Wicked

The day finally came...I got to go see Wicked! I have wanted to see this musical for a LONG time. I was first introduced to it by my friend Michelle. She had a CD of the music and we listened to the songs while we drove to and from nursing school. I LOVED the performance. I was so impressed with the actors, the music, everything. I am so glad that it lived up to my expectations. Mike and I went with his mom and John...thanks for the good time! I would highly recommend that you get tickets to go while they are still in Salt Lake!

The Light at the End of the Tunnel

I registered for my last semester of graduate school this week. While I am very excited to being done with the program, I do have to admit that the time has gone by quickly. It is crazy to think that I will have my master's degree in August. I have never once regretted my decision to go back to school and I have learned so much that is already helping me at work. Vanderbilt has been a great school to go to and I have loved this program's online format - it has enabled me to continue working full time and have some power over my personal schedule. As long as you can stay on track without sitting in a traditional classroom, I highly recommend online learning.

One reason that I feel that I have been so successful in this program is because of the support I received from my family. Mike has been so great at understanding and being supportive of the time, financial, and personal sacrifices that went along with my decision to return to school. He understood that some evenings have to be spent in front of the computer, that I needed extra help getting things for the house done, and that sometimes I needed a pep talk to keep giving my best effort. Mike even put finishing his own degree on hold...something that I never intended to happen...but he did it so that I could start the program when I got accepted. I am so grateful to my sweet husband for being my cheerleader through this whole process. Thanks babe!

Chic for Cheap

I decided to start a new blog, called Chic for Cheap. The purpose of this blog is to share ideas about fashion, home decor, etc...all on a budget. It will include do-it-yourself ideas as well as places to find great deals on purchases. The blog is just getting underway, but there are already a few posts: check it out at www.chic-for-cheap.blogspot.com.

Feel free to leave comments and let me know if you have an idea that you would like to share or if you are interested in being a contributor. Happy Shopping!

Happy Anniversary...Six Months Later!

Last August, I started making a quilt for Mike as an anniversary gift since it was our two year anniversary. I chose to make him a quilt since the traditional gift for a two year anniversary is cotton. I had every intention of having the quilt finished before our anniverary arrived, but that didn't happen. Then, I thought that I would definately be able to finish it within a few weeks after our anniversary passed. That didn't happen either. I finally decided that I needed to make myself spend a couple of nights working on this quilt so that I could get it finished. I had this past week off of school, so it seemed like the perfect opportunity. I am pleased to annouce that the quilt is finally finished!

I chose a Wall-E theme since Mike really likes that movie and we saw it a few weeks before I started the quilt. This was the first time that I had "quilted" on a machine rather than using yarn to tie it. I made some mistakes, but I learned a lot in the process. Hopefully it won't take me six months to finish my next sewing project, although I guess this allowed Mike to celebrate our two year anniversary twice!

I Need Some Help

I need some help. I am trying to put a video clip from NBC on a PowerPoint presentation. I think that I need to save the video clip to my computer. The problem is, I have no idea how to do this. Does anybody know? I am assuming that it is similar to saving a YouTube video, but I have never done that, either. I know that I can insert a link to the video on my slide, but I would prefer to add the actual video in case I don't have access to the internet during my presentation. I would LOVE some suggestions.

The clip is http://www.nbc.com/The_Office/video/clips/stress-relief/982442/.

Thanks!!!

A (Very Mini) Kitchen Makeover

Last week, Mike and I gave our kitchen/dining room and family room a mini makeover. I had painted the kitchen area and one wall of the family room back in November, but the color just wasn't growing on me. It was a yellow/mustard color, and it looked really good on the swatch. But depending on the light, it did not look so good on our walls. It finally got to where I just could not tolerate the color, so I convinced Mike that we ought to paint again, even though it had only been a few months. We decided on a nice, safe taupe color. Mike calls it "frosty brown" because it reminds him of a Wendy's frosty.

Besides painting, we decided it was necessary to expand the tile in our dining area so that it was in front of the sliding glass door. The reason that this was so necessary was that Faline decided that this small patch of carpet was her personal indoor grass. You see, when we leave her alone, she is confined to the kitchen. This meant that she could access her doggie door and mostly only be on the tile. However, she decided that the small amount of carpet she did have access to was her indoor grass during inclement weather. Despite our best efforts, we felt that there was always an unpleasant odor in this area of the room. So, we finally gave in and had a little more tile installed. I realize most people would just kick their dog outside or make it stay in the garage, but whatever. We intalled tile.

So, here is the finished product. Unless you saw the kitchen between November and last week, you probably cannot appreciate the color change. The yellow was seriously wierd. It would go from looking mustard, to bright yellow, to lime green. The "frosty brown" really is much better. The tile used to stop to the left of the door, but now goes a few feet over. It has been SO nice to know that Faline cannot pee on the carpet while we are gone. It really looks nice and I don't think that you can tell that carpet was originally there.

Hopefully I can go more than a few months without painting the kitchen again. Maybe the living room can be next??? :)

No Line on the Horizon

It finally happened...U2's new cd has been released! I LOVE it! I HIGHLY recommend it.

Now I can begin anxiously awaiting the announcement of their next tour. For the meanwhile, I will be satisfied with watching them perform EVERY NIGHT on Dave Lettermen this week.