New car

Well, many of you knew that I haven't been happy with the Mountaineer we got a few months ago. I did end up trading it in over the weekend. My biggest requirements were that it be something small, zippy, with decent gas mileage. Here it is!!

Of course, I am kidding. This little car was at the restaurant next to our office last week, and I couldn't resist. My personal favorite is the license plates. I am sure this is what Ben will have Kori in before the year is over!!

In fact, we got a little Mercury Milan...28 mpg easily. Even Nick commented on how nice it was to drive around yesterday running errands and still have an almost-full tank of gas at the end of the day.

Talk with you all later!

Happy Birthday, Karen!

Happy Birthday, Karen! I hope I make you smile on your birthday (to make up for waking you up this morning with my singing Happy Birthday into your ear at 6 am!) with this little quote.

This was sent to me by my friend Jennifer, who admitted yesterday over email that she is a blogstalker as well!

DAILY THOUGHT: SOME PEOPLE ARE LIKE SLINKIES - NOT REALLY GOOD FOR ANYTHING, BUT THEY BRING A SMILE TO YOUR FACE WHEN PUSHED DOWN THE STAIRS.

Have a Happy Friday...and a Happy Birthday, Karen!

Dedicated to my Blogstalker!!

So, I have to dedicate this post to my admitted Blogstalker - AMY!!! I love it when people leave comments and I was so excited to see your comment...and your admittance that you're a blogstalker!! Also, thank you to Allison for leaving a comment!!

This is a picture of me in Vegas. There's a bit of a story about this photo. The photographer that I referenced two posts ago, "Becker," was selling these t-shirts in honor of his blog. I wanted to have my picture taken with it. So, I opened my bag and pulled out Nick's Kodak Easy Share camera and handed it to Cydil. Right when she went to take the picture, Becker started walking up to the booth. Before he could see me with a camera that would be considered a mo-ped at a Ferrari car show, Cydil handed back the camera, and we got out of there fast. So, we had to go back later to get the picture. We laughed about that all day long!

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Update on the exercising: Here was my thought process last Thursday - my first day of getting up at 4:30 am to exercise: "Why do I have to exercise to lose weight? This cannot be my fault. This has to be my parents' fault. Yes, that's right - this is ALL their fault. It's their genetics that have made me this way. Or perhaps it's ADM's fault - darn their high fructose corn syrup!! Yes, it cannot be my fault. To console myself, perhaps I'll go to Dairy Queen for lunch...yes, that will make me feel better about how these people have wronged me." :)

The first day was rough! I was tired, but yesterday's workout was much better. I adjusted, and now this morning I was awake at 5:20 without my alarm clock. Perhaps this will be the beginning of something great! But, more than likely I will quit this insanity after the six weeks is up!

Love you all! Kelly

One Year Anniversary

Today is the one-year anniversary of living in our house! Why is that such a big deal? Because it's the first time in many years that we're not planning a move of some kind. Let's recount the moves over the last several years, shall we?

Rock Island, IL, house - February 2000-January 2001
Normal, IL, townhouse - January 2001 to May, 2003
Grandma's house (while my house was being built) - May-Sep. 2003
Bloomington, IL, house - September 2003-April-2004
Bettendorf, IA, condo - April 2004-May 2005
Tuscola, IL, house - May 2005-May 2006
Shelbyville, IL, house - May 2006-April 2007
Windsor, IL, house - April 7th, 2007-present

While Nick teases me about having to move my stuff for the last three moves, I do think he kind of misses the painting and remodeling we end up doing at each home. The last two weeks he's been restoring parts of the barn and milkhouse. I think it's a sign he misses my remodeling projects he gets suckered into!!

My One Second of Fame

Well, the post that I originally planned for tonight will have to wait until later. The photo I need is on Nick's camera...at the shop.

So, I thought I would show you guys this instead. There is a photographer named "Becker." Like Cher or Madonna, in the photography industry he is known by one name. He lives in the LA/Orange County area and is famous for his wedding photography...I'm talking charging $15-25,0000 per wedding. Very high end. Along with being a well-known photographer, he is also very generous in teaching his knowledge to new photographers. If you've ever noticed, his blog is one of the links on my blog....right now, look over to the right...yep, that's his site under "Blogs I Stalk."

In the last few months he has started videoing 2-minute tips on cameras and photography. I download and watch all of them. While in Vegas, he offered to take free headshots of anyone that showed up in a certain spot at a certain time. He was testing out Nikon's new camera. Well, Cydil, Jan, and I all showed up, and here is a very quick video of everyone's free headshots. He also gave us the files; so, I'll show those in a few days.

Here's a link to the video of everyone's headshots. You have about 1 second to see my three headshots...so, pay attention! Click here.

An April's Fool

It's April 1st, and I'm renewing my committment to eating better and exercising (although I'm having frozen pizza tonight for supper). Last week, myself and two of the ladies in my office decided to, once again, hire the trainer at our local gym to work out with us. As a group, it's very reasonable....12 sessions for $75...so, please don't think that I'm a snob even though it sounds snobby that we've 'hired a trainer.' We figured in the past we've all spent $75 on less important things than our health. So, tonight was our first session.

The trainer, Dennis, was talking about his schedule. I talked about how I hate getting home so late (I have a 40-minute drive after I leave the gym at 6:00) and somehow we made the decision to work out in the morning. So, FOOL that I am, for the next six weeks I will be leaving the house at 5:00 am to meet them to work out. I'll then shower at my colleague's house. First session is this Thursday. I AM A FOOL.

On a side note, here's a picture of a barn just north of our house that I love. :)