Floor Plan Fun!!

So, i had to find a program for work that draws tree charts. I had to test it out and make sure the program did what the company is looking for and report back to them. I found one called SmartDraw and was trying it out when i realized: it had a Floor Plan function! How fun is that?? Well, its fun for me at least. For someone that started drawing imaginary home floor plans at the age of 9 in secret for years and then studied drafting in college for a few years, this is my new favorite toy. Sadly, i only have a trial version, and trial period ends today :( But, i played with it (in my non-working hours of course), and drew up the floor plan of our town home. I know the picture is a little blurry, but it was the best i could do. Trial version only let me save pictures with the words "MADE WITH A TRIAL COPY OF SMARTDRAW" covering half the diagram of all the copies and exported versions i tried to make. I had to "PrntScrn" it into a Paint file and cut out all the junk, so this was the best i could do. One day when i clean the house (i.e. actually make my bed and get all the splatter off the bathroom mirror) i'll add interior pictures of the real thing.

john wanted a blog about him

Today was the first time john saw our blog. He didn't really believe that i had started one like he wanted, but now he knows: it's real. He thinks its pretty :) so i have his approval for that at least. But...he didn't think there was enough about him in it for it to be considered "our" blog. My bad i guess (love you muffin!). But in my defense, it's hard to write stuff about his life when i don't see him every day. He's on the other side of the country!

if you didn't already know, john is in the Coast Guard and right now he's away at A-School in Elizabeth City, North Carolina for 5 months. YUCK. We got married last Aug. and 6 months later in March they ripped him away from me. When we got married we knew it was going to happen though, so we had prep time to be ready for this. He's been gone for a little over a month and a half though and we're holding strong still. It was hard the first few weeks, especially for me, but i'm doing a whole lot better now. The hard part was not being able to talk to him when i wanted to or for as long as i wanted to. Some days i'll be lucky to talk to him for 5 minutes before he has to go study. After being spoiled by seeing him every day...like a normal newly wed couple...it was hard for me. Weekends are kind of nice because he calls up to 5-8 times sometimes though. Its kind of cute actually, even when we're out of things to talk about because we haven't done anything all day he still calls. And he's sweet in not calling me before 9am (my time, 12 noon his) on saturday mornings. It's kind of a sacred day for me because it's the only day i get to sleep in past 7:45.

So, here's some things about john....He's doing great in school. He's really working hard at studying to make sure he's at the top of his class in ranking and so he can get his first pick of base assignments. His top choice is Hawaii at the moment (how often do you get the chance to move to hawaii right? might as well do it now), and then its a toss up between Sacramento and Elizabeth City NC...but the "toss up" part might be my wishful thinking...for him it might be Hawaii, Cali, and then NC in that order. At the moment i'm a little partial to NC though :) we'll see after vacation next month though. So yeah, he's doing well in school with high score on all his tests. he's pretty happy about that. he's making friends (which is probably a bigger deal to me then it is to him), he's losing all the weight he's put on since getting married (not may fault he was eating enough for 3 people in one meal. i only made that much so he could have left overs for lunch the next day) by playing Wallyball with ALL his free time. I miss him a lot, but he's doing really well and we're already almost 2 months through this.

The great news is we get to see each other in May!!! Super Excited! I'll be taking off a few days from work and flying out there for Memorial Day weekend. We're going to stay in Virginia Beach at a super fancy 4star hotel that john found super cheep online and we'll have tons of fun. The beach, theme parks, the aquarium (that one's for me!), site seeing and shopping, mini golf, and all kinds of fun stuff. Plus! i'll get to see one of my best friends Rachel cuz she moved out there a few months ago, so that's a bonus. So this trip will break up our time apart in half and i'm so grateful. it'll be a great little vacation together :]]

So, excuse me while i get a little girlie for a little bit, but writing so much about him makes me miss him more. I love the fact that i still have a crush on him. There are days that i'll find myself going through pictures i have around the house or online and all i can think is "...he's so cute." I love him. he's so handsome. i know there aren't a lot of people that care for red hair, but for as long as i can remember i've always had a thing for redheads and i've never figured it out. It was destiny i guess. We're going to have cute kids. This is a pic of john with one of his nephews (maybe Coty can tell me which one cuz i'm sure she knows her kids better then anyone, but my guess is that its Sam).If there is a baby or little kid around, if he's not the one holding them then he's usually close by. There are tons of pictures as proof of that. I think it's kind of cute. He's a great person and it's easy to be drawn to him. i love him :) There are things about him and things he does, i feel so blessed to be married to him. And he's a great husband. He'll surprise me some times. He pays attention and remembers the littlest things that i didn't realize half the time i had told him. He'll come home with things that are super special and sweet for me. And he puts up with my craziness (and i really do have my moments). When he's bored and not being entertained by something, even if i'm busy, he's in my face asking for all my attention. Commercials, walking around, shopping, even at church. Kisses ALL the time. Its kind of cute the way he does it even if it gets exhausting sometimes. But i love it. He's always trying so hard to make me happy. And he has a 6th sense for knowing when i'm crying, especially when we're watching a movie. That's one of the reasons i realized that i liked him a little more then a friend. We went to see August Rush in the theatre and he caught me crying and wiped away my tears for me. He still does it....i miss him :(

ok, this was a blog all about John. If i say any more i'll probably start crying. If you want to say hi to him, or say great things about him, you can leave a message on here :)

Oprah wants to know if you're a rude person

I think its safe to say that there are rude people everywhere. I wonder if there is a study to find where the rudest people in America are...? Probably. i can't find it, but there's a study about everything anymore, its just a matter of finding it. From what i did find, the internet says that Miami is the rudest city in America. i'm not saying this is true, i've never been there. In all honestly i haven't had a lot of people be rude to me in my life. At least nothing is jumping out in my memory at least. Except for Utah drivers...(i love all my Utah friends! you all drive awesome! most of you are implants...love you!).

Ok, the more i think about it, there have been people that were rude to me. Mostly on the road though. And i do remember this one time while i was in college working at Wal-Mart as a cashier, this lady cornered me in the parking lot while i was walking to my car and accused me of trying to ruin her marriage. i had NO idea what she was talking about of coarse. I had only seen her once before in my life and it was 15 minutes earlier when she came through my line and had grilled me about my personal life. But she yelled at me trying to make me fess up, and i stood there and listened and then told her either she had the wrong girl or her husband was lying to her because nothing she said about me was true, and i walked away. i cried on the phone to the guy i was dating at the time while i drove home. i was lucky to make it to the car before i started the crying though. The next day she came in on "his" arm while wearing a butt length trashy mini skirt and a smug look on her face. The guy wasn't even cute, he was creepy looking. And i know i would remember if i had "flirted" with him. I had never seen him before though. The whole thing was rude in my opinion.

But yeah, i have seen people do rude things to other people. Grade school and high school kids are mean ruthless rude little people. I pray we don't screw up when we raising our kids and they all turn out like that (john is such a good person i doubt it could happen though). People get more rude with the growth of technology i think too. Phones are a huge contributor. And people more and more often assume that they have the right to take whatever they want, do whatever they want, and make everyone do what they tell them... I won't mention any names, but i did have a particular roommate a while ago that felt free to go in my room and take anything she wanted (my iron, my clothes, makeup, cd's), and she also had a habit of using every dish in the entire kitchen while she covered it in mess and then leave for the rest of the day without cleaning any of it up. After cleaning up after her one too many times so i could actually use the kitchen i resolved the issue by making a no mess policy posted on the cabinet with a $5 fine for breaking the rule. i never had that problem again. When she would blow fuses in the circuit breaker causing half the house to lose power, she wouldn't fix it. she would leave it for someone else to fix if they needed power. One of the rudest people i ever met. If you know what the color code test is, she was a strong RED. I'll be the first to admit that there are positives and negatives about all the colors, and i have my own red moments when i'm at the very end of my patience, but this girl was a full-on huge negative of the red category, all the time, every day.

Oprah put a survey in her "O" Magazine called the Are You a Rude Person Quiz. i don't read her magazine personally, but i don't read any magazines except when i go to my parents and they have the Readers Digest sitting around. But i heard about this quiz and it got me thinking: Am i a rude person? Do i do rude things not realizing they're rude? So i did the quiz. They're all Yes or No questions:

1. Are you chronically late?

2. Have you ever typed an e-mail while talking on the phone?

3. Have you ever interrupted a face-to-face conversation to take a non-urgent cell phone call?

4. Have you gone through a supermarket 10-item express lane with more than 10 items?

5. While among friends or co-workers, have you yawned without covering your mouth?

6. Have you ever texted or talked on a cell phone in a movie theater?

7. Have you let your dog relieve himself on your neighbor's lawn?

8. Have you ever cut in front of someone in line?

9. Have you ever stolen someone's parking spot?

10. Have you ever let your child kick the back of the seat in front of him and not apologized to his victim?

11. Have you ever not RSVP'd to an event by the date requested?

12. Have you ever gossiped?

13. Have you ever taken someone else's food or drink from the office refrigerator?

There were 3 things on it i had to say "yes" to. They aren't things i make a habit of doing, but i'm a rude person i guess. I'm a wimp and didn't submit my answers to find exactly how rude i am though. Saying Yes to some of them is enough to realize i need to be paying more attention to what i do. My problem with this quiz is that i think there should be more questions on it. Things like: Do you return your cart to the cart return, or do you leave it in the middle of the parking lot for other people to hit when they try to get into a parking spot? Do you swear in public? Do you wear extremely revealing and/or tight clothing to places where that isn't appropriate or wear low cut jeans to show off your thong? Do you ever talk down to people to make them feel inferior? Do you clean up after yourself when you make a mess in a place other people use (like at a fast food restaurant)? Do you drive 6 feet away from the car in front of you on purpose because you think they're going too slow?

So, there's my rant on the subject. What do you think? What do you think is rude of other people to do? How rude are you? It doesn't really matter. i just got stuck thinking about this today so i wonder what the rest of the world thinks about it. I hope no one is being rude to any of you :)

...the best job in the world

I've had some ok jobs in my life and some stupid ones too, but i always got up and went to work...unless i needed a "sick day" *cough**cough**sniff*. Its been a few years since i've taken one of those though. In the last 2 years though i've landed some pretty cushy jobs working part time because they pay enough that i don't need the full time. Super easy jobs. At my job last year i had so much free time at work that i watched all the seasons of Ghost Hunters online (i'm addicted to the show but i refuse to watch it at home cuz it scares me so much). This job i'm at now, again i have a lot of free time and no work to fill it with because i work alone in a branch office and i'm at the mercy to the main office who give me assignments. i sit here until they tell me what they need. It can get monotonous and boring some days, but the ones that are busy can be enjoyable and worthwhile. I'm not doing something i love though, and i'll be the first to admit it. I didn't go to school to run an office. if you want to know the real truth, i want to take some art classes. i have these things in my head that i want to do and i don't know how to make them yet. When i figure it out then i'll devote my time to that. it'll happen one day.

This has been my secret wish dream job for as long as i can remember, the job that has nothing to do with anything about who i am. No reality about it at all. I've wanted to be that person that goes traveling around the worlk rating all the luxury hotels and restaurants for forever. It has nothing to do with talent. I didn't want to do it for money. Its just the plain being pampered and the enjoyment of it all. I imagined sitting poolside with virgin Piña Coladas, a big hat and a book. The fancy food and all that. But, where do you get jobs like that??

So, i listen to the radio while i'm getting ready in the mornings before work. My brain has a weird habit of getting stuck on odd thoughts, ideas, subjects, stories, and random memories in the mornings, like its still in dreaming mode, and that's all i can think about, so the radio gives me something else to think about and get out of being stuck in those ruts it gets in. In Port Angeles, in my opinion, the only good radio we get comes from across the sound in Canada. All the Seattle radio is too much static to pick up. So weather reports i have to convert from metric, their traffic reports will never effect me, i have to listen to them say things like "in hospital" and remind myself not to start saying it that way here, and i know i'll never get to participate in all the cool contests they have for their station. Morning radio is a lot of talk so they keep me up to date with what's going on in the entertainment world news, and then they throw in music about the time i'm always in the shower so i have something to sing along to, so it all works out.

A few weeks ago i was listening to them talk about "the Best Job in the World" contest. I don't know if you've heard about it, but i think it really does sound great. The "job" is to hang out for 6 months on the beach of an island off the coast of Queensland Australia. There's a resort, and you just have to test out their new spa treatments, skim a leaf off the top of a pool maybe, feed some fish, snorkel, eat, enjoy the scenery, hike, swim, and write a blog about your stay. And they pay you a lot of money for it! They've already picked the "job" candidates though. They're from around the world and overall attractive young people.

NOT FAIR!

So, yesterday i was listening to the radio again and now "the NEXT Best Job in the World" is taking "applications". It was inevitable to happen. It's a company the sells "Elite Travel Experience" vacations, and they want someone to try them all and blog about them. This is what their site says:

We are looking for an elite travel correspondent to travel the globe for six months, staying at the most exclusive and out of this world hotels and resorts, searching out and reporting on truly unique and mind-blowing experiences normally reserved for the rich and famous.

Imagine this: Enjoying a private candlelight dinner on the Great Wall of China; racing Ferraris through the twisting back roads of Tuscany; spending the afternoon picnicking in the middle of the Moroccan desert and then telling the world about it.

The "job" creator/company owner said there is a "James Bond Experience" where you get to run around pretending your James Bond. You get paid $50,000 for taking the "job", AND you can bring someone with you....I'm applying. There really is such a job that i dreamed of, and now i know how to get it. Not in my wildest dreams do i think i'll actually get the "job", but i can say i tried.

For My Protection

I've been having a hard time deciding what's appropriate for me to say in blogs. i know we don't have a lot of followers (3 that i know of), but my hope is to one day have more. One Day. i joke that Blogs are great for stalking, but if you do put the wrong things on here it really could be used for that. I'm living alone right now. That leaves me open and unprotected. John found out the hard way that i'm stronger then i look, but still.... I doubt that i'll get a lot of fan fair between now and when john gets back, but i scared myself thinking about it.... The other week i went and bought Pepper Spray and other "weapons". i did it because i heard a noise really late at night while i was falling back to sleep and thought someone might be breaking in through the window in the back bedroom. There was no break in attempt and i was hearing things (probably my extremely annoying neighbors going out onto their back deck to smoke), but the whole situation made me realize i had nothing to stop someone if i really had to. All i could think about at the time was a friend back in idaho that had woke up one night with her husband to a man standing over her in bed. He didn't attack them, but that's SCARY to think things like that really happen, and it could have gone a completely different direction. So after my night of fear trying to think of ideas of things i could use as weapons, stiletto heals were the best idea i could come up with at that time, i decided i needed something real. The whole time i kept questioning "why doesn't john play baseball so we could have a bat laying around?", and "if only i could have a dog!". oh well. like i said, nothing happened and it was unnecessary stress, but i did go after work to buy pepper spray and a few other things for my protection. I have a gun, but at the moment it lives with my dad in southern idaho and i can't really remember the reason that is right now so i plan to change those living arrangements soon. At the time all this happened, i was in the middle of writing a blog about our apartment. What it looks like and how it's laid out and all that, i even had pictures, but i changed my mind. I'll post that when we move out i think. So, if you read something on here you think is "too informative", please tell me and i'll remove it. I really am fine being alone for this small amount of time, its not permanent, but i'll still take precautions. Thanks for reading friends!