153

I had the whole day off today, and it was sooo nice! Ryan also had off, so we spent the day together. We headed off to Ikea and each got some things we needed. Ryan bought me a cute coffee mug for work, so now I don't have to use the "provided" mugs anymore :) Then, we went to a few more stores and grabbed lunch at Steak N' Shake. Later, we met up with Katie and Ryan for a few hours of Kennywood. It was a gorgeous day and we all had a great time.

152

Joey's first birthday!! It's technically tomorrow, but my sister had his party today. I can't believe its been a whole year already! I remember waiting around for hours in the cramped hospital waiting room, waiting for the big news. Times flies! His party was really nice, and we had perfect weather. When it came time for cake, he wasn't very interested in it, and actually was quite annoyed when he got frosting all over his hands :)

151

I was invited to a "Pure Romance" party for this girl I worked with. I've never been to one and heard they were funny, so I decided to go and brought Renz with me. Before hand, we grabbed dinner at Chik-Fil-A, where Katie proceeded to spill half of her milkshake all over her new car. haha! Oh, and we almost got killed by this woman who got severely TO'ed at the fact that Katie flipped her off. In fact, she GOT OUT OF HER CAR, and threatened to beat Katie up. It was definitely a "did that just happen??" moment. Oh boy.

150

I returned from class tonight to discover firetrucks at my complex -- power was out. Great! I had some grocery bags full of stuff to make a big ol' chicken salad for dinner, but those plans were quickly nixed. I ended up going and grabbing a salad at Wendy's and eating it by candlelight, with some Dane Cook playing on my (battery powererd) lap top. I then took a freezing cold shower, thanks to electric water heat, and then hit the sack since there was nothing else I could do in the dark.

149

I'm actually just about to go to bed, but I figured I'd post my photo quick. It's about the only interesting thing that happened today. It's not often you'll find me even near bed before 11pm, but I'm running on sparse cat naps over a 48+ hour period. GOODNIGHT!!

148

In honor of "getting back in to the swing of school", coupled with the fact that nothing else happened today -- I snapped a picture of part of campus last night on my way in to class. It's actually a pretty neat looking campus. Lots of older looking brick buildings. Kind of reminds me of Clarion :) Oh! And I took my first test yesterday, and nailed it was an "A" :D

147

Happy Memorial Day!! I went to a family picnic out at my Dad's cousins place. He owns a house and 30 acres of land, so it was basically out in the wilderness. Most of my Dad's family was there, as well as some family I haven't seen in ages. Gotta love answering the same question "So, what are you up to these days?" over and over again. I also got a funky sunburn on my chest and forehead. Woo!! Oh! And later, the boy and I were all set to watch the season premiere of Jon & Kate +8 and the cable freakin' froze! GRRR!!

Thank you to all of the brave men and women who have fought, or continue to fight for our country so we can enjoy the freedom we love

146

Ryan came up to Erie today to hang out. We were going to go to Niagara Falls, but decided against it since it would have been too much driving for Ryan in one day. Instead, we made the best of the day and did stuff around Erie. We went to the Peninsula for a bit, then up to the mall so I could get my eyebrows waxed. Ryan spotted a gadget store and ended up buying a Ped Egg (um, gross) and ShamWow's (haha) Later, we went to Sam's Club with my mom and sister and then he and I went to dinner at Longhorn. Then after Ryan left to go back to the burgh, Guy and I went to see Night at the Museum 2 -- cute movie!

145

Woke up fairly early today to spend some time with my nephew. The sun was shining, so my dad set up his little sprinkler pool and we took him outside. He LOVED it. I got so many awesome photos, its hard picking just one! My camera never fails to impress in natural light. Thats why I love it. hah. Later, I went over to Jerry's for his Memorial Day cook out, and like always, it was a blast. I was so happy to be able to see everyone and catch up!

144

I'm back in Erie for the weekend and I've done pretty much this, all night. No one is really around and I don't have much energy tonight to get up and go anywhere. Getting up at 4am will do that to you. I have done some laundry though, and watched Paul Blart; Mall Cop with my mom. Now it's time to catch up on some US Weekly mags.

143

Since I have tests next week already, I had to get a move on in buying my textbooks for class. I forgot how ridiculously expensive they are! Actually, no I don't because I never had to buy them before. Mucho thanks to my parents for that. But now since I am doing this on my own, I'm responsible. Over $200 bucks for three measily books. Ludacris!! I would have gone the half.com route had I had enough time. sigh.

142

We went out tonight for drinks and dinner to celebrate Katie's engagement. The three of us are now at each stage in the relationship "cycle" -- married, engaged & dating. Thus the naked finger picture. haha. I had me a couple marg's and they were fabulous. Our waitress was terrible. After dinner we grabbed ice cream at Dave & Andy's.

141

It was such a long, tiring day -- but I'm back in school again! It was weird getting back into a classroom two years after graduation. The class is freakin' LONG, but only twice a week. I was slightly bored with the topic (cellular molecules) but its a Bio class, so its bound to pick up soon enough!

140

My day was spent lazying around and getting my stuff set up for my online class. Then I worked and made some decent money, for a monday night (and a Pen's home game night)

This is what I found when I arrived at work this evening. The [new] security guard..sleeping. Apparently he did it all last night too. I feel safe. NOT.

139

This picture really has nothing to do with my day, but, its okay. It's the only picture I took. Basically, I re-discovered the Crest White Strips in my cupboard, and decided to finish up the box. My teeth could use a little bleach to brighten them up!

Other than that..the boy and I spent the day together. We saw The Soloist, then he did his grocery shopping and then we got dinner at Patron's. mmm Mexican! We ended the evening by watching fascinating shows on TLC about morbidly obese people.

PS-- My BFF Renz got herself engaged today!! woo-hoo!!!

138

The aftermath photo. haha. Today was Katie's real birthday, so we met up for lunch at Chili's. We then did a little mall shopping before I had to depart for work. After that, I pretty much spent the rest of my night working. Not so fun, I'd say.

137

Happy (pre)Birthday, Renz!! We started off the evening with dinner at Bucca di Beppo with Elisa. Lots of good eats and desserts! I was fine until the dessert came, and oh boy..I then became stuffed! After dinner, we got our "drank on", for lack of better words. haha. We ended up renting a limo to take us to Station Square, which was a nice little switch up. The bar was fun with more drinks and dancing. Most of us ended the night feeling less than sober. It was a great time :)

136

This is the only picture I took today. This was while I was watching the 2-hour season finale of Grey's Anatomy, which, by the way, was awesome. Total cliffhanger at the end..and now they make us wait four months! Ryan was a trooper and while he threw in a few comments here and there, he was nice enough to let me watch my show (as well as Idol earlier this week :p )

135

It hasn't even been two weeks since my manicure, but already my nails were chipped and gross..so, I took it upon myself to french tip them on my own. The one positive about getting that manicure was that I didn't bite my nails (the skin though? of course)so I had a little room to work with. haha.

Ryan had dinner with Pete, so I hung out until they got back. Then, the three of us watched the Pen's game. Was it for real? Five goals in less than two periods. Woo-hoo!! Plus, Adam is going to the finale. Great night for meee!!

134

I met my sister and nephew at Tanger Outlets this morning after work. We did a little shopping. I got some new yoga pants from Old Navy, and a couple new tanks. Oh, and some Moose Munch from Harry & David (thanks Elisa! you got me addicted!!) Joey makes this new face now. ALL. THE. TIME. We call it his mean face, and its hilarious. If you say something to him that he doesn't like, he glares at you. Not even a year old yet, and full of 'tude. Love it.

And to redeem himself, here is a picture of him smiling, just to show he's not ALWAYS making a mean face ;p

133

Aside from my trying my hand at a spinning class (and feeling like I was dying/going to throw up at the same time!!) the next interesting thing that happened today was the hail storm. Yea, in the middle of May. I was at work and all of a sudden, the sky just opens up and this monsoon happens. We all thought it was rain until peering outside and realizing there were giant chunks of, well, ice, falling from the sky. It was a little insane, I will admit.

But yes. Spinning? Never again. That is, until I get myself in to some serious shape because that stuff is INTENSE. I do not lie!

132

Happy Mother's Day to the Mom's out there! I didn't make it home this weekend, but I sent my mom a card and called her. I will be going home in a couple weeks and she will get her gift then (and hopefully she will be able to move by then!)

The boy and I went to see Earth today. I really enjoyed it, save for the parts where the baby animals get eaten. I know its nature, but its still sad! Beforehand, we stopped off at the new Sonic to grab a quick lunch. I wasn't real satisfied with my grilled chicken wrap -- but my low-cal cherry limeade was yummy! After the movie, we went to Best Buy where I drooled over camera's and Ryan drooled over TV's and tested out video games. Finished up the outing with grocery shopping at Walmart and then we got back and I made dinner for Ryan and my brother.

131

Check out the fierceness that is the Ab's! After working this afternoon (and pocketing some decent money!) I drove out to Greensburg for dinner at Texas Roadhouse with Elisa, Dave, Michelle, Nathan and Abby. That kid is a hoot! Since the boy was working all day, Abby was my date. She is too cute and full of personality. She's just a few months older than Joey..I think they should date in the future ;)

130

Melissa was still in town when I got off of work, so we grabbed a quick lunch and went to the Ross Park Mall for a bit before she left. Later, the boy and I decided to walk to this Irish pub down the street to try it out. It was good food! Then, the neighbor girl and I watched Bride Wars since Ryan refused to watch it. haha.

129

Tonight was Dane Cook! Melissa got tickets for her birthday and invited me to go. Beforehand, we had dinner at "The Souper Bowl" with her brother and his girlfriend. The show itself was kinda short, but I enjoyed myself. He had a couple opening acts, and the one guy was hilarious! I almost thought it was just a little bit funnier than Dane!

128

It was such a long, waste of time day at work. But, I ended up getting the evening off, so I spent it with the boy. We decided to just get a pizza and watch TV all night. When I got there with the pizza, he greeted me at the door with a yellow rose :) Never had a yellow rose! He also got me salad and my favorite croutons. mmm. We ended up meeting some other neighbors in his building after someones car horn went berserk and wouldn't shut off. Turns out, there are a two other couples who live in the same apartment building, around the same age as us and they are really cool. Do I sense drinking/game nights in the future? Fun!

127

Happy Cinco de Mayo!! It was an overload of mexican food today, for sure. We had a little fiesta this morning at work with lots of yummy mexican-esque food. Later, after recovering from the fiesta, I decided to make (another) mexican themed meal for the boy and I. I made enchiladas, refried beans and rice. Mmm mmm good!

126

I busted out the headphones at work and listened to the soothing sounds of Elton John and Phil Collins. Sometimes, music just helps me concentrate!

Earlier, I was busy at work all day. It started out being quite prosperous, until a party that was supposed to show up, never did. Oh, and you can't forget the wonderful folks who left $5 and a HANDFUL OF CHANGE as a tip, for their $75 check. Yea. After work, I was real productive. I had four hours before I had to be BACK at work..so, I threw in a load of laundry, went to the gym and showered.

125

Check out the ridiculousness that is my yard. Clearly, it is in need of some maintenance. Funny, because the creepy maintenance man is ALWAYS lurking around..why isn't he mowing the lawn?

124

Girl's day!! We started off the afternoon by getting pampered with mani/pedi's. I love pedicures, but because I am ridiculously ticklish, parts of it were torture! haha. Then, we had lunch at Red Robin, then went to see Ghosts of Girlfriends Past. Later, I went to Dennis' birthday party where everyone was already wasted by the time we got there. Awesome.

123

Tonight was date night with our favorite couples -- Katie, Ryan, Elisa & Dave! We wanted to have dinner at Mad Mex, but the wait was ridiculous, so we settled for Outback Steakhouse. My steak was undercooked, then overcooked..so my meal ended up being free. Score! After dinner we played putt-putt. I managed to get two hole-in-one's, but still came second to last. Go figure. But, the girl's totally beat the boys :)