The Cost of Higher Education

"In 1981, most students could earn two-thirds of the cost of a year of college by working full time at a minimum-wage job during the summer. Today, students would have to work full time for an entire year to cover the cost of one year at a public university..."

An interesting article from the Columbia Missourian, A penny saved is a degree earned.

I'd have to say that I definately missed out on a lot of stuff offered by my university because I had to work to get through college. Each year for the 4 years I was in school the tuition was raised, I think by 14% one year from the year before.

Recap of 2006

This survey is about the year 2006. Answer the questions thinking about the past year. My answers are below:

1. Overall, have you had a good year? It's a good thing we got married this year....otherwise the entire year would have sucked.
   
2. What has been your biggest achievement? getting married
   
3. Did you take any exams, pass? nope nope I is done with school
   
4. Have you been on a vacation (list where and when)? Jamaica in June for the honeymoon, and then Chicago in July to go to Six Flags and Chicago again in October to help some friends move (I don't know if that one counts as a vacation)
   
5. Have you bought anything expensive? a new car - 2004 Honda Civic
   
6. Have you had a job? yes, been there 1 year and 3 months now
   
7. Made any big decisions? I said "I do"
8. Lost a friend or loved one? In the emotional sense, not the physical (as in she didn't die or anything....)
9. Met anyone amazing? That's pretty hard to live up to...someone AMAZING...not sure.
   
10. Made new friends? yes, some new people at work and friends of friends
    
11. Moved house? nope
12. Changed College? done with college
    
13. Tried something new? being married - LOL
    
14. Been more happy or sad? happy
15. Made any enemies? not on purpose...
    
16. What music will you remember from this year? I haven't bought a CD in ages...music sucks right now.
    
17. What movies have you seen at the cinema this year? Believe it or not, I have not seen ANY movies in the theater this year...but I did join netflix
    
18. What was your best night out? My wedding day
19. What was your worst night out? I don't go out much
20. Best day? my wedding day
21. Worst day? when our chinchilla Teddy died
22. Best month? June
23. Worst month? November
24. Was summer a gooden'? summer's always good
25. Have you made better friends with anyone? yes and very glad for it
26. Lost any friends? yes...it makes me sad
27. Made any plans for next year? not really
28. How many hair colours have you had? just brown
29. Got pierced? no...still too scared of needles
30. Got inked? never!
31. Changed your image? nope
32. Missed anyone? yes
33. Know what you want in the future? yup
34. Regret anything? yes, but who never does anything they regret?
35. Have you had any relationships this year? with my husband!
36. Been to church? yes, I try to go every week but sometimes I can't get out of bed early enough.
    
37. Cried yet? yeah....it happens once in awhile
    
38. Been on a diet? I *thought* about going on a diet but never got past that point
    
39. Pulled an all nighter? no...I like my sleep
    
40. Drank Starbucks? yucky-0
41. Went Camping? no but I hope too next year
    
42. Bought something(s)? lots of things
    
43. Met someone special? everyone is special
    
44. Been out of state? out of the country in fact
    
45. Gone Snowboarding? no...but we got a lot of snow this week and I probably could have.
    
46. Gotten in a car accident? well not me...but I was in the car
    
47. Gone over your cell phone bill? yes because I had to make sure that we weren't going over our minutes
    

Gift Card Purchases

I got this warning via email and verified that it is true on snopes.com:

Well the crooks have found a way to rob you of your gift card balance. If you buy Gift Cards from a display rack that has various store cards you may become a victim of theft. Crooks are now jotting down the card numbers in the store and then wait a few days and call to see how much
of a balance THEY have on the card. Once they find the card is "activated", and then they go online and start shopping. You may want to purchase your card from a customer service person, where they do not have the Gift Cards viewable to the public. Please share this with all your family and friends...

Where should these folks live?

This random couple in New York have turned to the internet to decide where they should live after they get married. They chose 250 towns across the continental United States and want people to vote for where they should live. You can vote as many times as you’d like for any combination of towns you like. Once a town receives 1,000,000 votes, they are going to move to that town for at least one year (and update the world on what they think of the town they end up in). Personally I think they should have narrowed it down some - 250 towns is way too many, but I guess they wanted the media hype in all those towns across the country. They probably should have worked a little harder on their website design as well ... but then, I'm just picky about things like that.

So where do you think they should live. I have submitted several votes for my hometown of Columbia, MO (which is currently number 33 of 250). Below is the top 10, just to give you an idea of where things stand.

So cast your vote!

The Scream

Here is the infuz rendition of The Scream by Edvard Munch.

The evolution of an AOL logo...

AOL recently changed their logo...again. The company has only existed for 15 (or so) years and already has had 3 different logo designs. I guess they have to constantly reinvent themselves to keep their company afloat.

The November 7th Election

I realized the other night that while I knew how I was going to vote on the big issues that will be on the November ballot (US Senator, Amendment 2, Amendment 3, Parkway's Proposition R), I didn't know about all the other issues that are not as widely known, but still important. Here is a list of what people in my area will be voting on. To find out what people will be voting on in your area of St. Louis county, click here. In this particular post, I am not endorsing any particular candidate, I'm just informing people what they will be voting on so they can make an informed decision. The important thing is that you GET OUT AND VOTE (after you read up on the issues and make an informed decision)!

US Senator:
Jim Talent (republican)
Claire McCaskill (democrat)
Frank Gilmour (libertarian)
Lydia Lewis (progressive)

State Auditor:
Sandra Thomas (republican)
Susan Montee (democrat)
Charles W. Baum (libertarian)
Terry Bunker (progressive)

US Representative - District 2:
Todd Akin (republican)
George D. Weber (democrat)
Tamara A. Millay (libertarian)

State Representative - District 92:
Charles R. Portwood (republican)
Beverly White (democrat)

County Executive:
Joe Passanise (republican)
Charlie A. Dooley (democrat)
Theo "Ted" Brown, Sr (libertarian)

Prosecuting Attorney:
Robert P. McCulloch (republican)

County Council - District 7:
Greg Quinn (republican)
Steven Biggs (democrat)

Supreme Court Judges:
William Ray Price
Mary Rhodes Russell
Stephen N. Limbaugh, Jr.

Court of Appeals Judges:
Kenneth M. Romines
Nannette A. Baker

Constitutional Amendment - No. 2
Shall the Missouri Constitution be amended to allow
and set limitations on stem cell research, therapies,
and cures which will:

• ensure Missouri patients have access to any therapies and cures, and allow Missouri researchers to conduct any research, permitted under federal law;
• ban human cloning or attempted cloning;
• require expert medical and public oversight and annual reports on the nature and purpose of stem cell research;
• impose criminal and civil penalties for any violations;
  and
• prohibit state or local governments from preventing
  or discouraging lawful stem cell research, therapies
  and cures?

The proposed constitutional amendment would have an estimated annual fiscal impact on state and local governments of $0-$68,916.

Constitutional Amendment - No. 3
Shall the Missouri Constitution be amended to create
a Healthy Future Trust Fund which will:

1. be used to reduce and prevent tobacco use, to
   increase funding for health care access and treatment
   for eligible low-income individuals and Medicaid
   recipients, and to cover administrative costs;
2. be funded by a tax of four cents per cigarette and
   twenty percent on other tobacco products; and
3. be kept separate from general revenue and annually audited?

Additional taxes of four cents per cigarette and twenty percent of the manufacturers invoice price on other tobacco products generates an estimated $351- $499 million annually for tobacco control programs, health care or low income Missourians, and payments for services provided to Missouri Medicaid beneficiaries and uninsured Missourians. Local governmental fiscal impact is unknown.

Constitutional Amendment - No. 6
Shall the Missouri Constitution be amended to include a tax exemption for real and personal property that is used or held exclusively for nonprofit purposes or activities of veterans' organizations?

It is estimated this proposal will have a minimal cost to state government. The estimated costs to local governmental entities range from zero to approximately $45,000.

Constitutional Amendment - No. 7
Shall Article XIII, Section 3 of the Constitution be amended to require that legislators, statewide elected officials, and judges forfeit state pensions upon felony conviction, removal from office following impeachment or for misconduct, and to require that compensation for such persons be set by a citizens' commission subject to voter referendum?

It is estimated this proposal will have no costs to state or local governments.

Statutory Measure - Proposition B
Shall Missouri Statutes be amended to increase the state minimum wage rate to $6.50 per hour, or to the level of the federal minimum wage if that is higher, and thereafter adjust the state minimum wage annually based on changes in the Consumer Price Index?

The proposed revisions to Missouri’s wage rate laws generates an estimated $3.3 million to $4.3 million annually in state revenue. The impact on local government is unknown.

Parkway School District - Proposition R
Shall the school board of the Parkway C-2 School District be authorized to increase the operating tax levy for purposes of lowering class size, purchasing textbooks, equipment and supplies, improving technology, and managing the increased costs of educational programs by thirty-seven cents ($0.37) per one hundred dollars of assessed valuation? If this proposition is approved, the adjusted operating levy of the school district is estimated to be three dollars and fifty-three cents ($3.53) per one hundred dollars of assessed valuation.

Special School District - Proposition S
Shall the School Board of the Special School District of St. Louis County, Missouri, be authorized to increase the operating levy for the purposes of educating students with disabilities, providing
screening and diagnostics testing and providing technical education to students in St. Louis County by eighteen cents (18¢) per one hundred dollars ($100.00) of assessed valuation?

If this Proposition is approved by the voters, the adjusted operating levy of the Special School District is estimated to be one dollar ($1.00) per one hundred dollars ($100.00) of assessed valuation.

Silly Blogger!

I switched my blog over to the blogger/google beta version and now aparently I cannot post on anyones blog that has not been switched, and anyone without a google accout (just a blogger account) cannot post on mine. This is really annoying, so feel free to post annonymously and just put your name in the post message if it won't let you post like normal.

To Clone or not to clone?

Missouri is trying a bait and switch tactic on its voters to try and get amendment 2 passed - and if voters don't pay attention they will fall for it.

The language on the ballot and the language in the actual constitutional amendment are different. Here's what you will see on the ballot with the myths unveiled (in red):

-----------------------------------------------

Shall the Missouri Constitution be amended to allow and set limitations on stem cell research, therapies, and cures which will: TRUTH: Amendment 2 doesn't set any new limitations on stem cell research that isn't already in federal law.

• ensure Missouri patients have access to any therapies and cures, and allow Missouri researchers to conduct any research, permitted under federal law; TRUTH: All US citizens (including Missourians) ALREADY have the same access to medical breakthroughs, and there is currently no laws keeping Missouri scientists from conducting research that the federal law allows now.
  
• ban human cloning or attempted cloning; TRUTH: Amendment 2's fine print defines cloning as resulting in a fully grown human baby, but does not consider cloning for research to be cloning.
  
• require expert medical and public oversight and annual reports on the nature and purpose of stem cell research; TRUTH: According to the full text of Amendment 2, this "oversight" would consist of the human-clone researchers policing themselves.
  
• impose criminal and civil penalties for any violations; and
  
• prohibit state or local governments from preventing or discouraging lawful stem cell research, therapies and cures? TRUTH: because "lawful stem cell research" described in amendment 2 requires human cloning, this means your tax dollars will be used to fund this research, and no state, county or local government will have the power to say no.
  

The proposed constitutional amendment would have an estimated annual fiscal impact on state and local governments of $0-$68,916.

-----------------------------------------------

For more information see 2tricky.org or moroundtable.org.

UNPROVEN, UNNECESSARY, UNETHICAL: Embryonic Stem Cell Research

It worries me how many people are FOR embryonic stem cell research and ammendment 2. Please read the following and consider it before you vote on November 7. PLEASE NOTE: I am not against stem cell research using adult stem cells...only research that uses embryonic stem cells.

• Adult stem cells have already been successfully used in human therapies for many years. As of this moment, there are 72 successful treatments/cures using adult stem cells. NO therapies in humans have ever been successfully carried out using embryonic stem cells. In fact, the ONLY reported use of embryonic stem cells in humans was an attempt to cure Parkinson's disease, and resulted in some patients actually becoming worse.
  
• Embryonic stem cells are harvested from a human embryo. During the process of harvesting the cells, the embryo is destroyed, thus destroying a human life. In adults, stem sells are obtaqined from body tissues such as bone marrow, umbrilical cord blood, fat cells, etc. There is no damage to the donor in any way.
  
• Embryonic stem cells have produced tumors in animal lab testing due to the fact that they continue to replicate themselves indefinately.
• The harvesting of embyros from women causes substantial risks to the woman donors health. Not to mention the fact that women will be paid to donate their eggs which has the likelyhood to exploit poor and uneducated women.

Brawny Academy

You might have seen the tv commercials...Brawny Paper Towels developed an online reality show where they brought in some men in need of some improvement (according to their wives and girlfriends). The men come into the show as slobs and leave as changed men - along the way learning valuable skills such as replacing a toilet. It's funny, cheesy, dorky, and overall a brillent ad campaign. Check it out for yourselves!

Brawny Academy

All I can say is WOW!

This is an incredible commercial for Sony Bravia. The first time I watched it I thought maybe it was photoshopped somehow... Well it has been color corrected, but it is actually paint, and actually buildings...

• Check out the commercial
• Check out the behind the scenes
  

It's so neat for a lot of reasons...one thing that strikes me as interesting is that the buildings they used seem to be abandoned. If you watch the behind the scenes video you will see that there are broken out windows, rusted playground equipment, graffiti covered hallways - it appears to be projects, or slums that were used as the backdrop to an amazing commercial. I can't even imagine how much it cost to produce that!

Thanks Ryan for showing me this!

Just how observant are you?

This quiz is based on U.S. info, so use all lobes of your brain. This can be more difficult than it looks - it just shows how little most of us really see! There are 25 questions about things we see every day or have known about all our lives. How many can you get right? These little simple questions may be harder than you think...

Put your thinking caps on. NO CHEATING!!! BE HONEST!!! No looking around! No getting out of your chair! No using anything on or in your desk (including your phone) or computer!

The average person gets only 7 correct. How many can you answer? Write down your answers as you go. Check your answers on the comments page, AFTER completing all the questions.

LET'S JUST SEE HOW OBSERVANT YOU REALLY ARE.

1. On a standard traffic light, is the green on the top or bottom?
   
2. How many states are there in the USA? (Don't laugh, some people don't know)
   
3. In which hand is the Statue of Liberty's torch?
4. What six colors are on the classic Campbell's soup label?
   
5. What two numbers on the telephone dial don't have letters by them?
   
6. When you walk does your left arm swing with your right or left leg? (Don't you dare get up to see!)
   
7. How many matches are in a standard pack?
   
8. On the United States flag is the top stripe red or white?
   
9. What is the lowest number on the FM dial?
   
10. Which way does water go down the drain, counter or clockwise?
    
11. Which way does a "no smoking" sign's slash run?
    
12. How many channels on a VHF TV dial?
    
13. On which side of a women's blouse are the buttons?
    
14. Which way do fans rotate?
    
15. How many sides does a stop sign have?
16. Do books have even-numbered pages on the right or left side?
    
17. How many lug nuts are on a standard car wheel?
    
18. How many sides are there on a standard pencil?
    
19. Sleepy, Happy, Sneezy, Grumpy, Dopey, Doc. Who's missing?
20. How many hot dog buns are in a standard package?
    
21. On which playing card is the card maker's trademark?
    
22. On which side of a Venetian blind is the cord that adjusts the opening between the slats?
    
23. There are 12 buttons on a touch tone phone. What 2 symbols bear no digits?
    
24. How many curves are there in the standard paper clip?
    
25. Does a merry-go-round turn counter or clockwise?
    

Raising Chinchillas

Raising Chinchillas

You must check out this commercial!!!

My Celebrity Look-alikes

Upload your photo and find out which celebrity you resemble the most! Here are the ones that supposedly look like me. You be the judge, then try it yourself.

Birthday Calendar

This is a pretty nifty little tool. It tells you all kinds of useless little details, like how many hours, minutes, and seconds you are old and when you were probably conceived.

Birthday Calculator

Here are some interesting little things I learned:

• I was concieved on or about February 8, 1982 (which is the same day my sister was born in 1986)
• My "life path" number is 5. I am most compatible with peoples whose "life path" numbers are 1, 5 and 7. (Tom's "life path" number is 6...)
• I am 209,556 hours old (as of right now...11:53 am on September 27, 2006)
• Lyle Lovett has the same birthday as me.
• One of the top songs of 1982 was "I Love Rock 'n' Roll" by Joan Jett and the Blackhearts. No wonder I'm best at that song in Guitar Hero.
• My age is the equivalent of a dog that is 3.41722 years old.
• There was a full moon on the day I was born.

Do you love to travel?

Below I've marked an "x" in front of each state (plus Washington DC) that I've been to. I've been to 22 and have 29 left.

STATES I'VE BEEN TO:
[ ] Alabama
[ ] Alaska
[x] Arizona (flagstaff, phoenix, gila bend - ha)
[ ] Arkansas
[x] California (san diego)
[x] Colorado (grand junction in the most crappy motel ever)
[ ] Connecticut
[ ] Delaware
[x] Florida (disney world!)
[x] Georgia (atlanta for the 2004 golden key conference)
[ ] Hawaii
[ ] Idaho
[x] Illinois (mostly chicago and peoria where my family is from)
[x] Indiana (drove thru it on the way to naz farm)
[ ] Iowa
[x] Kansas (drove across it)
[x] Kentucky (drove thru it)
[ ] Louisiana
[ ] Maine
[x] Maryland (when i went to Washington DC)
[ ] Massachusetts
[ ] Michigan
[ ] Minnesota
[ ] Mississippi
[x] Missouri (duh)
[ ] Montana
[x] Nebraska (region 8 APO conference)
[x] Nevada (Los Vegas)
[ ] New Hampshire
[ ] New Jersey
[x] New Mexico (Albuquerque and Tucumcari - a modern day ghost town!)
[ ] New York
[ ] North Carolina
[ ] North Dakota
[x] Ohio (drove thru it)
[x] Oklahoma (Oklahoma City)
[ ] Oregon
[ ] Pennsylvania
[ ] Rhode Island
[ ] South Carolina
[ ] South Dakota
[x] Tennesee (drove thru it)
[x] Texas (Amarillo)
[x] Utah (the only place i've ever seen a sign reading "no services 108 miles")
[ ] Vermont
[x] Virginia (DC trip)
[ ] Washington
[x] Washington DC (4-H trip in 10th grade)
[x] West Virginia (naz farm!)
[ ] Wisconsin
[ ] Wyoming

OTHER PLACES I'VE BEEN:
Ocho Rios, Jamaica

You know you're from Missouri when.......

I've seen this list before...but I still have to laugh every time. Some are just a little too far...but see how many you nod your head to as you read the list!

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

You know you're from Missouri when...

1. You've never met any celebrities.
   
2. Everyone you know has been on a "Float Trip."
3. "Vacation" means driving to Silver Dollar City, Worlds of Fun or Six Flags.
4. You've see all the biggest bands ten years AFTER they were popular.
5. You measure distance in minutes rather than miles. For example, "Well, Sikeston only 30 minutes away."
6. Down south to you means Arkansas.
7. The phrase "I'm going to the Lake this weekend" only means one thing.
8. You know several people who have hit a deer.
9. You think Missouri is spelled with an"ah" at the end. (I personally hate this one...it drives me NUTS when people say "Missourah" - and this seems to be said by people NOT from Missouri usually.)
   
10. Your school classes were canceled because of cold.
11. You know what "Party Cove" is.
12. Your school classes were canceled because of heat.
13. You instinctively ask someone you've just met, "What High School did you go to?" (St. Louis only - people in Columbia aren't so concerned - after all, we only have 3 high schools)
    
14. You've had to switch from "heat" to "A/C" in the same day.
15. You think ethanol makes your truck "run a lot better."
16. You know what's knee-high by the Fourth of July.
17. You see people wear bib overalls at funerals.
18. You see a car running in the parking lot at the store with no one in it, no matter what time of day.
19. You know in your heart that Mizzou can beat Nebraska in football.
20. You end your sentences with an unnecessary preposition Example: "Where's my coat at?"
21. All the festivals across the state are named after a fruit, vegetable, or grain.
22. You install security lights on your house and garage and leave both unlocked.
23. You think of the major four food groups as beef, pork, beer, and Jell-O salad with marshmallows.
24. You carry jumper cables in your car and know that everyone else should.
25. You went to skating parties as a kid.
26. You only own three spices: salt, pepper, and ketchup.
27. You design your kid's Halloween costume to fit over a snowsuit.
28. You think sexy lingerie is tube socks and a flannel nightie.
29. The local paper covers national and international headlines on one page, but requires six pages for sports.
30. You think I-44 is spelled and pronounced "farty-far." (St. Louis only.)
31. You'll pay for your kids to go to college unless they want to go to KU.
32. You think that "deer season" is a National Holiday.
33. You know that Concordia is halfway between Kansas City and Columbia, and Columbia is halfway between St. Louis and Kansas City, and the Warrenton Outlet Mall is halfway between Columbia and St. Louis.
34. You can't think of anything better than sitting on the porch in the middle of the summer during a thunderstorm.
35. You know which leaves make good toilet paper. (I think this is a little exaggeration...)
    
36. You've said, "It's not the heat, it's the humidity."
37. You know all four seasons: Almost Summer, summer, Still Summer and Football.
38. You know if another Missourian is from the Boot-heel, Ozarks, Eastern, Middle or Western Missouri soon as they open their mouth.
39. You know that Harry S Truman, Walt Disney and Mark Twain are all from Missouri.
40. You failed World Geography in school because you thought Cuba, Versailles, California, Nevada, Houston, Cabool, Louisiana, Springfield, and Mexico were cities in Missouri. (And they are!)
41. You think a traffic jam is ten cars waiting to pass a tractor.
42. You know what "HOME OF THE THROWED ROLL" means.
43. You actually get this and forward it to all your Missouri friends.

News of the Weird!

Chinese surgeons report penis transplant

Yup...the article title says it all...very interesting...

Spreading the Word: Priestie Boyz

The press release below is for a friends band which just released their first album:

-------------------------------

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE (download in PDF format)

Contact: Address: Phone: Email: Website

Jeff Geerling 5200 Glennon Drive St. Louis, MO 63119 314-792-6340 priestieboyz@kenrick.edu www.priestieboyz.com

ST. LOUIS CATHOLIC SEMINARIANS PRODUCE ALBUM
"Priestie Boyz" release alternative CD

SAINT LOUIS, MO — September 19, 2006.

A group of local Catholic seminarians (and former seminarians) has released a CD of "inspirational Catholic alternative music." Priestie Boyz, a group of Roman Catholic seminarians studying for the priesthood at Kenrick-Glennon Seminary, are selling the album Lost in Ecstasy on their website, www.priestieboyz.com.

Founded in 2004, the Priestie Boyz describe their music as embodying "love for the Church and Jesus Christ and a joyous attitude," according to spokesman and sound engineer Jeff Geerling, who is also a seminarian.

"We strive to return our talents to the One who gave them to us. We believe our music is a prayer, and we hope it is a prayer for those who hear it," Geerling said.

After production began, band members Mike Bauer and Anthony Podesta left the seminary, but continue to work alongside the remaining seminarian band members.

Lost in Ecstasy can be purchased online at www.priestieboyz.com, as well as in some St. Louis stores and at music events (details on the band's website).

###

For more information, email the Priestie Boyz at priestieboyz@kenrick.edu or call Jeff Geerling at 314-792-6340.

Coming soon to a TV near you...

For those of you who don't know, I'm obsessed with 7th Heaven and Gilmore Girls. Both premiere next week for their 10th and 7th seasons. Here is a sneak peak directly from the CW website of what this fall has in store in the tv world...so much for not giving much details on the Gilmore Girls front...


7th Heaven (premieres Monday, September 25 at 7 pm):
This season, Eric and Annie’s family issues are pushed to the wayside when Eric is diagnosed with a fatal heart condition and told he only has six months to live. Of course, as you would expect, the news will drastically alter the way they view life and how they interact with the community around them. Eric will make each decision as if it might be his last which will prove heartbreaking and even humorous at times, and Annie will attempt to fight fate by seeking guidance from psychics, healers and therapy groups.

Additionally, at the end of last season, Matt, Mary and Lucy all announced that their respective families were expecting twins, following in the footsteps of Eric and Annie. Sadly, the season opener reveals that Lucy has lost the twins over the summer, leaving her to reevaluate what’s next for her and her family. Kevin is a good husband and wants to help his wife during this difficult time, but, unfortunately, his efforts at making Lucy feel better only result in pushing her further away. In addition to being a stay-at-home father, this season Kevin will take a troubled young boy -- the boy who accidentally shot him last season -- under his wing in an effort to change the course of his life.

Martin returns to Glenoak after realizing that he misses his son and wants to become more active in his life. His son’s mother, Sandy, is in love with Simon, but finally comes to terms with the fact that she has to move on with her life after Simon returns to school. She decides to attend seminary school and become a minister, creating an unspoken rivalry with Lucy who is also a minister and feels like Sandy is on her turf. It also doesn’t sit well with Lucy that the troubled teens from church, who had previously come to her for advice, now flock to Sandy who has a dark past that is more relatable.


Gilmore Girls (premieres Tuesday, September 26 at 7 pm):
As season seven unfolds, Lorelai and Rory will turn to one another to get through the complications in their respective romances. It may be that Lorelai's relationship with Luke has been irretrievably marred now that she has once again let Christopher come between them. Even so, she and Luke still have to co-exist in tiny, close-knit Stars Hollow with the town's watchful eyes on them and all their charged history. Meanwhile, Rory will attempt to keep her long-distance romance with Logan alive, even though communication has never been their strong suit, and London is far away.

New Website!

Our website, www.chinchillalove.com, has gotten a facelift. Instead of giving info about our wedding (that has been over for 3 months), the website now focuses on our life together. All the wedding info has been condensed into one page. The photo album now features slide shows actually within the site instead of linking out to facebook photo albums, and there's some fun new features, like "choose your color" where you can choose one of four background colors for the site to be displayed in.

Web geeks please note - I have not gone over the site in internet explorer on a PC so there could potentially be some bugs. Let me know if you find any and I'll get them fixed ASAP.

Glass in the Garden

Gimlet and I checked out the Chihuly: Glass in the Garden exhibit this weekend at the Missouri Botanical Gardens. All I have to say is AWESOME. The exhibit is there through October 31, 2006. Check it out before it's gone! However, I don't think that I'll be able to go back to the gardens after the exhibit is gone and not miss it and wish that it was still there.

The glass work is just beautiful. It's organic and goes so well with the nature surrounding it. Some of the pieces even feel like they just grew from the ground alongside the trees and plants. We took a ton of pictures. You can check them out here, but they really don't do justice to seeing it in person!

no internet...

Gimlet and I have had no internet for several days now. We canceled with SBC/ATT because they suck (they wouldn't give us a new dsl modem - the one we had died and they claimed that it was "out of warrenty" and told us we'd have to purchase a new one from them). We signed up with Earthlink DSL on Saturday, but have to wait for them to send us a modem to begin using it. At least we can use Earthlink dial-up until the modem arrives....it's better than nothing.

On another note...the power supply cord for my laptop died this weekend as well, so I cannot use my laptop until I get a new cord...why does everything always happen at once?

Daisy!

Daisy has arrived! Gimlet and I went over to see her last night. She is so tiny, but she loves her tbonz dog treats. We brought her a welcome home basket complete with Tiny Tbonz treats, Beggin' Strips, Chew-eez Rolls, a doggie bandanna, some toys, and a doggie picture frame for her human mommy and daddy. All the presents were given to her in a basket which she immediately claimed as her own.

Show them we haven't forgot

I hate email forwards, but I thought I'd pass this one on via my blog. It's a simple request to fly the American flag on September 11. I recently heard that in a survey of US citizens, 30% did not know what year September 11th happened!

-------------------------------------------------------------

On Monday, September 11th, 2006, an American flag should be displayed outside every home, apartment, office, and store in the United States. Every individual should make it their duty to display an American flag on this fifth anniversary of our country's worst tragedy. We do this in honor of those who lost their lives on 9/11, their families, friends and loved ones who continue to endure the pain, and those who today are fighting at home and abroad to preserve our cherished freedoms.

In the days, weeks and months following 9/11, our country was bathed in American flags as citizens mourned the incredible losses and stood shoulder-to-shoulder against terrorism. Sadly, those flags have all but disappeared. Our patriotism pulled us through some tough times and it shouldn't take another attack to galvanize us in solidarity. Our American flag is the fabric of our country and together we can prevail over terrorism of all kinds.

Action Plan: So, here's what we need you to do...

1. Spread this message to everyone you know. Take a moment to think back to how you felt on 9/11 and let those sentiments guide you.
2. Fly an American flag of any size on 9/11.
   

Honestly, Americans should fly the flag year-round, but if you don't, then at least make it a priority on this day.

Thank you for your participation. God Bless You and God Bless America.

Medical Miracles

For the last month or so I've been keeping up with the Herrin Twins of Utah's story. The girls are 4 years old and were born conjoined. They just underwent the first ever surgery to separate twins who shared a kidney. They have been doing wonderfully, and I even get excited for them (even tho I've never met them) when I read the updates their parents post online each day. They are leaving the ICU today where they have been since their surgery on August 7.

These little girls are amazing to me, how quickly they are recovering. There are pictures of them (post-surgery) on the family website and they look really good!

http://www.herrintwins.com/

show-me your nuts!

This is seriously the best billboard I've ever seen (even better than the KFC one that I wrote about a few months ago). It's located on north 55, just before you hit downtown. I haven't yet seen Everybody's Nuts! Pistachios in the grocery store, but you better believe I'm going to try them when I do! It's a clean design, little spice with the logo sticking up over the billboard, and bold, easy to read text. I love it!

I've seen 2 other Everybody's Nuts! Pistachios billboards in the St. Louis area - one says, "Everybody's Nuts, including you," (located on hwy 44 west as you're leaving the city limits) and the other proclaims, "Bigger than clydesdales!" (hwy 70 east near the Airport).

Nothing like marketing directly for your audience!

If you are going to have a website....

If you're going to have a website...and put it out for the public...here are a few things you might consider keeping in mind:

1. Don't put up a site that is "under construction." Once someone goes to your site and sees that there is nothing there except an annoying annimated gif of a construction saw horse, they aren't going to come back...no matter how big your text is, or how polite you are "please come back soon." Just finish your darned site and put it up for the world!
   
2. If your site is "under construction" (see #1) DO NOT put the date that you updated it. That way, when I go to your site there is a small chance that I will come back. (I WON'T come back if your site states "site coming soon...updated July 9, 2004).
3. Don't use animated gifs. period. They are annoying.
4. Don't use an annimated gif as your background image...even more annoying than #3.
5. Make sure your site works on both Macs and PCs...and that it works in all browsers (not just internet explorer!)
6. Sound Sucks....especially when you aren't expecting it!
   

Yeah...I'm Wild.

You scored as Rice Krispies. You're Rice Krispies. Originally, people had to add all kinds of stuff to you to make you cool (sugar, cinnamon, beer), or make weird treats out of you (Rice Krispies squares, Rice Krispies Liverwurst, Rice Krispies Roll-ups), but you're retro! Make yer comeback there, kid! You can even be Cocoa Krispies if ya wanna get wild!!! Rice Krispies 75% Lucky Charms 65% Grape Nuts 50% Cheerios 45% Corn Flakes 20% What Breakfast Cereal Are You? created with QuizFarm.com

My first grade teacher was wrong!

Astronomers have declared that Pluto is no longer a planet!

Well...save those children's space books...they'll be collectors items in a few years! We'll say to each other, "remember when they used to have Pluto in these books" when our children are learning about the planets.

You probably used some sort of an acronym to remember the order of the planets - something like "My Very Excellent Mother Just Sent Us Nine Pizzas." What will school children use now to remember the planets???

Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune...

A major change....

Payless Shoe Source recently changed their logo...I saw it in person for the first time at Chesterfield Mall on Saturday. It's quite a change. They updated from a circa 1980s logo design to a web 2.0 styled logo.














I think it is interesting that they chose to go with a symbol next to their brand name. It almost seems like they were trying to go for a "Nike" look with a swoosh. The color shift is also interesting - shifting to orange and gray instead of yellow and orange. Any thoughts on this logo redesign?

Get your vote in now...

The St. Louis Zoo and KMOV Channel 4 are holding a contest for naming the new baby elephant born on Wednesday, August 2, 2006. The zoo keepers have come up with 5 names and the public gets to vote on the name they like best. You can vote once a day until the voting closes (noon on Monday, August 28). You'll also have a chance to win some awesome zoo prizes including a "Greet the baby behind the scenes and meet her keepers" opportunity. Here are the names:

• Sundari (soon-dar-ee) which means "beautiful woman"
• Nisha (NEESH-ah) which means "night"
• Maliha (MAH-lee-hah) which means "strong" and "beautiful"
• Sashi (SAH-shee) which means "moon"
• Jaya (JAY-ah) which means "victorious."

I like "Nisha" the best. I'll be voting each day for the next two weeks...you can too...just click here!

Dry Erase Board Art

My co-workers and I have spent the last few months perfecting the art of dry erase board drawing. I think we're doing pretty well, but you can judge for yourself. Pictured below is the St. Louis Arch, and a reproduction of Van Gogh's "Starry Night".

That's a problem mon

The fourth and final installment of the Tidy Cats® Crumble-free Journey, Jammin' in the Caribbean is now available for your viewing pleasure. Watch our cats as Zinger gets a little wound up, Phoebe sports a new do, and Roscoe saves the day with Tidy Cats®!

12 Steps to Beautiful OR Photoshop Magic

This is a very interesting demonstration of what magazines deisgners do with photos before the photos make it to the covers of magazines. Both of the above pictures are the same. The one on the left is the original, and the one on the right has gone thru about 20 hours of photoshop retouching.

1. Eyes: Eye color is changed to bright blue, whites of eyes are brightened, eyebrows are moved up higher and cleaned up.
2. Teeth: Gaps in teeth are filled in and whittened.
3. Lips: Creases and wrinkles are removed, glossiness enhansed and upper lip made bigger.
4. Nose: Width of nose is decreased, pores are removed and skin smoothed out.
5. Facial Creases: Shadows on cheeks and bags under eyes are removed.
6. Jawline: Jaw is reshaped, pimples and moles are erased.
7. Cheek Shadows: Dark shadow alongside the cheek is added to make face look thinner.
8. Hair: Hair color is changed to a blonder shade, gaps in hairdo are filled in with more hair.
9. Shirt Creases: All creases and wrinkles in shirt are smoothed out, shadows removed.
10. Breasts: Breasts are pumped up by adding shadows and patches of light.
11. Waist: Both sides have been taken in to create a thinner, curved waist.
12. Shirt Color: Color of shirt has been made more vibrant.

Check out the 12 steps for yourself here: http://demo.fb.se/e/girlpower/retouch/
Click the "retouch website" link when you go to the page to see before and after pics at every step.

New hotel logos

For some reason, the hotel industry has been changing their logos recently. Here are 3 new ones placed next to the old ones with some comments.











Comfort Inn:
Here is the new Comfort Inn logo. I like the new color scheme (blue vs the black background), and I also like the increased size of the circle and the wavy lines instead of the straight. It gives you a more relaxed feel and also feels more like a sunset (which I think that is what it's supposed to represent). I am not a fan of the typography on the new logo. I like the font and the word "comfort" but I wonder why they chose to make the word "inn" in all caps.










Red Roof Inn:
I am not really a fan of the new logo. The only part of it that I like is the little roof top at the top of the logo. The crayon type font just feels too silly, and doesn't feel like a serious hotel. It completely changes the feel of the hotel chain, and I don't know if that is a good thing or not.
















Four Points Sheraton:
This is the only one of the changes that I really like. I think that the change gives it a very modern look which is good for that hotel. I love the font and the little icon.

Quite a Storm

Quite a storm hit the St. Louis area last night. Gimlet and I almost went to the Cardinals game (we had tickets) but after finding the air conditioning in our house not working when we got up and getting a flat tire on the way to work we decided to just go home and relax after work. Are we glad we did! Downtown St. Louis was hit with 84 miles per hour winds. Windows were blown out of buildings (including the Millennium Hotel and old Dillards building downtown). Part of the airport roof was blown onto highway 70. Semi trucks were blown over on highway 370. Much of the area is still without power right now. The pictures above show the Switzer building right on the St. Louis riverfront in the Landing. The first picture is from March 2005, I took it for my thesis project that I was doing at the time. The second picture is from this afternoon. The building collapsed due to the wind from the storm.

Gimlet and I were lucky, considering the only damage we sustained were some sticks, twigs and leaves from the trees that came down. Our neighbors lost part of a tree in their back yard (see picture), just a bit of it came over the fence into our yard. I'll be doing the clean up tonight, it'll probably only fill a couple lawn waste bags. We headed to the basement when the sirens went off, chinchillas in tote. The poor little things didn't know what was going on.

Reviewing the rules of the road...

For those of you who have forgotten, here is a review of the rules of the road:

• When the light turns red, stop.
• When changing lanes, check your blind spot.
• Keep your hands on the wheel. On the highway is not the time to refill your coffee mug from the thermas that you brought (I actually saw this on hwy 44 this morning).
  
• When a lane is closed, do not speed around the other drivers patiently waiting to get thru, only to cut into their lane in front of them.
• At a stop sign, you must not only stop, but also let any cars already stopped at the intersection take their turns.
  

I'm a natural born jungle cat...

Check out Costa Rica!
www.tidycats.com

LIVE on the Levee

Elizabeth and I went to Live on the Levee on Friday night. There was some good, some bad, and some awesome fireworks.

Friday night's shows were Sister Hazel and Better than Ezra. We didn't end up seeing Sister Hazel because we were searching for food...we walked down to the arch, realized that the supposed "good" food was up on "Eat's Bridge" and walked all the way back up to the Eads Bridge only to find out that the food up there wasn't any better than the food sold down by the riverfront. St. Louis, don't advertise a big thing happening on the bridge if it's really the same as the riverfront, and seriously, I spent the whole night watching traffic crawl over the Poplar Street Bridge, would it have made more sense just to keep the Eads bridge open for commuters??

We found ourselves a seat on the stairs overlooking the riverfront in time to see Better than Ezra take the stage. We were almost to the top of the stairs, thinking that we were far enough back not to have our ears blasted with loud speakers....wrong! If they'd turned the speakers down just a little we would have been able to hear the words to the songs! They did have a sign-language interperter which was really cool to watch. She really got into the music, and the signs were beautiful flowing to the music.

After a few songs we headed to the other side of the arch and sat and talked where we could hear each other without screaming. We headed back over to the arch when the fireworks started. The fireworks were awesome! I've never seen such a good show!

So all in all, Live on the Levee is not a bad idea, but it needed some tweeking to get people to come back - especially in the "Eat's Bridge" vs the riverfront. We walked about 4 miles total throughout the evening.

Professional Wedding Photos!

Our professional pictures are in! There are 765 photos total, and some really great shots!

You can view all the pictures online by following the directions below:
• Go to http://www.eventpix.com
• when entering the site, log on as a "guest"
• enter photographer name: Kuhlmann
• session name: Heinz-Kyle Wedding
• password: hk_G_60 (case sensitive)
• the pictures will remain online through September 12th, 2006

The photos are by Brent Kuhlmann Photography.

I Love Fireworks!!!

I got to see three fireworks shows this year. On Sunday night I went to Webster Groves with Liz, and watched their pre-preview fireworks show. It was a great show, quite a display. We were really close to the action (close enough for me to end up holding a crying baby who was scared to death of the fireworks, while his mommy took pictures of the fireworks - however she did get some really good pictures). Then we put the baby on some carnival rides - the little cars and boats that go around in a circle, a little kiddy train that goes around on a little track, and the carousal. By the end of the night he was waving to us as he went around in a circle on the ride. It was a fun night getting out of the house and doing something different.

Monday night Gimlet and I accidentally ran into the Twin Oaks fireworks display while going to get ice cream at fritz's. We enjoyed frozen custard and watched an impressive show for a town so small.

Tonight we went to see the Manchester fireworks. I brought along our digital camera to try my had at shooting pictures of fireworks (the best one is the one I put on this blog entry). It's a lot harder than it looks. It's hard to know when to hit the shutter button because while the firework looks neat when you hit the button, by the time the picture is shot, the firework is gone. The Manchester fireworks display left something to be desired. The show was really short and they shot the fireworks really slow. Just one at a time and waited until the sky was completely empty to send up another one. Finally right before the finale they started sending up two at a time. I think we'll try Ballwin's fireworks next year. We could see their show way off in the distance and it started before Manchesters, and ended after. Oh well, at least the rain held off during the show.

New Car (soon)!!!

So...I might be getting a new car soon!!!!! This is pretty exciting. My current car (1994 Nissan Sentra) is getting a bit too old for my driving habits...taking short cuts thru the ghetto, driving to Chicago for a weekend, etc. Not to mention that the A/C is current not working, the plates are expired and it failed the emissions test not once but twice.

My husband and I went to test drive cars for me today. We drove a new Honda Civic and a new Nissan Sentra. The Civic was a nice car, but the styling is just a little too "space age" for me. Both Gimlet and I agreed that we liked the Civic from the steering wheel back, but disliked the front end of the car (picture here). The dash could be in its own zip code, and you can't even see the hood of the car from the drivers seat. Makes parking a bit of a challenge when you can't see where the front of the car stops.

The 2006 Nissan Sentra was almost identical to the Sentra that I currently drive. There were a couple of improvements, but for the most part, it was just a newer, more expensive version of my car.

After exploring new cars, we ventured to Huey's Honda and took a peak at a 2004 Honda Civic (completely different styling from the new ones). I love it. It is black, has just over 24 thousand miles, and could be mine in just a couple days. Here's a picture:

Could you pass the U.S. citizenship test?

Could you pass the U.S. citizenship test? Try it here for free!

I got an 80% on it, missed 4 of the 20 questions. Three of the four I just flat out didn't know, and the fourth I didn't read close enough.

Friendship

So I joined myspace last week. For those of you who don't know, it's a website where you can connect with past and present friends and post pictures, blog entries (that only those on your myspace friend list can read), leave comments, and meet new people. I joined mostly because several of my friends and co-workers were on it and wouldn't stop talking about it.

I am up to 24 friends on my myspace friend list now. All of which are people I know. The interesting thing is that I found my best friend from 2nd grade on myspace. I was excited and immediately sent her an add friend request. She accepted, and then sent me a message asking who I was. I was taken back, I just assumed that she'd remember my name even tho we haven't talked since that time and I had no idea where she ended up (she moved away from Columbia). Through a couple more messages I learned that she aparently had a very tramatic childhood and since has blocked memories of her past.

Just so that you know, if you are reading this and aren't friends with me anymore that I haven't forgotten you. Whether we had a fight, you moved away, I moved away, or something else came between us, I still remember you. I often think of friends that I've lost and wonder what I could have done to prevent our friendship from being broken off. I wonder if I'd worked harder if we'd still be friends, and if we were still friends would I still be in the same place in my life.

To all my friends, I hope that we'll always be friends, I hope that nothing comes between us that we can't work out, that no matter where you or I are living, that we stay in touch. I love and care about each of my friends dearly, and I hope that you guys love and care about me just as much.

You should have seen me at the toga party...

The second installment of the Tidy Cats Crumble-free Journey is up! This time they have travelled to Greece. Check it out!

Wedding Wrap-up

It's the blog post you've all been waiting for, ranting, raving and complaining about various wedding vendors that we worked with for our wedding. Each place we worked with has the name, website and a star rating (one is worst, five is best).

Bridal Connections *****
I can't say enough good things about Bridal Connections. I went there on a whim because the shop I was going to go to was already closed when we got there. They had the perfect dress, and their staff is excellent. The manager knew my name by the time the wedding came around. I bought my dress there, had the alterations there (the alterations were expensive but looked great). We also rented the tuxes for the guys from Bridal Connections (Jim's Formalwear). I strongly recommend Bridal Connections!

David's Bridal *
We got the bridesmaid dresses from David's Bridal. They were a pain in the ass from the beginning, but I thought that it would be ok because each girl could try on their actual sized dress instead of going by measurements for sizing, and some of the girls could get their dresses from ebay since David's Bridal is a national chain. They were a pain from the beginning to the end. We could never get a sales person's attention when we were there, they didn't have all the sizes in stock (even when we called ahead to make sure that they did), they misplaced dresses that were ordered, messed up alterations on all 3 of the girls who went in to have their dresses altered, the list goes on and on. Bottom line is, don't buy from David's Bridal.

Complete Music *****
We hired Complete Music to do the DJ service at the reception. The DJ we got played exactly want I wanted and had just the right amount of involvement in the event. They were priced below some of the independent DJs and we were guaranteed someone for the night even if our scheduled DJ had gotten sick. I would recommend Complete Music to anyone.

Champagne Limousines *****
Champagne Limousines was wonderful to us. We booked just a month before the ceremony and they were able to get us in. The driver was very friendly and courtious, and knew his way around the city. However, we visited 2 other limo rental places that we were not pleased with at all. Affordable Limousine Service brought a beat up old limo to show us and quoted us a price of much higher than Champagne ended up being. Gem Transportation wouldn't take appointments to see their limos, and even when Tom told them we'd be at their place by 6, they left at least 5 minutes early because the place was all locked up when we got there at 5:55.

Favazza Florist *****
The flowers were wonderful, reasonably priced, and the store owner came to the church to get the coursages and boutineers pined on correctly and see that we got the ceremony off without a hitch! She even stayed late one night to meet with us and go over our flower selections.

Brent Kuhlmann Photography *****
This rating is pending recieving our final photographs, but I have no doubt that they will be wonderful. Brent was great to work with from our first meeting to the wedding day. He went over everything in detail to make sure he knew what was going to go on throughout the day. He started at our house taking shots of us getting dressed. Then off to the church for the ceremony, forest park for more pictures and he stayed the entire time at the reception.

Four Points Sheraton/Holiday Inn ***
This is a hard rating for me, as I really liked the facilities and the food, but there were a couple things that happened during the reception that upset me. First, they changed the name of the hotel 2 days before our reception and didn't call us to let us know. All our guests were going to be looking for the Four Points Sheration, but the building now said Holiday Inn. Tom found out when he went to go drop off the favors and pay the final amount at the hotel two days before. Also, during the ceremony there were children running around the hotel, in and out of our room, dropping gum and candy into our card box on the gift table. We also had 2 strange men come into the reception for who knows what reason other than they were acting very strange and shouldn't have been there.

Majestic Travel **
The travel agents at Majestic Travel were very nice, however our honeymoon was not as nice as we expected. They did not prepare us well for going to another country (i.e. it's all inclusive except bring ones to tip the guys loading your luggage onto the bus at the airport). We probably could have booked the trip online just as well.

The Name Change Game

I just want to let everyone know...when giving a check as a wedding gift...make the check out to either one or the other of the two getting married, or to the bride and groom using the brides maiden name. It is a pain in the butt to get your name changed, meanwhile, you have a pile of checks that you cannot cash because they are made out to the new name which doesn't legally exist yet.

A St. Louis Survey

An StL survey (it's just like those email surveys that come around every once in a while only specifically for St. Louisans) .

1.) What is your favorite Ice Cream Place? We go to Fritz's a lot, everyone loves Ted Drews but I've only been there once.

2.) Favorite concert seen at UMB Bank Pavillion ( Riverport) -- I've only seen 2 concerts there...Summer Jam 2002 (headliner P. Diddy) and the Goo Goo Dolls. Both were good.

3.)Would you rather go to the Dome, Savvis Center, or Busch Stadium? Busch Stadium...mostly because I can stand baseball more than hockey or football

4.)Favorite Bar? The Venice Cafe is cool, but I'd have to go for any bar that my friends are at with me.

5.)Favorite Place to eat in the Loop? Blueberry Hill

6.) Favorite Fast food? I don't really eat fast food...but occationally I get a craving for McDonalds fries.

7.)Would you rather go to the Zoo, Science Center, or the City Museum? Holy cow...I can't make a choice here! I love them all! If I have to choose one I guess the zoo.

8.) Have you ever been to the balloon races in Forest Park? Seen the balloons...but at the balloon glow the night before. I've seen the races over Gimlet's grandma's house tho!

9.) Would you rather go to the Muny or the Fox? Well the fox, but the free seats at the muny are quite tempting for some shows.

10.) Favorite Mall in STL? Galleria, then West County

11.) Have you ever been to Grants Farm? Yes...I love to feed the goats there!

12.)Favorite time of year to go to Six Flags? I usually end up going there during Fright Fest, which is pretty cool, but I'll take any time.

13.) Favorite casino to go to? Never been.

14.)Did you ever go to Incahoots or Liquid? nope....

15.) Did you ever see Sesame Street on Ice at the old Kiel Center? that would be a NO

16.) Ballwin Days or Manchester Days? Never been to either...but since I live in Ballwin I'll go with the Ballwin Days.

17.) Favorite Pizza Place? Papa John's, by the way...I HATE Imos!

18.)Favorite Place to watch fireworks? Downtown over the river!!!

19.) Best part of the VP Fair? Hello! Fireworks

20.)What High school did you go to? Hickman High School in Columbia, MO

21.) Favorite place to see a movie? I hardly ever see movies...so...any place without annoying teenagers and decent seating

22.) Best Sub place? Quiznos or Penn Station

23.) Would rather eat on the Hill or the Old Spaghetti Factory? The Hill because it's personal

24.) Chilli Cook off in West Port Plaza or The Taste of Clayton? Never been to either

25.) Mickey's Car Wash or Waterway? I wash my car at home (or sometimes Gimlet washes it)

26.) Would you rather go Ice skating in Forest Park or go look at Christmas Lights at Jellystone Park? Ice skating...but I've never been to see the Christmas Lights at Jellystone...

27.) What hospital were you born in? Boone Hospital in Columbia, MO

28.) Have you ever been inside the Arch? of course...hello...what else do you do when you visit St. Louis as a tourist. The last time was spring break my sophomore year...1999

29.) What radio stations are programed in your car? Y98, The River, The Arch, Z107

30.) If you could bring back one thing to STL what would it be? UM......geez I don't know...

Wedding Guestbook Highlights!

For those of you who attended our wedding reception, you know that each guest found a guestbook page to fill out at their seat. Many of our guests did indeed fill these out, and here are the highlights on the prediction part:

Number of kids we will have (65 responses):















Years until we have our first kid (within 1 year, within 2 yrs...):

That's king zinger to you!

Check out the NEW Tidy Cats adventure!
Tidy Cats® Tidy Lock™ Crumble-Free Journey

Welcome Sully

We picked up our new chinny yesterday in Kansas City. His name is Sully, he's a 6 year old standard gray male chinchilla. He's kind of freaked out by his new home. After we put him in his new cage it took him a few minutes and then he started running up and down the ramps. He even checked out the leaping ledge in the cage. He's not sure about the wheel yet. He's fascinated by it, but he doesn't get how to use it yet. He kept running down and putting his paws on the wheel and then it'd start turning and he'd run back upstairs in the cage away from it.

Sully checking out the chew toys in his new cage.

Sully found the leaping ledge to be very interesting.

Finding a nice spot to sleep in his new box.

KFC ... let us build your dream home!

Quite a unique pair don't you think?
Billboard seen along hwy 70 between St. Louis and Columbia.

Motorola Pebl Pond

Check out the Motorola Pebl Pond

So I'm not one to really care much about brands, but this is a pretty cool website. The Motorola Pebl phone looks like a Pebble...it's pretty cool, we looked at it at T Mobile when we got our new phones last month. On the brand website there is a virtual pond and you can write something on a pebble and throw it into the pond. Then you can go check out what other people have written on their pebbles as well. It doesn't say, but aparently you can not use numbers on the pebbles, because I tried to write "17 days until the wedding" and it showed up as "days until the wedding."

I found out about this website in an article I just read in Ad Week (April 17 issue, rating interactive agencies). The Pebl pond was created by the interactive agency FCBi (which also does those dumb "Above the Influence" commercials - their overall rating was a B- from Ad Week, but hey...they made one good site. Besides the fact that their website homepage calls out "Breaking News" dated 2003...).

The end of 7th heaven....or is it?

***Caution major spoilers do not read if you have not seen the "last" episode of 7th Heaven***

As you all know, my favorite TV show ever is 7th Heaven. I've been watching it religously since it began back in 1996. I got the chance to watch the "final" episode of 7th Heaven last night, and I have to say, I think they did a decent job ending the show. Of course it was silly and unrealistic, but it was still my show, and I didn't leave the show thinking, I can't believe they did that like I often do when TV shows end.

Anyway, so I read this morning that 7th Heaven may have 13 more episodes. This is probably a bad idea. The actors are taking pay cuts, they won't be into the show, the plots will probably be stupid...

So for those of you who care...here is the scoop on the final episode:

• Simon and Rose decide to postpone the wedding
• Matt and Sarah surprise everyone by showing up at the wedding and with the news that Sarah is pregnant with twin boys
• Lucy and Kevin are shocked to hear this because they are also having twin boys
• Carlos shows up with out Mary, but blurts out at the end that he and Mary are back together and that Mary is also pregnant - with twin girls
• Sandy shows up at the very end with her baby (and no Martin) and tells Simon that they need to talk...
  

Review: Goodbye Alice in Wonderland

I picked up Jewel's 6th album last week (it came out May 2) and I've been listening to it non-stop. It's called Goodbye Alice in Wonderland, and I love it. I was really skeptical at first because her last album left much to be desired. This one is great. More upbeat than her much loved first album (Pieces of You), but still containing those personal songs that we've come to expect from Jewel.

I actually saw Jewel in person at the River Lounge courtsey of 101.1 the River the Friday before the album was released. She performed 3 songs, 2 from the new album (Again and again, and Goodbye Alice in Wonderland) and everyone's favorite, Foolish Games, from her first album. She has an amazing voice and is much better in person than recorded on an album. If you get a chance you should check her out!

My favorite song on the album is Goodbye Alice in Wonderland...

So goodbye Alice in Wonderland / Goodbye yellow brick road / There is a difference between dreaming and pretending / I did not find paradise / It was only a reflection of my lonely mind searching / For what was missing in my life

Dreaming is a good thing cause it brings new things to life / Pretending is an ending that perpetuates a lie / Forgetting what you are / Seeing for what you've been told / And growing up is not the absence of dreaming / It's being able to understand the difference between the ones you can hold / And the ones that you've been sold