Just because!

Just a few random pictures of my trip home. I'll be back in Finland Wednesday of next week. More pictures will follow I promise. Especially ones of my new haircut.


My best friend and I, J.


My Dad's cat, Jolie, as in Angelina!


Dad and I! He was a bit tired!


Grandma and I before my cookout!


My beautiful best friend and my gorgeous nephew!
I spent Memorial Day weekend with her.

Tagged!

I just realized that I was tagged for memes(courtesy of ElleBee). I know that you are supposed to tag other people, but I am leaving it open for anyone to borrow this survey if they'd like and do it. I just never know who to tag, but love doing them!

Favorite person (outside family)?
Jessica. She has been my best friend for years, and although we're living apart right now I always have her to share daily happenings with. I love her like she were my real sister!

Favorite food? I love food. Though if I had to narrow down my list of favorite foods, I think I would stick with broccoli, squash, collards, okra, pepperoni pizza, french fries, popcorn, and chocolate! What an odd combination, huh?

Quirks about you? I suppose that I have to have chapstick with me at all time, and I constantly use hand sanitizer. I have an addiction to chapstick! I should probably join some sort of support group! The hand sanitizer comes from probably being a teacher. You never know where anyones hands have been save your own!

How would the person who loves you most describe you in ten words or less? Absolutely perfect!

Any regrets in life? Not keeping in touch with friends from my childhood. Especially those who were with me all through elementary, middle, and high school. I often think of people I'd like to catch up with, but never do it.

Favorite Charity/Cause? Any Cancer fundraising charity.

Favorite Blog recently? I enjoy reading Grosgrain's Garage and of course I read English Tea whenever I am able to be online.

Something you can’t get enough of? Chapstick??

Worst job you’ve ever had? Working at the grocery store here in the town I am from towards the end of my Senior year in high school. I just hated it. No one would ever help me out when I had a question. So rather than do my job poorly I resigned.

What job would you pay NOT to have? Honestly? I really don't have any idea. Though I am sure if I were to think long enough I could come up with one.

If you could be a fly on the wall, where would you be? Anywhere near John Barrowman or Christopher Eccleston. C.E. is my favorite actor and celebrity crush.

Favorite Bible verse right now? "My beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that you labor is not in vain in the Lord." 1 Corinthians 15:58

Guilty Pleasure? Cheesecake! :-)

Got any confessions? Nope. I plead the fifth.

If you HAD to spend $1,000 on YOURSELF, how would you spend it? I would love to go on a shopping spree at Victoria's Secret and Ann Taylor Loft!

Favorite thing about your house? My huge picture window. I love having a house with lots of light.

Least favorite thing about your house? My kitchen could be bigger. I really love to cook, but I feel like I have no elbow room!

One thing you are bad at? Not being able to tell people no. I am not getting any better at it either.

One thing you’re good at? Cooking! I love to cook.

If you could change something about your circumstances, what? I'd move my husband and I into a 3 bedroom house, be able to speak the Finnish Language, teach school in Finland, and start having kiddies!

Who would you like to meet someday? Christopher Eccleston?

Who is your real life hero? Bradley Alford. He was my accompanist when I was at the Unniversity. He battled with leukemia once and it went into remission. He had a second go around with it and wasn't as fortunate. Sadly, he passed away two days after Christmas the semester before he would have graduated. He was the sweetest person you would ever have met. He always had a smile and a hello for you. He also would share his oreo's with me from his "sweets stash" whenever I would visit his and Carlos's room (my duet partner for 3 years) for theory help. I miss him greatly, but know that he is in a much better place.

What is the hardest part of your job? Laundry, dishes, vacuuming, mopping, cooking, waking up in the moring??? Right now I am a stay at home wife. I have ennormous amounts of respect for women who choose to stay at home. It is a 24/7 job and I don't even have children yet! I almost find teaching easier!

When are you most relaxed? I've been told that I don't know how to relax.

What stresses you out? I can be a control freak at times, so when things are out of my hands I just don't know how to handle myself!

What can you not live without? My husband, family, friends, and music.

Do you agree or disagree with the recent article that reported that blogs are authored by narcissists? To a degree, sure, but who cares! :-)

Why do you blog? I love to read other people's blogs. I only feel that it is fair to share and share alike. I also love putting bits and pieces of myself out there for those who care to take a look.

Okay - rules:
1. Answer ALL the questions
2. Link back to whoever tagged you
3. Tag eight bloggers to do the same, 2 from each category.New/ newer bloggers (since we want to share the love and send them traffic)Bloggy friendsBloggers you’d like to get to know betterBloggers you don’t think will respond, but you hope willHave fun!

Hello? Is anybody out there?

Now don't get me wrong, I love my friends to bits, but where are they? Before I arrived I had a bazillion people wanting me to get in touch with them so that we could hang out while I am at home. Now that I am here and putting the word out (and my phone #), no one is responding. I forgot my address book with all of my phone numbers in it so I can't call anyone, I feel so scatterbrained. Well, I say no one, but Chloe did invite me to Fayetteville and to spend time with her and Joe in VA. I didn't have anyone to take me to Fayetteville and couldn't get there myself as I had not had time to renew my license at that point, and I don't have money to be driving to and from VA. Sad to say I won't be getting to meet little miss Emma. I am terribly sad about that. I will however being seeing my friend Jessica and stay with her for a few days. It takes nearly an hour to get to her house, and the car I am using guzzles gas (gas is cheaper here, I'm just not that rich!)!! I am just excited about seeing someone! Anyway, I hate to complain, I just needed to get that out of my system. I know I have 2 weeks left to see people while I am here, but I have been here 2 weeks already. Time is slipping by so quickly. Hmm...no more complaining from me...deep breath...I'm ok! :-)

Hanging out at home

So here I am back in NC and all I have done is go between houses. I spend one day in at Dad and Grandma's in Ellerbe, then the next I am down in R'ham at Mom and Grandma's house. If I don't spend about equal time with the two I will never hear the end of it. I haven't even managed to see any of my lovely friends yet. That will be changing within the next week though. Whew! I need a break from the family. LOL! It has been nice getting to see aunts, uncles, grandparents, and my parents though. It will be a while before I get back here, so I am taking advantage of this time while I can. On another note, I can't believe that it cost so much for me to get my driver's license renewed. They expired last September while I was in FI, and so I went the other day and renewed them. It cost $32!! Granted, it had been 7 years since I got my first one, but I didn't realize that it would be over $30. I'm glad I took a $50 with me! Anywho...I do have some pictures of my trip home, and I will get them up reasonably soon. I promise! Cheers!

So-long Helsinki, Hello NC!

I'm packed and ready to head to the airport. I just have 11 short hours to wait! I have to wake up at 4a.m. (not too happy about that part) and be at the airport by 5:25a.m. for my flight that leaves at 7:25a.m. I just got off of the phone with my dad confirming what time he has to be at the airport to pick me up. I didn't realize reading an itinerary was so confusing. We've been over it 3 or 4 times now. That doesn't matter though, I just can't wait to see all of my family and friends! I haven't really been this excited about anything in a while. The only complaint I have is that I can't take my husband with me. I'm sure that this month is going to fly by though, and I'll be wishing for more family time. So I won't be away from him for too long! And I am going to take tons of pictures. I am going to be staying with my best friend for a few days, and steal her baby when she isn't looking. Well, maybe not steal, but I am going to play Auntie Stacy as much as I can. Sigh, so little time and so many people to see! :-)