| Chapter XXXIX |

Long Overdue Update

So it's been over 4 months since I've last updated my blog. It's all due to the fact that I haven't had my laptop almost that whole entire time. The motherboard was actually ruined on it. Long story short, we finally bought a new laptop. So yay! Back to civilization ;-)

Many things have happened between then and now. Well, not *that* many but kind of.

I'm not even gonna begin blogging in a timeline fashion because I simply can't remember, in order that is, all the events that have happened during these 4 (ish) months.

Well, as far as my personal self is concerned, I thought of furthering my education. I have a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration, emphasis in Management with a minor in Biology. However, I am not particularly sure I want to pursue that.

Ok, here's the gist of my undergraduate life (in reference particularly about my major):

I started off as a Biology major when I entered college at the University of Missouri, Kansas City. Found out shortly after that Biology was just not for me. I don't think it was actually the Biology, I think it had more to do with my lack of focus in my academics (as a whole) and way too much partying. Together, it made for a horrible combination that quickly led to an academic tragedy. (And to think I was at the top of my class with a 4.0 and all in high school :-O)

Anyhow, since I couldn't decide on another major I stuck with it for 3 years. :-O Finally, I decided to switch to Accounting, which I enjoyed a lot. So at Charleston Southern University, I was an Accounting major. That was when I met my husband and when we got engaged I moved to Beaufort, SC and started attending University of South Carolina, Beaufort. ((I'm only naming a few colleges but I have actually gone to 8 by the time I completed my undergrad. Yes, 8 colleges. What can I say..I can't make up my mind ;-) )).

They didn't offer Accounting as a major at USC but since I've already taken quite a few classes in the Business field, I chose Management (since that was the only concentration they offered for Business Administration). Management was alright. It wasn't my favorite but it had it moments. I would have much rather stuck to Accounting though.

Then when we weren't sure of whether he was reenlisting or not, I switched to online learning at the University of Maryland University College, which was where I graduated from. They did have Accounting there but at that point I had taken way too many Management classes to up and switch back to Accounting. So I wound up graduating with Management.

I think it was all pretty much circumstantial how I wound up with that major but I don't think I was wholeheartedly satisfied with it. I truly don't have a passion for Management. Granted, it is an easy career field to get into since it's very popular. It wouldn't be fair to me, though, to end up in a career that I truly don't enjoy.

So I have always had a passion for Forensic Science. I have always enjoyed Forensic Files, CSI, and the likes. I also do have a minor in Biology to help me out a bit if I decide to choose the 'science' route. I did my research and found out that the University of Florida offers Masters of Science in Pharmacy/Pharmaceutical Science with a concentration in Forensic DNA and Serology (distance learning). Apparently it is one of, if not *the* top university for Forensic Science. So that is what I am about 90% sure I'm going to get into this coming Spring 2011 semester.

I'm very excited!! :-) Again, there's the 10% of gray area, which is mainly made up of me browsing around to see if there's another career I would like to get into. But for the most part, I'm settled on pursuing this.

Okay, enough about me. So my husband and I are on to a new venture. Nothing's set in stone yet so I really can't say too much but I'm very excited about whatever it is that is going to come our way. As a quote goes, I don't know what my future holds but I know who holds my future. I truly believe God will guide us and help us make the right decision(s) so we can wind up in a new, and better place in our lives.

Well, that's all for now. I'm gonna go get ready to head to the gym. Oh, and that's another thing about myself. I've been working out a lot lately. I've gotten so stagnant the past few years and I've missed that 'activeness' in my life. So I've been hitting the gym and trying to get back into shape.

Until next time...

| Chapter XXXVIII |

Okay, the night that I originally began this post my computer decided to die on me.

I thought it was the battery because the computer was plugged in but it wouldn't turn on. Wait, it would turn on but only for a split second. And even when I plugged it in, it didn't work.

I did notice, however, that the cord was bent at the tip where you plug into the laptop so I thought that may have been it. I'm guessing the battery may have drained and although the cord was plugged in, it really wasn't doing the charging.

It's been about a week and I randomly decided to plug it in tonight. I first tried my best to straighten out the tip and what do you know? It worked! I still don't know for a fact that that was indeed the problem but I think it very well might have been. At any rate, I'm so happy it's working again!

I love my MyTouch and it can pretty much do all the things my computer can but let's face it, the screen is a fraction of the size of the laptop and ditto on the keyboard so at the end of the day, it's just not the same.

Plus I can't play my Sims on it so that's definitely a drawback. :-)

Well, enough about that...let's carry on with other things...

First, my sweet husband bought me this adorable, tiny little cake for my birthday It was *so* rich and delicious. I guess he's alright in my book ;-) Hehe.

And aside from the cute little cake, he got me this--- Sims 3 World Adventures--- which I have gotten so addicted to for sure!

Well, on Friday, May 7, we decided to go to Lexington to celebrate my birthday- just the two of us. We stayed in a jacuzzi suite at the Comfort Inn and had a wonderful time! Although in retrospect, we did wind up paying quite a bit more for a jacuzzi that was only used for maybe a half hour or so, I did have a lot of fun.

When we got back to Somerset the next day (my birthday!), we went over to his grandparents to supposedly help them out with some cleaning and yard work but it turns out that they had a surprise party planned for me. His grandparents, mom, two sisters, and one of his sister's fiance were there. I had such a great time. Loved all their gifts and loved the party!! He did a great job at keeping it a secret which was awesome because that was my first...

So, as I had mentioned, we got ourselves a cute little kitty...who is totally obsessed with the laptop! As you can see below, he's totally lovin' up on the laptop. :-)

"I love you, Mr. Laptop"

"You're warm and comfortable and I love taking naps on you (even if I'm constantly pressing the keys and adjusting the volume while I'm doing so)."

As much as he loves taking his naps on the laptop, he equally enjoys being in awe whenever the screen saver comes on.

"Oooo, bubbles! Me likey!"

Oh, last but definitely not least, I got birthday money from his dad and step mom. They are super awesome! And I cannot wait to spend it! :-)

Perhaps on a Juicy Couture velour Daydreamer handbag- kind of like the one below? ;=)

Well, that's all I have for now folks!! :-)

| Chapter XXXVII |

Nostalgia-ville...

I randomly remembered that I had this picture in my old e-mail address. My mom had sent it to me sometime ago. It's funny how one little picture can truly bring back so many memories and tears to my eyes.

Come August it will be, what, 8 years since I've seen my parents? Nuts, I tell ya! Not a day goes by that I don't think of them or wish that they were here with me. True, I had to do what I had to do. Go off to college, be on my own, and I guess do some growing up in general. What I will never grow out of, though, is being their "little" girl.

Although I have e-mailed and talked to my mom a lot more since I came to college, my dad is the one I was joined at the hip with when I was young.

The one who took me to the shoe store the minute I said I wanted new shoes, the one who taught me how to play guitar the minute I said I was interested and then shortly after, buy me one, and the one who always saw me as a carefree little 6 year old even the night I left for college.

I rarely use the word 'home sick' even as a Freshmen in college when others, who lived about 2 hours from their parents threw that word around like it was cool.

But yes, I do get home sick a lot more than I ever put out to be.

E-mails and phone calls just don't suffice.

I cannot wait to see my wonderful, amazing parents again in the very near future.

| Chapter XXXVI |

Happy Birthday Week to me! Happy Birthday Week to me!

Yes, it is considered my birthday week since my birthday does fall "within" this week (on Saturday, May the 8th). Therefore, I'm entitled to claim this whole week as my birthday week! And I will not be told otherwise! :-)

Anyhow, I had celebration #1 tonight with my sisters: Nikki (my sister in law) and Tori (my brother in law's gf).

First we had dinner at Sonny's. I had me a smoked turkey sandwich and some fries. Mmmm...

(I don't often feel like Sonny's-my husband knows cause he *loves* that place- but tonight I did and it definitely hit the spot!)

I also opened my presents there after dinner.

I absolutely loved everything each of them got me. They definitely knew exactly what I liked.

(I'll take a pic of all the gifts and post it up later).

We then went to the mall to look for a pair of sandals for Nikki. Wound up not finding any she liked or in her size but we did have a ball at Claire's being silly and taking tons of pics with random accessories.

Among them are these...

Aren't we just adorable?!

And nerdy?! In a very cute way of course! :-)

Nikki also bought me a cute little purse at Claire's.

Then we made our way to good ol' DQ. The weather was beautiful today so we sat outside and enjoyed our ice cream, sang along to the radio, and had ourselves a whole load of fun!

(The image below was an inside joke cause I got the chocolate dipped cone and I read that on the cone and I was like, "What?! What curl? Hair?" Then Nikki explains to me that it's the curled shape of the cone that they are talking about. Silly me :-) ).

I had so much fun tonight!! And I truly thank God for all the wonderful people in my life.

Oh, I can't forget to mention something very important.

We have a new addition to our little family of three and he is beyond precious!

Check him out...

Mr. Speckles Bugsby Foster

My husband found him (and his brothers/sisters) near a bush at Cracker Barrel while landscaping there. His mother crawled into a sewer drain. Some people took the rest of the kittens but apparently this little guy came trotting to him so he took him and brought him home. I'm so glad he did cause I just love this little man.

He's still not weened so we are currently bottle feeding him.

He is such a daddy's little boy.

He does this a lot... :-) Little lazy thing!

| Chapter XXXV |

Yes I sure do!

First and foremost, I'm so thankful for wonderful friends. One in particular is my sweet, beautiful friend Heather (aka cheeky) who wrote a super cute post yesterday wishing me a happy anniversary. I love and miss her tons!

Below are the gorgeous flowers and the cute/funny card he bought me for our anniversary! I *love* roses: the way they look, the way they smell, and just everything about them is awesome!

He also did a great job by getting me this fine looking gold locket. "I love you" is inscribed right above the two little hearts but the glare in the picture covered that.

Well, I loved my gift(s) and so did he because I got him the new Grand Theft Auto: Episodes from Liberty City. He mentioned this a few weeks back and I knew I had to get it for him. He's actually playing it at the moment while I blog. :-)

I wanted to be slick about it and trick him into thinking I was only getting him the box of Hershey's Pot of Gold chocolate below. I took all the chocolate out of it and placed the game inside the box. He did ask if it was really chocolate when I first handed it to him because it felt light but I said, "Yea, it's chocolate." (I'm *the* worst liar though so I'm sure my facial expression showed otherwise). He probably knew on some level that it wasn't really chocolate but he did not expect the game at all. He was definitely surprised when he saw it and it was great to see his happy expression :-)

I did give him all the hidden chocolate after ;-)
For our anniversary dinner, we went to Tumbleweed. I've only ever been there four times in my life. The first time was in Wisconsin and the other three (including last night) was right here in Somerset. I had the mango chili glazed salmon and he had the buffalo chicken fingers. It was all so very delicious!

Well, that was only Part 1 of our anniversary celebration ;-) We will be having Part 2 in the near future which will involve a sushi dinner and a jacuzzi suite! Location? Lexington, KY most likely.

I'm truly blessed to have an incredible friend like my cheeky and an exceptionally wonderful husband like Randy.

"It may rain or it may drizzle, but I can always find a way to make my life sizzle!" ~ May Zin Foster.

Yes, it sounds lame but whatever. :-)

| Chapter XXXIV |

Two years!!!!!

Yay!! Happy 2nd Anniversary to me and my sweetheart! It has been two wonderful years and I am truly blessed to have a husband like him. Yes we have our moments- our ups and downs- the times that make us feel so frustrated with each other, but through it all we continue to hold onto that feeling that made us fall in love with each other.

On weekdays, he would go to bed early and I would join him in bed but instead of sleeping I would stay on the computer and get online, play Sims 3, or watch a movie/show. Multiple times during the night I would look over at him and as cliche as this will sound, I'd feel like we were the only ones in this world. I would then lean over and give him a kiss and smile to myself when I think of how he still makes me weak in the knees whenever he walks in any room, how I still get that infamous 'butterflies in my stomach' feeling when he tells me I'm beautiful, how I still feel like a silly little schoolgirl with a crush when he kisses me, and most of all how lucky he makes me feel when he holds me in his arms and tells me he loves me.

I cannot wait for us to take the next step and have children and way down the road, watch them have children of their own. I cannot wait to grow old with him and sit out on the porch one day and reminisce on all our goods times: especially those in the beginning when we lived for the weekends and waiting 5 days in between seemed like eternity. That was where it all began... :-)

I love you so much Mr. Randy Lee Foster! :-) You rock my world! ;-)

I thought this was cute:

| Chapter XXXIII |

Yes! Thank God it's Friday!

Not that I personally have to look forward to the weekend due to the fact that I don't work. However, it is the time when I get to see a lot of my husband so that's always a plus! First things first though, I'm going to start of with a random rant. (Always the positive way to start of a weekend, right?! :-) )

Okay, I don't get why, whenever you apply for a job and have to go through one of those 'apply online' things, they ask you to attach your resume almost right off the bat after you create a username and password. Then, after a couple of steps, which usually involve filling out your name, address and other contact information, you are asked to fill out your work history, educational history, and pretty much everything that is on your dang resume! My question is, why the heck are you wasting my time asking me the same freakin' information that you just got earlier when I attached my resume?! It does not make any sense and truly, aggravates the heck out of me! I mean, yes, it takes about 5 seconds to attach a resume but if I knew I was going to fill out the same information here in a couple steps, I may as well not attach it at all. Whoever thought that was a good idea is definitely on my 'crap list'.

Alright, I did say 'rant' (singular) but I just had another tiny little rant to add as well. Have you seen the latest T.J. Maxx commercial where this designer (Lucy Sykes) narrates about being a 'Maxxinista'? Oh my goodness, her voice drives me insane! Okay, she has a British accent so of course it's different but that's not even it. It's just the way she is talking and over pronouncing every part of every syllable of every dang word! It's simply tiring listening to her, especially when she says the word Maxxinista. After I first heard the commercial, her 'Maxxinista' pronunciation rang in my ear for days.

We don't have any solid plans for the weekend, except for church on Sunday of course. I'm hoping to catch a movie again though. Before watching Shutter Island last week, which was awesome by the way, we hadn't been to the movies in quite a while. There are a number of movies I'm wanting to watch at the moment but these two are the top two for sure, not particularly in this order though cause I could go for either one.

It's our 2nd anniversary on Monday and I cannot wait to celebrate it. I think we debated celebrating it tomorrow but the more I think of it, we may just wind up celebrating it on the actual day. Plus, it's pay day! (Yes, on a Monday. Lol)

Whatever we wind up doing this weekend, I just can't wait to spend time with him. During the weekdays there's just not enough time between the time he gets off work and has to go to sleep. Don't get me wrong, every moment is treasured, but I'm selfish - I want him all to myself for days at a time. :-)

Yes, yes, we sure are two peas in a pod! I can't believe, come Monday, that I will have been married to him for 2 years and have known him for a little over 3. Regardless of all the ups and downs, I can never imagine my life without him. We both are truly blessed to have each other. Now I'm not going to say that life would be 'boring' if we never had problems because, trust me, if I had it my way, I'd live in la-la land every single moment and be happy all the time. However, what's important is the way we both react in the times of trouble and hardship. It is the way we both come out of all the arguments learning a lot more about each other and continuing to love each other even when, at times, we feel like completely suffocating the other person. :-)

| Chapter XXXII |

Bon Jovi

Somewhat fuzzy pic of the 4 of them

(Jon Bon Jovi, Richie Sambora, David Bryan, and Tico Torres)

Jon Bon Jovi with the lucky audiences from the pit &

the first rows of the first 3 floor sections.

Jon Bon Jovi

So needless to say, I am still stuck in a state of euphoria from the concert.

I had such an amazing time (and that's totally understating it!).

I mean, seeing them in person just brought back *all* my childhood memories of listening to all their songs with my sister and singing a long to them. I wish she and I could have seen them together in concert but she saw them back in March and now I've seen them so I'm definitely happy for that! :-) Although, the together trip to see Bon Jovi will surely be in the works soon ;-)

We had a late start from here but I didn't even care if we saw the opening act. (Who, by the way, was Dashboard Confessional and I have already seen them back in May of 2004 at the City Market in Kansas City, MO - wow, I remember random details of things! Lol.) Anyhow, about 30 minutes or so into the drive, as we were estimating the time of arrival in Nashville, I look down at my phone and realized that the time wasn't 6:15 p.m. (as it said on the clock in the car and the GPS) but it was 5:15 p.m. and I was totally taken aback. I told my husband to check the time on his phone and it said the same thing. Then he goes, "Maybe we're in a different time zone." And I'm like, "Really? We have barely driven 40 miles from Somerset." But to be sure I searched Google for Nashville's current time and bam! Sure enough it was Central Time. I was totally surprised cause I had no idea. I've even been to Nashville before but I guess I never really paid attention. But that little mix up definitely worked in our favor. Or so we thought at the time I guess.

We did get to downtown Nashville at around 7:30 p.m. which was when the concert was scheduled to start (The venue was downtown). But after inching through traffic and finally finding a parking spot, we wound up getting out of our car at around 8 and sitting at our seats around 8:15. We did miss Dashboard Confessional but again, as I had said before, it wasn't that big of a deal.

Bon Jovi came on about 20 minutes later. They opened with the song Blood on Blood and did a phenomenal performance - not just for that song but for all their songs! I didn't think they would have done any less than that anyway ;-)

I know he isn't much of a fan so I caught glimpses of him being "bored". Of course, he was probably tired as well from working hard all day. I did feel sorry for him because we didn't stay the night in Nashville but instead drove right back and he finally got into bed around 4:30 a.m., leaving him with barely 3 and a half hours of sleep before he had to get up for work.

I definitely want to see them perform again!

Perhaps on Friday, July 23, 2010 at the Churchill Downs in Louisville? ;-) Not that I have thought that far ahead or anything. :-)

This Bon Jovi high that I'm on ain't goin' anyway anytime too soon ;-)