I'm It

Lisa has tagged me, so here goes nothin':

The rules: Each player starts with 7 random facts/habits about themselves. People who are tagged need to write on their own blog about their seven things, as well as these rules. At the end of your blog, you need to choose 7 people to get tagged and list their names. Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them that they have been tagged and to read your blog!

1. I can't stand wet socks. Even if I step in just a little bit of something, I have to tear the socks off my feet and get new ones.

2. I hate doing the dishes. We eat off of paper plates with plastic silver, and use plastic cups to keep the kitchen from getting out of hand.

3. I'm a big fan of Cheetos. Recently, I've been devouring the new Natural white cheese Cheetos puffs.

4. I lied about my age in order to pierce my ears a second time without parental consent. My mom found out about four weeks later when I finally wore my hair back for my junior prom. Not a pretty scene (although my date's hair was the same color as my royal blue dress).

5. I first saw Bon Jovi at Red Rocks Amphitheater the summer after I graduated from high school.

6. My first concert ever was New Kids on the Block when I was in 7th grade.

7. I'm fascinated by detail architecture. Most people take pictures of people standing in front of stuff; I take pictures of details of a building.

Okay, I tag Celia, Dana, Jaime, Jana, Kimberly, Meredith, and Sandy. Dang it, some of you have already been tagged!

My American Idol...

...is Jon Bon Jovi, duh! The show was twice as awesome this week. You combine my obsession with AI and my obsession with JBJ and I'm in heaven!

I was convinced I would hate them all. It's so difficult to be such a giant fan and hear someone else sing his songs. But I was surprisingly pleased with most of them.

Phil was AWESOME! Now that we've learned that his genre is country, he picked the perfect song, and threw in a little twang every now and again. And he was the only one who truly new all the words to the song before he stepped foot into rehearsal. Loved his jacket!

Jordin was absolutely MISERABLE. [<----pukey green color] The look was totally wrong for her, and she spent more time trying to nail the rocker act than actually nail the song. I got a headache just watching her try to head bang to the beat. The key and tone were sooooo bad. I agree she has amazing talent, but based on her performance last night, she should be sent home.

Blake. I have to say I was most dreading his performance. Not because I don't like him (he's my fave), but again, you go messing with a song that is such a key to this band's success, and it could get ugly. But he totally *NAILED IT* and brought it out of the '80's and into a new millenium. I think JBJ was so concerned because when the band released their acoustic album "This Left Feels Right", it bombed because the band messed with songs we all loved. WTG Blake! Not sure I like the dark hair tho.

LaKisha was actually pretty decent. I thought there was no way she could pull it off, but I didn't hate it. Now, her shirt? Hated it!

Chris, IMHO, was just as bad as Jordin. Especially since Chris Daughtry performed that song last season and rocked it. Chris' voice didn't suit the song at all and he was totally unbelievable. JBJ told them that every song is a story and you have to tell the story to draw us in. Chris didn't get it done...who's going to believe that he travels around on a motorcycle, drinking booze in a different bar every day with a Justin Timerlake girly voice? Go home already!

Melinda was amazing as always. I actually was pleased she chose a more recent song. Chris and Jordin should have thought of that. Even though she's not a rocker, she nailed the rock act without looking strange and over the top like Jordin. She's not my choice to win it, but she's a tough act to beat. And Simon said he's not familiar with the song? What the h? Has he been under a rock for the past two years? He's in the music business for crying out loud!

But the results show only appeased 1/2 of me. I've been waiting for Chris to go home, but poor Phil! He was just starting to get comfortable in his own skin out there and he's rocked the past three weeks. Plus, he's just a dang nice guy...so humble and so gracious. I loved that he kissed his wife during his performance last night, and how appropriate that his finale song was "Blaze of Glory"? I'm so over Jordin and LaKisha, and with Jordin's performance this week, it should have been her. Anbody else think she looks like a younger Kimberly Locke?

I'm rooting for Blake all the way! He's so original and different. Who wouldn't love the way he simulated putting a record on a turntable? We don't need another winner that sounds just like Fantasia Barrino.

In other news, I couldn't take it anymore, so I finally ripped the carpet and pad out of the hallway! I was so sick of how nasty the carpet was being the first place we walked through having come from the garage and it being the most walked on surface in our house between the bedroom and the rest of the house. It was filthy and disgusting! So we're down to bare concrete for another week or so until our tile comes in at the H-Depot. Mom and Dad are planning on coming down for the weekend to help us put it in. What a great Mom's Day gift, huh?

I weighed myself yesterday morning and I'm up 6 freakin' pounds since the beginning of the year. I was so despondent yesterday. That coupled with the fact I woke up on the wrong side of the bed anyway made yesterday pretty much suck. I was over-tired, had a splitting headache, and felt sick to my stomach most of the morning. The nice thing was I got to go home early from work, since my afternoon site visit ended early, and got in a good, hard workout at the gym. Worked out my frustration and anger a little bit, but by the time I got home, I was really super tired.

I've been tanning at the gym too. Not overboard, but I've got to do something so that I don't burn as easily this summer. Especially when we go to Greece in September. I've been doing short stints, taking lots of precautions with lotions and eye goggles. I can tell it's working because I'm starting to see a little color on my legs and arms, and Jer swears my face is looking darker. It's probably just more freckles!

We are utterly disappointed in the Nuggets again this year, giving us so much hope with a strong win over the Spurs in Game 1 and dropping the next four just like they have the past three years. You could literally see the exact moment they gave up last night. *Sigh* We'll have to take advantage of baseball season now until football starts in the fall . The Rockies haven't given us anything to cheer for since 1995, and I gave up defending them several years ago.

Sorry for the long post, I guess I feel like I need to make up for being absent the past four weeks.

Greece, Here I Come!

Put a down payment on our trip to Greece today! I am already dreaming of the red tile roofs, white stucco, and deep blue water sparkling in the summer sun.

This is the reason I had to have my new camera right this very moment!!! I decided that I needed my camera now so that I'd have time to play with it and figure it all out before we depart for the Hellenic Republic.

We are going over Labor Day weekend, so we only have to take four days off. We are cruising on Royal Caribbean and our ports include Dubrovnik, Croatia; Ephesus/Kusadasi, Turkey; Corfu, Greece; and the much anticipated Santorini, Greece!

I had never really thought of visiting Greece until I watched The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants. I was so taken back by the landscape that Lena saw while visiting her grandparents for the summer, not to mention the sweet love story that developed between Lena and Kostos, that I became intrigued by the historical and mythological landmark that is Greece.

After sailing to Alaska last fall, Jer and I have been eager to plan our next cruising vacation. While flipping through the destination brochure, we landed on the Mediterranean and it just made sense to both of us! And now with the recent unveiling of the film 300, we are both fascinated and obsessed! (Would you believe, he spent nearly a day researching the fabled tale of the 300 Spartans who defeated much of the evil Persian military?)

As if it were necessary, we've justified the vacation as being our last big hurrah before we start a family, our babymoon if you will. It remains to be seen if we will be with child during the trip! ;)

Now, I am knee deep in literature describing all the possible shore excursions we can take. Do we dare cram in as much site seeing as we can stand, or do we opt for the more subdued and relaxed beach excursions? That is the question! I can already predict that it will have to be a compromise in the middle. Jer is much more inclined to r...e...l...a...x... to the max on vacation, i.e. sleeping in, going to bed early, doing nothing involving any amount of exercise (unless golf is involved somehow). Me on the other hand, I take after my mother, and well...that means every day is planned nearly to a tee. Granted, I'm not as bad as Mom...I don't have a minute by minute schedule we must adhere to. But, I certainly don't know if I'll ever get to go back to Greece, let alone Europe, and I want to see all I can! I want to sit in the open air theatre where Paul once preached the gospel. I want to see the strict monasteries that still don't allow women inside their hallowed walls. I want to ride a donkey to the top of the hill to see the volcanic crater lying just below the water's surface that created the Aegean gem of Santorini. Who could argue with me? LOL!