Happy Birthday to ME!

Best "tissue paper" ever. Thanks M&M!

I love my birthday, and today is no exception. My dear hubby bought me the greatest little point & shoot camera ever! So exciting! Thanks to everyone for the birthday wishes!

Lincoln

Still going through the photos but thought i should share a few!

1 day 'til I'm 27!

10 Days...

If you remember, last year I counted down to my big day starting from July 2nd. Do you remember? It seems somewhat inappropriate this year... and yet, I think, somewhat appropriate.

When I see someone dear to me struggling to hold on, I feel a strong desire to celebrate each day and to live each day as though it could be my last... And yet I don't feel like actually celebrating.

Fortunately, Paul and I are headed to my hometown this weekend, so the decision is made for me, and I won't have time to countdown for the next four days, so today will be it... 10 days until my 27th birthday!

But since you're already here reading this, I implore you to live each day to the fullest and celebrate & appreciate each and every day that you are given. It's important. I promise.

A brief thank you...

When i was a little girl, i was outgoing and boisterous and sensitive... oh, so sensitive. All my parents needed to do was to say my name with a shrill tone, and I would be bawling. When the little ant died in "Honey I Shrunk the Kids," it was as if my lifelong pet passed on. When Harry was sent away in "Harry and the Hendersons," it was as if my mom was giving my own sister away. When I once got so angry with my sister that I threw a piece of very stale licorice at her (only I missed -probably on purpose- and hit a wall instead), I felt guilty and awful about it for years.

Stories such as these are plentiful in my history...

and not just from when I was a child or teenager.

As I grew into a pre-teen and then teenager, I was awkward... painfully awkward. Rather than manage through those years gracefully, I chose to embrace my awkward qualities and enhance or highlight them. I grew to be more outspoken and opinionated even if many times those two qualities got me into trouble... which is when my sensitivity emerged, and it never failed to do so.

During those oh-so-formative years, I wore boy clothes that were 87x too big and studded jewelry (too tough for words), listened to punk rock and still put myself and my elaborate opinions out there... Sometimes this went over well, and other times, it did not.

When I would head back to see my family for the summer, my style & attitude didn't go over so well. My family didn't seem to like my affinity for ill-fitting clothing, metal adornments and rebellious tunes. We would get into discussions turned arguments about my 'style.' They would make cracks... Always, always, always it would end with me crying and walking away because while I'm tough on the outside, I'm ridiculously sensitive everywhere that counts. I can only handle so much of anything (good or bad), and then I start crying.

In all my life, there was one family member who I could always count on to turn the other cheek, to be the bigger person, to be the grown up. Aunt Brenda. She always left her judgements at the door (if she even had them, which I highly doubt); she always made me feel normal while others wanted to prove my weirdness, as if to exorcise it out of me. She embraced me as the underdog and always challenged me to rise above and not let it get to me... even if that wasn't possible. She is quite possibly the nicest and most accepting person that I will ever know.

She will never sit down until all in a 5 mile vicinity are fed. She will not rest until all dishes in the house are clean - even if it's not her home, even if she did not eat, even if the party is celebrating her. She will never ask for something to be done for which she could do herself... though she will tirelessly do for others that which they can do themselves.

I have a good family, and I am not discounting that nor am I ignoring my great fortune in life. Those years, those arguments, those moments all helped shape me into who I am... I am still tough and outspoken and opinionated... probably more so. I still know that those attributes aren't always appreciated. I am still overly sensitive which can make those attributes sometimes hard to bear... and I will still cry when Harry is sent away or when the ant is killed... and I will always feel terribly for hurting someone's feelings.

Aunt Brenda helped shape me into who I am. I hope to comfort people the way she always has. I try to be as selfless and kind and giving... even if more often, I fail. I aim to be as accepting and kind to others as my Aunt Brenda has always been.

Aunt Brenda, I am thinking of you.

p.s. For those family members who are feeling left out, I assure you that you have meant more to me than you can know...

When it rains, the game gets delayed!

Oh, to be living in New York... For the last 6 weeks, living in NYC hasn't seemed all that glamorous. The skies are perpetually grey and rainy, and to be quite frank, I'm over it. Some people claim to enjoy rainy days, but I think all of those people are nuts (and must live in Phoenix). Cloudy skies and rain make each day seem drab and gloomy. Plus, I hate soggy feet, and since I only have snow boots, it's just too warm to wear them in the summer rain.

That said, it's finally warm here. FINALLY. Seriously, we had more 50 and 60 degree weather this spring than one can take. I'm ready for the beach, weather gods, so let's stay consistent with the 70 - 85 degree weather now and finally let the sun shine.

Anyway, last night was the first time in the last 6 weeks that I have actually enjoyed the rain. We decided spontaneously to go to a Mets game. We had nosebleed seats, just 2nd row from the top, but there were 7 of us, and you can't really expect to get 7 seats together close and cheap at the last minute. Well, I thought it was going to rain, and a couple of the peeps said, "No, it's not going to rain." The second we stepped out of the subway station, it started sprinkling. Still, I heard, "This isn't rain. It won't really rain." Pretty early on, it was pouring so much that the game was delayed... but we didn't care b/c we had our seats were covered! Sometimes it pays to have nosebleeds! It was awesome; I had never experienced a rain delay (AZ doesn't see a lot of rain), so I was able to experience the delay while staying dry.

To top it off, for once, I was RIGHT. That's right; no one believed that it would rain... but the writing's been on the wall for 6 weeks, and I just wasn't buying the 'partly cloudy' skies. I knew that the day would come, and it feels good to be right for once. Granted, Paul didn't really commit to a side, so he's still always right, but I get this one. Yeah!

Oh, and the Mets lost big time. C'est la vie.

Why I love Taylor Swift...

More CMT Shows More CMT Videos

Do you know who Taylor Swift is? She's this young, adorable country singer / crossover artist who just happens to be hilarious in a dorky kind of way. This video is proof of that...

You can find me baking cookies at night!

(I fixed the video... sadly, you'll have to watch an ad before it, though!)

Truth be told...

There are very few upsides to traveling for business, but seeing the Dubs in Chicago is mosdef at the top of the list. I get to see this little face in less than a month... if only Mr. T (the other moustached bebe from the infamous paris post) could join us!

Anyway, onto the truth that needs to be told... I'm lazy, like really lazy. As in, laziness is probably my biggest flaw (though I have very few, obviously). Paul and I take hundreds and hundreds of photos that never see the light of day. We shoot 'Raw,' which means that the camera doesn't process the photos at all (even though it's digital) - no white balancing, no color correcting, no whatever else shooting JPGs does for photos.* This means that we have to go in and manually process our photos, but processing takes time and effort and energy... and as previously mentioned, I am VERY, VERY, VERY lazy.

To prove my case, I will provide some hard evidence.. These photos of the Dubs were taken last Labor Day weekend. That's almost one whole year. Sheesh! There are still a good 300 photos from that weekend that were never processed... and most of them never will be; it's a sad reality, but it's true. Same with my mom's visit - how many photos did you actually see? 20 or 30 out of 200? And Paris... don't even get me started on the 860+ photos that may never be touched.

I blame digital cameras... No, really, I do.** Thanks to digital cameras, Paul and I are photo-taking-happy. Just push the little button then load it onto the computer. We should shoot only in film... then we would be far more choosey with our photo snapping than we are now... then I would feel far less guilty about picking and choosing which photos to process... or we could just shoot JPGs, but Paul has a real aversion to this, and I can certainly understand. Oh, the difficulties of trying to do the right thing!

On a happy note, I do get to see little E in just a few short weeks... Huzzah!

*For a brief explanation about Raw files, go here.

**My second biggest flaw is not taking accountability for my flaws. Ha. Just kidding.

p.s. If you're wondering why I have suddenly started capitalizing correctly, it's because Paul said that he's better with punctuation than I am. I respectfully disagreed with him, even though he is better with grammar overall. During the punctuation discussion, he reminded me that I never capitalize letters, and even though this is an aesthetic choice for me, I have decided to be more proper... So here goes nothin'!