Erin with an E

Home Sweet Homey

2011-11-07T23:16:00.000-05:00

I've been blog-absent for awhile, because life has been crazy and busy and crazy-busy. Some good, some bad. But for now, I will stick with some good and give a sneak preview of...our new house! I only have a few pictures today, and they are outside pictures...stay tuned for the inside.

New burning pit/cage/basket....Cory says if they didn't know we were from Michigan before, they sure do
now.....

My dad found it on the side of the road with this note:

Front of our house...

More front....

Side of our house- this used to be covered in ivy and getting rid of it was a BIG job...

Those barrels of ivy are 2 of like 6...

And last but not least...the back door and window and my handsome kitty...

That's all for now....we're finally getting the inside set up and it's feeling like home. So, more to come...

Movin' on UP!

2011-09-22T19:43:00.000-04:00

This is me and my sister Lauren. We did the robot in green light dots. She's in Brazil right now for our Brazilian brother's wedding. My sister Kyle and I don't have passports or money so we couldn't go. But congrats to Eduardo and Sarah!!

I have some big news myself! No, I'm not pregnant. That's what everyone guesses everytime I say I have "big news", and that's never it. When I called to tell people I was engaged, 3 of my closest friends/family guessed baby before engagement. This time, the news is....me and Cory are buying a house!!! HOORAY!! No more stupid apartment!! I can't wait to move in! We should be closing early next week. I was hoping to close tomorrow, but, c'est la vie.

So with moving comes lots of packing. I don't like packing. I don't like moving. But I LOVE being moved- like, when the move is done, I love being in a new place. And some parts of packing are fun, like finding old things from when you were a kid. I found tons of really funny notes and drawings from my sisters (including diary entries written in my diary by my older sister Ashley, including the genius entry "I hate Ashley, she is always writing in my diary"). Here are two of my other favorites:

This one is a drawing my sister Kyle did which says, "To Erin P___, from Kyle P____. I know you love garfield so I made you this." Is that not the cutest?! I feel like I should have posted a picture of young Kyle to go with this so it's double-cute....

Ah, that's better.

This one was a triple effort. As a back-story to this one: Kyle's real name is Kyleen. She is the youngest. When we were little, me and Lauren used to tell her that she was supposed to be a boy and that my dad (who's name is Scott) wanted to name her Scottleen. The front says "The Lauren & Kyle Case. Summary: Kyle fake farted & Lauren fake & real farted. Kyle threw 4 shoes at Lauren when Lauren called her names." The first page is Lauren's side: "Kyleen hit Lauren twice with tennis shoes just because I called her Fartleen, because she was farting. I'm suing her for 5 cents because of hurt feelings. Signed, Lauren. Another thing I'm suing her for is spitting in my hair." Second page, Kyle's side: "She farted then was calling me Fartleen. I asked her nicely a few times to stop but she wouldn't so I yelled and she just started calling me Scottleen. So I got real mad and threw a shoe. So I am suing for 5 cents for calling me Fartleen and Scottleen. Signed, Kyleen." There is another page that is hard to decipher, but I think it says that we determined that Lauren wins the case because words don't physically hurt and shoes do.

I heart my sisters.

Texas

2011-08-21T13:25:00.000-04:00

Quiche Cat

2011-08-01T21:24:00.000-04:00

View from my bed...

The delicious new lunch I discovered at the bakery across the street from my work- veggie quiche with delicious fresh fruit!

Summer....

2011-07-27T22:41:00.000-04:00

Me and my sister were in a parade!

We've also been having lots of pool parties....

And a few months ago, Cory and I went to Baltimore & DC...we ate street food...

In the next few weeks, I will be going to Cedar Point, Pennsylvania, Baltimore, and then Texas! I will be very busy. And I need money! Time to post things on Ebay.... :)

Time for Bed....

2011-07-05T22:37:00.002-04:00

A Few Of My Favorite Things...

2011-06-28T20:06:00.000-04:00

Teenage Dream

2011-06-28T20:02:00.001-04:00

I went to see Eddie Vedder last night at the Fox Theatre in Detroit, which is the most beautiful theatre I've ever been to. And the show was AMAZING!! And we sat in the FRONT ROW!! He played his own solo songs, and also played Neil Young's "Damage Done"...and we all know I love me some Neil Young.

And some Eddie Vedder.... :) I could hear 13 year old Erin in my head, saying, "OMG!!! Eddie Vedder! Why aren't you wearing a flannel shirt right now while you're watching this, Erin?"

1 Year

2011-06-05T17:47:00.000-04:00

Seriously.

2011-05-26T20:45:00.001-04:00

It is never going to stop raining.

Fun Times, Summer in Some Cities...

2011-05-24T20:15:00.010-04:00

So much has been going on! This happens every year at this time and is why I love summertime so much...so many fun goings-ons...

First, we went to visit my best gal Angel in Baltimore (and her boyfriend Dustin, of course). We ate delicious foods, went on a ghost walk, visited museums, went to Washington, DC to see the sights (and have dinner with my wonderful aunt & cousins & uncle). We had so much fun, I can't wait to go back sometime!! Angel and Dustin are great hosts. And I tried mussels for the first time! So big!

Oh, and this is Kegasus. He is legendary. Obviously.

And this is me and a giant bunny.

Last Friday, Mike, Steph, Cory, Lauren, Kasey and I all went to a bar called Ashley's in Ann Arbor. Lots of good times and shenanigans ensued, including silly poses and odd props.

And Favorite Nikki married Derek! They are adorable and the wedding was beautiful.

3 of my sisters...

And being Dawn's sister now is awesome, she is hilarious. For example, doing things like this to Stuart when he passes out drunk (after tucking his beers in next to a porch outside).

Oh, and today I volunteered with my co-workers at a senior center and cleaned things and then felt so motivated, I finally cleaned out my car. And tomorrow I will eat a bagel in there again and mess it all back up. The end.

2011-04-21T20:03:00.000-04:00

2011-04-18T17:55:00.001-04:00

Abe vs. Fluff: The Rematch

2011-03-03T18:24:00.000-05:00

Mother Nature is a Dirty Tease

2011-02-22T18:46:00.006-05:00

So it was unseasonably warm for about a week. Now we have payback....

While I waited for my boss to meet me at the bank to reset the vault since we don't have power and can't open....

On my way home from working at a different branch....

In my "backyard", aka parking lot....

And in case you were wondering...yes, I AM still afraid that this tree is going to come through my bedroom wall, especially with all the ice build up, thanks for asking! :)

On the bright side, I am fully stocked with sandwich fixins, cookies, leftover pizza, and beer. So if we get all the way iced in, we're good to go.

How Knuckles Helps Erin Take Pics for Ebay

2011-02-20T19:21:00.001-05:00

Pirate Cat Hearts

2011-02-16T21:03:00.003-05:00

Today I got a super adorable Valentine's Day card from my bestie, Angel.

It is full of things that I love! Cats, pirates, hearts, sentiments...

On an unrelated note, has anyone else been watching the new Hawaii Five-O? Because I love it. And it makes me want to go back to Hawaii. Although I would totally want to go back if that show never existed. Seriously, I've been having dreams about Hawaii on a weekly basis.

Speaking of shows, my sister has recently discovered that Drake, the rapper, was on Degrassi. So I had to explain to her that Degrassi is a show that has seemingly been on a continuous loop on the Canadian channel for the last 30 years. And now we are watching it on the Netflix Instant Queue. Did you know Drake's real name is Aubrey Graham? Fun fact of the day. Even though no one who reads my blog probably listens to Drake. I only know who he is because of Kyle, and because of him being in videos with Rihanna on CoolTV. Cause I do love me some Rihanna, and I even more love me some CoolTV, which is the best TV channel ever.

White Out

2011-02-15T22:46:00.004-05:00

So in case you haven't heard, it snowed a lot in the Midwest and- well, most of the country- recently. Then it got really cold. Then, this weekend, it got warmer! So me and my mom and Abe- my dog/not my dog/but still my dog went to the park. I knew the snow was going to melt, so I kept trying to get pictures of how deep it was by showing the snow in comparison to Abe.

But it's hard to get dogs to pose for pictures...

On an unrelated note, this is a picture of the tree that might come through the wall of our bedroom someday. See that awesome lean? That wall it's resting against is the other side of the wall of our bedroom. Our bed is on the other side of that wall. The apartment complex says they will take care of it "soon".

On another unrelated note, my cat's favorite place to sleep is a shoebox.

Man, that's cold...

2011-02-09T21:38:00.006-05:00

I posted this picture to remind myself that I was once somewhere that was warm and snow did not exist.

Also, I cannot figure out how to edit the part of my blog that says I live in Toledo with my boyfriend. Since he was my boyfriend 2 titles ago, it seems like it should be updated, but blogspot won't let me, so...boyfriend it is!

Speaking of boyfriends, I broke up with snow on my Facebook page, but judging from the mountains of it everywhere I turn, I don't think the break up took...

P.S. I also don't have roommates anymore...unless you count Husband and Knuckles...but Knuckles doesn't pay rent and won't clean his own litterbox no matter how many times I beg him to, so...

....

2011-01-05T17:47:00.004-05:00

Angel and I were 11 years old when we met at a mutual friend's birthday party in the middle of the summer. We hit it off, but didn't see one another again until the first day of school. I was in the middle of a crowded hallway, amidst a sea of unrecognizable faces, when all of a sudden I saw Angel pop up over everyone else, meet my eyes, and yell, "Hey, I know you!" And the rest, as they say, is history.

I remember going to her house when we were younger, and her sisters had matching bob haircuts and her mom drove a giant yellow Cadillac. Her brother was barely a toddler. I remember finding out that her mom was in college, studying to be a nurse. I remember being so impressed by that, because she was the first mom I knew who was in college, and I couldn't believe she'd been out of school for so long and had the guts to go back. And I could see how hard she worked, while still taking care of four kids. That was unfathomable to me at that age. When she started working at U of M, I used to wonder, "Now if I have a baby, would it be feasible for someone to drive me all the way to Ann Arbor to deliver it?"

I remember their old cat, Kermit, who her mom was convinced was a boy. We kept telling her, "Um, I think Kermit's pregnant." And I think up until the kittens were actually born and looking at her, her mom would answer each pregnancy assertion with, "No, he's not, he just ate a rabbit."

Kermit birthed many litters and one of the kittens from those litters birthed my cat, Knuckles. Angel's brother wanted to keep Knuckles because he looked different than every other cat in the litter, but Angel's mom insisted that I take him home, because she knew he'd lose interest in the cat before I would.

I remember family vacations, and being invited along and taken to beautiful cabins in Hocking Hills, and fed delicious food. I remember getting in trouble in high school, and never being judged by her, always being accepted...

When Angel moved to California, there was an ice storm back here in Michigan. I lived in an apartment with well water and we had no power, but on day 2, I had to go back to work and desperately needed a shower. I called Angel's mom and she said, "Yup, we have power, come on over!" Without Angel even on the same coast, she welcomed me over to intrude on her morning in a house full of people who I'm sure also needed the bathroom.

When she got sick, and Angel would visit, she would still be kind and generous, never letting on that she was exhausted, and in pain. I remember going to her house last summer, and even though everyone kept telling her that she didn't need to, she would ride around on a golf cart and pick the vegetables that had grown on the farm. Then she insisted that I take a carload of them home, and come back whenever I wanted more. I kept meaning to make zuccini bread out of the giant zuccini she gave me, but never quite got around to it...

And even in her last weeks, I remember sitting on a stool in her room, laughing about her dogs with her and shaking our heads at each other over sibling rivalry happening in the other room. Always smiling, even then...

Thank you for all of your kindness and generosity over all of these years, Tina. The world is a worse place without you in it.

Half-A'd Update

2010-09-14T22:27:00.003-04:00

I noticed today that I have not updated my blog for a really long time. And that I always say that. I am a blog slacker. But I have been working my regular job, and working a second job, and being married, and not cleaning my house, and there were all these pool parties I had to attend...

As you can see, my slack-y-ness is not my fault.

I will try to visit you more often...

Engaged-iversary

2010-08-21T00:03:00.000-04:00

Awesome Things I Have Witnessed Recently

2010-07-23T21:42:00.003-04:00

- A girl at the beach at Lake Michigan, talking to a bunch of her friends in a bikini, while nonchalantly scratching her crotch. I mean, really going to town on it. While they all just kept talking to her like she wasn't almost knuckle-deep.

- Two girls at the Tom Petty concert, dancing as if they were on ecstasy throughout the whole concert, NOT to the beat of the music. Except during one slower song, and I'm pretty sure they were to the beat that time purely by accident.

- Another crazy broad at Tom Petty who broke down in tears because the usher told her she was in the wrong seat and that her correct seat was actually in a better location. She didn't want to move. To a better location.......

- A customer at the bank who said, "The tax place was closed when I got there! Are they only open in the morning?" To which I responded, "I don't live around here, I'm not sure. Did they have hours posted on the door?" "Yeah, they did." !! Seriously?

- My DVD player tried to hold True Blood hostage, so we had a war, which I won...now if only the battle wound on my finger would heal...

- A 50-60 year old man, riding his bike down 223, wearing a bright, flourescent green shirt so your eye was really drawn to him...with his penis hanging out of his shorts. And either he was really happy about riding his bike...or good for you, buddy!

- My Brazilian brother, Eduardo, in town with his sister and girlfriend. Short visit, but a great one!

- Bobby giving the boys dolphin rides in Lake Michigan, while other confused swimmers watched, and Bobby's girlfriend Sarah and I laughed... (p.s. there is video...)

A Long Winded Post About a Gal's Wedding...

2010-06-29T21:55:00.021-04:00

I have been totally MIA when it comes to this blog. I hope the three of you who read it haven't missed me too much, haha. Obviously I was very busy planning my wedding, then having my wedding, then being on my honeymoon. Then I was busy being home and getting back to normal, non-wedding life. Which has been super busy. I have a lot to share, but for today, I will stick with sharing some of the highlights of the wedding (well, highlights from my point of view, anyway)... :)

** While waiting for our turn to walk down the aisle during the Rehearsal, my dad pulling out a bottle of water, taking a drink, and telling me, "This will be gin tomorrow."

** While waiting for our turn to walk down the aisle during the wedding, my dad turned to me and said, "I hope I don't take too much attention from you. I look really good today. I hope some people will actually look at you." Then as we were walking down the aisle, "I hope everyone's not just staring at me..."

** The night before the wedding, my sister Lauren and our best friend Holly spent the night at my house. When we were growing up, the three of us did EVERYTHING together. Always. Since we were like 1. So the 3 of us spending the night before my wedding together was very appropriate. We had a ridiculously good time. We ran around my apartment, drinking beers and shooting each other with Nerf guns ("someone" shot me in the eye; I won't name names, but I do remember yelling, "NOT MY EYE! I'M GETTING MARRIED TOMORROW!"). We ran next door to Stuart's apartment and hung out with him for awhile, then came back for more beer and tons more laughs at my place. The perfect ending to my days as an unmarried lady.

** When I put my dress on before the wedding, I got a lot of "Ooohs!" and "Ahhs!" But when I put on my veil...that's when I think it all got very real and I got a lot of sniffles...

** My best friend Angel cried during the wedding rehearsal, which I thought was very touching, and then throughout the wedding, I could hear sniffles coming from the bridesmaid side behind me...I think she started a crying chain, haha....but I thought it was very sweet. Myself, I was OK until I got to the end of the aisle with my dad and Cory was standing there, and I knew it was the part where I'd be given away...I teared up, then I looked at Lauren and made her tear up...Pf's can never withstand another crying Pf...gets us everytime...haha...

** From my point of view, I couldn't see my flower girl, Nevaeh, go down the aisle. She was very shy about the whole thing during the rehearsal, so I was hoping she wouldn't freeze up during the wedding. When we came down the aisle, I could see that she hadn't quite frozen up all the way...she managed to drop big bunches of flowers in two places- at the beginnning of the aisle, and the end. I guess she threw the first bunch, got shy, then saw my friend Bethany's husband and daughter holding out candy, which is how they coaxed her down the rest of the way. So she got to the end. threw one more bunch, and jumped into the pew with them...and the candy.

** Instead of saying, "I do," Cory said, "Definitely!" <3

** We were so blown away by the love, affection and generosity of everyone who came to the wedding. It was amazing the amount of people who came to town, and from how far away they all came. We had family from all parts of Pennsylvania, DC, and Kansas; friends from all over California, Kentucky, Michigan; my friend Darren came all the way from Georgia and my best friend Angel came all the way from Tokyo!! She was one of my bridesmaids and she flew in the day before the rehearsal! I know she had to be exhausted, but she didn't show it and was the perfect bridesmaid. ;)

** My dress was ridiculously huge in the skirt.

It was exhausting to wear because it weighed so much, but I wouldn't have changed a thing about it, I seriously LOVE that dress (I miss it already!). But, to go anywhere before I had it bustled after the ceremony, it took most of 7 of my bridesmaids to carry it. And my poor gals had to put my shoes on, take them off, put them back on when it was time for the garter, and take them back off after. Sara also put my garters on for me before the wedding, cause I forgot to put them on before my dress. Obviously, all of my bridesmaids are very good sports. They are lucky that I got so swept up in the wedding business that I didn't ever use the restroom while I had the dress on. Cause that woulda been tricky. Believe me.

** Cory and I danced our first dance at the reception to Neil Young's "Harvest Moon". That was a really great moment for me. So romantic, and so wonderful. I had that song in my head for days afterward. Another great dancing moment was when "Weak", by Belinda Carlisle- a song I specifically requested the DJ play- came on. I couldn't find Cory anywhere and really wanted to dance to it, so I grabbed my friend Stephanie and we slow danced to it. Also had a great 3-gal dance circle during "Don't Stop Believin'" by Journey.

** The kids at the reception were so much fun!! I had a lot of dance requests from the little girls, who all kept telling me I was beautiful and that I looked like a princess (did I mention I love kids? haha). Our friends' son Timmy is very shy, but at one point, he told his dad, Tim, and our friend Bobby that he really wanted to dance with me. So I tried, and he got very shy and refused to dance and ran away. So I waited until he was dancing with Bobby, holding hands, and I ran up, broke in and held hands with both of them and joined their dance. That worked, and he was thrilled. My friend Candaise's daughter Audrey was out there busting a move the entire time- she was tireless!- and SO adorable.

** Instead of smashing each other's faces with cake, the DJ suggested we smash it on our best man & maid of honor's faces. So we lured them up there, and tried to do just that- but Cory moved faster than me, so he got the side of Dustin's face but when I tried to get Lauren, she saw it coming and darted away, so I only got her arm...but still, better them than me, haha...

** Cory and I banned synchronized dancing from our wedding. We just don't like it. The DJ pointed out that lots of people do like it and would probably request the synchronized songs, so I told him to blame it on me and tell them that I said no, and come see me for details, if necessary. So my neighbor's daughter came up to me, very disappointed, "The DJ won't play 'Cha-Cha Stomp'!" I said, "I know, sweetie, I don't like those songs so I told him not to play them. Why don't you request a different song?" "I tried, but he wouldn't play that, either- he said it had too many cuss words!" She is around 8. And couldn't think of a non-dirty song to request. Yikes!

** Our friend Bethany was our photographer. During the reception, the three of us went outside to take pictures. My cousin Claire's son Dakota came with us, and "helped" us out by blowing bubbles at us while we were getting pictures taken. He's very artsy. ;)

** After the wedding, we had an after-party at my parent's house for the bridal party, their partners, out of town friends, and of course the fam. On the way there, my mom stopped at Circle K with me and Cory for beer. And we walked in and found Angel, Dustin, Lauren, Bethany, Sara, Aaron, and Dawn. All at the same store. At the same time. With no planning.

** At one point, during the after-party, I was standing outside under the overhang (what we call the cement area with an overhanging awning off my parent's garage). I was drinking a beer, chatting, laughing, having a great time- and I heard the tornado siren. And I remember noting it, and shrugging, like, "Eh, I'm sure it's fine." Luckily, for us, it was- but apparently tornadoes hit all around us and devastated a lot of areas. And we all just kept partying, totally oblivious. Oops.

** I know I'm missing tons of highlights, such as my sister's Maid of Honor speech, which was amazing...

...but I also know that wedding highlights from someone else's wedding aren't as interesting as I'd like to think, haha, so I'll stop now. Except for this....

** This picture may be the best picture ever taken of all time:

Best Day Of My Life....

2010-06-06T18:23:00.002-04:00

Happy

2010-04-04T23:03:00.000-04:00

Happy Easter! Happy Spring!

Spring and Summer are our reward for getting through the winter...

Rain, Rain, Go Away...

2010-03-22T21:48:00.002-04:00

I feel like I should have some really interesting things to write about because I have been mega-busy lately, but I can't think of much. My boss was out all last week so that left me and my one remaining co-worker to run the whole branch. Hectic, but Misty and I make the best of these situations. By which I mean, we ruthlessly make perverted jokes and pick on each other the whole time while also being super productive. I have also been collecting RSVP's for my bridal shower and collecting the invites that come back undeliverable, which is good to know now before the actual wedding invites go out. And I have been harassing the boys to go get fitted for their damn tuxes already, but to no avail...(insert giant sigh here)...everytime I mention it to my dad, he gets as sarcastic as he can, "Oh, yeah, keep me posted on THAT!" He's super excited to dress up. I have not had to bargain with and bribe him at all.

Oh, and I have been working out a lot!! Except for today... Mondays are usually my day to go to the gym and put in some serious treadmill time while watching close-captioned NCIS marathons, but today I opted to instead sit on the couch at Cory's mom's house, eating a steak sub and playing Farmville. Because that's way more beneficial to my physique.

Um, other than that, I got nothin'... ;)

Except that Lost is featuring a Richard Alpert backstory tomorrow. Seriously. Can't wait.

Do Frogs Spoon After?

2010-03-07T22:10:00.007-05:00

I have nothing too new to report- just wedding planning, wedding planning, and more wedding planning- so today's blog will be pictures (from my cell phone) that made me smile...

This is in front of the mall by my house. My mom and I were driving by and I had to take a picture cause...seriously...how does a person do such a thing??

This is my parent's dog, who wouldn't let Kyle into the driveway on a snowy day...good boy...

This is Drunk Cory with his eyes closed, while telling me, "My eyes are OPEN!" Even though they were clearly closed. Which caused my pout. Which Steph took a picture of. Then Mike jazzed it up on his iPhone.

This is my friend Stuart, wearing a leopard-print snuggy.

This is two frogs having sex on Mike's pool cover. No commentary required.

How Does Your Garden Grow?

2010-02-28T22:08:00.006-05:00

Went out with a bunch of my ladies last night. Went out to a new Mediterranean restaurant called Ambrosia, tried a bunch of delicious foods, and then out to the Ottawa Tavern, where we met up with more ladies and some of the boys (including my boy).

Tons of fun, we MUST do this more often. :)

Also got all but one bridesmaid dress ordered! And flowers bought and other wedding accessories. Making progress...

Now a Grizzly Bear?! I'm Outta Here...

2010-02-15T13:18:00.003-05:00

Today I have the day off because I work at a bank and it is President's Day. I really enjoy bank holidays. Today I slept in, ate some cereal, finished a book, started a new one, and am now drinking some coffee and watching a wolf (druid?) carry off the spinal cord of a dead animal on PBS. Aw, now a bald eagle stole another wolf's carcass share. Sad. When Cory and I were on the plane back from Hawaii, we watched a documentary on meerkats and a bald eagle killed a really cute meerkat (after the narrator made us love him, of course) and fed him to her eagle babies. And don't even get me started on the one who stares at me at the zoo. I am not very fond of bald eagles. They are bullies. Sorry, America.

Next weekend Cory and I are going to Chicago with some friends, so I get next Monday off as well. And I don't mind Tuesdays cause Lost is back! Back and awesome. I spent this weekend walking in the snow at the park with my mom, helping her try on Mother-of-the-Bride dresses, hanging out at Mike and Stephanie's, shopping at the new Savers with our friend who is in town because of a foot injury, Nevaeh's 4th birthday party (yes- fourth! so crazy!!) and going out to dinner with Sara and Aaron. Today I might go out and do wedding-related errands...as soon as I feel like leaving my cozy cave...

Animal documentaries are traumatizing. I was sitting here thinking, "Aw, that wolf reminds me of my dog," and then a bunch of bigger, meaner wolves attacked him all at once and ripped him to shreds. Literally. While his mate had to flee cause she's having his babies. This is what happens when the Olympics preempt my soap opera.

Books are so much safer than TV.

And then...and then....and then....

2010-01-18T18:51:00.011-05:00

So, besides the blog I just blogged about 20 minutes ago, I have been absent from the blog world for awhile. So I'm going to do a catch-up blog the way I always do...with lots and lots of pictures...

In November, me, Cory, his sister Dawn, and her boyfriend Scott went to Chattanooga for Cory & Dawn's cousin Richae's wedding. Richae is a super big sweetheart and her wedding was gorgeous. This is us with Richae...and I didn't notice till I uploaded the pic that Scott's eyes are closed...and now I'm too lazy to switch the picture, so- sorry, Scott.

After the wedding, we went out with a bunch of Cory's other cousins and got nice and drunk, and wandered the streets of Chattanooga a bit. Super good times!!

The weekend after the wedding, Cory, his mom and I all took our annual trip to Chalfont, PA (outside of Philadelphia). We shopped and went to a Jim Henson exhibit, which was awesome!! We also went into Philadelphia and I got to see the Liberty Bell for the first time. It was...underwhelming. I mean, there's this small building and it's super crowded and hot (even though it's cold outside) and people crowd around the bell and you can't see it, then when you try to take pictures, it takes like 7 times before you can get one without some asshole's head in it. But, 7th time's a charm...

We also ate a lot of delicious food, courtesy of Cory's aunt, and rode a train and ate the best Philly cheesesteak sandwiches ever at a place called Delsandro's.

Lauren also had an art show during Christmastime. Here is her super adorable tree topper on her studio Christmas tree....

...and here are Kyle & my mom in front of the giant monster Lauren painted on her studio wall...

Somehow I don't have any pictures from Christmas, but it was a really great one!! Well, except for the part where Cory had to go to the ER. But he is OK and we got out in time for church, so it was a minor snag. I went to church with my mom, Lauren & Kyle, as usual, and Lauren's wife Erica joined us this year. Then me & the sisters went out and met everyone at the bar, which is our Christmas Eve tradition. Spent the night at my parent's house, opened lots of presents, and ate delicious food.
Cory made me go on a scavenger hunt for my present and hid it under and behind his mom's bird cage. Which was mean, but it was an awesome present, so it was worth it. And the bird didn't kill me, which was a plus.

We spent New Year's Eve at Mickey's first, then went to our friend Tim's house. Our friend Jewel spent NYE with us...she is super cute...

Here are Cory, Dustin, and Jewel...

Oh, and also during the holidays, Angel was in town!! We ate out at a bunch of different places, went to the mall a bunch, and accidentally got drunk at a bowling alley and had to have her 18 year old brother pick us up....

We also hung out at her parent's house and karaoke'd, played pool, and generally had lots and lots of fun!

Angel, Karaoke Superstar...

CORY KARAOKE'D!! No one would believe it without a picture...including me...

Anyhoo, since the holidays, I have been wedding planning, working, and trying to catch up with everyone I haven't seen in awhile. Today I had the day off cause of MLK Day and man, do I love a day off...

Hope you all had great Novembers and holidays and are having great 2010's so far!!

One Step Closer...

2010-01-18T18:38:00.004-05:00

So we went out again and tried once more to find bridesmaid dresses. And we were successful!! Hooray!! I feel like I've made some good progress with the wedding planning in the last couple of weeks, which is a relief cause I let it kind of fall to the side over the holidays and then realized...oh, crap, I better get back to it cause it's coming up really soon!!

Here's Kyle, me, and Sara, picking out what the girls were gonna try on...they think I like that I get to tell them what to do, like, "Try on this one. Now this one. Swirl around. Let me take a picture. You will not wear watermelon, you will wear purple. No tiaras!"

And they are right, it is fun to get to be the boss for a little bit. Cause none of these broads will put up with it any other time. :)

Lauren did not like this dress. So she pouted in my picture as her form of silent protest. And it worked cause we didn't pick that one.

We didn't pick this one, either. But isn't Lauren such a pretty princess with her bra straps, tiara, and argyle socks?

My sisters are very sad that I'm not letting them wear tiaras during the wedding. But I am not wearing a tiara. I told them we can all wear tiaras at the bachelorette party, but they said they are going to sneak tiaras into the wedding. I told them that I will probably notice them doing something like that, seeing as how I will be looking at them at some point during the wedding.

Anyhoo, stay tuned for an update on everything non-wedding related!

Pretty Maids All In A Row....

2009-11-30T21:49:00.004-05:00

Lauren, Sara and I went shopping for bridesmaid dresses today...

We didn't have a lot of luck.....

South, South-er, South-est

2009-11-08T18:00:00.016-05:00

I started out this morning in Ruskin, Florida and will end it here in good ol' Toledo. I've been awake since 4:30 a.m., so I feel like it should be MUCH later than 6:18 p.m. right now...

Florida was the end of our 5 day trip to take my grandma (who's what we here in the Midwest call a Snow Bird) down to Florida, where she will stay till Spring. Which almost sounds like she's a groundhog... Anyhoo. The trip was Cory, my mom, my grandma, my grandma's cat, all of my grandma's stuff she will need for the winter, and me...in a Pontiac Vibe. We started out in Toledo, stopped in Tennessee the first night to visit my grandma's brother, Jerry and his wife, then stopped in St. Augustine, Florida the second night/third day, and went to my grandma's the third night/fourth day, and spent the fourth day at the beach near my grandma's house. Then me, Cory, and me mum flew back to Toledo this morning.

How do you travel with a cat in a car for four days? It takes adjustments and fancy packing...

And yes, in Tennessee, we ate at a restaurant called Family Ties.

No, Michael J. Fox was not there, but there were singing/dancing waitresses who sang along to what Cory and I theorized was a CD made by a local artist they were advertising all over called "T". Cher and Madonna may think they're cool with just a first name, but times are a'changin'...it's much more "in" to go with just a letter.

Obviously, I did not have coffee or food yet when this was going on...

In St. Augustine, we stayed at a questionable hotel, but it was clean enough...BUT, while I was showering the next morning, the power went out. Which is all well and good except that there are no windows in hotel bathrooms, which is practical until you are in the shower and the power goes out and it is PITCH BLACK. After 2 minutes of yelling, "Hey! HEEEYYYY!!" my mom finally came to my rescue and opened the door so I could at least have a little bit of sight...

Then we were off for some St. Augustine sight-seeing. There are a lot of really nice things to see and do in St. Augustine, but one of my favorite things was this:

It is a regular tree with a palm tree growing through the center of it. I call it the Love Tree, because according to legend, any couple who kisses in the vicinity of this tree will stay together forever. Cory and I kissed under both sides of it just to be thorough.

There is also an old fort in St. Augustine...I forget what it's called, but apparently it was so strong back when it was needed that cannonballs would bounce right off of it. Here are my mom, Cory, and a sucker he got for free from our waitress at lunch in front of the fort...

And me and my grandma at the fort...

And me and Cory IN the fort....

After St. Augustine, we stopped and had dinner with my mom's friends in another part of Florida (by then I lost track of where we were), and Cory and I got to have Yueng-Ling beer, which was awesome. We got to my grandma's house shortly thereafter, and when I was going in and out bringing stuff in, I was surprised by this little fella, who was going in and out of the blinds on the front door. Don't worry, we liberated the poor guy...

And better a frog than an alligator...

Which I did see later in the pond in my grandma's neighborhood... Luckily he was a baby and didn't notice me sneaking up to take pictures.

And after a very lovely day at the beach full of swimming, shell and stone skipping, and laying in the sun, Cory and I got more Yueng-Ling and spent the evening playing cards with my mom and Grandma, who totally kicked our asses at Euchre. My grandmother may be a card shark...I accused her and she just laughed, so if that doesn't say guilty, I don't know what does.

Then we flew home early this morning...VERY early...

And luckily Toledo was sweet enough to give us 70 degree weather upon our return. Thank goodness! Nothing's worse than coming home from a very warm place to cold, shitty weather. And I have the day off tomorrow. And it's supposed to be warm again. Abe and I are going to the park!

BIRTHDAY!!!

2009-10-31T04:00:00.002-04:00

Today I received free spaghetti, free Panchero's, new socks, perfume, a Harry and the Hendersons doll (complete with accompanying movie), a purse and matching wallet, and shots, shots, and beers.

My mom took me, Cory, and Kyle to see Robin Williams do stand up in Ann Arbor. Vulgar AND hilarious.

I got drunk for free. And am now drunk-blogging.

I received Belinda Carlisle in the mail.

I received countless good wishes and lots of love.

Tomorrow is our 4th annual Halloween/costume/joint birthday party.

I was serenaded by a genuine Italian at the bar (with the happy birthday song), and then we confused each other because I kept saying "fiance" and he kept saying "Beyonce"...clearly, a language barrier. Until Kyle did the "put a ring on it" gesture and all became clear.

28 is pretty fun so far...

Some Notes for October 24th, 2009...to you, sincerely me...

2009-10-24T22:20:00.004-04:00

To the lady at the gas station who sold me beer earlier: Don't be embarrassed about your sudden, loud outburst into song as I was walking away. I totally got into my car, found that station, and belted some lines myself.

To the sheep who eat pumpkins all day on my way to and from work: Who knew sheep liked pumpkins so much? Everyday I drive by you twice, and you are all always eating pumpkins. Where did you get so many pumpkins? Don't you ever get full? Are pumpkins really that delicious when they are not in pie form? Man...I just have so many questions for you...

To the people who already have Christmas lights up on their house: No. NO. Just....no.

To my fear of giving blood: Take THAT! I kicked your ASS!!

To the chicken stir fry I ate earlier: Thank you for being so delicious. You are my sunshine.

To my birthday: See you in a week!! You don't scare me!

Buzzzzzzz.........

2009-10-18T11:44:00.006-04:00

Things have been super busy lately, but lots of good stuff going on.

Cory's cousin Richae is getting married next month in Chattanooga. I went to her bridal shower with Cory's sister Dawn and his mom...here's me, Dawn, and Richae...

Next month, Cory and I are going with my mom to take my grandma to Florida. Along the way, we are either stopping in Savannah, GA or St. Augustine, FL (we haven't decided which yet). Then we will be going to Chattanooga for Richae's wedding...then we'll be going on our annual trip to Philadelphia/New York City over Thanksgiving. Then it will be December and I will be very sleepy...

In the meantime, my sister Lauren had an opening at an art gallery last Friday- at Space 237. They even featured one of her paintings in the Toledo Blade, because she is amazing. Her art will be on display there for a few months, I recommend everyone going to see it. Here are Bethany and Lauren at the opening. They are adorable. And I have a bad feeling I am never getting my purple cardigan back...

Here is one of Lauren's paintings....my current favorite. I want to buy it. Dibs. And please note that this painting not only features a Santa Claus monster and a vampire monster, but also a Jesus monster.

Yesterday my mom and I drove up to Monroe to visit a Halloween store that someone recommended to us. The store was kind of a bust, but we did end up following some signs that said "Island", because we were like, "What island? This is Monroe." and we found a secluded road that took us alongside Dog Lady Island. There were lots of cranes, seagulls, and a lotus bed. But no dogs. Or ladies.

Oh, and I ended up getting my Halloween costume accessories back in Toledo. And just in time, cause our annual Halloween/birthday party is soon. And my mom is taking Cory and I to see Robin Williams for our birthdays. Kyle, too. And Cory, Mike, Steph and I went to see David Cross last week, which was AWESOME!! And a long time in coming, Mike and I have been waiting for him to come around for YEARS.

Anyway, time to get ready for a family meal. Some of my Texas relatives are in town and my cousin Linda is making food and she is an excellent cook, so hooray!

Have a great Sunday, everyone!

J'aime Mes Amis

2009-10-09T20:33:00.008-04:00

So last weekend was a bit of a rough one for someone very close to me and his family, who I also love ("bit of" being an understatement). But, one thing I have always admired and loved my friends for is that we are all family, and everyone comes together in bad situations and, you know, makes it better.

On that note, in no particular order, here are a bunch of people I truly adore...

Walkin' for a Reason

2009-09-27T15:57:00.002-04:00

Today was the Toledo Race for the Cure. It's so much fun every year and for such a good cause (breast cancer, btw) that we've made it a yearly thing. This year, it was me, Lauren, Bethany, Brittany, and Sara.

We started out the morning the way we always do- with general mishaps and disorganization. First Bethany's car wouldn't start, so I zipped across town to grab her, then we all met at Sara's as planned...all of us, that is, except Lauren. When calling her over and over didn't work, we drove to her house where I simultaneously called her and tapped on her window. She finally woke up and came out giggly and mismatched, and we were on our way.

There were over 18,000 participants at the Race this year, which was a new record. The skies looked threatening, but luckily it didn't rain. And after the Race, the weather actually turned sunny and quite pleasant. My mom and I went to an orchard and bought apples and cider.

In case I've never mentioned it before, I LOVE the fall. :)

Breathe In, Breathe Out...

2009-09-24T17:52:00.008-04:00

So I have bronchitis. Blech. I've never had bronchitis before. I've had pharyngitis, which Stuart so lovingly calls "Erin-gytis", which was hell on earth, but never bronchitis. I was not prepared for the way it feels to not breathe at full capacity for days and days. It's unnerving and uncomfortable. Luckily, though, I caught my bronchitis early and got on antibiotics right away, so I do not have the hacking cough that normally accompanies this lil' respiratory problem. Thank goodness. I am, however, constantly tired and missing my real breathing patterns. And for the first couple of days, I had regular hot and cold flashes, which was a fun preview of menopause!

But, I digress. The real reason I brought you all here today was to tell you about my engagement party!

We had an engagement party. And it was SO much fun. My parents were kind enough to let us yet again take over their house and yard and fire pit. We had a beer potluck and made a hairy buffalo. Our friend Justin brought 8 pizzas. I brought snacks. Kyle brought me owl shorts.

Everyone brought the good times.

There was such an out-pouring of love for us at this party, it was awesome. People brought us presents, and even more importantly, people came despite bronchial pneumonia, sick relatives, and family drama involving a black eye, among other things (side note: this last part makes me wanna exact revenge not suitable to put in writing on the intra-web). And the next morning, we were left with 3 coolers still full of beer and bottle upon bottle of liquor that was gifted to us the night before. Then I got bronchitis and didn't feel like having a drop of any of it- but all in good time, dear friends.

All in good time.

P.S. I did a spell check on this blog and apparently, blogspot.com doesn't think "Erin-gytis" is a word. Pssht! Whatever, blogspot. Whatever.

More Exciting Than Watching Grass Grow...

2009-09-09T21:36:00.007-04:00

You've seen it on The Simpsons. You've seen it on the 1990's Dennis the Menace movie. And now, it's coming to you straight from my parent's backyard.

The Queen of the Night. The flower that only blooms for one night a year. Yes, a few weeks ago, we sat and watched a flower bloom.

It was a bit tedious at times, but the end result was worth it:

Pretty thing, ain't she?

P.S.

2009-08-29T22:32:00.005-04:00

Reactions to our engagement:

Dad: "Wasn't he supposed to ask me for your hand and like, slip me a check under the table?"

Stu: "So are you gonna have an open bar at your wedding?"

Holly: "I thought you were gonna tell me you were pregnant!"

Angel: "I talked to Erin, guess what?" Angel's Mom: "Is she pregnant?"

Everyone's reactions upon seeing me in person when we got home from Hawai'i: "Hey! You aren't sunburnt!"

I'm so responsible.....

Aloha!

2009-08-29T19:20:00.011-04:00

Cory and I are back from our trip to Hawai'i! We had SOO much fun! And...we're engaged!! Cory proposed to me on top of Diamond Head! We haven't made many wedding plans just yet, but it'll be sometime within the next year! I'm super excited!!

Anyway, back to the trip. It sounds cliche, but Hawai'i seriously is paradise! Everything is so beautiful! And there's tons to do...which means, here are some pictures... :)

Inside the Arizona Memorial at Pearl Harbor...

A Hawaiian rainbow at the beach...(see, paradise!)

The view from the top of Diamond Head...where Cory asked me to marry him! :)

Another view from the top of Diamond Head...

Kualoa Ranch...

Me at the Kualoa Ranch, on Hurley's Golf Course (as seen on LOST!)

Me on a dinner cruise, going past Diamond Head...

Cory and I at the Polynesian Cultural Center Luau...

Most delicious smoothies ever!!

Now we're back home, and of course it was raining and cold as soon as we got off the plane in Detroit. But, such is the Midwest! And it is beautiful outside today...and now we get to plan our wedding!

Hope everyone is having a great weekend!

Waiting for a Star to Fall...

2009-08-11T22:40:00.006-04:00

Only one week to go before Cory and I are outta here and on our way to Hawaii!! I seriously can't wait!! But to help me pass the time during my Countdown to Hawaii, 2 of my cousins from PA and one of their girlfriends are coming to visit this weekend! So I will have lots of family fun and then off I go for sunshine beach time!!

We visited our PA cousins last month for my cousin David's high school graduation party. I LOVE my PA cousins, they are awesome. There are 6 of them. The two who are coming to visit are Johnny and Stevie. They are tons of fun.

Johnny and Stevie with Kyle in the middle...

They build bonfires this big for celebrations...

Good times.

Other than vacations and visits, not too much has been going on, except that I started my new position last week. I am in the stage where I don't know how to do anything and that's always frustrating to me cause I like to know everything about whatever job I happen to be doing. But that won't last forever...

Oh, and my mom and I went to the fair last weekend and a llama stole an ice cream cone out of my hand. And when I took it back, he spit on me. Then I saw a kangaroo.

Have a great week, everyone!

P.S. There is a meteor shower tonight, keep your eyes to the skies!

P.S.S. Cookie Monster's body was finally hauled away during the night, but the culprits haven't been caught and prosecuted. And one of them set a fence on fire in our parking lot a couple of days later. Maybe as a warning to me to keep my mouth shut... Sesame Street just ain't what it used to be....

Neighborhood Watch, Failed Again...

2009-08-04T19:57:00.002-04:00

There was a serious crime committed in the parking lot of my apartment complex...

I know who did it, but I'm a little nervous about coming forward...

What if they come after me next??

P.S. Dibs on the leftover cookies...

Yay!

2009-07-17T20:26:00.002-04:00

This will be a quick one cause I'm on the iPod touch and it's tedious to type this way but so many good things are happening, I had to share! First, cory and I booked our vacation for next month. Destination? Hawaii!!!

Second, I sold my car!! The grand am, not my new one. I sold it to a really sweet teenage boy who was super excited about it so that made me happy.

Third, I interviewed for a promotion this week and found out Friday that I got it! And I got so many work-related compliments on Friday, I'm still blushing a bit.

And yesterday, me, cory, lauren, Kyle, my mom, and my grandma headed out to Pennsylvania for my cousins grad party. Right now we're at our hotel and we are being lazy but we need to check out so more later!

You Knock Me Off'a My Feet

2009-06-29T18:14:00.004-04:00

To: Anyone who has seen as many episodes of Scrubs as I have,

Do you remember that episode after the one where Dr. Cox punched Dr. Kelso in the nose? And Dr. Kelso is walking around for most of the episode making a loud squeaky noise through his nose? And everyone at the hospital can hear him coming so no one does any work till they hear him coming, then they all start working really hard right as he walks by? Then Dr. Cox gets annoyed by the squeaking he created and re-centers his nose in the elevator?

Well, there's a lady at the library right now whose nose is making that exact same noise, and it's not comedically funny, it's gross and annoying. Actually, the squeaking part is just annoying. The gross part is that she keeps hacking things up out of her throat and coughing all over the movie shelves.

Also, I was behind her on the way into the library and there was a dog barking who had to be at least a mile away, yet she still found it necessary to yell, "Shut up, you stupid fucking dog!" as she opened the door. Now she's in the kids' book section, telling a teenager all about how much she hates kids. Which begs the question, why is she in the kids' book section, then?

Anyhoo. Had tons o' fun yesterday. Lauren, her friend Micah, Stu & Bri, and Kyle came over to Cory's mom's and we all had a BBQ and swam. We made a killer whirlpool whilst holding beers above the water. Running out of beer and trying to get a new one from the edge of the deck was dangerous. It usually took me 1 or 2 tries to grab one before the water swept me away and back around the circle of the pool.

Now let's talk about Michael Jackson for a minute. So there I am at work on Thursday, reading all about Farrah Fawcett's death. Then I leave work, am in the car for about an hour and a half (Ann Arbor rush hour traffic, combined with a thunderstorm and very heavy rains, equals fun-sized traffic jam). During this hour and a half, I listened to a book on CD. Also during this hour and a half, Michael Jackson dies and I am completely unaware. So I get home and start to hurriedly change clothes and get ready to meet my parents, Kyle & Lauren for Kyle's birthday dinner. Then Bobby texts me and says, "I just heard from a kid at work that Michael Jackson died." And I text back, "What? No, no...Farrah Fawcett died, not Michael Jackson." I'm pretty much like, "Duh, Bobby, get your shit straight, dawg!" Then I get a text from Bri, "OMFG! Michael Jackson is dead at 50!" And my immediate thought is, "Oh, I didn't believe Bobby's little joke so now he's getting Bri in on it and having her text me his lies." But then I remember, with Bobby, you never know what you're getting, truth or fiction-wise, so I turned on the BBC and low and behold...they were right. And Cory was napping on the couch so I ran out and said, "CORY! You have to get up, so many things are happening!" Then we all spent Kyle's birthday dinner getting text after text that said, "Did you hear that Michael Jackson died?" I'm surprised the whole cellular community didn't just crash from exhaustion. I heard the internet almost did...

I've always been a very big fan of Michael Jackson's music- my sisters and I always request it so we can dance to it at weddings, I grew up watching the videos (including the ones that debuted after In Living Color, remember that?) and Kyle may or may not have a video floating around the internet of me and Stuart attempting the Thriller dance. I even got into that newer song he made that featured Chris Tucker, and used to listen to it so loudly while dance-cleaning my first apartment that I had my first angry neighbor run-in with a guy who didn't think it was necessary for me to listen to Michael Jackson quite so loud at midnight on a weeknight. As far as his personal eccentricities go- well, I think his upbringing, non-stop superstardom and media intrustion from the age of 6, and we, the ridiculing American public, are mostly to blame for that, although I am in no way condoning anything tawdry that may or may not have happened with children. All of those things aside, you can't deny those songs, or that dancing. Which is to say that I did fully enjoi all of the Michael Jackson song marathons on the radio this weekend, and I was pretty excited about the music video marathon VH1 ran on Saturday, although I didn't manage to stay awake for all of it.

My point is this...I have a Michael Jackson cassette tape and I will sell it to you for $175.

No, I'm just kidding. That's not my point at all.

Especially cause that tape has The Way You Make Me Feel on it and what else am I gonna listen to while wearing my black mini-dress and being pursued through the streets while simultaneously being serenaded by a dancing man?

I mean, jeez, a girl's gotta have her hobbies.

That Baby Don't Even Look Like Me

2009-06-28T17:47:00.003-04:00

My weekend has been spent first going out for Kyle's birthday on Friday, beers and dancing with my sisters and our friends; out to eat with Cory's sister Dawn and her boyfriend Scott; swimming; rummage sale-ing with Sara; BBQ'ing with friends and lounging around in the sun, enjoying the weather; fireworks in Point Place; outdoor nighttime lounging with friends; hovering between sleep and consciousness while watching a Michael Jackson music video marathon; and today more swimming, BBQ'ing, and lazing around in the sun with my sisters, Cory, and our friends.

Up next for this week: Darren will be in town on Thursday, I have the day off on Friday and 2 BBQ's scheduled (and more fireworks), neighborhood 4th of July party...

Man, I loves me some summertime...

Peas In A Pod...

2009-06-08T20:35:00.002-04:00

Who wouldn't love a dog this chill?

Hot Like Fire

2009-05-28T19:21:00.008-04:00

So I'm totally going to delay the updates I promised in my last blog and instead update you with a more updated update...as in, how Cory and I spent our Memorial Day weekend.

We went to Virginia Beach! It was pretty last minute...I realized around Wednesday that I was going to have the following Monday off, so we decided that we wanted to hang out on the beach. We left after work Friday night and arrived in Virginia Beach early Saturday morning. Since we couldn't check into our hotel until 3 p.m., we ate at the Denny's next to the hotel. They closed both of the Denny's we used to have in Toledo, which is just as well since I had been banned from both of them by the time they closed- totally not my fault- so I hadn't been to Denny's for years...it was...eh, ok. Our waitress was awesome, though.

After a trip to a skatepark at a place that was for real called Mount Trashmore, we decided to head to the beach. I then proceeded to put sunscreen on all of me except for my feet and legs. In true Erin fashion, I then proceeded to get extreme sunburn on my feet and legs. This is not the first time I have sunburnt my legs and feet. I am very smart and always learn my lesson. Or not. (If this were the '90's, I would have just said "NOT!" and then I would have been awesome.)

Everywhere I went for the rest of Saturday and the beginning of Sunday, I could hear people whispering about me and my red legs, or strangers would exclaim, "OMG! That looks like it HURTS!" To which I would respond, "Yes. Yes it does." (Fucking duh.) It was pretty embarrassing after awhile and I also wanted to keep my legs from getting any more burnt, so I bought some loose white pants at Target and they became my beach pants for the rest of the trip. Luckily before this, I did manage to swim in the ocean and frolick on the beach. And after I got the pants, I still frolicked and it was too chilly to swim, anyway, so it all worked out.

When I got home, Lauren wondered why I never learn my lesson. I don't know, but I'm pretty sure I learned it this time cause this time, I had a crazy reaction to the sunburn and my feet have been very swollen since Sunday. I can only wear flip-flops! I've been wearing a pair of flats at work that I usually take off about an hour into my day, and this morning Knuckles puked in them. So if I sunburn my legs ever again after this, well...there are no words.

Anyhoo. Besides the sunburn, the beach was so great!! We had such a fun weekend, and it was totally worth the long drive. There is no place I love to be more than the ocean.

And there was this sweet statue of the god of the sea. I forget whether it was Poseiden or a different one... We happened to wander past it while we were walking around. Oh, and I forgot my digital camera so all of these pictures are from my cellphone. We also took pictures on a disposable camera, including some that include me, Cory, Jesus, and a boat, but those still have to be developed like in colonial days.

This is me, after my ocean swimming and sunburn extravaganza.

In conclusion, I want to live at the ocean.

And now for something completely different...

Here is Cory, wearing an awesome beard shirt that I found for him on Etsy. I heart homemade goods.

The ad below came with a coupon for pizza. Just to clarify, it is a picture of a pig and a chicken on runaway horses who are leading them to their certain deaths so that people can have chicken bacon ranch pizza. This did not make me hungry for that particular pizza.

Lastly....did you know there is a plant called the Weeping Pussy Willow? There is.

Happy birthday to Lauren tomorrow!

Hope you all had great long weekends!

I Still Love You, Blog World

2009-05-18T20:31:00.002-04:00

There has been so much going on lately, and I have not been able to get to the internet, and now I am at the internet but unable to post a good blog post. So, stay tuned. My next blog post will include action, adventure, parties, trips, a dog, my mom, and a wedding. And a bitchin' beard. And as always, lots of pictures.

Until then, I hope you are all having a lovely May so far and sorry for being so out of touch.

Easter Bunny Funny

2009-04-15T19:39:00.012-04:00

I have been a very neglectful blogger lately. But I have a good- well, mediocre- excuse: I have been having a problem gaining access to the internet lately. But! Cory and I may be getting internet in our apartment soon! I know, how very modern of us. I will keep you posted. In the meantime, here is what I've been up to for the past...well, many months:

First, my favoritest girl Angel was in town for awhile in February. Here she is in the snow at my parent's house. I post this picture for two reasons: 1- because Angel is adorable, and 2- because ANGEL!! It won't be snowy and cold when you get back! I just wanted to let you know that. We will play outside and make my mom buy us ice cream. Seriously. Can't wait!

Anyhoo, after that, when the snow went away, there were tornados. During a tornado warning (during which I was cooking dinner and had the thought, "Damnit! I am not abandoning this chicken alfredo for a damn tornado, it's gonna be delicous! If I have to seek shelter, would it be weird to seek it with a pan of food and a fork?"), my little sister Lauren decided to ignore the warnings of funnel clouds in her direct vicinity and instead went out onto the fire escape outside of her 7th floor art studio and ake this picture:

She lived, so we can now appreciate the beauty of her photographic efforts.

Also in February, Stephanie had a birthday! She had a super fun party which ended the next morning when "someone" pictured below puked on "someone" else's back. I won't name names, but me thinks the one who was puked on shan't forget. And I shan't forget, either. Cause it's a really funny story, full of puke, laughs, confusion, more puke, and even more confusion. And some rotten smells. But the party was awesome.

In March, our little Bobby turned 23. Sara and I threw him a Surprise Pizza Pirate Pop Party. Bobby was surprised. See?

This is Bobby's cake, which Cory and I bought for him and added the pirates to. I then added the baby, too. I also had other babies which I gave out throughout the night. Cory found these babies abandoned at church, in a cup. It was up to me to give them good homes.

After Bobby's party, we went to see Matt's band at Woodchuck's. They were awesome. Here are me and m'ladies.

Oh, and Cory grew a beard. His beard is hotter than Jason's.

Cory also grew a second head, that kind of resembles our cat. (sidenote: I convinced my friend's 3 year old that this was really a picture of a half-man, half-cat. I am gonna make a great mom someday).

I have also been working at different bank branches all over Michigan. In the creepy, no-longer-used ladies room in the creepy basement of one of these branches, I found this:

I don't know what the belt is necessarily for, but I'm glad I don't know cause that means I've never had to use one.

In more pleasant lady news, my cousin Claire had a baby girl named Allison. She is adorable.

And lastly, last Saturday I hung out with Holly and her kids at her grandma's house, and helped her son Johnny color Easter eggs. Johnny is adorable. We are totally BFF's now. He even colored me my own Easter egg with my name on it. **hearts!** He is turning 3 on Sunday and told me he wants, "Poop, psychos, and pizza" for his birthday. I bought him dinosaurs and robots instead.

Hope you all had a great Easter! I'll try to stay in touch more.

A St. Patrick's Day Story for the Ages

2009-03-22T20:40:00.003-04:00

So it's St. Patrick's Day. I come home from work, get all dolled up in a pretty dress and heels and head out the door to go get my hair cut and then go straight from there to the Pub.

So I'm on the highway. Now, my car already shakes whenever it hits 65-70 MPH, but suddenly, it starts shaking harder and making funny noises. So I'm like, "Oh, shit!" and I call Kyle, who is already at the Pub with me mum, and I'm like, "Let me talk to Mom! MOM! My car is making funny noises and I think I'm gonna need a ride in a minute!" And she's like, "Call your dad. He's home." And I'm like, "Ugh, thanks, MOM!" but in her defense, it's the first time she's ever gotten to go out on St. Patty's Day and my dad really is the one to call in these situations.

So anyhoo. I get off the highway and there's nowhere to pull over and my car is sounding worse and worse and finally, there's some space on the shoulder of the road so I go there. As I'm pulling over, my car makes an even louder noise that sounds so terrible, I'm immediately convinced that this is it, my car's done fer. I call my dad and he's like, "I'll be right there! Call a tow truck." So I call a tow truck company and cancel my hair cut and then a baby cop is there (I call them baby cops when they are younger and more fresh-faced than me....kids today, ya know?), checking on me, and he sits behind my car for about 20 minutes, then leaves when I assure him my dad and a tow are both on their way. I'm cursing myself for not bringing my book like I'd thought of doing and getting bored when my dad pulls up behind me.

So my dad gets in the car with me and we're waiting for the tow truck, and I'm describing to him what happened, and I'm lamenting the fact that from the sound of it, I think my car's broken for good this time and it sounded SO bad and we're agreeing that I definitely need a new car when he says, "Did it sound like something was dragging?" I say I don't know and he gets out to look underneath the car. Then he looks toward the front of the car. And he says, "Did it sound like a flat tire?"

!!!!!

So I'm like, "WHAT? Are you fucking serious?" And he starts laughing at me and tells me, "Yup, your front tire is flat." And I am relieved. But I feel like the world's biggest dumbass. (Although in my defense, the last time I had a flat tire whilst driving was 10 years ago, on Christmas during my senior year. And with my car and it's many problems, I always assume the worst. So anyway.)

So I cancel the tow truck, my dad changes my flat tire (while still laughing at me, although he agreed that yes, at least it was nice outside) then he follows me home and then we leave my car at my house and he drops me off at the Pub. The next day, my dad takes me to work (I worked in Adrian last week and you can't drive a donut on the highway), and while I'm at work, he gets my tire fixed (it was under warranty!) and then he puts the new tire on my car and picks me up from work. And he even brought the dog, because he knows I love the dog.

My dad sure is a good sport.

The End.

P.S. Cory and I woke up, majorly hungover, on Saturday morning after a night at Mike and Stephanie's. We walked outside and realized my OTHER front tire was flat. So Cory changed the tire, hungover, and long story short, I did end up having to pay for a tire. BUT, the tire place balanced my tires and guess what? My car doesn't shake on the highway anymore! So it was a Sunday miracle when I figured that out this morning. The End, Part 2.

Short Stories

2009-03-02T20:46:00.001-05:00

Today a dude rear-ended my car outside of a used book store in Adrian and I was like, "Whoa, dude, step off. There are bargain books to be had."

And then I strutted off, into the sunset...of the high noon sun.

The end.

Cake!

2009-02-18T18:32:00.001-05:00

Had Monday off cause I work at a bank now and get off any days that the post office gets off. Good stuff. Was very productive and did all the things I've been putting off (oil change, anyone?), and also got to have lunch with 2 of my very favorite people in the whole world, Lauren and Kyle. Oh, and their nice waitress friend gave me a piece of free cake, so it was like, awesome with a side of awesome.

Yesterday was a long and exhausting workday, but it was followed up by going to see the new Friday the 13th with Cory, Mike, Stephanie, and Debbie, which made up for it. Good movie, especially if you love good old fashioned slasher flicks, which I totally do.

Quick sidenote: there is a dude (in his 30's, at least) walking around the library in a yellow rainslicker, headphones, and sunglasses. And it's nighttime. And he's inside. Some people think they are SO cool...but I guess if you are out to see and be seen, what hipper place to go on a Wednesday night than the library?

I have been working in Adrian for the past few weeks and finally went to a used bookstore on my lunchbreak today that Lauren had recommended to me. I just want to state for the record that I love- no, LOVE!!!!!- used bookstores. They are my happy places.

LOST is on tonight!! I think they're about to start making their ways back to the island, guys! Will Kate come around and stop being such a stubborn you-know-what who's a little too attached to a kid who isn't hers? Will she start to think, as I currently think, that since she really doesn't know whether or not Claire is alive or dead, that she should maybe go back to the island and check it out cause Claire might, I dunno, WONDER WHAT HAPPENED TO HER SON? I'm just sayin'.

Now I'm about to go home and eat a delicious dinner.

Have a lovely Wednesday, everyone!

Eggplants and Puppy Dogs

2009-02-09T20:09:00.008-05:00

The subject of today's blog will be "pictures I took with my cellphone, sent to the online Alltel album, and forgot about till now."

Enjoi.

First up, Stuart riding Bobby down the stairs of our apartment building on my birthday last October. I was unemployed on my birthday, and we got drunk. Very drunk. And we ended up getting yelled at by some guy who lived on the 1st floor, and even though everything he said was justified (we WERE being pretty loud and it was 2:00 a.m. on a Thursday night), all I thought at the time was, "Uh, this dude is yelling at me on my birthday. I don't have to be quiet! IT'S MY BIRTHDAY!" But I showed the maturity of my 27 years and instead of yelling those thoughts at him, I simply apologized and told him that we would move away from the building.

Next up, this is an eggplant. Years ago, when Lauren and I still lived at home and had bedrooms next to each other, Lauren came into my room out of the blue one night and tacked a picture she had drawn of an eggplant to my wall. I said, "What's that?" and she said, "It's an eggplant. Now whenever someone comes into your room and sees the eggplant on your wall, they'll say, 'Why do you have a picture of an eggplant on your wall?'" Then she walked out. And everyone who walked into my room after that asked, "Why do you have a picture of an eggplant on your wall?" However, the picture below is not that eggplant. It is an eggplant I saw on the wall at a Christmas party and took a picture of to send to Lauren, because it was only the second picture of an eggplant I've ever seen hung on a wall. (Note: The eggplant picture was nothing compared to the time I came home and Lauren had turned my bedroom into a mock crime scene, complete with stuffed animal bodies lined in chalk and plastic guns bagged and tagged as evidence. I miss living with Lauren...).

This is New Dog, Abe, at the pet store, waiting for my mom to finish filling out his adoption papers. Abe-y and I picked out that dog toy together. He makes sure to squeak it very loudly everytime I come to visit him at my parent's house. I heart Abe.

When I was unemployed, I took a lot of pictures of my cat. Including this one. And several others like it. OK, tons of others like it. But, that is to be expected because I spent a lot of time on my couch. With the cat. Having some snuggles and watching the television. Ah, unemployment... P.S. It was Knuckles' idea to watch Days Of Our Lives everyday, I swear.

This is Kyle's cat, Samson, on my parent's stairway. I was chatting with my dad and we looked over and he was just sitting like that. I dunno...maybe Kyle teaches him these moves when we're not around.

And this is Sara's dog, Onyx, last Friday. I want to state, for the record, that I am against animals in clothing. I think it's silly and a little bit cruel. But, Sara insists that Onyx is too small and will freeze her tiny lil' butt off in the winter if she is not wearing clothing. I call this Onyx's cape, although I guess you could also call it a vest. Either way, I still don't approve, but Onyx seems to enjoi it. And Bobby got yelled at for trying to take it off (Sara's exact words were, "Don't undress that child!" which made it sound like Bobby was doing something way worse than he really was).

And I do realize that the majority of these pictures are of various pets, and I also realize that is pretty dorky, but I'm okay with it. Besides, you all knew what you were getting into when you came here and decided to read my blog.

Hope everyone's enjoying the beautiful, warm January weather! Tomorrow is supposed to be 60 degrees. Seriously.

Awesome.

Good Times, Bad Times, Let's Go Steelers!

2009-02-04T20:18:00.003-05:00

If you're gonna watch the Steelers win the Super Bowl, you might as well watch it with the world's biggest Steelers fans...

This is my BFF Holly's fiance John, and his younger brother, Ronnie....

The party was at John's mom's house, and everything was decorated with Steelers paraphanelia. There were banners, flags, balloons, streamers, Steelers-themed cupcakes with little footballs on top and even some hand-made Steelers posters, made by John himself. I think that is actually pretty cute, but it also made me and Holly roll our eyes a little bit. John is funny. And his mom is SO nice, and hilarious. She tried to force-feed me Irish whiskey, but I got out of it. Barely.

Everyone at this party but me, Cory, and Kyle wore Steelers jerseys and/or shirts. The picture above is probably one of the only times John and his brother Ronnie looked away from the TV, and I'm pretty sure it was only cause it was during a commercial and I said their names like 6 times first.

Admittedly, I'm not that into football. I can watch a game, and if I'm gonna watch one, I do prefer the Steelers (I did grow up with John, after all, and his personalized "Let's Go Steelers" song still gets stuck in my head sometimes), but I spent most of the party chatting with m'ladies Holly, Danyel (Holly's sister), and Kyle. Danyel lives in Chicago and works as a nurse, and has been able to arrange her schedule so that she can make frequent trips here ever since Holly's son Wyatt was born. Which is awesome, cause I love Danyel.

Danyel and Kyle were best friends when they were little. Once we caught them crawling around in the yard with pom-poms in their back pockets, singing, "Good times, bad times, gimme some-a-that!" So now I sing that to them every once in awhile, cause I am a really awesome older sister.

Anyhoo. I think I mentioned before that I am a float teller for a bank now, which means I work at whichever branch needs me most. I normally will be working in Monroe county, but for the last week or so, I have been working elsewhere. I've been working in Tecumseh, Ypsilanti, and at two different branches in Adrian. Which has been really fun, actually, cause I've met a bunch of really nice people and everyday is different. And today, this really sweet girl kept giving me candy, so I mean...awesome job, right?

Cory and I went to see Benjamin Button yesterday. Really good movie. Brad Pitt looks kinda like Cory's mom's boyfriend at one of his stages of life. If you've seen the movie, it's during the part at the hotel with the girl who wants to swim the English Channel. Watch that part, keep the look in mind, then let me show you a picture of the boyfriend. It's uncanny. Except her boyfriend is shorter. But still.

Lastly, LOST is on tonight. LOST is fucking awesome. Pardon the f-word, but seriously. I can't wait to see if Charlotte's dead now and if Hurley stays in jail and what time period the island's in and what Kate's gonna do about Aaron and those dudes wanting a blood sample and seriously, why doesn't Richard ever age? What's up with that? And will someone please tell me whether or not Jin is dead? And is Sun just totally evil now and is she gonna take it out on Jack and Kate or just stick to stickin' it to Charles Widmore and Ben?

I love that show.

Hope everyone's having a great Wednesday!

January

2009-01-26T20:25:00.005-05:00

Just thought I'd pop in with a quick Erin update!

A lot has been going on lately!

Cory and I bought some new things for the apartment and did a lot of rearranging, and even put together an entertainment stand...together...under Knuckles' careful supervision...

Lauren and I got to spend a super fun girls' night with Miss Holly...

...and my bestest friend Angel has been in town! And we totally are better than you at Penthouse Photo Hunt.

Last Saturday was also my mom's birthday, so Cory, Kyle, and I went out to lunch with her, then Cory, Kyle and I went on a mission to get her a present at a spa (easier said than done, but Kyle got us there...eventually), and then Cory and I later went out to dinner with my mom and dad at The Seafood, which was delicious, and then me, my mom, and Cory went to see Gran Turrino, which was super funny and really, really good. Clint Eastwood is a badass. For reals. Oh, and Cory and I also went out to a birthday breakfast with my mom and Lauren on Sunday after church. So we did a lot of birthday eating this weekend. But, duh, my family loves food, it's delicious.

Also! I still love my new job. Today was my first day running my own teller window without anyone shadowing me, and I didn't mess up! Yay! The girls at the branch I've been working for the past week or so really love cookies and other sweets and it's a good thing I'm a float teller and won't always be working with them, because even though they are all really fun, sweet girls, I would gain 70 pounds if I worked with them everyday.

There's lots more going on but the library is about to close. Hope everyone had a great weekend and have a great week!

Happy Obama is President Day!

2009-01-20T20:51:00.001-05:00

Seriously.

Snow Cone

2009-01-10T14:19:00.002-05:00

We are a bit snowed in today due to the fact that me and Bobby have crappy cars that don't drive well in snow (especially when roads haven't been plowed), and Cory's car has decided to not let him ever unlock the doors again. So we all bundled up and walked to the library, and it's a snowy winter wonderland out there! It's fun to have a snowday when you don't have anywhere you HAVE to go... It's very peaceful to walk in the snow with hardly anyone else around...

Tonight I am going to make dinner and bake cookies and maybe rent some videos or something... Luckily we live close to a bunch of stuff we can walk to.

Started my new job this week, love it so far! And everyone there says they love their jobs, so that's very encouraging.

Hope everyone's having a lovely Saturday!

Cheers!

2009-01-05T22:18:00.003-05:00

I am blogging from my new iPod touch! It was my Christmas present from Cory and it's seriously awesome! Cory is a super sweet boyfriend. And I am addicted to this thing. Even though it may make my eyes fall out from staring at the tiny screen all the time. Totally worth it. Started my new job today, I love it so far! All of the people are really nice, there is job security (first time for everything, eh?), and I think I will really enjoi the work. Plus it was nice to be back with the working members of society, I think my couch and I were getting just a little too comfortable with each other these past couple of months.

Anyhoo, cheers to 2009- may it not be the massive shit-storm that 2008 was!

Have a great week, everyone!

Ringin' It In....

2009-01-02T13:53:00.008-05:00

Happy New Year!! I gotta be quick cause my time at the library's almost up, but wanted to share a few pictures... The above picture is actually from Bethany's belated birthday party.

Below are examples of how we all rang in the New Year...

Bobby and I, with champagne and sweet poses....

Bri and Nev, by being super cute....and also some bottle rockets...

Dani, by toasting the New Year and promptly passing out...

Josh, by peeing his pants, apparently....

Hutch, with a sweet smile...until he took his pants off with Bobby, but that was waaayy later...

And of course, me and Cory....another year, with a whole bunch of new stuff happening, hopefully all of it good....

I have high hopes for 2009....

Hope it's great for all of you!

Oh, DVD, Oh, DVD...how lovely are thy branches...

2008-12-22T19:22:00.009-05:00

So! I have not been blogging a lot lately but that is because I have been busy, busy with everything Christmas-related. Christmas shopping, Christmas cards, Christmas present projects, Christmas parties, Christmas thoughts...

My biggest time-consumer has been the dvd project I am working on for my dad. I am transferring all of his 8mm video camera tapes onto dvd. This sounds like no big deal, but it has been the biggest pain in my you-know-what (yes, elbow) and it's been one problem after the other. After many failed starts, I finally found a way to transfer the tapes and have been slowly making progress. Did I say slowly? I meant, SLLLLOOOOWWWLLLYYY. Seriously, it would have been faster if I had built a time machine, gone back in time with a current video camera, and retaped all of our family memories. And maybe while I was there, I could have given younger Erin a clue about her hair, clothing, and nerdy tendencies. Well, maybe just the hair and clothing. I have yet to get away from the nerdy tendencies.

While watching all of these old family movies, it occurred to me that I'm really glad there was no Myspace or Facebook when I was growing up. Someday, kids today are more than likely going to regret having their awkward years so well documented.

Anyhoo, onto fun holiday pictures...

Me and Miss Sarah Noel at Dawn & Scott's Holiday Extravaganza in Livonia...

Kitchen Chaos @ Dawn & Scott's (with Bill in the middle, of course)...

Kyle and Nicole helping each other potty....

Dani, me and Bri at Cory's mom's Saturday night holiday party...

Bobby Thunder & me at the Saturday night holiday party...

Dawn waging a broccoli war around 5 a.m. Sunday morning...

Anyhoo, Christmas is 3 days away, which is insane! I hope you all have wonderful, happy Christmases!

Today is me and Cory's 3 year anniversary, ooh-la-la! Lovey-love!

Merry Christmas!

At Last!...Some Jo-obs Have Come Along!

2008-12-09T15:24:00.006-05:00

Today I get to start off with some really good news!! Cory and I both got new jobs! Cory starts tomorrow and I start at the beginning of January, which is fine with me cause that means I still have the holidays off, which is always nice. I'm super excited!! Being unemployed is terrible and uncomfortable and having 2 people in the same household unemployed is worse. Things are really looking up! Hooray for 2009, I think it's gonna be a great year. :)

Now for a quick Thanksgiving trip recap:

We went to visit Cory's aunt and uncle for Thanksgiving, like we do every year. We went to see the movie Twilight (totally my idea, I read all the books, I am 16 inside). I loved it, which is cool cause I expected to hate it, cause movies made from books are usually a disappointment and I was unsure about the actors. But, yeah. It was a really good movie and now I'm super excited for the next 3. Especially the 4th one cause the 4th book was my favorite and was the most vampire-y.

We went to Philadelphia, where I got to go to the Mutter Museum of Medical History, which was a little gross but mostly super interesting. Loved it. Highly recommended if you ever find yourself in Philadelphia. To further entice you, the mannequins in Philadelphia look like this:

You know, in case learning isn't enough to get you there.

We also went to the Yeungling Brewery in Pottsville, PA. This brewery is the oldest in the U.S. Yeungling is delicious and the brewery guy said they are trying to start selling it in Ohio soon, which I'm all for.

Mural of disgruntled Yeungling workers (you'd be disgruntled, too, if you had to work in a hot, unventilated room in those outfits):

Me, Dawn, Cory and Colleen in the old keg filling room:

The trip was a really good time and Cory's aunt and uncle are always the best hosts. They go out of their way to take us places to do fun things, and his aunt is a great cook, and everyone knows Erin loves delicious food.

And now it's Christmastime! I love Christmas! I already have my tree up and stockings hung, and I've watched The Grinch and visited the Manor House Homespun Holidays with my mom. Next up, Lights at the Zoo.

Darren was in town this weekend, and we got to hang out on Friday and go to Lauren's 'Tis the Secor art show. Very good times, and Lauren's art, as always, is amazing. I highly recommend that everyone keep an eye out for shows at Secor Studios, the place is full of awesome artists and the shows never disappoint. Especially when you visit Lauren and Jerry (Quest for Fire Studios) on the 7th floor.

Hope everyone is having a happy holiday season or at least, a happy Tuesday. :)

Leavin'...In A Honda...

2008-11-26T19:59:00.002-05:00

About to embark on our yearly trek to the outskirts of Philadelphia for Thanksgiving weekend. It'll be a nice 10 hour drive that will end with Cory's aunt making us a delicious breakfast.

Hope everyone has a Happy Thanksgiving!

Dog Day Afternoon

2008-11-17T14:45:00.003-05:00

I would like to start out today by telling you a quick story. My family has always had a lot of pets. When I was younger, we usually always had 2 dogs. About 14 years ago, one of our dogs, Muttly, passed away and we were left with just one dog, Roy. My parents were thinking about getting a new dog and told me that we could get a border collie. My dad had told me all of these great things about border collies and I was really excited to have one.

At the same time, the local fire station was having a coloring contest. First prize, a dalmation puppy. My mom let my youngest sister Kyle enter this contest, even though me and my other 2 sisters told her not to. My mom's famous last words, "Oh, it's not like she'll win."

Win, she did, and so began our time with Max.

Max passed away a couple of weeks ago, and it was very sad. That dog was a part of our family for a very long time, and he definitely had a unique personality.

My parents were dog-less for the first time ever, in my entire life. My parents hate being dog-less. They LOVE animals, seriously. So, this past weekend, my dad called me and asked if I wanted to help them pick out a new dog. And I finally got to pick out my border collie (well, border collie mix, but whatever).

This is...well, we haven't named him yet.

We got him from the Humane Society and he is a year old, and is already named Abe, but we can't decide if we should keep his name Abe or change it because he doesn't answer to Abe, anyway. We have been tossing around names like Harvey, Henry, The Amazing Crepso, and Zeke, although all of my sisters and I have vetoed Zeke and only my mom really likes it...

This dog is so sweet and well behaved. We were having a hard time deciding between him and another border collie mix who was a puppy, but this dog won me over, big time. And now I am going to go take him to the park.

But before I go, today is my dad's birthday.

Happy Birthday, Dad!!

Let's Play Good News/Bad News

2008-11-07T10:27:00.003-05:00

Good News: Holly's second baby was born on Thursday!! His name is Wyatt Thomas and he is super cute and not funny-looking like some other newborns I've seen (and of course I'm not talking about any of my other friends' babies when I say some of them were funny-looking newborns. Ahem.). Both Holly and Wyatt are healthy and doing well. Kyle and I went to see Holly and Wyatt at the hospital yesterday and her son Johnny kept kissing Wyatt and patting his head. Adorable. Lauren and I are going back up there tonight.

Bad News: My parent's dog (our "family dog", if you will), Max, passed away the other day. Max was a dalmatian that Kyle won in a coloring contest at the fire station when I was in junior high. He was 14 years old, which is old for such a big dog. Max was also a very good dog. Sometimes he would nod out while begging for food at the table, and when he was a puppy he would run so fast at me when I got off the bus everyday that he wouldn't be able to stop before he'd hit my legs and knock them right out from under me. Every time. And I taught him how to catch food in his mouth so my mom wouldn't know I was feeding him Doritos and/or carrots. He knew the upstairs was off-limits when I lived at home, except for during thunderstorms, when he would show up at my door cause the thunder scared him. Sara says he is getting lots of puppy love in doggy heaven. I hope so, cause he didn't get out to many dog clubs in this life, so bitches were scarce.

Good News: I got to be back in downtown Toledo for the day yesterday, in a law office with a great view. Toledo is very pretty from high up.

Bad News: I did not mention this in my blog before, but I am currently unemployed and have been for a few weeks. My position was eliminated due to lack of work, which was not too big of a surprise, given the current economy in this city and the poor state of the industry in which I was working.

Good News: Cory and I are thinking of using this opportunity to finally move out of state like we have always wanted, since we now don't have much holding us back. So far, our two top considerations for a new city are Atlanta and Las Vegas. We have already started getting rid of excess belongings, etc. I will keep you posted.

Bad News: My car stalled out and left me stranded in the middle of Alexis Road today. Only one person stopped to see if I was OK and to offer assistance, and he was a very elderly man. Because it was cold outside and slightly damp, I told him that my dad was on his way and thanked him. I didn't want him to get sick or overly strained trying to help me push my car into a parking lot. A young woman with an emergency light on top of her SUV blared her horn at this nice man and threw her arms up at me in anger as she sped past once I had convinced the man I had help on the way. It's a good thing certain people get into public service.

Good News: My dad did come and save me yet again (this is the second time he's had to come and rescue me from a stalled car in the middle of an intersection, seriously), and since my mom is out of town, I am driving her car for the weekend. I am hoping to get a tow truck to take my car to my mechanic soon...hopefully that doesn't take too long...

Good News: LOST has a premier date set! January 21st! HOORAY!

VOTE!!

2008-11-04T15:26:00.000-05:00

Today is a big deal! Get out and vote!!

These Are the Erin's I Know, I Know...

2008-10-30T15:03:00.010-04:00

So, today is my 27th birthday. I haven't figured out how I feel about that quite yet.

This morning, I woke up with the Vandals birthday song in my head. "It's my birthday and I'll do what I want to. Fuck you! It's my birthday."

Then, inexplicably, the song changed to "These Are the Daves I Know" from Kids in the Hall. "Some of them are Davids... 'But most of us are Daves!' They all have their own hands but they come from different moms." My favorite part of that song is when he gets to the one guy and says, "Dave Capisano, I hardly know him..." and then they just stand there. Canadians. So funny.

Anyhoo. I'm stressing out a little bit at the moment for reasons unrelated to my birthday, but I'm sure it'll all work out.

Cory and I had our birthday/Halloween party last weekend. We had the party at my parent's house and it was a really, really good time! It was cold, since October has decided to be December instead, but my dad built a giant bonfire and all was well. Except for the part where I tripped over things I knew were there cause they've been there for the last 26 years, and fell on my dad, thereby bruising my finger on whatever he had in his hand. I think it was Beefeater.

Oh, and there was cake!!! CAKE!!

Me and Pouty Sara...(she was really dressed as MaryAnne and her boyfriend was Gilligan, but it got cold so she put on a coat, and it got late so Gilligan passed out in a car somewhere).

Me and Un-Pouty Sara...

Yaarrr, me ale!

Burglar Bobby, Emo Stu, Jabbawokee Jenny...

Nicole Dorothy and Jabawokee Kyle...

Pippi Lauren-Stocking, Me, and Beth-orothy....

Tonight my mom is making me lasagna, and Dustin is in town, and we are all supposed to head up to Mickey's for some fun, excitement, and hip-hop (or so I hear).

Hope everyone's enjoying Erin's Birthday Day!

Hock-in-the-Hills

2008-10-15T13:11:00.011-04:00

Cory and I finally got to take our rescheduled trip to Hocking Hills. We had so much fun, we didn't want to come home! But we also thought the owner of the cabin we stayed in might have noticed if we didn't leave... By the way, from investigation of the guest book in the cabin, it sounds like the cabin owners had pet monkeys. Now, we didn't see any monkeys, but I'm not ruling it out. What else are you gonna do with that much property if not put monkeys on it?

Our cabin was super cute and cozy. And WAY out in the middle of nowhere. The drive through the back roads felt suspiciously like the beginning of the horror movie Just Before Dawn...without the helpful man at the bottom of the mountain to warn us away. Oh, and we weren't later brutally murdered by twin brothers who were the product of incest. Other than that, it was exactly the same.

The first night, we got there too late to do any hiking, and decided to just drink some beers and have a camp fire...till we realized we forgot the beer! After we calmed down, we decided we'd better go out and try to track down a store that sells beer, that is open on a Sunday evening, in the middle of nowhere. After realizing the only store in the closest town was closed, we came upon 2 girls who were maybe 13-14 and got directions to the nearest beer store from them. Kids. They know everything. Our night thus saved, we drank by a camp fire under a full moon and then spent some time in the hot tub on our balcony. Good times.

The next day, we went to the little store in the little town and got directions from the sweet store lady. We hiked Old Man's Cave....

By going off the marked trails, we also made a startling discovery- the elusive Diaper Tree!!

Every fall, the rare and special Diaper Tree gives off its fruit, scattering across the forest floor its diaper-y goodness...

I also climbed a hill of tree roots...

And we found a Snake Tree. Which is not in the same tree family as the Diaper Tree, although they dwell in the same forest.

We hiked to the Lower Falls, Upper Falls, and Cedar Falls, but alas, there were no falls to be found. Seems the rains haven't been raining as much as they usually do, so things are a bit dry. But, the area is still very beautiful.

After our hike, we BBQ'd burgers back at our cabin and had another campfire.

And this is the face I get for insisting on one too many pictures with Cory...

The next morning, we got up after way too little sleep and watched The Mist while packing up the cabin and cleaning and whatnot. Side note on the movie The Mist: I don't think I've ever been more pissed off at the ending of a movie in my life. Those people are stupid. That's all there is to it. No one would be that stupid. And if there are people out there who are that stupid, maybe the end of that movie should happen to them. I'm just saying. Sheesh.

Anyhoo. The weather during our entire trip was f-ing fantastic. Here is a picture of the side of the road near the area we were staying in, and the pretty blue sky and fall leaves...

Now, back to Toledo. Booo!! But at least it's our birthdays and birthday party and Halloween soon. Hooray!

Have a lovely Wednesday, everyone!

Sad Heart...

2008-10-03T08:32:00.009-04:00

My grandpa passed away on Wednesday. Last night, my mom and I went through a whole bunch of pictures, many of which we'd never seen before. I'd like to share a few of my favorites...

My grandparents, young and in love...

My grandparents on their wedding day...

Grandpa...way before he was Grandpa...

My grandparents bringing my dad home...this picture was apparently published in the newspaper...

My Grandpa and my dad....

My Grandpa, messing with me while I get my picture taken...(he also used to make faces at us whenever we sang in the little kids choir at church or participated in Christmas and/or school plays, which means I never made it through a single performance without laughing really hard and sometimes forgetting the words)...

My Grandpa and me on my 18th birthday...he turned 81 the same month and liked that our ages were the reverse of each other...

My grandparents, in the only church portrait he smiled in...he said the guy taking the picture was making faces at him. I said, "Oh, and you wouldn't know anything about that kind of behavior, would ya?"

I miss my grandparents....

Race Ya There!

2008-09-29T12:45:00.015-04:00

Lauren, Kyle, Bethany, Sara, Courtney (Sara and Bethany's co-worker) and I all walked the Race for the Cure on Sunday. We had a really great time. We're definitely doing it again next year, and we might even be a little more organized about things next time! Maybe...

The girls and I at 7:30 a.m.

The bagpipers and Chris Peterson from WTOL, before the Race...

The girls, with the crowd, waiting for the starting bell....

A horse wearing bunny ears!

Lauren and Sara, during the Race...

Courtney and Bethany, during the Race...

Kyle, dance-walking to one of the many bands that was performing along the Race route...

These guys, who were cheering us on, were the coolest of all the guys/girls cheering us on....

...mostly because of this....

Anyway, it was a great experience and it's amazing to see the number of people who participate in this, and even more amazing to see how many of them actually run the whole thing! While their seemingly endless group ran by, I commented that there were this many people in Toledo who are more motivated than we are. Bethany said she wants us all to run next year instead of walk, but we'll see if that happens. I can tell you already, Kyle SO isn't into running.

Speaking of Kyle, last night Kyle called me to tell me that cops were driving by her house (my grandpa's house) shining spotlights in her windows. We talked for a bit and I told her to call back if anything else happened. She called me back a few minutes later to tell me that the neighbor had called and said, "Hello, Mr. __'s granddaughter? The cops are driving by looking for guys who might be in the woods behind your house. But don't worry, we're right next door if you need us." Needless to say, this scared the bejesus out of my already-skittish sister. In the end, nothing happened except that she lost a lot of sleep due to waking up and rushing out to investigate everytime one of her cats made a noise, which means I'm now allowed to laugh really hard at the picture she sent me of the "weapons" she had ready in case anyone did try to come in and get her:

You don't F with the bleach cleaner, yo.

On a completely different subject, my family is currently going through a difficult time. Things are very up-in-the-air at the moment and we don't really have a choice except to wait and see, and take things one day at a time. So, I'll give an explanation and an update when I have one.

In the meantime, hope everyone is having a great Monday!

Egg-citing Things To Come...

2008-09-24T13:38:00.009-04:00

I haven't gotten very much sleep in the last 4 nights or so. On Saturday night, I was up till 5 a.m. at Bethany's get together, then woke up on her couch at 9 a.m. and stayed up for the rest of the day. On Monday night, I first woke up to my cat very loudly attacking what sounded like a plastic bag, but when I got out of bed to take it away from him, I couldn't find whatever it was and instead found just the cat, running up to me like he was SOO happy I was finally awake and let's play! I went back to bed, only to wake up around 4 a.m. to someone's car alarm going off. FOR 10 MINUTES!! Seriously, who doesn't hear their alarm for that long and turn it the fuck off?? I even went out to make sure it wasn't my car, and saw a bunch of other people doing the same, but obviously not the right person. Grrr.... Then early, early this morning, Bobby was spending the night on our couch and his cell phone alarm started going off. He didn't wake up to it, so I had to get up, wake him up, and hand it to him. He was very apologetic, but still... Erin's sleepy.

Anyhoo. Enough whining.

Lauren and I took a short road trip on Sunday to and from Lansing to drop off her old college roommate, Jillane. On the way home, we got lost in Lansing. I saw a road name I recognized and told Lauren I felt like we should go "this way" (translation: she should have gone the opposite way). We ended up dead-ending suddenly at a river, in front of which there was a sign that said "Road Ends". I told Lauren that I recognized the river as the one that goes behind Dawn's old apartment, and that sometimes they find dead bodies in there. Then I wondered aloud why I would point that out to her while we were sitting in front of it, in a secluded area where the road, you know, had ended. We turned around, wondering why there were no signs before the end of the road warning us that the road was about to end. Then we drove back up the street and realized that we had passed at least 6 signs, on either side of the road, warning us, "Road Ends 500 feet" and "Dead End Ahead". We are awesome.

P.S. We later stopped at Qdoba in Ann Arbor and the water in the restroom sink smelled like eggs on fire.

Up until Monday night, the only food Cory and I had in our refrigerator was 4 different kinds of cheese. Nothing else. Just cheese. BUT, 4 different kinds of cheese.

For the past few Saturdays, I have been listening to my The Very Best of Prince CD whilst showering and getting ready to go out. I have decided there is no better getting ready CD out there. And I hope my neighbors enjoy listening to me singing "I Wanna Be Your Lover" and "Purple Rain" as much as I enjoyed listening to them playing Uncle Kracker at full volume in the courtyard on Saturday morning.

This weekend, me, Sara, Lauren, Bethany, and Kyle will all be walking in the Race for the Cure. I'm pretty excited about it. I'm thinking about wearing my pink squirrel pants in honor of the pink breast cancer theme. Seriously, though, the community in this area is inspirational when it comes to their support of breast cancer survivors. Cory's mom is a breast cancer survivor, and while she was going through chemo, there were so many wonderful support groups and even people who donated things just to make life a little better and easier while she was going through something so terrible- gift baskets, massages, dinners, etc. It's wonderful that there are so many people out there who make an effort to show they care.

On a completely unrelated note, Cory and I will be going to Hocking Hills soon. I'm very excited about it. I reserved a cabin and everything. I used to go to Hocking Hills every year with my parents when I was little, but the last time I was there was when I went with Angel and her family during Spring Break our senior year (Spring Break '99!). This will be the first time I've gone without my parents or Angel's, so it should be interesting to see how often we get lost. :) Should be fun, though!! Hocking Hills is so beautiful, I can't wait!

Hope everyone is having a lovely week and if you know Cory's sister Dawn, be sure to wish her a happy birthday today!!

P.S. I tried to find a picture of an egg on fire by typing "eggs on fire + pictures" into Google, and this came up:

I don't know who that guy is, but I sure don't want him making my breakfast.

We Are Here, So Entertain Us

2008-09-19T13:54:00.003-04:00

I'm so super-duper bored right now.... Boredom is seriously, like, SO boring!!

Last night after work, I picked up my bike from Kyle's and scared the bejesus out of her by going into the house before she got home (and I got dropped off so there was no car to show I was there) and then standing just where she couldn't see me when she came in. She had to walk into the kitchen to finally find me just standing there. My efforts were rewarded with a loud, "CREEPY!"

Old habits die hard cause I used to do this sort of thing to my friend Holly on at least a weekly basis. She had a long, dark hallway and I would stand pressed up against the wall or just inside doorways so that I could jump out at her whenever she walked back to her bedroom. Sometimes I'd stand with my nose against the bathroom door so that when she opened it, she'd open it to a close up of my face. Good times. The best part is, she fell for it over and over and over again...

Cory and I have been having bike ride/BBQ/DVD nights with Mike and Stephanie recently. Last night Cory skipped the bike ride but Mike, Steph, and I still went out and during our travels, rode past the Extreme Makeover house. I feel bad for the family a little cause there was a constant stream of cars driving past while we were there, and I bet that will continue for quite awhile. Not that I'm any better, cause I was there, too, but hey- I was on a bike, man! Totally different. By the way, I would like to state for public record that Stephanie makes THE best burgers ever.

I don't really have anything interesting to blog about today, I just currently have nothing better to do, so I will leave you with these three pictures that I totally poached from Angel's mom's Flickr account; all of these pictures were taken at the campground during Angel's visit home over Labor Day:

P.S. Angel and I walked circles around the campground for a good couple of hours, chatting and catching up on life in general, and did not know this last picture was being taken. We were just waving to her family going by on a hayride...Angel's mom is sneaky, you gotta watch out for her... :)

Dance, Chat, FESTIVAL!

2008-09-17T12:37:00.013-04:00

I got to spend some quality time with my lovely sister Lauren on Saturday...

Because of our totally opposite schedules, I don't get to see her nearly enough. But we made up for lost time on Saturday by first going to and then immediately leaving an art show (we didn't go further than the obnoxious girl at the door), ordering sandwiches and watching It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, then walking down to the St. Catherine's Festival with Kyle, Sara, Aaron, and Bethany (Cory joined us later). Ridiculously fun times ensued...

Kyle and me...

Dancing to a Beach Boys cover....

Sara likes to harass the cops at the St. Catherine's Festival every year, and this year was no exception...after asking a lot of inappropriate questions, she made it up to him by having him take a picture with a bunch of pretty ladies....

(BTW, this harassment is actually a good thing, cause it gives us all time to finish our beers without having to throw them away after being told that it's time to throw them away.)

Sara and the boys who put up with our antics...

Lauren's Elvis impression (I post this picture especially for you, Angel). :)

Still not finished with our beers...while Sara continues to distract cops and Bethany gets a picture with L'Elvis...

I have to preface this next one with a short story: On Friday night, Kyle called me and said, "I dropped my cellphone in mine and Candaise's pee!!" Then she called me a few hours later from my grandpa's rotary phone and said, "Please go to Alltel with me tomorrow!" So we woke up early and went to Alltel, and giggled at the poor Alltel boy who was unknowingly holding a pee-phone. Oh, and Kyle told me all about how she had never used a rotary phone before and it was really hard to remember which numbers she had already dialed cause it took so long to spin the lil' wheel. Anyhoo. After we got her new phone, she kept dropping it and setting it in water and other general bad things that shouldn't be done to a brand new phone. Now....

I apologize to Bethany and Kyle for posting this picture of them, but look at Kyle's mid-air cellphone! Seriously, she just subconsciously threw it that time...

We wandered Lauren's neighborhood after the festival and met all sorts of other drunkards, including a lot of dudes who tried to follow us home, despite Cory and Aaron being in our group. One of them told us that he was going to play with something in his pocket, but after I laughed and loudly said, "That's sad, keep it to yourself, buddy," it turned out he meant that he had drugs in his pocket, which we were even less interested in. We got back to Lauren's and had our own festival, the Festival of Drunken Chitchat. We lost Aaron to the alcohol first, but to be fair, he drank before they came over...

Lauren and I stayed up till 6:00 a.m., talking on the back porch. Good times! I love my Lauren.

Oh, and Cory also got free pizza for a year from Gino's by getting to their grand opening 3 hours before the store opened on Saturday morning. It's actually only 1 pizza per month for a year, but still- 12 free pizzas is pretty cool.

On a completely unrelated note, this is what Knuckles thinks about the fact that Kyle's cat laid on our clean laundry before we brought it home. I concur.

Smooth Move #5,678

2008-09-12T08:35:00.003-04:00

What happens when you turn on the wrong burner, set the food you're about to cook next to it, then wonder what smells funny for 10 minutes before then wondering why your water isn't boiling and suddenly realizing....oh, shit.

P.S. This was not a box of multi-colored noodles.

What I Did Last Weekend

2008-09-09T16:49:00.012-04:00

Met a super-cute kitten who spends her time taunting a dog who isn't allowed to come inside...

Hung out with Matthew, Kyle and a bunch of other fun peoples at Stuart's "9 months later, my surgeries are finally done and my wrist is officially healed" party....

Drove Cory's mom around because she broke her ankle (if you want to know how she broke her ankle, send me an e-mail).

Hung out with Miss Lauren, who also loved the super-cute kitten cause she looks just like our old cat, Zipper.

Was driven home by Bobby cause everyone else drank too much, and was told, "Bright flashes of light while I'm trying to drive aren't a good idea."

Played disc golf for the first time...and won! (with a handicap, but still!)

Oh, and Cory disc'd, too...

Then I waited for Cory and Bobby to stop throwing discs...

Then I got bored of waiting for Cory and Bobby...

And I watched Friends with Knuckles, who actually sometimes uses the bed I paid a bunch of money for years ago, but only because we put a black dress in there that he previously was not allowed to sleep on.

Tonight we are bike riding to the house down the street that is being built for the show Extreme Makeover: Home Edition. Then we are having a BBQ and watching the new season of It's Always Sunny on Mike and Stephanie's projector in their backyard. I am excited.

Have a great Tuesday, everybody!

Pants On My Beer

2008-09-02T13:58:00.009-04:00

I loves me a 3 day weekend, especially one that includes a visit from my best friend, Angel.

I met Angel up at the campground her family was visiting, and we got to hang out and catch up on about a year's worth of girly talk and philosphical musings on shower caps (actually, the shower caps conversation came later, but it was still very heavy stuff).

Later that evening, Cory and I met up with Aaron, Sara and Bethany at Mickey Finn's, where an art show was taking place. Sara and Bethany were very drunk, and it was very funny. Sara is my favorite drunk person on the planet, ever. Seriously.

My 2 favorite quotes of the night were, "You know you're drunk when you bring Santa Claus into it. Silly cunt." and Sara yelling, "Don't spill pants on my beer! You spilled pants on my beer!!"

The picture above is Matt telling me he thinks Sara is crazy, and the one below is one of many attempts to get a semi-decent picture of me and the ladies on the never-ending walk to our cars. I'm pretty sure we lost Aaron out there. I also heard that Sara kept trying to make Aaron drop her off on the side of the road on the way home cause she wanted to go for a walk. At 3 a.m. In the worst neighborhood in town.

On Sunday, I went out to my first place of employment for breakfast with my mom and Grandma. While we were eating, the owner came through asking, "Is there a doctor or a nurse here? Is anyone here a nurse or a doctor?" I thought that only happened in the movies, but no, it happens in real life, too. I guess a woman passed out, or something along those lines, as a result of something blood-related, and the emergency people weren't getting there fast enough. They were there when we were leaving and my old manager made some snide comment about how the ambulance being there "made the restaurant look bad." She's just the sweetest thing, I tell you what. And no, I'm not just saying that cause she started a rumor that I was an alcoholic after I left that job.

Anyhoo. Later that night, Cory, Dustin, Bobby, and I went to a get together at Jim's, who lives a street or two away from us. Ridiculous hijinx ensued, the kind you only find when Jim's around, and the only picture I feel comfortable posting in my blog is this one of Jess and Kowalski:

P.S. The un-bloggable pictures do not include me, Cory, Bobby, or Dustin. We were not the issue. And we kept our clothes on.

Special note to anyone who sees me drunk from now on: Beware my drunk-talk. If you see me getting tipsy, point me in the direction of one of my little sisters and we will drunk-talk at/over each other and everyone else will be safe.

On Monday, Cory, Dustin and I went out to breakfast and Dustin made a joke that the waitress took the wrong way, and she then proceeded to go off on a racist tirade that left the 3 of us feeling a bit squicky. Dustin's joke wasn't even racist in nature, so I'm not sure what happened there...

I met up with Angel later at my parent's house and we visited with my parents, got ignored by my sister, picked raspberries and purple green beans, and ate some BBQ.

Oh, and went out for ice cream. Delicious ice cream.

After the ice cream, Angel had to go home, which is sad. I definitely don't see her enough and hopefully we'll be able to get together a few times before another year goes by. I'm thinking a Thelma and Louise-type cross-country road trip in a vintage convertible, but with less accidental murder and driving off of cliffs. Oh, and I would prefer not to be robbed by Brad Pitt, shirtless or not.

Babies Are Mean

2008-08-25T11:08:00.003-04:00

So I made the grave mistake of picking up my friend Holly's 2 year old yesterday. He tried biting my necklace (seriously, his eyes just zeroed in on it and he bared his teeth like a vampire and started moving slowwly towards my neck). I told him no and moved away from his scary biting motions, and this angered him. He took a swipe at me, then took a swipe at Mommy, who also told him no, then he turned back and smacked me right in the mouth with a pair of goggles. I now have a very pretty fat lip for the first time in YEARS.

I told Cory that my mom did it (she didn't think that was funny), then I told Bobby that Cory did it because I spoke before being spoken to while he was talking with another Man. It actually looks grosser on the inside, but I couldn't get a good picture of it that didn't look too pouty and slutty. Oh, and that green necklace is the one that apparently looks delicious to toddlers. Lesson learnt.

In other news, according to this article http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26353351/?GT1=43001, people in Nebraska can now abandon their kids, no questions asked, up to age 19. Can you imagine if you had had that threat hanging over your head when you were younger? "You better eat all of your broccoli, or I'm taking you to No Questions Asked!" "Oh, you don't think the $5 tennis shoes I bought you from Wal-Mart are good enough for your first day of school? Well, maybe the nice folks at No Questions Asked will buy you those Nikes you want so much!" "You know, if you continue to give my best friend a fat lip with a pair of goggles, maybe I should just drop you off at No Questions Asked!"

Photographs and Memories...

2008-08-22T16:34:00.034-04:00

I have been meaning to upload my pictures all week and post blogs, but I didn't get to it until today. So, instead of several blogs with a few pictures, you are getting one blog with an overly abundant amount of pictures. Enjoi.

First, I have more pictures of the deer that live at my work. We just got word this week that our building is being sold and we are moving elsewhere, so I thought it appropriate to show you these guys one more time. (P.S. The new owners have promised they will take care of our deer after we leave.)

Here is the Mom deer:

Here is one of the baby deer, considering stepping in front of my car:

And here are all three of them, running away from me:

If you click on these pictures to make them bigger, you can see the deer better and see how pretty they are. Go ahead, have a click!

On to last Saturday night. The weekend before last, my good friend Sara had a birthday party, but Cory, Kyle and I missed it cause we were in East Lansing. So we went out last Friday to belatedly celebrate and wear dresses. I told Sara I didn't care where we went or what we did, as long as she got drunk, cause I love me some drunk Sara. She did not disappoint.

Here are Sara, me, and my lovely sisters at Easy Street:

Sisters again...

Bobby Thunder:

We're getting gigglier...

And then....

Me and Lauren...

Sara, at last call at Wesley's...

I love this picture of Lauren because look very closely at those dudes on the left, checking her out as she walks by... I think there were a few more behind her, too... That Lauren, she IS a looker...

Sara, back at me and Cory's, attempting to play cards...

Lauren, obviously thinking someone's silly but I don't remember who...

Here I am on my way to the movies on Wednesday, trying to take a picture of my new dress (it's kind of a long drive to the movies)...

Here is my super cute, super giant new bag that I ordered off Etsy...

And here is Cory, wondering "what the hell I am doing" after I took a picture of my bag...

And on to Lauren's art show last night... I couldn't get Lauren and Kyle to understand the concept of keeping still when I was taking their pictures...

See? No stillness.

I know how to stay still for pictures.

Lauren is making masks for a charity event. One is finished and the other is not. Both are kinda creepy...

Tweet?

Now I'm going to be a sister brag-a-boo and show you a bunch of pictures of Lauren's art work, because she is awesome and I am proud of her.

This picture is titled, "But I Love Him." The elephant on the left has a black eye and is buying concealer and a pregnancy test.

Here is a pimp elephant and his prostitute. Lauren's elephants are misbehavors. Once, a lady came into Lauren's studio and asked if the prostitute lady was going to a cocktail party. No, ma'am, she is not.

This one is called, "Don't Take Candy From Strangers." This one made a child hide and cry yesterday.

These are Lauren's mix n' match monsters...

This monster painting depicts what it's like to work at a bar.

I like these guys...

This guy is super cute. I forget his name.

And lastly, here is Lauren in the middle of her studio, surrounded by her creations, the way she likes it. This was my second attempt, because guess what she did during my first attempt? That's right, moved.

Have a great weekend, everyone!

Squirm

2008-08-19T15:46:00.003-04:00

My home page on my computer is MSN.com, and everytime I have opened up my internet today, I have been confronted by the headline: "Man Gets 9-Foot Tapeworm" (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26290797 in case you wanna be icked out). Seriously, this disturbs me on so many levels. So many, in fact, that I feel the need to disturb the 2 or 3 people who read this blog by sharing. You're welcome.

To take this a bit further, let's picture this worm swimming around inside your body, and then peeking out of your throat and butt at the same time (well, it is 9 feet long, after all- it could reach both orifices at once).

Now you're really welcome.

Dear Erin...

2008-08-12T16:43:00.002-04:00

Received in this morning's e-mail from my dear friend Mike...

Line-Dancing Burgers

2008-08-11T13:08:00.011-04:00

So. I've realized I like to start a lot of sentences with the word "so".

So. On Friday, Cory and I went to see Ted Nugent at the Rib Off. It was super cheap and you know how I love me some big Toledo gatherings. This was THE big Toledo gathering to end all Toledo gatherings. You have no idea. Yet. But you will. Because I'm going to tell you.

First of all, this is the guy we were originally standing behind. That mullet is a real beauty, if you ask me. And do you see the fuzzy American flag hat to his right? Oh, yes, that is his girlfriend. She was at least 10-20 years younger than him, though, so apparently that hair works overtime. In the front.

In abundance in this crowd: American flag apparel, do-rags, cowboy hats, Ted Nugent hunting camp hats, vests, short-shorts (on girls AND guys), leather (even though it was hot out)- eh, you get the idea.

Later, we ended up behind a dad, his son, and the son's girlfriend. The son and dad were wearing matching Nugent tour t-shirts and were both matchingly wasted. They both bounced up and down and high-fived at the beginning of each song, and the dad did some impressive air-drumming and air-guitaring. Everytime the son started air-instrumenting, his girlfriend would pull his hand down and whisper something in his ear, presumably, "Knock it off, you look like an idiot!" Later the girlfriend got in front of them to take pictures for them, and dad and son moved a considerable distance away from her without letting her know. She turned around about 5-10 minutes later to say something to her boyfriend, then looked panicked when she realized he was nowhere to be found. No worries, though. Thanks to dad's air drums, she located them soon enough. I miss those guys...

Because it was the Rib Off, Ted Nugent made sure to add the word "ribs" to every song, and talked about ribs between every song. He also loves America, dead shit, blood brothers*, and blessing America and dead shit. And he shot a flaming arrow through a guitar.

*By the way, if you are from Michigan or Ohio, you are Uncle Teddy's blood brother. You also qualify as his blood brother if you like to hunt.

Oh, and I may have screamed so loud I almost lost my voice when Fred Bear started. But seriously, that's a really good song.

Anyhoo, on to Saturday. After waking up and baking a ham, Cory and I met up with Nicole and Kyle for a trip to East Lansing. Cory's sister Dawn is moving to Livonia this week, so it was her last weekend there. On the way there, we were listening to a song that has the lyrics, "Lolly, lolly, lolly, lolly, let me see that body-body" and I commented that saying "Lolly, lolly" over and over is kind of hard. To which Kyle replied, "See, rappers are talented!" Touche.

As soon as we got to Dawn's apartment, it was raining, so Kyle ran from the car to the door. And tripped and fell, right on the deck. She hurt her tailbone and her ankle, but not to worry- she felt better after a few beers. She's in some pain today, though.

It was also Brew's birthday, so we all went to a bar called the Riv. Brew is really good at dancing the Thriller dance. Here he is mid-Thriller:

That kid to the right is Miggett, who is really good at dressing like Wayne Campbell.

And I know no one was wondering, but in case you ever wonder why I don't post many pictures of Cory and I in the same picture, it's because this is what I have to go through everytime I ask him to take a picture together. Here he is "winking":

Here he is, um...I have no idea, really:

And finally, I get the exaggerated eyebrow:

It's not just me, though...look at how he takes pictures with Nicole:

And here is what happens when you play a line-dancing song, even at a "cool" college bar:

When we got home on Sunday, I went for a bike ride with Mike and Stephanie, and we got caught in a rainstorm, all because I wanted to show them ponies and a donkey. It stopped raining once we crossed the state line back into Ohio, so we decided to have a BBQ. Stephanie makes the most delicious burgers in all the land. Seriously. Usually I just think hamburgers are so-so, but this burger was freakin' delicious. AND she gave me corn on the cob with it. Fuckin' sweet, for reals. Mike and Stephanie also have a movie projector in their backyard, so the four of us (Cory came over for the BBQ, etc.) snuggled under blankets and watched an Australian horror movie called Wolf Creek. Nothing like a nice slasher movie in a dark backyard on a cloudy, windy night.

Speaking of cloudy, windy nights- hello, summer, where did you go? I'm enjoying the nice weather, I am, but I also kinda miss the heat that I thought I was scheduled to receive every August. I'm not done with swimming yet, what gives?

Sincerely, E.

So Long, Passions...

2008-08-08T16:32:00.033-04:00

Oh, the times we've had....

Shakes Fist

2008-08-06T12:44:00.005-04:00

At the library during my lunch break today, there were two teenage girls- they couldn't have been more than 13-14 years old. They were both wearing matching short-shorts and tiny tank tops, and they were both LOUD and obnoxious. Talking to each other, and on their cellphones, and then flirting with and talking to a guy who was MUCH older than them, with the one girl also showing said guy pictures of her sister "at the beach". Then they asked the guy if he was gay...I couldn't quite follow the logic of that one, except that the girls were, you know, 13-14 years old and I guess that's teenage logic? I dunno. The beach sister girl was on my left, and a middle-aged gentlemen was on my right. The guy on my right leaned over at one point, when the girls were being especially obnoxious, and dead-panned, "Oh, to be young again." and I laughed and said, "Ya know?" I left a few minutes later, mostly to avoid the increasingly growing urge to suddenly shout, "Shut the fuck up, you little squanches! No one wants to hear about your Myspace page! And for God's sake, put some pants on!"

On my way back to work, it suddenly occurred to me: Does it mean I'm old when a middle-aged man looks to me for solidarity against the youth of today? And does it mean I'm old when I totally feel that solidarity and was even thinking it first?

Anyhoo, on to a subject that is the opposite of solidarity: The cleaning people at my work don't like me. I didn't just come to this conclusion; I've suspected it for awhile, starting with the time they broke a lamp in my old office and continuing with the multiple times they've thrown my stuff on the floor and knocked things over on my desk, all in the name of "cleaning" my desk, even though everyone else says their desks never get wiped down. My latest "message" from them was clear: they want me to kiss their asses. What makes me think so? The fact that they moved a tiny toy elephant on my desk into this position, and left it for me to find the next morning:

And on a completely unrelated note, I was looking through the pictures on my cellphone yesterday whilst waiting for Cory to finish a game of Halo 3 and pay attention to me, when I came across three pictures I can only assume were taken by me accidentally pressing the camera button on the side of the phone without noticing:

This is me leaving work with a cup of water...

This is the corner of my coffee table and my cat...

This one took me a minute, but it's my arm and what looks like my work bag, presumably getting ready to get out of my car...

I should totally be a photographer.

Have a great Wednesday, everyone!

Goodies and Good Times

2008-08-04T13:20:00.012-04:00

First things first! Last week, I received a totally bitchin' package FULL of super-awesome goodies from my best gal Angel. I got 2 books, some candy, soap flakes that are NOT candy, toys, super-cute charms that I made into a necklace (and got lots of, "OMG! Those charms are SO cute!" when I wore it), a really pretty flower pin, little origami papers, and some fake beer which has a bunch of Japanese writing on it, but also says in English, "This is *joke* beer. Enjoy the bubble!", which entertains me to no end. Here is a photo of my loot:

Yes, my pink sheets are lovely, I know. And big thank you, Angel!! :) You're the greatest! I showed off my package of fun all weekend!

Now, on to the weekend recap...

On Friday night, our friend Tim wanted a Boy's Night cause his wife is out of town, so I scheduled myself a Girl's Night. Sara, Bethany and I got together and ended up going to Mickey Finn's so that we could all see Lauren and also because Thuy was back in town for a couple of days and she was heading up there. Kyle got dropped off to hang out with us, and our friend Kayt also came. Here are Thuy, Kayt, and Bethany, out on the patio:

Our old friend Brett came with Thuy to the bar, and wins the prize for Drunkest Guy in Toledo on a Friday Night. This is because he was found by Moe, the Mickey Finn's Security Guy, laying in the middle of the parking lot. Shortly after that, Thuy and Brett realized that the girl who had driven them there had left, leaving them with no ride home. Brett was carried back inside and given lots of water, and Kayt was sweet enough to drive the two of them home. Now, I don't know this "Becky" girl, and have never talked to her before, but I gotta say...she's a bitch.

After I drove Bethany and Kyle home, Lauren met me at my house where Cory already had some of the guys over. Hijinx and an epic misplacing of Bobby ensued (I didn't find out where he was until Saturday afternoon, and his car was in our lot till Sunday night- sneaky SOB!).

Stuart finally got his cast off, which indirectly led to this:

The above directly led to this:

Friday was also Justin's birthday, so when we woke up on Saturday, I bought him Birthday Breakfast. Which was much better than the stale "Birthday Pizza" I gave him Friday night:

On Saturday, Cory and I went to Mike and Stephanie's for drinks with everyone before we all headed out to the Black Keys show. Quick side note: I got a splinter on their gate when I walked in and it was so deep into my finger, I had to dig it out with a razor blade. Picture that, then continue reading. You're welcome. In downtown Toledo, they have turned the old Erie Street Market into the Toledo Civic Center, and the Black Keys show was the inaugural concert. The Kills opened up for the Black Keys. Both bands were SOO good, and I really like the venue. The stage was big, there was a huge floor area with clear views from the stage everywhere, and there were food AND beer vendors. My only suggestions would be to switch the food and beer lines cause the beer line will always be longer, and it led into the crowd watching the show; someone needs to keep an eye on the soap and towels in the restrooms cause they ran out pretty fast; and they need to seriously chill out on the door stamp ink. EVERYONE was covered in blue about 5 minutes into the night, and it's now 2 days later and I can't get the giant C off of my hand. People had blue arms, blue fingers, blue noses....

The show was a huge success, though, and I was proud of Toledo for finally opening up a good venue and bringing in such great acts. The place was packed, and I saw people there I haven't seen in years, along with tons of friends who were equally as happy for such a good show coming through our town.

Unfortunately, this is the best picture I could get from the crowd, with my cellphone:

Eh, oh well. At least it's clear he has a beard, right?

After the show, a bunch of us went back to Mike and Stephanie's. Here's me with Cory and Mike...

Lots of beer and Jager bombs happened, then people starting dropping off one by one. Greg was first, but we all saw it coming when his friend asked, "How'd you get so drunk?" and he answered, "I'M UP!"

Cory and I still didn't make it home till around 6 a.m. I slept in till about 1:00 p.m., then my dad called to see if I would hang out at their house for a few hours while he and my mom went to see Polka Floyd downtown at the Rib Off (they like someone to at least be at the house when they're not, on account of my grandpa and all). So I went over, hung out with Gramps for a little while, then headed out to the backyard with a book. Lauren came over and the two of us spent the entire afternoon laying on cushioned lawn chairs, reading, chatting, snacking on our parent's food, and sharing the love of a fickle cat.

When my parents came home, they joined us in the backyard AND later bought us J & G's pizza for dinner. All in all, a sweet f'ing day! I have not been that lazy in SOO long, if ever, and it was awesome. And free food is always cool. Oh, and Lauren thought I poisoned her, but hello, she is totally still alive. So there.

When I did finally go home, Cory and I rented and watched The Darjeeling Limited, which was really funny in Wes Anderson's subtle way.

Hope everyone's having a lovely Monday!