On the road again...

We decided to go ahead and leave tonight. At 9:15 pm we pulled out of our parking lot. I think we were both tired of sleeping on an air mattress. Our destination for the evening? Motel 6 in Coalina, CA. Why motel 6? We found out on our way to CA that they are pet friendly (at no extra charge), plentiful, and overall inexpensive. Not fancy, but usually handy. Anyway, the air conditioner didn't work in our first room and so Blake was nice enough to take care of his whining wife and handle it. We are now nice and cool.
Here's the funny story if the evening... When we finally got in the car, Blake looks over at me and says, "ok, where do we go from here?". I laughed and pulled out the iPhone for help. Pretty funny. We've done all this planning and have completed the packing of the car, and don't know how to get out of here. Speaking of our packing... Our car is packed to the brim. We couldn't fit one more bag or anything. We can't see out the back window at all. Should be a fun, tight trip. Stay tuned for more posts from the road.

How I spent my summer vacation:

Last Monday I took a trip to New York. I took a few days off of work, and planned out every second of my visit. I would fly Virgin America ( it is a pretty cool plane with cool lights, free TV, and instead of attendants coming by once with a cart, you order what you want off of your screen and they bring it to you) into JFK, take a cab into Manhattan, see some friends, visit with some guys out in Queens, walk around the city to enjoy the locals, find some authentic New York cuisine, and then come back to San Francisco and see my lovely wife.

The only hitch was that I had to get all of my stuff out of my apartment in Manhattan, and storage in Queens in the process while selling all the stuff we aren't bringing back with us on Craigslist and then clean or trash what was left. I got in at close to 11PM, decided I wasn't tired, but it was too late to take stuff off the walls of the apartment and went by the Apple store on Fifth Avenue. I got there, talked with some friends ( who generally seemed happy for me and my opportunity with Watermark), listened to them go on about the general craziness and happenings of the night, and then headed home around 2AM.

Since I couldn't sleep, I figured I would watch some tv and fall asleep. No small task, as all I could think of was all that I had to do that next day, and the movers were coming at 8AM! I finally fell asleep around 5AM (thanks to whatever came on CNN headline after Glenn Beck,) only to wake up before my alarm around 7:15 to start finishing getting things ready for the movers.

The movers came just about on time (close to 9AM but the window was between 8 and 10), and were finished moving things out of the storage unit in Queens by 12:30. I sat around the apartment, cleaning and meeting with people to pick up furniture and such. ( A brief word of caution for all you in the Inter-Web-Land, if you post something for craigslist for free DO NOT PUT YOUR PHONE NUMBER.) In the midst of this, I tried to sleep in our circle chair, mostly unsuccessfully, and grabbed a slice from Arturo's Pizza up the street, literally up as there is a decent hill.

I met with our NY pastor that night at Starbucks, did some catching up and then went home to sleep in the circle chair. JR, our pastor in NY, called me a couple minutes later, asked if I needed a place to sleep, and suggested a friend nearby who had an extra bedroom. I had completely forgotten they had space for guests, or I would have called myself. Luckily, they were still awake and welcomed me in for the night. It was great to see them, and I was glad for that little accident.

Went to bed around 11PM (after getting 2 hours the night before and maybe 1 hour between Craigslisters), and woke up at 6:45 to meet someone to purchase the great circle chair I bought in college. I will miss the times we had together. That first car ride to Abilene. That first assembly under my bed that I set up on cinder blocks. That 1st disassembly at the end of the semester to move into the dorm as an RA. All those other moves. And the dirt, who can forget cleaning off the dirt. Man, could that black pillow show dirt.

Anyhow, after that I returned the cable box, oddly enough the the same girl I had received it from in May. I went to the store again for a final goodbye, and to talk to the daytime managers there about how great my summer experience was, and then met a friend for lunch before catching an earlier flight back to see Whitney. She met me at the airport and we went to In-and-Out Burger.

Overall it was a pretty decent trip, but I am glad I only have to move out of New York once. As fun and as hard as it is to live in New York, I am glad I had the opportunity.

steamy...

Alright, sorry for another lame camera phone picture, but check this out...

Yes, you read that right... 105 degrees. I know what you are thinking... I guess they made it to TX already. You'd be wrong. I took that picture from the apple parking lot in CA. We're in northern California where it is supposed to be 60-80s in the summer. Wrong. Today it is 105. I guess it is time for us to head to TX so we can cool off.

Paranoid

Sorry for the lame pictures 2 posts in a row. The big camera is packed, and Blake has the other one, so I'm left to use the camera on my phone. Oh well. Since Blake packed his suitcase to go to NYC, Bo has been freaking out. The sight of any suitcase means freak out time for him. Yesterday, I packed all of our clothes, and really everything else in the apartment and left my suitcase for the weekend on the floor. Here's what Bo did... He climbed right in.He spent the rest of the evening in the suitcase, as well as the whole morning this morning. I guess he figured that I couldn't leave him if he was in it. Crazy guy.I'm about to head to the airport to pick up Blake. Bo an I have both missed him and are excited to get him back! I'm going to see what I can do to get him to write a blog about his few days there. It was a pretty busy trip.

Bath time with Bo

Last night, it was bath time for Bo. He HATES a bath more than anything. In fact, if he is being a jerk to either Blake or me, we tell him that it is bath time. That usually makes him nice again. All it takes is a threat. Anyway, I knew he was getting a bath last night, but I hadn't told him that yet. I was just doing dishes and getting the bath stuff ready (stealthfully, of course. I didn't want to tip him off.) It doesn't matter how careful I am about getting out the dog shampoo, conditioner, scissors, comb and towel... he still always figures it out and hides. Poor guy, he didn't hide well enough last night. He got a good hair cut and bath.
Here he is after the bath... wet, mad and cold. After I snuggled him for a little bit, it was hair dryer time. As usual, after that was over, he was HYPER. This is a picture I snapped of him with my phone in the 1 second I got him to be still. Crazy. There you have it. That is a typical bath time with Bo.

PS - I updated the sidebar for the blog. What do you think? Does it make finding things easier? Any suggestions?

what do you think?

What do you think about the new header and fonts? Green and gray, today, I like these colors together. Does everything show up ok?

revision to previous post

Apparently the quiz from the last post is a hoax. I retook the quiz using the same answers as last time, and this time I'm "Sophisticated". So, that means I range anywhere from "Rustic Comfort" to "Sophisticated"... using the same answers. No, I don't think so.
That said, I found another quiz. Try it here.
Come on... tell me what style you are! Leave a comment.

Today, I am "The Modernist":
As a modernist, you live by the motto that less is more. To you, interiors should be minimal and sparse, not embellished and cluttered. With a focus on color, texture and shape, the bones of a modern space evoke a neutral yet elegant environment. Timeless, white-lacquer walls, interesting woods like bamboo and gray oak, and fancy stones like polished limestone and carrara marble add contemporary sophistication. For warmth and interest, you’ve painted a few walls in bold accent colors or hung simple wallpapers made of grass cloth or metallic foils in intimate spaces such as the bedroom and bathroom. To further energize the room, you’ve added geometric touches in rugs and throw pillows and upholstered a few of your mid-century modern favorites in pop colors like indigo blue, apple red and canary yellow. Organic yet linear accessories such as trees (hold the fakes, please!), coral and orchids complete your design.

What is your design style?

We have a new apartment, or well, we will in a week. I told you a little bit about our new apartment here, so you know that it is 1200 sq ft. (a big change over 350 in NYC.) That said, we're going to need some new stuff to fill it up, so I've been looking at furniture online so I can have a good idea of what I like, show it to Blake to see if he likes it, and can find the best deal. I ran across this quiz on hgtv.com. It asks you 10 questions about what you like, and tells you your style based on that. Go ahead... Take the quiz and tell me your results. I'm curious what style everyone is going to be. Click here.
The quiz said that I am "Rustic Comfort"(read the full description below). I still don't know that I agree with that title because pretty much nothing I choose is "rustic", but after reading the description, I can see how that might work, but I would change it to "Contemporary Comfort". I think that would fit me much better because I like contemporary styled furniture, but I don't want to be sitting on weird plastic furniture either. I can see where the functional comes into play from our stay in NYC. It was a rule that everything in the apartment must serve at least 2 but preferably 3 purposes.
I also think that "rustic comfort" might just be a catch all... for the person who chose too many different styles in the quiz. Maybe in that case, they should call it "eclectic comfort" or even "eclectic contemporary". Yeah, that might fit me better than "rustic". What's your take?

Rustic Comfort

The verdict is in, but there's a twist. Your design style is a combination: part updated country, part ethnic flair, both with a contemporary look and feel. You need a home with casual and practical style – an environment that'll work for kids, pets, company and more. The emphasis is on simple yet attractive, durable furniture will hold up over time while your colorful accessories energize and entertain for years.

"The furniture for this design style could be contemporary or traditional, says Julie Rackley, an interior designer in Bellevue, Washington. "The common threads are comfort and durability" That means easy-to-clean synthetic blends like micro-fiber, which cleans up swiftly with a sponge. (So long silk!) Function is a key consideration as well. A multi-purpose ottoman that doubles as a coffee table or storage unit would work for you.

I want a Golden Opulence Sundae . . .

. . . Well, Not really. I do like ice cream, and I love chocolate, but I could do a lot of good with $1000.
Leave it to Serendipity in NYC to make just such a thing... a $1000 sundae.
Here is how it is described: "5 scoops of the richest Tahitian vanilla bean ice cream infused with Madagascar vanilla and covered in 23K edible gold leaf, the sundae is drizzled with the world's most expensive chocolate, Amedei Porceleana, and covered with chunks of rare Chuao chocolate, which is from cocoa beans harvested by the Caribbean Sea on Venezuela's coast. The masterpiece is suffused with exotic candied fruits from Paris, gold dragets, truffles and Marzipan Cherries. It is topped with a tiny glass bowl of Grand Passion Caviar, an exclusive dessert caviar, made of salt-free American Golden caviar, known for its sparkling golden color. It's sweetened and infused with fresh passion fruit, orange and Armagnac. The sundae is served in a baccarat Harcourt crystal goblet with an 18K gold spoon to partake in the indulgence served with a petite mother of pearl spoon and topped with a gilded sugar flower by Ron Ben-Israel."
Wow, that sounds good, but I think I'll stick to a good, hot chocolate chip cookie covered with vanilla ice cream and chocolate sauce, thank you.

Craig's list 2

Here's an update from the last post. We did end up selling our dresser. Awesome. It happened to be to a cute couple that just got married 3 weeks ago. She said that after moving into his apartment, she realized that he didn't have any drawers and it has been driving her crazy. (I can understand that.) Needless to say, she was really excited to get our drawers.
Next up for sale here in CA... our chairs, tv, tv stand, and microwave. I'll wait to list those till next week. I don't want to be in an empty apartment for another week with nowhere to sit, sleep (because we already sold our mattress), put my clothes, entertain myself, or cook. That doesn't sound like much fun at all.
We also have a few things to get rid of in NYC... our air conditioner, armoire, and tv stand (because it is too wide to fit in our new apartment). Blake will get those sold next week when he's in NYC. Speaking of... friends in NYC, Blake will be there late monday night through wednesday afternoon/evening. I'm sure he'd love to see you!

Craig's list...

It's a strange thing. You list your personal belongings for people to buy. They email you and say they will offer some ridiculously low price for an item that is worth much more. They might come over and examine the item you have for sale... only to try to again offer you much less than it is worth. It is a somewhat strange feeling.
Since we are leaving here in less than 2 weeks, we've begun trying to get rid of the things that won't fit in our car for the ride to Dallas. We started with our new memory foam mattress and bedroom dresser that we got when we moved here. We figured we'd go ahead and list them now so that they have a little longer to sell since they were new and we wanted a little more money for them than most things on Craig's list. The mattress sold pretty quickly and since Saturday, we've been sleeping on an air mattress. Boy was I spoiled to that awesome memory foam mattress. I'll never get any other kind. If you want to know where we got it, leave a comment or email me. I'll be happy to share my secret. As for the dresser, I think someone is going to come get it today. We'll see.
Still to get listed... the microwave, 2 chairs that we bought on Craig's list at the beginning of the summer, and a used tv and stand that we also got on Craig's list. Overall, I think we are looking to lose less than $100 total after we've sold everything... a much better option than renting furniture at a minimum price of $300 a month. (And honestly, for $300, I think we may have ended up with a NASTY sofa and mattress and not much more. I'll shop for my self, thank you.)

little miss muffet...

I don't remember the rest of that nursery rhyme, but I did see this outside of our apartment yesterday. Scary! What do I do? Grab my camera and take a picture of it, of course. Anyone know what kind of spider it is?

who does this remind you of?

Another Office clip that hits close to home. Who does Jim make you think of?

skwinkles

Blake and I went to Target tonight to get some dog food, and in the checkout lane I saw this for $.52:
Skwinkles SalsaGheti. I "you won'ted" (dared) Blake to eat them. He said "OK." Turns out it was the best 52 cents I've ever spent. Keep reading.
When we got home, I broke out the camera and told him to dig in. I was getting this dare on film. Here's the first taste.Just a little cringe after the first bite.Managing a smile... and describing the taste as "Cherry Twizzlers with Seasoned Salt". Now doesn't that make you want some of your own?
Also included in the package was this package of goo. He decided to be safe and taste the goo before dipping the spaghetti into it. His description of this was, "Rotten Taco Bell hot sauce." He proceeded to dip the spaghetti.
A nice pre eating smile.
... And the aftermath. Yes, it was that bad.
He did however say that this is only the second worst Mexican junk food he has eaten. The first being the Mexican Doritos that we got while on our honeymoon. We couldn't read what the flavor was supposed to be because it wasn't in English, but it could ONLY have said "vomit". There is nothing else we could come up with to describe the taste. BAD. I'm sure all the locals know to steer clear of the things and to just laugh at all the tourists that say... "Green package... must be lime or something like that." So, the Skwinkles... they were close, but will never equal the Mexican Doritos. Never.
Here's the dare... Anyone who is willing to eat your own Skwinkles, tell me. Nothing would give me more pleasure than to purchase a package for you. Rules are, you must have pictures taken to prove you actually ate them. Dare is on.

the office = real life episode 2

Blake and I have enjoyed watching the Olympics this week, and when I saw this clip, it really made me laugh. If you haven't read my philosophy (originating from my mom) on who I live with (Blake and Bo), now might be a good time to catch up on it before you continue reading this post. Click here to go back to it.
Alright, so we are all read up now, huh? Now you are ready to continue with this clip of Dwight. Several times, I've posted about the hotdog (and other toys) that Bo is obsessed with, and while Bo may not go "rabbit hunting" or "hampster hiding" like Dwight talks about, he does go "monkey and hotdog hunting" when we hide his toys in random places around the apartment. He doesn't give up for anything for any reason. You might even say it is the same intensity as Dwight in the clip.


Here's another clip that for some reason seems to hit home. It just so happens to be Olympic related also. When we saw this clip on TV, Blake was picking on Bo at that very moment. I laughed out loud at him.

hope it may help you someday

Today I've spent most of the day trying to find out the service providers for our new apartment so that when we move in, we'll be ready to go. Why do you care that I did that today? Well, you might or might not care in the long run, but hang with me...
On the "welcome letter" we got from our new apartment complex, it states that at&t is our provider for cable and internet. AT&T is our provider for internet here, and the whole first month of service, I think we called AT&T about every other day because it doesn't work. Finally Blake figured out something that made it work a little better. I don't know what, but I guess it is nice to live with someone who can figure that stuff out.
Alright, back to today... I took a look on the at&t website to see if I could find out what tv service they offered in our new area. Blake was hoping for U-verse... but no, it didn't look like that would work at our new apartment. The only other service they offer is through dish network. That would be fine but... our apartment faces the north, and to get satellite service, it has to have a southern view. Great... now what. So, I decide that I should just call AT&T because maybe I misunderstood the services that they offer... I'm on hold for what seems like forever (10 minutes) and finally a woman comes on the line and I her that I am trying to find out what service they offer in my new apartment. I give her our new address and she said "Hold, please...." Click... the line went dead.
Great, so I just waited on hold for 10 minutes for nothing. Time to try again...
This time it is a guy that answers... He says.. "I can't look that up for you. I can transfer you to U-verse..."
I said, "I already looked them up, and that service isn't offered, but I see that you have some other sort of service. Can you tell me about that? Is that what is used in our apartment complex?" He says... "I can't tell you if it is used. You can look online."
Getting frustrated now... "No, in fact I can't look online for that other service... it says to call this number for more information, but you can't tell me if that service is offered to me?"
"No, but I can transfer you to U-verse."
I ask to speak to his supervisor because obviously I already said... U-verse is not available.
He said that he doesn't have a supervisor... Liar. I got his name and badge number. I plan on reporting him.
I finally let him transfer me hoping for a better person this time. The next person was a lady. It started off great until she started asking me for my social security number. "WHAT? I just want to find out if you offer service in my new area. I'm not signing up today. I'm just finding out my options and prices."
She said, "Well, I can't find out if it is available if you don't give it to me. We have to check your credit before we can approve you."
I reminded her that I AM NOT GETTING SERVICE TODAY. I AM JUST FINDING OUT IF IT IS AVAILABLE IN MY APARTMENT. She persists and I ask her if she just wants me to make one up. Surprisingly she said... yes, so I did.
All this to find out that no, U-verse in fact is not available... Duh, I already knew that. She says that they do offer dish network in our area. I told her that our apartment faces the wrong way for that. Does she know if they have a central antenna? She said... "No, we don't do that." (Yes, as a matter of fact, I know that they do... but that is another story.)
The next call I made was to the apartment to find out more information. Here's what I found out... Yes, they use the dish network through AT&T. Problem comes when my apartment faces north. She didn't have a solution for that. She gave me another number to call for a guy that might know what the solution is.
Great... Call number 4...
He said that they do in fact have a central antenna. Just like I thought. Problem solved. All that, and I don't even think we are going to get cable right now. I was really just looking so that I could get internet service with the same company that we would eventually get tv through. Ahh, frustrating.
So, here's the real reason for the post. In my search for information, I stumbled across this site... www.whitefence.com. You tell them your new address and they tell you what service is there for Internet, phone, cable, utilities, newspaper, etc. It is a pretty good help even if I don't book anything through them. It is nice to know what options I have for electric companies.
Hoping White Fence helps you...

BUSTED!

Today was laundry day here at home. Normally that wouldn't really be "blog worthy", and it still isn't except I just had to share what I found as I was cleaning out all of the jeans pockets before throwing them in the wash. Here's what I found... 2 wrinkled receipts and 3 starburst wrappers. Looks like someone had some sugar... (blake)... the 7-eleven receipt was for a chocolate donut and a cinnamon roll... mmm, the things you can find out about a person by digging in their pockets. Love you, Blake!And, I've written about this before, but I finally caught a picture. This is Bo digging for his beloved hotdog that I hid under the covers. Check out that tail... straight up in the air. He was moving so fast that most of the pictures I took of him, he was blurry. I finally had to resort to my flash... not something I like to do. Crazy... crazy for sure.

working on stuff...

The last few days have been moving planning central around here. Task at hand... Get things from here (california) and everything from New York including the furniture from our apartment as well as all of our stuff from storage in Queens to meet in the middle... Dallas. crazy for sure. Blake has been on the phone with movers ALL DAY. Poor guy. They aren't the nicest folks around. On a high note, we found an apartment and put our application in today. Big relief! Though I'm not going to tell you the address on here, just in case there are stalkers reading this, I will tell you that it is right at 1200 square feet. NYC friends: you read that correctly. We're excited. Our NYC apartment was a whole 350 square feet if you count the long hall in the entryway. I don't think it takes a math expert to figure out that it is A LOT bigger. It comes complete with 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, a fireplace, balcony and all of the other comforts you get in the real world. That said... We'll have an extra bedroom and bathroom just waiting for someone to come use them. Please consider this your open invite.
Alright, that's what's happening with us today. Stay tuned for more...

A bit of a different direction...

As some of you know, and many of you don't, we are currently in California so I can work for Apple for the summer. It is a program that is set up so that retail employees who are good at what they do have the opportunity to advance in the company into the corporate environment. Things have been going really well here, and we have loved the experience. The weather is great, there are so many things we haven't seen, there is so much more space than New York, there are less homeless people chasing you on the street for money. Overall, we like it a lot here, and couldn't picture ourselves going back to New York after this.

This is probably why we are not going back to New York at the end of this month. (That isn't entirely true, I will be going back for a few days to get all of our stuff together and coordinate movers in getting our stuff out of storage, out of our apartment, and selling the rest online.) The funny thing is, we won't be staying in California either. About the same time I applied for the position here with Apple, maybe the month before, I had spoken with a guy at a pretty cool church in Dallas about working there to help on their technical team. I have been practicing my sound skills, technical skills and nun-chuck skills at the church we went to in New York, and felt like it was something I wanted to pursue as a career. A couple of weeks ago they offered me a position to work there full time, helping with sound, lights, technical aspects of the church, and training others in "the way of the tech".

Whitney and I prayed a lot about it, because we did not want to rush into anything just because there was something we wanted to do. We did not want to stay in California just because it was the financially smart thing to do. (I don't know if you know this, but Apple makes some pretty awesome stuff, and is a really good company to work for.) We also did not want to run into something where it wouldn't be a good fit, where we didn't believe that we were doing the right thing, and where we didn't feel like we were doing something that would help us grow in Christ. We like the church, we like the people, we feel that the church and my role there will meet us where we are, so we have decided to take things in a different direction than we had originally planned at the start of the summer.

We are super excited to be moving to Dallas. There is so much that needs to be done, but we are confident that everything will go as smoothly as it normally does. Thank you all for any prayers and support you can give us. We definitely appreciate them.

To Blake...

Happy Anniversary, my love! I can't believe it has already been 4 years. I feel so blessed to get to live life with you and I love you more and more as each day passes. Thanks for being an amazing and selfless husband and friend. You are a great example to me and to everyone who gets to know you.
I'm excited about what our future holds... because you and I both know that we never seem to do things the easy way... Why is that? Oh well, I guess we will never get bored.
In honor of you, and my past post about things I love... I'd like to share a few little everyday things that I love about you... with the world... Hope that's ok with you!

I love....

1. that you are sensitive (in a manly sort of way, of course.)
2. that you somehow eat everything I cook... without ever complaining!
3. that you make me laugh... every... single... day...
4. that you get Bo to eat when I can't.
5. that Bo likes you... like a lot.
6. when you give me back rubs.
7. that you put up with me when I'm stressed and do your best to help me realize that... it isn't the end of the world after all.
8. that you care about your friends and family.
9. your shoes... you always have the best ones.
10. you!

I could go on, but you are about to be home, and I am ready to go get some dinner with you.
I love you lots and am looking forward to this year with you!
Whitney

foooooore

I just thought I'd share some photos from our minigolf fun today. It is a beautiful sunny day that topped out at around 70 degrees (love that), so we decided it might be fun to check out the golf place that we have driven by a few times and always said it looked like fun. It was as fun as it has looked all summer.
Take a look...

How cute is this place?
Blake actually got a hole in one on this one. He hit the ball in the big red hole.
I didn't do so great on this hole. It was fun anyway.


Check out Blake's orange ball flying down the path toward the fort.
We went all the way to china. Blake was prepared.
The final score. It was a close one, but I squeeked out the win. Blake: 61, Whitney 58, but that is just because blake struggled with the last hole, and I just so happened to get it in on the first try.
Blake's reaction after tallying the scores.

things that make me happy

Just thought I'd compile a list of things that in general, I just like. Beyond the first few, they are in no particular order as that order could change from day to day.

1. my husband - this goes without saying. He's my best friend for sure. I enjoy living life with him.
2. my friends and family - I love and miss you all when I'm not with you.
3. bo - he keeps us company and at the same time keeps us crazy. How does he manage that? (as I type, he's demanding that I turn my attention to him.)
   
4. our car - 4 years ago, that wouldn't have made my list, but after living 3 years of going without one, I'm happy and thankful every time I get in it.
5. in-n-out burger - it's yummy, cheap, and less than 5 minutes from our apartment. love it.
6. chili's - just the smell as I enter makes my mouth water. (that is true)
7. airplanes - while I hate the hassle of flying, I love that they can get me across the country in a few hours so I can see the people I love.
8. the internet - what did we do before it? we now use it to research everything before we buy, keep up with everyone we know, and find a new place to eat.
9. iPhone - we carry the world in our pocket everyday. I can instantly look up a random fact to prove I'm right or get directions to anywhere we can think of going. More recently it now tells us where we should go to eat. (if you have an iPhone, download the "urbanspoon" app. love it.)
10. my small ESV Bible - My husband picked it out and gave it to me, it's handy, it's hard cover for durability, and I just like that version.
11. Project Runway - I know it's silly, but for some reason, I love that show.
12. the roomba - because right now... as I type... my apartment is getting vacuumed. (and every so often bo just so happens to be in its path and he almost gets run over. that is what he gets for giving me endless attitude.)
13. a dishwasher - because I can simply put the dirty dishes in it, and they come out clean! it's amazing!
14. bo's little squeeky hot dog toy - because to entertain him, all I have to do is hide it under the rug. He digs and digs and digs some more till he can get it out (or I give it to him).
15. new clothes - I like to wear them for the first time before washing them. Why? I don't know. I just do.
16. a good, strong, hot shower - I don't like those puny ones where it feels like I have to wash my hair for 10 minutes to get the soap out.
17. a bathroom with a vent - for many reasons... Do I have to explain? (ok... Our apartment in NYC didn't have a vent. The closest we got to one was the little window that opened up into the shaft area and faced other apartments. Can you say awkward?)
18. California weather - I think this is a no brainer. Who wouldn't like their summers to be 70 degrees?
19. suitcases with wheels - why didn't someone think of that sooner? Who wants to actually carry a bag when they can pull it?
    
20. a memory foam mattress - I don't think we will ever get any other kind. We both sleep great and sleep hard...
21. Diet Dr. Pepper - it wakes me up and tastes really good.
22. mexican food and hamburgers - my favorite foods hands down.
23. Did I mention that I really like that stupid squeeky hot dog toy that bo has? He's still digging in the rug for it. He is so tired yet for some reason he still won't give it up.
24. clean sheets for the bed - and I like it when they are cold on my skin when I get in them. There is no better feeling.
25. nice people - anywhere I can find them. They make me smile. It doesn't matter if it is a long lost friend or a check out person at the grocery store. I like it when people are nice.

Wow, I didn't intend on writing 25 when I started this post. Oh well, now you know me a little better.
What are some things that make you smile? Leave a comment!