neon colors!! I actually can recall a time I had 4 different ones and I would wear them all at the same time, on the same arm! Haha, it was great!! That's why I was so fascinated with Johnnie's watch because it brought back such wonderful memories. Plus, it was a great way to modernize a classic.

Well Johnnie lives in Arizona and apparently the store she bought this awesomely cool watch doesn't have a location in Utah! I was going to ask my Aunt Amie to find me one and send it up to me...but I thought I'd look online a bit to see if I could just order one. Anyway, while shopping at Walmart with my buddy Elizabeth, I just happened to stumble across a display of SLAP BRACELET WATCHES! Low and behold you can buy them in Utah!! After about 5 minutes of looking at colors, opening boxes & trying them on...(Yeah Elizabeth makes her own rules at Walmart)...we both decided to purchase one. And of course we bought the same color...RED!

#227's - My slap bracelet watch!

 

#226

Like I said yesterday our camping trip was canceled this weekend. I was kinda bummed, but realized since I was only going up for 1 night, it wasn't a total loss. However, we decided to all get together at my moms today for a 'camp' day like we would have had if we were up camping. The guys got up early and went fishing up at Silver Lake, the girls had a casual morning and then we all came together this afternoon for food, food and more food!!!! It was DELICIOUS!!!  Then this evening when my sister Kalie & her family arrived, we ate again!! We visited a bunch, just laughing and giggling. My nephew & nieces made a complete mess of the inside & backyard. Toys were everywhere!!  Then I put together a craft for anyone who wanted to participate. I bought a Tye-Dye kit. I brought a whole bunch of plain white t-shirts & 'wife beater' tank tops. (I figured these shirts would end up as camping shirts or pajama shirts, so I just got random sizes) Since there was already a mess everywhere, the tye-dye project just made it worse. But my mom was such a good host and let us trash her house and have a good time.

Once all the shirts & tanks were drying, we pulled out dessert. Some yummy 'cook over an open fire' treats that would have been perfect up in the mountains camping. Basically today was a great day at camp...only without the camping. Today was crazy hot & humid, so the sun made us tired and lazy, just like camping but luckily we had the escape of the air conditioning in the house!!!

Now here I sit on my mom's porch. The sun is down and the air is FINALLY cool. The fire is dying down, all the dessert has been ate & cleaned up and most everyone has left. I'm just reflecting on the day today and I'm super happy it all turned out so good. It was a casual, come and go kind of evening. No official plans, everyone did what they wanted and participated when they wanted. It really was awesome!! Thanks family!!!!

#226 - My suggested project! It was definitely a trial & error situation and now that I've done it once, I will do it better next time. Very messy and unpredictable!!  And now everyone (but my brother in law Jesse) has a souvenir from our 'camp' day!

#225's

Well we were supposed to go camping this weekend. That fell through. Apparently everyone's schedules were full and it was very stressful for each party to try and get up in the mountains. Oh well, we found some things to do tonight that made it 'okay' to cancel the trip.

Joe and I heard about the Sandy Balloon Festival this weekend. Of course the balloon 'launching' was both yesterday morning & today at like 6:30AM!!! That didn't sound to appealing to us, so we decided not to go. But then last minute, I heard about the 'Balloon Glow' that was going on tonight near Sandy City Hall. Apparently they were supposed to light up the balloons so they 'glow' obviously after the sun goes down. (There was a live band and food as well.)

We decided we'd attempt this event, since it was much more appealing that 6:30AM on a Saturday!! It was pretty exciting when we first got there. It drew quite a crowd..I was impressed. We picked a spot on the grass, put up our chairs and just people watched for about 45 minutes. Then they moved all the trailers in and started unloading the balloons. We were lucky and they started setting up a balloon literally 20 feet in front of us. We got to see each step in the process of blowing that magnificent piece of fabric into the air.  They of course stayed grounded for the 'glowing' part of the event, but unfortunately before all the balloons were fully inflated, Mother Nature decided to shake things up a bit with a huge wind storm!! It came out of nowhere!!! Most of the balloons started swaying in the wind, so they took them down before the huge gusts of wind came in. Good thing too!! One of the balloons got severely melted by the fire torch keeping it up. The wind pushed it to far to the right and when the torch went off, the left side of the balloon was right on top of the flame. YIKES! Luckily, no harm was done other than creating a big hole. The crowd around it was huge, so if it had caught fire, we would have been in serious trouble. Not to mention the fact that the balloon guys didn't tell the crowd that they were lowering the balloon...so as it came down, it literally fell on top of a few dozen people!! Many kids were screaming and parents were scrambling to find their families. It was utter chaos.

Then we had to worry about the cluster of traffic in the parking lot as everyone tried to leave before the rain came. Ugh!! There were people & cars EVERYWHERE!!!! We opted to hang out at Target while the jam calmed down a bit. Even though it was completely crazy, it was awesome to see the giant balloon inflate. I've never been that close to a hot air balloon before. Plus Joe and I had fun running around in the chaos - then playing with my sister & her husband at Target...shopping for the most bizarre things!

Here is the actual photo for the day. My #225 - The heat source!  I was completely captivated by this torch the whole time!!

And here are the pictures...step by step! Like I said earlier, they set this up right in front of us. So all the pictures of the balloon from the side were taken from where we were sitting. I had to move around to the back of the balloon to get all the 'basket/inside' pictures.

 Of course they had to lay out the fabric first, then they started pumping air into it with this heavy duty, high pressure fan. It was LOUD!

 The inside of the balloon was SWEET!

 JOE! (This is where we were sitting)

Unfortunately this balloon by us was a pig and I felt like I was looking at its butt the whole time as it inflated. :( 

I would have LOVED to see the 'glow' at night. By looking at how the torch lightens the insides up, it would have looked awesome after it got dark. Too bad the winds came before that ever happened.

These pictures just show you how crowded it was! People everywhere!!! Touching the balloons, pulling on the pigs legs, getting in the way, not paying attention their kids. UGH it was chaotic to say the least!

ALL BLOWN UP! Cute little piggy bank! 

And here are a few pictures of the other 2 balloons that were fully inflated. All the other balloons didn't get too far before the weather started to get bad. :(

See? Would it have been cool to see them all lit up in the dark??? DANG THE WIND!

Tonight was completely random, fun AND crowded, but we had a great time!! Let's hope we can attend next year and the weather is better!!!

#224

I came home at the right time tonight. Joe had his friend Mark over. They haven't seen in each other in quite a long time, so it was good for them to catch up. When I got home, they were hanging in our backyard around our fire pit, Joe playing his harmonica and Mark was playing guitar. It was like I walked into a blue grass, garage band, practice! It was hysterical. Also, I arrived just as the fire was dying down and it was perfect for marshmallows and S'mores!

My family knows that Joe makes a mean sandwich. I know sandwiches are easy to conquer, but I struggle. Joe however, is the master. Just enough mayo/mustard mix. A stack of lettuce with turkey (and cheese for those who prefer it...I don't.) Anyway, he just makes them good! They always turn out so refreshing. Well on to tonight, I found out that Joe now makes a KILLER roasted marshmallow!! Of course having the right fire is key (apparently) and his 'rotisserie' style was perfection!!! I definitely ate my fair share of 'mallows tonight. Gonna have a sugar hangover in the morning! But it was well worth it.

Here is #224 - The perfect fire for roastin' marshmallows!!! It was a great night, good conversations and amazing treats!!  I miss Mark. Why doesn't he come around more often?? He is HILARIOUS! Aw, I was glad I could be apart of this 'guy night!'

#223

I was super happy, yet super sad tonight. I know the people that don't watch the show, will think me pathetic, but I LOVE ME SOME SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE!!  Tonight was the finale where they announced the winner. Also, the 2hour special re-revealed all the wonderful and most popular dances of the season. They brought back the all-stars and voted off contestants, to perform MANY incredible dances once again. In fact I believe every single one of my favorites from the season were on tonights finale.  Sonya Tayeh is my favorite choreographer on the show and not only did she choreograph the opening number tonight, but 4 of her dances this season made it to the 'popular' dance list on the finale! So yay - I got to see them all again!!

I can't believe there are people who not only DON'T watch the show, but don't like it all together. I just can't fathom that mind set, because in this show, there is a little something for everyone. Real intense dances, slow romantic ones, hard hitting hip hop, fast hip-moving ballroom and my favorite contemporary!! Of course the judges aren't my fave...Mary Murphy drives me bananas, but nothing my DVR can't fast forward! LOL

But it is an incredible show and one of the things I love most about the summer. Thank you FOX for bringing this amazing show into our lives!! Okay, Haters, let's see the comments...

#223 - The top 2 on SYTYCD, Melanie and Sasha (I also had to post this link for those who don't watch the show. Its a good overview of the whole season. CLICK HERE plus it does have a few links/videos of the popular dances)

And Congratulations to Melanie, she was my favorite from the very beginning during the auditions. Both Joe and I loved watching all her dances and solos! GO MELANIE!!!

#222

Today is 222!! (Make a wish!)

Nothing too exciting today. Even on a wonderful day like 222. Oh well just another day on this wonderful challenge of mine.

I posted awhile ago about Joe and I cleaning out or closets and creating a lot of free space. Well I'm not sure what happened to that, but I no longer have wiggle room. Ugh! What's a girl to do when her closet space doesn't expand?? Well I'll tell you what I did. I bought this:


My #222 - The WONDER HANGER!

#221

If you read my post from yesterday, this picture will make more sense. But my picture today is the beginning stages of my 'art project' for my newly made-over bathroom. I had so much fun, I actually went back to the craft store and bought more canvases. I don't know if I will use all of the pieces...my bathroom is kind of small for such a large amount of pictures, but once they are done, I'll put them up and decide which ones I like best.

It was fun playing around with paints and canvas again. Its amazing what I have forgotten since my art days back in high school. But it was fun re-learning and playing around. Now to let them dry and prep the other parts of the projects so I can put them all together.

#221 - PROJECTS!

#220

It wasn't supposed to happen. I didn't plan for it. I didn't even know it was something I was interested in. But it happened!! I decided to give my bathroom a makeover!! Like I said, I didn't even think it needed it, but I found some great towels and came up with a creative idea, so I ran with it.

I only had to go to 4 stores, I did not go over the amount I decided to spend AND Joe loves it! Triple YAY!!! I have an art project I want to put on the wall, I just need to buck up and do it!! I have an idea in my brain, just waiting to sit down and plan it out. Once its done, the bathroom will look more complete. A makeover is so much better than spending all the money to remodel!!!

#220 - LOOK HOW CUTE MY COLORS ARE!! Such silly purchases, especially because it wasn't even necessary!!!

#219

I really wish there was a picture opportunity today that would describe what a LAZY day it has been. Both Joe and I have been overwhelmed with activities and early mornings this past week, so sleeping in today was on our "to-do" list. Even 'waking up' didn't kick our butts into gear. We stayed in our PJ's until 3 o'clock this afternoon!!!

We cleaned our house a bit, watched a lot of recorded shark week, Joe took a 3 hour nap and I shaved my legs. That's was the extent of our afternoon. We did finally have to get ready for a dinner we had with my family at 5pm, so doing ABSOLUTELY nothing wasn't possible...but close.

My youngest sister Jessica has a birthday this week (Aug 11th) so the family got together tonight in celebration. Happy Birthday Jessica!! She'll be 20 - no longer a teenager! Oh Jess...its all downhill from there! LOL.  We had a great dinner & visit with the family, then came home to cleaning a bit more, setting up our Fantasy Football league, Joe playing his computer game and me talking on the phone with my sister Kalie for an hour! What a wonderful Sunday this turned out to be!!!!

#218 - The BIG event for today. Happy 20th Birthday Jessica!! We love you!!

#218

Oh my gosh everyone. It finally happened. I forgot to blog!!! After 217 consecutive days of hard work and perseverance, I FORGOT!!!

I'm literally in shock right now because I've been so dedicated, its weird to just forget a day.  This feeling is completely foreign to me. Now its 10am the NEXT DAY and I finally remembered. At least I did take a picture yesterday. Come on, I didn't COMPLETELY forget! I'm just glad no one has called me out on it. I don't know if anyone even noticed, but they sure didn't say anything to me. Phew! Hopefully I'll sneak yesterdays photo in this morning and then still blog todays photo tonight and it'll go unscathed.

Back to yesterday - it was a day full of fun! I had to work in the morning, but snuck out a little early so Joe and I could join his company in their Lagoon Day! (For those not familiar, Lagoon is an amusement park, similar to Six Flags, Disneyland, Busch Gardens etc.) Its smaller of course and a little run down. (This year they are celebrating their 125 years in business!!) But its a good time. Many carnival games, thrill seeking rides, food everywhere! And they have a water park. Their slogan literally states "Its what fun is!" And its true!! I only go once a year on this company paid visit - its far to expensive for my taste - but once a year seems about right anyway. Sure the rides are fun, but there is a lot of walking, hot/humid air from all the trees and water rides, plus the water park being so close, its usually super crowded and again you spend way too much money.  However since yesterday was on the companies dime and so was lunch, we really didn't pay for anything. Hence my photo for today. Joe loves the carnival games, but I'm never cool with wasting our money on silly 'rigged' games. But we had money to spend yesterday and there were a few prizes Joe desperately wanted to play for!

We both played the hammer game called Strong Man, where you swing a very heavy sledge hammer looking thing, onto this small scale and it measures how hard you hit it. I believe the highest possible is a 150, which Joe got and won me a little stuffed puppy. I tried it and got a 96...I thought I was tougher than that! But I did win a blow up hammer that squeaks! :)  Joe played many other games, but there was one game he kept going back to. He wanted to win a giant stuffed Smurf!  Why I have no idea, but they were giving them away as prizes at the Whiffle Ball Toss. This one took some skill. There was a table with 600 holes (Joe calculated and that was his estimate) Some of the holes were different colors and if your ball landed on a colored one, you got a prize. However out of 600, there was only maybe 20 colored holes. The middle hole was red and the only red on the table, which gave the BIG smurf away as a prize. Well after 2 different times of playing this game, Joe finally won a smurf. It was his last ball and it rolled directly to the red circle. The game host yelled WINNER! our group cheered in disbelief and Joe was a happy guy!! (It just sucked carrying this around for an hour or so!)

My #218 - A Smurfette just for me! My man won me a carnival prize. Every girls dream, right?

#217

My hair is naturally curly. Has been all my life. When I was younger my mom had me get perms every so often to keep the curl nice and even...and  to make it easier to do every morning. I actually don't remember a time in my life before I was 18 where I didn't have a perm. Once I was old enough to make my own decisions, I never had a perm again. Then beauty school came into my life I realized the intensity of the chemicals in perms and vowed never to get one again in my lifetime. Well...that vow was broken today. Yes, I got a perm.

I've been wearing my hair curly a lot lately and have gotten so many compliments on it. But unfortunately the curly hair people see is a lot of hard work. My natural curl is more of a loose wave, so I've had to curl (with a flat iron) the top half of my hair. Some days it looks super fancy, some days it looks tousled, some days it looks like poop. It has become an major aggravation each morning. But curly is always my go-to hair style because now that my hair is longer, it is really FLAT when I style it straight. There is no body/volume whatsoever. Hence the reasoning of my recent perm.

I had talked to my stylists about it for over a month and their suggestions were all over the place. Finally today, one of them buckled and permed if for me. (Plus I colored her hair in exchange! She's one RED HOT BABE now!!) Anyway, of course after getting a perm, your hair shrinks up BIG time and is super tight & kinky for a bit. It will take a few weeks for it to relax, so I can achieve the look I was originally going for. Basically right now (and for the next week) I look like I've stuck my finger in a light socket!  Major frizz and poof everywhere!!! But nothing A LOT of gel won't fix.

#217 - Two is better than one, right?  Once I got home and got my hair wet to style, Joe and I noticed our curl is almost the exact same now. If this picture was in black and white, you probably wouldn't be able to tell our heads apart. YAY FOR CURLS!  Now we can both fight over the LA Looks Gel!!

#216

Tonight was another movie night!! Joe got his crew together for 'Captain America.' I was actually able to attend this evening with the crew. I usually never get to go because of work...or they choose to see a movie I don't want to see. But yay I got to go tonight! And yay the movie was AWESOME!! I actually liked it better than the HP 7.2 yesterday. I wanna go see it again FOR SURE!

Thanks Joe for picking a great movie on a night I was free!! And thanks to Geoff, Cory, Jessica, Dad, Nancy, Jarron, Tyson & Dallin for sharing it with me too!! My favorite parts were sitting in between Geoff and Cory and all the little conversations we had like, 'Who is that guy? What movie was he in?' 'Is that shiny blue light the same in Iron Man?' 'Was that Hitler?' 'HUGO WEAVING!! Heck yes!' or 'Man, that is the best CGI I've ever seen.'  LOL I'm pretty sure Cory and Geoff will choose to sit far from me next time. I was just SO EXCITED!!

#216 - CAPTAIN AMERICA WAS AWESOME YA'LL!!

#215

I finally saw Harry Potter 7.2!!  It was great to finally complete the story and the series. Although there were parts I didn't like, there were MANY that gave me goose bumps, made my heart jump and made me cry. It was a very intense story line, but dragged on in many areas. But overall I was completely satisfied.

It is kind of sad that the movies are over. However watching the last movie, sure makes me want to pick up the books. I read a few of the earlier ones, but didn't get past (or through) #5 The Order of the Phoenix.  I might have to borrow them from somebody, because I'm more than sure the books are better. Now I'll just need to find the time to read. LOL

My #215 - The end of an era. Thank you Harry Potter. (PS I was pumped I saw a "Breaking Dawn" preview!! Can I get a hells yeah?)

#214

I had THEE best evening! My good friend Chandra was in town and came over to see our house. After a short tour of  'the Blackstrom' household, we sat on my couch and visited for over 3 hours. (In fact it is almost 1am and we're still visiting!!!)  It was great to just 'girl talk.' Chandra's kids were in bed back at her mom's house and Joe was involved in video games, so we just had time to ourselves. We sat and relived memories, talked about old friends, old jobs and all the good times we've had. It seems like it was a lifetime ago. Chandra and I met in the fall of 2000 and instantly became good friends. We lived together in my first apartment from October 2001 to May 2002. So many things happened in those short 6 months. Late nights, fun outings, dating different guys and hanging with each others families. We were inseparable.

While we were walking down memory lane, I decided to pull out my 'box of memories' from that time. We spent an hour going through old cards, letters, pictures and trinkets. I can't believe that part of my life was 10 years ago! Chandra was my BEST friend and knew everything about me. Its awesome how, even though all this time has past, she still seems to know me better than anyone.

I miss you Dee!! I wish you lived closer so we could continue those great times. Man, we had fun, didn't we? Sun River, Chevron, our Polaroid cameras, the many trips to Enterprise, the photo booth at Kmart and ALL the notes we left for each other. l'm glad I kept my box of treasures AND the dates of every event! (Even buying Tim McGraw tickets at 7:52am and documenting it on the Macaroni Grill's tablecloth!) Thank you for staying my friend after all these years. For being there for me, even when I was being a stupid friend. I know people teased us about being 'too close,' but that short moment in time, was the best and I wouldn't have changed a thing despite all of the criticism. We were just kids...its crazy to see how much we've grown and how different we have become. I love you Dee and I know we'll be friends forever. THANK YOU for hanging out with me tonight!! Drive safe tomorrow. (Oh and thank you for bringing the sunglasses over. Its amazing you still have them!)

My box of treasures. #214 - 'Ri & Dee'  This shoebox is literally full of a great friendship and we spent over an hour laughing at ourselves and the silly things we thought were funny! Remember Chandra, keep America clean; recycle!

#213

We have a little escape artist in our house. My sisters kitty, conveniently named Kittie, has been sneaking in and out of the house lately. We're not sure how she is getting out or when, but she finds a way. Kittie went missing the day my sister & her family left for the Snow reunion last week. They were about to leave town for a week and right as they loaded up the car, they noticed she wasn't in the house. What a way to start a vacation! Luckily, my mom was watching over the house while we were both out of town, so she said she would look out for Kittie and make sure she gets home. (The second day into their trip, my mom saw signs of Kittie in the house so Andee was reassured everything was fine.) Now here it is a week later and she went missing again. Andee & Kelly noticed she was gone yesterday morning, I believe, and by evening time Andee started getting worried. She has been spayed already, so Kittie being promiscuous was out of the question. But then Andee heard that cats usually find a hiding place (to either have their babies, which isn't her situation) or they go there to die. I don't know how true the statement is, but it had Andee in a frenzy. She tore her upstairs apart than headed downstairs to our place to start looking. We searched everywhere, but ended up calming Andee's fears and told her Kittie would turn up.

Oh my gosh, did she ever! Since Joe and I are in the basement, our windows are in window wells. I crave natural light whenever I can get it, so we keep our bedroom window blinds up all the time. This morning I got out of bed and headed to the shower as normal. Once I was finished getting ready, I came back into my room to grab my phone off my nightstand. I had a few emails to look through, so I sat down on my bed for a bit. For some reason, I looked up to my window and saw this. #213 - Two eyes, staring me down.

It scared me to death!!! But then I realized it was Kittie!!!!  Sorry the picture is awful! After I calmed down from the shock of seeing Kittie staring at me, I called Andee. Unfortunately she wasn't awake yet, so I hurried and took this picture and sent her an MMS. I felt so bad for Kittie, it was raining quite a bit at the time this picture was taken. Luckily there is this vine of leaves that surrounds the side of the dog-run that is above this window well and falls down. There was enough for her to crawl underneath and keep dry. She probably wasn't too warm though.  After I left the house this morning, I called Andee and she said Kelly went to grab her and as soon as she was out of the well, she RAN into the house. AWE! Kittie is now safe and sound. Warm, a fully belly and calm. YAY! Now, lets hope next week she doesn't escape again.