This sign is in the Fort Payne, AL area. My parents and I were driving around and looking at the future site of their retirement home and all the splendors the bluffs has to offer them… And then we saw this:
I mean, really?
The least they could do would be put all the left-turn attractions on the left side of the board and right on the right, etc. But no! Let’s make this interesting and cause traffic to come to a full and complete stop while trying desperately to orient themselves 
Ding, ding, ding… I’m done, done, done!
Just finished my first 30-day blog challenge and while it took me more than a month to finish it… finish it- I did!
It feels really great to have set a goal and seen it through to the end. I highly recommend each of my readers find ‘a little something’ to work on (does’t need to take 30 days) and satisiate your appitite for personal growth!
In the course of my 30-post journey:
All in all- its been super fun AND it is SO exciting to hear from random people that they are enjoying reading it!
Thanks readers!!!
When does the holiday season begin for YOU?
Mine begins a week before Halloween. I LOVE HALLOWEEN. First for the CANDY and then there’s the costumes and lastly The Great Pumpkin and The Nightmare Before Christmas!
Favorite candies: Sour Patch Kids, Jelly Bellies, Candy Corn, Good ‘N Plenty, Mounds, 3 Musketeers, Airheads, Twizzlers and Paydays.
Costumes: I have been Jeanie, a bird, an Autumn Fairy, the Bride from Kill Bill, Lorraine to Will’s Todd from Bubble Boy and Sally to Will’s Linus from Charlie Brown. I’m looking forward to a few costume parties this year. Will post those pics soon!!!
Then there’s Autumn colors and Thanksgiving in November! These events will definitely be an inspiration for my 30-day photo blog in November
My parents FAVORITE and unforgettable Thanksgiving moment is when I was a little girl and we were going around the Holiday Dinner Table saying what we were thankful for and I said 
“nothing” because I was hungry and wanted to get straight to the food! I’m always thinking with my stomach and for that I always pay special attention to snack during the day and have a healthy list of thanks at the ready.
Next is the Winter Wonderland of December… that makes me a year older on precisely the 6th. I love to celebrate my birthday SEPARATE from Christmas people! Yes, I love to go to the ICE shows, Nutcracker, Opryland Rockettes- the whole shebang… But the presents themselves must remain of birthday orientation. Winter is a time for family fun and the continuing attempt to stay warm!
This is a picture of me at the Chandon Estates in Yarra Valley, Australia. It was a trip I took with just my Mom for Mother’s Day. We visited Melbourne, Yarra Valley, Hobart, Tasmania and Sydney.
It is my all-time favorite picture before meeting Will in 2007. I had just started using Mary Kay and my skin was CLEAR. I was learning about wines and finding ones I actually enjoyed drinking. My mom and I had not had that much alone time in almost 10 years. I was single and happy to be out of my past 2 relationships. It was a great trip and showcases a point in my life where I started to know myself and feel independent, smart, successful and pretty.
If I had a chance to make 3 wishes… what would I wish for?
#1- To make a beautiful and healthy baby with my hubby.
#2- To live a long life (not Vampire-style), making many memories and enriching the lives of others.
#3- To see a world without war and needless killing and anger. Yes, essentially “World Peace” and I was only in 1 beauty pageant, thank you very much.
Short. Sweet. And only 2/3 selfish. If I couldn’t wish for wishes for MYSELF it would include helping the environment, ending starvation and ending war.
A M A Z I N G!
What a coincidence that I happen to have had my Dream Wedding so I have a VERY good idea what my dream wedding is, was, and always will be as documented through the brilliant lens of Jennie Andrews. Plus, I think all dream weddings can be simplified down to four main “rules”.
Rule #1 Marry your dream guy.
Will is awesome.
Everyone that has ever met him knows he is sweet, smart, kind and handsome. We have been in love since our second date.
Rule #2- Find a location that fits YOUR personality.
Ours was the Lake Guntersville State Park Lodge! It was totally by mistake, we originally wanted it in a vineyard and happened across the state park one day while viewing locations- and just knew it was the place for us!
Rule #3- Celebrate to the beat of your own drum.
We had a very distinctive music list: Instrumental Bittersweet Symphony for Processional, I Deserve It by Madonna for Bride’s Entrance, The Adventure by Angels and Airwaves for the Recessional.
Our Reception mixed many styles of Emo, Girl Folk, Soul and Love Songs. Some high notes were: bride & groom entrance to Henrietta by The Fratelli’s, Love You Madly by Cake at the cake cutting and Just a Girl by No Doubt for the bouquet toss. NO LINE DANCE SONGS ALLOWED!!! A big thanks to Steve Metz at Metropolitan Disc Jockey.
Rule #4 Have fun!
We love Rockband… It’s super fun and comes with awesome lighting and a rockstar attitude that everyone already has at weddings and we needed music to dance to… so why not play it yourself? If you choose to follow in this path- check out Rockband 2 with NO FAIL MODE!
Dream Weddings are not possible without dream parents. Thank you so much to my parents: Gary & Pat Skarphol for hosting an amazing wedding that we (and 99 others) will never forget! Love you bunches.
What stresses me out? Really? That’s the blog topic for Day 25? I am completely sure nobody wants to read a long ramble of venting… So I will formulate them into a bite-size list!
1. Dog and cat hair everywhere, all the time. Seriously, like 2 minutes after vacuuming and dusting the whole house, after all the baths, and with them just laying there doing nothing. Its especially aggravating when the fans get turned on high and all this hair starts rolling around in tufts like tumbleweeds! From the sound of it, we are disgusting. But in fact- its just that we own a German Shepard and three other animals.
2. Hanging up clean clothes. Ugh! The clean clothes pile and the dirty clothes pile arealways the same size even though we do laundry, often. So stressful, not fun and always going to be there unless we become nudists.
3. Potential customers and/or recruits that won’t be honest or give an answer. I honestly prefer, “I’m not interested” or “No thank you” to the torturous “Let me call you back” or “Maybe” that instills hope when you really mean no and I’m going to hide from you because… I’M still hoping.
4. Spending plans, budgets, penny pinching. It all stinks but must be done IF you want children and IF you want to retire one day and IF you want to live without credit cards- it must be done.
Hmm. Four main things. I really thought it would be longer! Maybe if I focus on one of the ones that I have some of the control over I could be less stressed. That’s exciting!
First 10 songs when I put my iPod on shuffle:
1. “You Can Do It” by No Doubt on Tragic Kingdom
2. “Can’t Cry These Tears” by Garbage on Beautiful Garbage
3. “El Salvador” by Athlete on The Last Kiss Soundtrack
4. “Velvet” by Fergie on The Dutchess
5. “Rock Your Body” by Justin Timberlake on Justified
6. “How Bout It” by Zolof the Rock & Roll Destroyer on Jalopy Go Far
7. “Wreck of the Day” by Anna Nalick on Wreck of the Day
8. “Someday” by Anya Marina on Miss Halfway
9. “Freak on a Leash” by Korn on Follow the Leader (Japan)
10. “Good Time Boys” by Red Hot Chili Peppers on Mother’s Milk (Bonus Track)
Yep, that sounds about right… I am a girl and I went to high school in the 90′s… And I’m awesome!
In the very cold week of January 2010, Will and I decided to start our photo challenge of taking a “photo walk” once a week around town and practicing our photography. For curious minds… we made it 3 weeks! We will be trying this challenge again in 2012- so watch out!
I started my walk in the Dublin Park 
playground. Why yes, I did play on all the obstacles and games while I was there!?! How did you guess. Luckily, Will was on the other side of the park at THAT particular time so we do not have any evidence of it
Obviously I was practicing with dimension and lining up a shot so your eye travels from the closest object to further away with gradual blurriness. No I do not know the terms… yet! But I like taking pictures and Will has a way of explaining the camera options to me so I get the shots I am going for.
Next, I walked over the the soccer fields. It was at sunset and the chain-link fence was glowing and showing its scars and nicks and dents from years of use. I thought it was so beautiful. This photo was my laptop desktop for the rest of the year. I hope you enjoy it too!
Landscapes look pretty easy… WRONG! I find it extremely hard to take a picture of a broad landscape and have it look interesting. It was especially true of this amazing tree in the center of a field a Dublin. It had all this natural architecture, you’d think it would “show” nicely on the gray background of the cold, winter sky? It wasn’t until I tilted the camera and tweaked the coloring to have the sun setting bring warmth and interest and show how “branchy” and cold this tree looked in the middle of winter. That day was the day I learned two photo editing techniques: tilt and black&white. Those are lifesavers when the photo is exactly the subject you want but the coloring or interest level isn’t. I do NOT rely on these helpful tools, but they do… help.
In my short life of 32 years so far, I feel I have had many wonderful opportunities to learn!
Nursing
Finishing college and then my Master’s Degree in Nursing has taught me so much in the areas of health and wellness. It’s funny to listen to people AFTER they find out that my background is in nursing… it usually turns straight into some sort of doctor’s appointment about their ailments or a Weight Watchers class. I find it humorous though, that when Will and I have a kid one day, that poor child will have a VERY difficult time convincing me they need to stay home sick!
Men
Many okay and bad relationships with boyfriends shaped my perspective on dating and helped me figure out what a really great guy looks like, so I was able to recognize it when Will came across my path. I have learned that it is not okay to be verbally, emotionally, physically or financially abused. A relationship is a partnership based on give and take and lots of love and appreciation. If you aren’t in an ideal situation, get out of it. The grass IS greener on the other side and there ARE plenty of fish in the sea- no settling allowed.
Military
Going to Officer Basic and Officer Advanced Courses prepared me for leadership during deployments. However, there are certain decision-making and people management skills that I get to use on a daily basis… I just have to end my sentences with “please’ a little more often
Animals
Pets are wonderful ways to learn group dynamics/pack mentality and overall how to relax and enjoy life.Which reminds me… I need to go watch my pets because I think that lesson still needs some work!
It makes me wonder where does everyone else gets their knowledge from?