My study made the news!!

And by "My" I mean me and seven other people. :) Here's the link to an article about it in USA Today. I won't bore you with the actual paper because even I haven't read the whole thing. I tried, really I did.

Pink

I am obsessed with the color pink right now. That’s not to say that I haven’t always liked and appreciated the color, but I’ve never been one to go out of my way to buy something pink. I don’t want to appear too girlie, ya know?

Now all of that has changed and I don’t know why. I decided recently that I needed a new Nalgene so I went to REI just to pick out some blue-tinted Nalgene bottle but was so blown away by the beauty of this Camelback bottle (in pink of course) that I had to buy it.

I also recenlty changed our Intranets site at work to "Black Cherry." Now instead of a blue and grey scheme, we have sort of a redish-pink, grey/black thing going on. Whenever you scroll over a link it turns pink and this makes me happy. This is what happens when my boss gives me administrative rights to some site or database. I like to change the settings. :) He did get a couple of calls from some peeps at the Fed wondering what had happened, and although I told him I was the culprit, he just told the concerned parties that Intranets must automatically update their settings from time to time. They should just be happy that I did not choose the "Cotten Candy" color scheme.

And then there’s the camera. My camera has been acting up lately so I decided I needed to get a new one. I took one look at a pink Canon camera online and knew I had to have it. But, I went to Target last weekend and they were having a sale on this pink Sony camera, so I bought that one instead. I loved my Canon and it took some lovely pics, but since it did basically die, I decided maybe I should switch things up a bit. So far I’ve taken only a few pics with the Sony and this is what I have to show for it:

Do you think I like these shoes? Don’t worry – I also have them in brown which means I really have 4 pairs. I wear down the heals of shoes so badly that when I find some shoes that I like, I buy multiple pairs of them. Yes I’m crazy, but my shoe trouble is another post for another time. So back to pink.

I had a random camera flashback (haha) last night and remembered that my first camera was pink. I guess my parents started something when they bought me this pink camera back in the day. I found a picture of if online. Check out the “Le Clic” - the hottest camera of 1988.

Oh my gosh, I loved this camera!! I remember I took a lot of pictures of my Legos with this camera. I always knew how to entertain myself. Good times.

Now back to the 21st century. There is one pink item that has been in my life for many, many years and has traveled the world with me and has never let me down. I found it on a sale rack at the Gap on Wilson Blvd (now closed, sadness) for only $9.99. For those of you who see me on a regular basis, you probably know that I am talking about my wonderful pink hooded sweatshirt (dib, dib, dib). I wear it allllll the time! If I ever lose it or spill bleach on it or do something to harm it beyond repair, I will cry and cry and cry and then cry some more. My wardrobe would not be the same without it. So I’d like to give a little shout out on the blog to my favorite item that hangs in my closet (except not so much because I wear it all the time):

You’ve climbed the ceiling with me at our hotel in France:
You’ve participated in wedding rehearsals with me:
You look lovely when paired with a white bow in the hair:
You like to visit state capitals with Liz and I: (who knows what capitol building this is??)
You helped me say goodbye to my little red car:
You still fit when I was looking a little bit chubby on a visit to Switzerland in 2004:
You walked on the moon with me (Craters of the Moon in Idaho, that is):
You served as my pink for the Apple Blossom festival a couple of years ago:
And you like me better with long hair. I do too. Don’t know why I always cut it.
To continue in my quest to fill my life with all things pink, I think my next move will be to buy some booty shorts that say “PINK” on the bum, and pair them with my white sequined tube top and swing by the Drafthouse to watch House Bunny. Anyone want to come with?? :)

Dawn says it is time to update the blog.

And she is right. I've had lots of posts running through my head but I'm too busy/lazy to update the blog. I almost wrote a post about all the old people on Facebook because it makes me happy and at the same time freaks me out. I've been chatting lately with my 6th grade teacher, Mrs. Laster, who is just about the coolest person ever, and at 73, may be the oldest person on Facebook. My uncles (two in their 60's and one is his 50's) have been on Facebook for at least a year and just a few days ago I saw that PK has joined. That was just about too much for me to handle, but I guess he wants to keep an eye on his flock. :)

Let's see, I've also been trying to figure out how I can join the Redskins Marching Band. Right now I think that would be the greatest thing ever.

I saw a promo on TV the other day that said that Ellen would be calling Gladys again. I wasn't home to watch it, but I did go back and watch the funniest TV moment ever on Youtube. Please watch this clip. You will not be sorry. "Listen, I'll be honest with you. I love Jesus but I drink a little. "



Besides working until all hours of the night on bank stuff every few weeks, Liz and I decided to take up soap wrapping again. Our house has been a mess and the soap smell is sometimes too much for me to handle, but the check that Jean Ann wrote me on Sunday will go toward my new camera that I hope to buy in the next couple of weeks. I totally want to get the pink one. Going to Michigan with Kandi in a few weeks so hopefully I'll post some pics from my new pink camera!

Tomorrow I'm going to the Baltimore aquarium and hoping that the boyfriend does not break up with me there. Thinking about the aquarium always brings back memories of a trip I took there in the 8th grade where my boyfriend at the time broke up with me in the rain forest. Not cool. I had to watch him talking to other girls throughout the entire ride back to Winchester. I was even looking super cute that day. I remember I was wearing my favorite green-ish plaid shirt from Gap Kids, because I totally wore clothes from Gap Kids and Limited Too well into high school.

And one final bit of randomness: I like this article about Obama's stinky plane. :)

Check the rhyme

This is why I love Beth Moore:


Deeper Still - Joyful 2 from on Vimeo.

If you're in the mood for some fun

Chair Bair's press conference is on in 15 minutes!

It's because we don't want your autograph, Mr. Spitz.

Just saw this headline on the front page of yahoo.com and I had to laugh. I went to a conference one time where Mark Spitz was the keynote speaker and he basically talked about himself and his opinion on the Iraq war the entire time and I sat at my table and gave him the evil eye because he was annoying me. Later in the evening, Mr. Spitz was signing autographs and the friend I was with wanted to get one. So he got in line and I stood off to the side and continued to give Mark Spitz the evil eye. A minute or two goes by and Mr. Spitz looks over at me and says "Don't be shy. Come up here and get an autograph" and I said very bluntly "I don't want your autograph" and then he said "Wait! You're that girl from table 23 who kept giving me the evil eye during my speech!" and I said "Yes, that was me."

Ok - so that last line about the evil eye didn't happen and I may or may not have been sitting at table 23, but if it had gone down that way, that would have been funny. Mark Spitz actually just looked at me like he must not have heard what I said, and I just stayed planted in my spot until my friend got the autograph.

On another note, I've spent the entire day whining to my boss Alan that I'm way too busy and how am I going to get everything done this week and stop sending me emails and bleh, bleh, bleh. Then on my way up to the cafeteria, I run into one of the women quoted in this article on Drudge. I thought it was pretty funny because I'd just read the article earlier that day. We exchange some small talk and then I go on my merry way. Three hours later, the big boss (Alan's boss) comes into my office saying he got a call from said women who this very day was quoted in an article linked on Drudge, and she would like some of my time. Ahh!!! Thankfully big boss was smart enough to say "not this week" but gosh!! Will the busyness ever end???

And yes, I would like some cheese with my whine.

Nostalgia

Before I had this blog, I had another blog over at livejournal.com. A couple of weeks ago I found the old blog and had quite a laugh reading my old posts. I thought I'd share a few (or maybe just one) with you all since most of my current readers did not read the old blog.

This post was written on September 29th, 2005. I was a wee lass of just 26. I think Paige tagged me to do this one. I've added some commentary in red to see how the responses have changed.

Title: Fun things to do while on a conference call:

Three Names You Go By
1. Anne (yep)
2. Annie Beepers (yep)
3. beeps (sometimes)

Three Parts of Your Heritage
1. English (yep)
2. English (yep)
3. More English (yep)

Three Things That Scare You
1. Sushi (eh - kinda)
2. Relationships (Not so much. But marriage? That's another story)
3. Elephants (Of course. Just try to get me to come outside when the elephants go by at Apple Blossom - not gonna happen.)

Three of Your Everyday Essentials
1. Cornflakes (http://members.aol.com/EllenRigbe/flake.html) (oh yes!)
2. Chap stick (now it's Burt's. And I can survive a whole day without it!)
3. Brownie mix (everyday?? well, on average only every 5th day)

Three Things You Are Wearing Right Now
1. Red shirt (green shirt)
2. Dark Grey pants (black pants)
3. watch (no watch, but now earrings)

Three of Your Favorite Bands or Musical Artists (at the moment)
1. Liza Minnelli (now and forever my favorite) (eh - I'm in an off-Liza season right now.)
2. Dave Crowder (hmm...how about Mutemath?)
3. Elton John (digging JET at the moment.)


Three Things You Want in a Relationship (other than Real Love)
1. Humor (one half smart/clever, one half silly) (yep)
2. Bi-weekly watching of musicals (DVDs or live on stage) (I'm doing ok without this actually)
3. Inside jokes (yep)

Two Truths and a Lie (I'm confused because all three of these were true back in 2005. Oh well!)
1. I’m related to George Bush (and about 20 other presidents)
2. I have never eaten at Taco Bell (had my first Taco Bell experience about 6 months ago and I rather enjoyed it!)
3. I have a mad crush on Snoop Dogg (it's probably still there somewhere deep inside.)

Things about the Opposite Sex that Appeal to You (in order)
1. Smile (yep, along with a love for Arrested Development)
2. Jesus like-ness (yep, especially when you add to that a love for Arrested Development)
3. Hottness (always nice, but a person becomes much hotter in my eyes when they love Arrested Development)

Three of Your Favorite Hobbies
1. Tap dancing/fantasizing about tap dancing on Broadway (Pilates - tap teacher moved away)
2. Watching old movies (watching any movies)
3. Going to the Library (taking walks)

Three Things You want to do really badly right now
1. Make out (should the right guy come along.) (I will forever want to do this.)
2. Buy a BMW (Over it.)
3. Go to Ann Taylor loft (I do have a coupon...)

Three Places You Want to Go
1. Greece (yep)
2. Africa (yep)
3. Florida (been there -now maybe the Great Wall of China?)

Three Things You Want to Do Before You Die
1. Have a husband and kids (yep)
2. Visit all 50 states and all 7 continents (I'll do the 50 but not so sure about the continents)
3. tell tons of people how great Jesus is (yep)

Three Ways that you are stereotypically a Chick/Guy
1. I want to have babies (not as sure about the babies but I told my SG a couple of weeks ago that I felt ready to look cool pushing around a stroller.)
2. I like to buy clothes (yep)
3. I say too much before I get to the point (most definitely still true.)

Three people I would like to see take this quiz
1. Paige (except she already did) (Rachel)
2. Dawn (Michael)
3. Alan (Christine)

Well there you have it. It seems like not a lot has changed, but then again, so much has changed!! I'll have to re-post this in 2011 and see what's going on in my life when I'm 32!

This is what happens when you take the map off your wall.*

I tried to look up where a bank was located and when the results came up, I stared at the letters "NE" for a good 60 seconds trying to figure out what they meant. My brain kept telling me "New England is not a state!" I was seriously about to report an issue in our issues database explaining that the "State" field should only return results for real, live states (because "New England is not a state!") but then the words "Cornhusker" and "Osborne" popped into my head and it was all better.

*I took the map off the wall in my office so I could teach Emma to do a headstand after she made the following statement about what she wanted out of life: "Not a husband, just a headstand."

The Best Feeling

Driving away from the reception site as fast as you want because your car is filled with empty cake boxes. Congrats Seth and Lyndsay!!

I'm a bad blogger

Like you haven't noticed. I've been meaning to blog about the awesomeness that was Martin and Jesse's wedding a few weeks ago in Pittsburgh. Wedding at the Phipps Conservatory, reception at the PPG aquarium (now I understand why my friends Laura and Eben are obsessed with the octopus), caricature artist on hand at the reception (don't ask to look at his drawing of Mike and I - we look about 50!), and some of the best wedding reception dance music I've experienced.

I've been meaning to blog about all the fun that is going on at work. The conference I went to with Bernanke, Paulson and Chair Bair, the great line that came out of that conference "your home is not an ATM," the fun we've been having with IndyMac and the fun that is to come in the future, the lunch today with my coworkers where Sharon and Ed spent the entire car ride to Ben's Chili Bowl shouting expletives at the other drivers on the road, and then when it's time to eat, they both are staring at me and Ed says "Aren't you going to ask the Lord to bless our food??" Crazies.

I've been meaning to blog about my 349 note streak on Guitar Hero the other night. And this was not on the easy level - this was on medium!

I've been meaning to blog about the great stuff I've been reading lately. This article on John McCain was super interesting. He wrote it after he returned from his captivity in North Vietnam. And this article from today's Washington Post. Read it if you're wondering who Obama's greatest admirer is. Made me chuckle.

And finally, I've been meaning to blog about these ladies from America's Got Talent. I've watched them soo many times I can't even tell you!

Have I mentioned that I love my coworkers?

Well if I haven't, I do. Only Mark could pull off the great thing that happened today in the PDD meeting. Agenda item 3 looked like this:

3. Quarterly Financial Data

• Call Reportz – all bankz – This is the schnizzle.
• Balance Sheet, Income Statement, Past Due loanz.
• UBPR all bankz.
• UBPR single bank, fo sho.

Call Reports are the schnizzle, by the way.

Girl breaks nose while watching Full House

Most of you readers know exactly what the title of this post is referring to, but for those of you who don't, it's time that I fill you in on my unfortunate nose breaking incident of 1995. This moment in my life has come up many times in the last several months, so it may as well be out there for the world to read about on the interweb.

Obviously you all know I love to dance. And a lot of you know that I spent a great deal of my childhood and teen years watching musicals and memorizing the dances. Then I would perform them for my sister and her boyfriends. One boyfriend at a time, of course. Don't go getting the wrong idea about my sister.

Anyway, I loved the show Full House and there happens to be an episode all about Stephanie and her dreams of becoming a dancer. The final scene is Stephanie's dance recital where she dances to the song "Motown Philly" (loved this song, btw). One afternoon (I'm pretty sure it was a Wednesday - why do I remember that?) I'm at home watching TV and this episode of Full House comes on. Of course I jump up off the couch and start dancing along with Stephanie and her "advanced modern" class. :) At some point (probably during the line "kickin' it just for you...") I kick my leg up while simultaneously flinging my head down. And this is when my knee slams into the bottom of my nose and Ahhhh!!! I can still hear the crack. So much pain!!! Ever since that day I've had a deviated septum which I affectionately refer to as my blood clot, because that's what it looks like to me. Don't ask.

Flash forward to today and me sitting at my desk eating lunch and trying to think of something on the Internet that might entertain me. Then it hit me - "I wonder if Stephanie Tanner's dance recital is on Youtube?" And guess what?? It is!!

There are actually quite a few people who are obsessed with the dance stylings of Stephanie Tanner which was a pleasant surprise! Unfortunately, I was only able to find one video that shows the entire "Motown Philly" dance routine and it's not the greatest (the sound is off from the picture) but it will have to do. So here you have it. My life and my nose will never be the same because of this moment in television history.



One more thing - Rachel and I just signed up for an intro to modern dance class! Watch out Stephanie!

Home again home again jiggity jig

Just got back from Idaho and Oregon. The trip was fun but it totally wore me out! I told Liz I was giving up the whole 50 by 30 thing and not going to Hawaii. Seriously. Long plane rides are no fun and 49 states is plenty!!

Whenever I get back from a trip I put a pin in each of the states I’ve visited on the map on the wall in my office. I started to put the ID and OR pins in today, but then I realized I’m moving to a new office next week. I’ve messed up many an FDIC wall over the years with my pin holes, so I decided I’d wait and leave my old office wall with two fewer holes in it.

I was informed by an 11 year old that I need to be more organized so hopefully this move will help. One of the girls I sit for must have come to work with her mom sometime last week because when I got into the office this morning, my computer looked like this:

There were about 10 more post-it notes on my desk (on top of all the piles which I'm not posting a picture of) and one note that said: "I hope you move into your new office soon and love it. Don't forget to organize!!!! :) Love, Maddy."

I will try my best. :)

MTM and Comp Time

How much do I love Kandi right now? You’ll find out when I tell you about my day yesterday.

7:45-3:00: BORING!!

3:01: Kandi sends text: “Oprah today is the cast of Mary Tyler Moore.”

3:16: Something in me tells me to check my cell for messages. See text from Kandi. Sad because I am not home to see MTM.

3:18: Realize I have comp time left over from my training course. Visit wmata.com to check bus schedule. Bus leaves Rosslyn at 3:45. Perfect!

3:20: Tell Alan I am rollin out. Submit leave request and pack up junk.

3:23: Walking out of FDIC.

3:30: On platform at Farragut West. Train arriving in two minutes.

3:38: Climbing the fourth longest escalator in the world (I made that up) at Rosslyn.

3:39: Out of breath and riding the rest of the way up.

3:40: Bus waiting outside of station.

3:45: Bus leaves Rosslyn with me on it.

3:57: Sitting in front of TV waiting for Oprah and MTM.

4:00: Oh Happy Day!!

4:59: Off to grocery store to buy brownie mix. What better way to wrap up an hour with the cast of the MTM show!

I think I’ll never blog again.

Well not really – I just haven’t been in the typing mood lately. I’ve had lots of fun things going on and I’ve written some funny posts in my head, but up until now, I haven’t been able to find the time to sit down and update this darn blog.

So let’s see – what’s happened in the last month?

1. A couple of weekends ago I kid-sat for my coworkers 3 girls. We’ve had many a crazy weekend together over the years, and this one was by far the best. I think age is a great thing! They don’t whine nearly as much. We made it to every event basically on time - soccer practice (Jilly), soccer game (Maddy was the MVP!), crew practice (Becca), crew regatta (Becca), girl scouts (Maddy), slumber party (Becca) choir practice (Jilly), church (M&J) and softball game (M&J). And somewhere in the middle of all that I was able to take a shower and walk the dog. We had a little downtime on Saturday afternoon so I put two of the girls to work washing my car. That’s what any good sitter would do, right?



My car has made its blog debut! Maddy was very excited about the new car. When she saw it she yelled out “no more cranky windows!” (they were fascinated by the manual windows on my old car because they had never seen them before).

2. My friends Eboni and Anthony celebrated their one year anniversary last week, and they reported back that their wedding cake was mighty tasty after spending a year in the freezer. Actually, Eboni told me that Anthony was not at all happy when he found out they were having old wedding cake for dessert, but after they’d each had a piece and Eboni was about to throw the rest away, Anthony said “What you doin, woman? I want to eat more of that cake!”

3. I think my coworker JJ might actually be human and not a robot. In our staff meeting this week he ate some M&M’s. Trust me, this is a big deal!

4. I’ve had many funny interactions with my coworkers lately. The first is with Ed:

Ed: Have you updated the database with the latest failure?

Me: No. I’ll get it done by Friday.

Ed: Well, I don’t really care. Who uses this data anyway?

Me: Your Mom.

Ed: Oh right - she was really mad that you didn’t have the database updated for Mother’s Day.

And this one with my boss Alan:

Me: You rejected me!

Alan: Hahaha…you should’ve seen it coming!

Me: I like to hope…

Alan: It’s hopeless.

And conversations with Emma always make for a good time (English is her second language). We love to keep track of Emma-isms around here.

Me: I think I look fat in that picture.

Emma (completely serious): No, I think your computer has fat resolution.

Me (cracking up): Uh…what??

Emma: It’s true!! Some computers have fat resolution and some have long skinny resolution! Fat resolution is common one!

5. I’ve listened to Weezer’s new song The Greatest Man That Ever Lived about 19 times this morning. If I wrote a song, I’d want it to be just like this – a little mix of hymn, rap, rock, alternative, and spoken word. And then I'd want the Liza of 1974 (when her voice was awesome) to sing it.

6. I’ve had a really good time with my banks this quarter, but I’ve obviously made it very clear to all of the section chiefs in our division that I do not want to do any extra work related to banks and their call reports. This email went out from another Ed (the call report chief) this morning and it made me happy, even though it probably makes me look like a slacker:

“I would expect that there will be sufficient downtime during the conference for you to be able to check messages and respond to urgent matters during the week so that nothing falls through the cracks. If you REALLY need someone to call a banker back and handle something for you, you can call Anne and ask her to follow-up for you. Please do NOT leave Anne’s name or number on your voicemail message.”

Yeah – that’s about it for now. Check ya later!

I kid you not.

Tambourine girl (Neko Case) for the New Pornographer's was sick tonight and did not perform at the concert! I think I've mentioned before that one of my life goals is to be tambourine girl for the NP's. It was like a sign from God that I should go up on the stage and fill in for her. Unfortunately, I'm all talk and I just stood in the crowd fake playing my fake tambourine.

Since Neko wasn't there, they didn't sing a lot of my fav songs ("Go Places", "Myriad Harbor", "Mutiny, I Promise You") but they did sing "Challengers" which just about killed me. I love that song, and lately I haven't been able to move past that song on my NP's CD. Best line: "Whatever the mess you are, you're mine, okay." (Thanks Rachel for pointing that one out to me!)

Here it is:

The Dawn and Dave Wedding

I've promised some of you that I'd post pics from Dawn and Dave's wedding and here they are. The wedding was great, btw. Best part - D and D's first dance. They danced to "For Me and My Gal" sung by the one and only Mary Lou (Dawn's Mom) with many of the guests singing along. You know I was singing because hello - Judy Garland!! Love this song! Unfortunately, I was in the process of changing my camera setting from pic to video and missed the first 20 seconds of the dance, so hopefully Dawn has video of the whole thing somewhere.


Here's D and D with the flower girls (super cute, except for the fact that Helen, the older one, told me "TO DIE!")

And here's the Edison Girls v1.2: Liz, Kate, Dawn, Courtney and Anne. Man did we have some good times. The Edison House was (and still is) famous. I'll blog about it some day when I'm feeling nostalgic. Anybody up for some red fabric on the ceiling?

Music Makes Me Happy :)

Ok - I couldn't pass up Rachel's soundtrack meme so I decided to do it for myself.

Here’s how it works:

1. open your library (iTunes, winamp, media player, iPod)
2. put it on shuffle
3. press play
4. for every question, type the song that’s playing
5. new question — press the next button
6. don’t lie

Unfortunately, I have to admit to having one song in my shuffle that I really did not want to include in this list. But I've got to follow the rules, so here goes. I also decided to add my favorite line from each song because it's often one line that pulls me in!

Opening Credits: "Sweetest Thing" - U2. This song makes me happy (it's in my top 5 love songs list). I know Rachel will be happy to see this as part of the soundtrack. Best line - "I wanted to run but she made me crawl."

Waking up: "Oh God Where Are You now? (In Pickerel Lake? Pigeon? Marquette? Mackinaw?)" - David Crowder. Appropriate. Calling on God first thing in the morning. Good idea. :) Don't really have a fav line from this song - it's more of a song I'd listen to for the instrumentation.

First Day of School: "Tell Him" - Lauryn Hill. I could try for a random first day of school connection but I don't really want to. Best lines - "Let me be patient, let me be kind. Make me unselfish without being blind. Though I may suffer I'll envy it not and endure what comes cause he's all that I got and tell him..."

Falling in Love: "Open Up" - Dispatch. First of all - you all need to download some Dispatch songs because they rock. It just so happens that a song by Dispatch is #1 on my top love songs list (it's called "Out Loud"), but I can't imagine anything about the song "Open Up" relating to falling in love since the song's about someone on death row who's about to die. Oh well. Fav line: "I said relax man get off my back. I said relax man get off my back." Yeah - I love that they say it twice.

Breaking up: "John Wayne Gacy, Jr." - Sufjan Stevens. Ok - you all are going to start to wonder about my music choices. This song happens to be about a serial killer. I guess I'd break up with him too if I knew his true nature. Actually - I have a thing for guys who I briefly suspect (but then later confirm are not) serial killers. Best line - "in my best behavior I am really just like him."

Prom: "Entering Bootytown" - from the Music and Lyrics soundtrack. I kid you not I had no idea this song was in my library. I admit that I did download the entire soundtrack so I should have known, but I have never listened to this song. I'm happy it found its way into the "Prom" category though!

Life’s okay: "Dreamworld" - Rilo Kiley. I tend to do a lot of dreaming when life's just ok, so this is pretty appropriate. Best line - "You exist, when you're living in a dreamworld."

Breakdown: "I Will Glory In My Redeemer" - Sovereign Grace Worship. Oh yes I will. Fav line - "I'm satisfied in Him alone."

Driving: "Good Things" - BoDeans. I drove to this song this weekend. Takes me back to high school days. Best line - "And I say no, no, no, don't pass me over, no, no, no, don't pass me by. See I can see good things for you and I. "

Flashback: "When Your Mind's Made Up" - Once soundtrack. Flashback to last summer when I was obsessed with this movie and flash forward to next month when I'll hear this song live in concert. Best line - "So, if you ever want something then you call, call, then I'll come running."

Getting back together: "Please" - U2. Please take me back!! The title could work for this scenario, but the lyrics - not so much. I think Bono is completely done with whoever he's singing to here. Best line - "So you never knew love until you crossed the line of grace."

Wedding: "Out Loud" - Dispatch. Made the list without even trying! Will definitely play this song at my wedding (reception that is). Fav lines - "and if you were walking and heard the cold night coming would you call my name 'cause you know I'd come running... if you'd call my name out loud."

Birth of child: "My Minnesota Home" - from A Prairie Home Companion soundtrack. Maybe if the kid was born in Minnesota? Don't really have a favorite line, but I love that Meryl Streep and Lily Tomlin are singing!

Final Battle: "The Way You Do The Things You Do" -The Temptations. Looks like I will be winning the final battle. Downloaded this one for Dawn and Dave's wedding soundtrack. Had to look up the lyrics but I think my fav line is "The way you swept me off my feet, you know, you could've been a broom." That's deep.

Death Scene: "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen/We Three Kings" - Barenaked Ladies with Sarah McLachlan. Best Christmas carol arrangement out there. I put it on repeat for most of the Christmas season. Love every minute of the entire song! I'd be ok with dying while listening to this although I'd always envisioned dying with Bolero playing in the background.

End Credits: "Material Girl" - Madonna. Guess that sums it up. I like stuff! (yeah - not really, but it's a fun song.) I might not be too much into stuff but I do know that "the boy with the cold hard cash is always Mr. Right."

Awesomeness on the Internet

Can be found at Stuff Christians Like.

My favorites are:

#34 - Subtly finding out if you drink beer too.

#47 - Rooting for secret Christians on American Idol.

#95 - Fearing God will send you to Guam.

#105 - Wishing your testimony was more exciting.

#106 - The side hug

Another Edison Girl walks the aisle

Dawn is getting married this weekend! Huzzah! Here's the rockstar bride with her Diva bridesmaids.


We're off to NY for the wedding. Oh - and I am alive. Just forgot about the blog a little bit. As my brother would say "I blog your pardon." :)

The fun has already begun.

My birthday is tomorrow, but most of my coworkers seem to think it is today. Fine by me. Two days of fun. :)

When I came into my office this morning, I saw a card on my desk that said “Ann.” Crap. It had to be from someone who knows me well enough to know it’s my birthday, but who doesn’t know me well enough to have heard me complain about receiving emails cards, diplomas… that say “Ann.” Turns out the card was from Sharon who I love to death so I didn’t mention the name spelling thing, because I have already offended her too many times in our years of working together (but she still loves me) so I decided to just forgive her and be happy and thankful for the card.

Emma (aka “Emma-lu”, “Lulu”, “E-Lu” “E” “E.R.” and probably some other names I’ve called her that I can’t think of right now) got me a two month Netflix trial subscription. Holla! The first movie on my list will be The Sterile Cuckoo with the one and only Miss Liza Minnelli. No library or video store in the area carries this movie and I have been desperate to see it for years!

Mike (aka "McPhurse" – all of my coworkers are given nicknames) stopped by to wish me happy birthday and when he came around the corner he kind of popped into my doorway and clicked his heals together and struck a little pose because that’s what I always do when I show up in his doorway to ask a question. Then he said “So… Happy Birthday!” because according to him I start every question with “So.” And I probably do.

Tonight I’ll be enjoying some fried chicken at Flavors Soul Food, tomorrow the coworkers are taking me to lunch at Bangkok 54, then it’s off to the Continental Modern Pool Lounge for a few rounds of rotation if I can convince the friends to play the best billiards game evah! Good times.

Complete and utter randomness

In an effort to post something other than youtube videos, here are a few random moments of fun from my week:

I got into the training program I’d applied for which will eventually allow me to travel for work. I will be rollin into a city near you to shut yo bank down. Yeah, yeah! Read about it in this article on CNN.com.

Spending half of my Pilates class discussing the Alvin Ailey performance with my super cool Aerobix Inc teacher. She is obsessed too. I think the rest of the class was wishing we’d shut it.

Dreaming about guitar hero and seriously thinking of buying some type of game console to play it on. But then discovering that those things are freakin expensive!

Finding out from Rachel that Glen and Marketa (of Once fame) will be doing a show in Baltimore in May. If she emails me next week to tell me Band of Horses is coming to town I might just flip out.

Wishing my sister a happy birthday on the blog, although I did remember to call her this morning. Happy Birthday, sister freak!

Falling Slowly

My song won as Oscar last night! Thank goodness I turned the TV on when I did, because I had completely forgotten how obsessed I was with the Once soundtrack (and espcially the song "Falling Slowly") last summer. Go rent this movie if you haven't seen it. The music is awesome!

Last night's Oscar performance:



"When Your Mind's Made Up" (another great song)

Alvin Ailey - You rocka my soul!

Oh my goodness! Rachel, Gina and I went to see Alvin Ailey last night at the Kennedy Center. The show just kills me everytime (well, I've only seen it twice!) but it is soo good!! I told Gina last night that the Alvin Ailey performance is by far my favorite show/musical/theater/dance type of performance I've ever seen. Liza who??? I know! When Rachel and I went last year to see it I literally wanted to stay at the KC for the rest of my life and watch the whole thing over and over again. Here is a clip from "Revelations." It's random highlights of the performance and the quality is not so great, but it includes one of my favorites (Rocka My Soul in the Bosom of Abraham... how many times did that phrase go through my head last night while I was trying to fall asleep!) and one of Rachel's favorites (Fix Me Jesus).

A tribute to the men in my life

My dad is a man of few words. Now, he’ll bust out a scene from an old Three Stooges skit at the drop of a hat (and you wonder where I get it from?) but as far as actual conversation, he just doesn’t say much. But I have to give him cred for staying on top of the latest slang. This can be evidenced in the Valentine’s day card he sent me.

It’s kind of blurry, but notice the bottom left corner. He just says “word.” He cracks me up. I started saying “word” sometime back who the heck knows when, and my Dad has stuck with it all these years. And I must admit that I still say it a lot too – especially when I talk to him. Sometimes when he’s feeling especially talkative he’ll pull out the “word to Big bird.” Classic!

My uncle on the other hand loves to talk and write and just communicate any and all the time. He gets upset because I don’t call him or email him enough. The following was written at the bottom of the letter I received from my uncle yesterday:


In case you can’t read it, it says “By the way, I am your Uncle. Older brother of your mother. We hiked on the A.T. (Appalachian Trail). Oh yes, I used to write you every week when you were in college.

Yes, it true – he sent me a letter every week while I was in college. And at the end of my four years, he compiled them all in a book called “Letters to Anne.” Pretty great. Yet I still hardly ever email. But I know I can count on the uncle to write and the Dad to make me bust out laughing super hard with just one "word." I hoping this year to get him to start saying "fo shizzle."

Today I called my boss a loser.

Actually I called Alan a loser because he was blocking the printer and I needed to get my very important docs for a meeting so I said “step aside, loser.” But then he reminded me that about 3 weeks ago, he became the chief of the data strategy section and is now my boss and he will be in charge of my next performance review. He followed that up by saying “Who’s the big fat loser now, huh?”

Me, me, me :)

We are super mature here in my office.

Come on Baby Light My Fire...

was the song my dentist serenaded me with today. Last time it was "You are so beautiful, to me..." Freaks me out, but makes me laugh at the same time. He plays this oldies/easy listening station in his office and he sings along with the songs the whole time while he is working on your teeth. I appreciated it at my first few visits because I am a song singer alonger type of person and I always like when people feel comfortable just being themselves. I would totally sing along too, but he's poking at my gums until they bleed and that doesn't make for the best singing circumstances. So I just sit there and try not to choke when I force myself to hold back the laughter. Anyway, it's gotten wierd the last two times because the songs have been all love-ish and I kind of expect him to stop singing because Wierd! But he doesn't. And it doesn't seem to bother him one bit. At least when he's not singing he talks a lot about his wife and kids so I'm pretty sure he's a solid guy. So I think I'm ok with it. Just hoping "Unchained Melody" doesn't start playing during my next visit.

This Exhibit is Free!

Last weekend I went with a friend to the Ansel Adams exhibit at the Corcoran. Kinda liked it. He really has some great photos, but of course my thought through most of the exhibit was “how many not so great pics did he have to take to get this one good one?” cause you know I always stay on the happy side of life. Anyway, looking at Ansel’s photos got me thinking about how I like to take pictures and I seem to remember a few decent pics coming out of my very professional/high tech/the envy of any good photographer, Canon Powershot. So I thought I’d post a few of my favorites for you all to enjoy. Let me know which ones you like the best!

I named this one “Typical Thanh.” This is a pic of Thanh at the Gorges du Verdon on our European road trip in 2005. I have never abruptly pulled over so many times during a road trip in my life! I only kicked the back of Thanh's seat about 18 times, but in the end, we sure did get some great pics!

I call this one "YS Falls, Jamaica." No clever name here. It's just super pretty, ands lush and I love JA!

Let's call this one “Cow Lick.” This is a beautiful cow that became Liz’s friend when we went out cow feeding on our trip to Montana. The sad thing is that this cow is quite possibly no longer with us since the ranch we visited ships their cows off to the slaughter house so we can all enjoy burgers at Five Guys. Thanks cow!

I call this "Foreshadow." Two escorts that look eerily like mine and Liz's side by side in a used car lot in Florida. It's like God was telling us "It's time to sell your cars. And I love you." And we both did. And He does.

Horses always make for a great pic. Just ask the Pioneer Woman! I can't think of a good name for this one and I don't feel like waiting any longer to publish this post.

This one is called "What every young Christian girl needs to know." Rachel knows what's up! Look pretty (a white bow in the hair is a nice touch) and keep your man fed and you'll be set for life.

We'll call this "Farm Family” This is the Dad, bro, and sis working on the farm. My favorite part of this pic is how the fam is framed by the tree and the shed and I love the tractor wheel peakin out from behind. Good pics are easy to come by when you’re out on the farm.

I call this one “David’s Arse.” I’ve been spending too much time with Britney lately so I’ve picked up the British accent. I’ve determined that some amount of nakedness is required in every artist’s/photographer’s portfolio so here is my stab at it. Not sure what I was thinking when I took this pic, but I’m proud to say that I think I have an eye for a good rear end when I see one. I hope my mom never reads this blog.

"Me on Tractor." Bet you didn't know this was me sitting behind the wheel of the tractor. Haha. The title is the key to this photo. Deep stuff.

"Are you my Mother?" This is the Geico Gecko in front of Balanced Rock at Arches National Park in Utah. The resemblance between the man-made bobblehead and God-made bobblehead is uncanny!

I call this "Save the Outhouse (phase II)." Like the use of the Roman numeral? Another farm pic. This is definitely one of my favorites. I love the corn in the background, the sky, the work that’s taking place. This is from our family work on the farm weekend that may or may not have had something to do with an outhouse, hence the title.

“Where’s Lance?” He was in the pack somewhere. I like this pic because the viewer has no idea how fast the bikers are really going. I almost lost a couple of toes when the zoomed by! This is from the Tour de France in 2005. Notice the angle I got on those biker dudes. Yeah, my favorite side. I need to stop talking.

Let's call this “Switzerland, God loves you!” because he made you look like this. Another moment where Thanh pulled us over on some windy road and we came away with this.

And finally, I call this “What’s Up, George?” because George is up there and I’m down here. This is George’s face on Mt Rushmore taken from underneath a rock on the trail that goes around the monument.

That's it! Hope you had fun!

Best of 2007 (Finally!)

And in no particular order.

Sufjan Stevens. Rachel introduced me to Sufjan in the summer of 2006, but Suf has made the 2007 list because I’ve listened to him and loved him (he’s currently my musician crush – sorry Chris Tomlin!) for the entire year. Rachel, Kandi and I even loved him enough to stand out in the early morning February cold at 5am at the Kennedy Center to try to get free tickets to his concert. There were about 20 people in front of us when they handed out the last ticket. Boo! Maybe 2008 will be the year I see Suf in concert? My fav songs are Casimir Pulaski Day, Come On! Feel The Illinoise! (I’ve choreographed a great marching band field show to this song) and To Be Alone with You.

Here’s a little Suf (singing Casimir Pulaski Day) for you all to enjoy:



The NP’s. I can’t write out their name because I just can’t, but I love their music! One of my goals is to be tambourine girl for the NP’s. Fav songs right now are Myriad Harbor, Go Places and All the Old Showstoppers.

Here they are singing All the Old Showstoppers:



John Piper and his stinkin Future Grace! I lost my salvation at least two times while reading this book! But we’re back on track. And as much as Piper drove me crazy with repeating the phrase “faith in future grace” at least 37,000 times, I did take a lot away from the book. His chapters on future grace verses “whatever sin” were all very practical and helpful with reminders that God give us the grace each day to trust Him and His promises rather than give in to the promise of sin.

Dawn’s suggestion for bridesmaid dresses. Dawn is awesome. Just look at the dress and you’ll see why. Don’t worry – we went with something else.

The Pioneer Woman. By far my favorite blog this year. I am addicted to her “Black Heels to Tractor Wheels” story of how she and her husband met.

AAA guys – sometimes nice, sometimes creepy, but always helpful. It was such a relief to see the AAA guy show up in Hyannis this summer that I told him I loved him. And when Rachel locked her keys in her car in Williamsburg she called AAA and within 23 seconds we saw a AAA car coming down the street. We all flipped out (talk about service!) but it turns out that he was off to help someone else around the corner. Still got to us in about 20 minutes and then tried to pick up Lyndsay (there’s the creepy), the one gal in the group who actually has a boyfriend!

Liza. Duh. Did you think she wouldn’t make the list? 2007 was definitely the year o’ Liza! I saw her in concert for gosh sakes! Best concert ever and she didn’t even fall off the stage. Here’s a favorite Liza number for your viewing pleasure:

Beth Moore – My small group finished the Tabernacle study (aka “A Woman’s Heart: God’s Dwelling place) in 2007 and it was a blast. Of course my brain retains only about 1.2% of what I read, so I don’t remember a whole lot about it, but I can draw a mean rendition of the tabernacle down to the cubit. Seeing Beth Moore at the Women of Faith conference was a highlight of my year and my obsession with her blog is another reason why she made the list. And I love that Jill and I talk about Beth, Amanda and Melissa like they’re our bff’s.

The Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup shirt. It was most def the shirt of the year for me and only cost like $7 at Walmart. I wore it all the time this summer! It looks especially nice paired with a white sequined tube top worn as a mini skirt but no one except Rachel, Lyndsay and Kandi will ever see that.

Burt’s Bees. I (with the Lord’s help of course) kicked my Chap Stick addiction this year. I was then introduced to Burt’s Bees (I think by Rachel, which would make since because she’s introduced me to just about everything else that has been wonderful in my life this year!) and it has been great. When I apply it to my lips (maybe once a day) it doesn’t cause them to feel even more dry 7 minutes later. Unfortunately, I did not inform Jimmy that this chain in my life was broken, and he bought me a 20 pack of Chap Stick for Christmas. I haven’t decided what to do with it yet, but I kind of want to burn it because I certainly don’t want to give it to someone else and perhaps cause them to fall into the pit of Chap Stick addiction that I was in for so many years!

Travel. This year was chock full of trips! There was WV girls weekend with Lynds, Rachel and Kandi, the SC/GA/FL trip with my mom, the New England road trip with Liz, the CO/WY/MT/ND/SD trip with Liz, Traci (and a visit to see Danica), the Jamaica trip with Liz, Katy and Paige, and the ladies trip to NY with Dawn and all her lady peeps. Here’s a pic from the NY trip since I don’t think I’ve posted any of those before:

Quiznos (the restaurant) and Quizno (the boyfriend). I’ve been to Quiznos a lot this year. It all started when Eboni introduced me to the Roasted Chicken Salad. I love it. Then one day I smiled at the guy behind the counter (who I’ve nicknamed “Quizno – the lunchtime boyfriend”) and he gave me a discount. Since then, whenever he is working the register he gives me a discount. And sometimes when he’s not working the register and he sees me coming, he’ll slide down the line and whisper in the register girl’s ear and then give me a wink to let me know I’ll get my discount. So I keep coming back :)

Youtube. Obviously. Look how many clips I’ve included in this post. I love it! I’ve been able to watch so many great clips from TV shows or concerts that took place before my time that I never thought I would see. And look what God did. He brought me Youtube. This is a favorite example of something I never would have seen had Youtube not come to be.

Turkey Lurkey Time from the 1968 Tony Awards:

That's it! Can't wait to see what happens in 2008!