Dear Blog,

I forgot about you once again. Please forgive me as work has been busy. Not only that, but our laptop is still broken. We ordered parts for a new computer, but some of the parts came defective so we have to send them back and get new ones. I've enjoyed not having my own computer. I've been able to do lots of other things instead.

I wanted to write to you and let you know that I'm okay. Jared and I recently returned from a short jaunt to the MotherState of Ohio. I brought back a bruise and a cold. I saw all my nieces. Only Lily didn't like me. Some presents found their way to me: a moose ornament that is decorating my cubicle wall, a cornhusk girl that Josh won just for me, a lunch bag that works really really well for me, and a moose shirt that is now my new favorite shirt. We played a game where the catch phrase is "it's not over until the Kings are wild". And Pit. We saw Bolt - for 50 cents each!! Each!! That's $3.50 total! Which only pays for like half a person here in Salem.

I got enormous amounts of exercise and was outside a lot. It was glorious. I also realized how smushy I've become being away from the farm. Calluses? I don't have those. Stamina? You don't need that for a desk job. But the sun was really nice. We came back to Oregon to the overcast gray skies.

There isn't anything else that is new although I do have a book report I must write now at GoodReads - my favorite book place.

I proclaim a celebration!

Yup, that's right. A celebration, folks! Today, Jared and I knocked out another debt. Another thermometer filled up on our wall. One less to creditor in charge of our money. One more step to being debt free. IT FEELS GREAT!!!

On a separate note:
Oh, how I love thee, T36-C5 Melaleuca Oil. You make my razor blades feel nice. You helped my scars after foot surgery. You smell good. But most of all right now, you make the hard sticky stuff on jars go away.

You know. That stuff that when you take off the paper label, the glue is still there. And you can't peel it off because it's not that gel-type substance but that hard junk. It's gone! T36-C5 Melaleuca Oil took it right off! I just put some on a cotton swab and rubbed it. And it was probably about 30 seconds for it all to be gone.

Now I can use my jar for my pampering pennies. :-) Yay.

Just another update.

So my dad is yet again officially old at the ripe age of 50. My younger sister asked "does that make him over the hill?" :-) We love our father.

My first 2 nieces are 2 years old. My second 2 nieces are born. And I am still not pregnant.

My sister wants to go to a college in San Francisco and is extremely excited to be going out in the summer.

Jared and I are escaping work while Jared can and going out to Ohio next weekend. Yipee!

We've gone grocery shopping once a week for the last month. It's working out really well for us. You spend less and you actually plan for what you're going to eat that week. And we're much more likely to use what we buy. And we're able to eat more produce this way. I can't wait until the Saturday market opens up again because last year we got some really good lettuce and I want to try more of what is available.

I sit on a bouncy ball at work. I wish I had one at home. Not sure how the cats would react to it... we would probably be shortly without a ball.

Our laptop randomly stopped working yesterday. It worked Wednesday evening. Thursday evening, it didn't.

I had the best day on Tuesday as I was Pampered Princess of the Day!

We're going on an Alaskan Cruise in September. In order to go on the cruise, we have to get passports. In order to get passports, I have to order a certified copy of my birth certificate. In order to get a certified copy of my birth certificate, I have to get a certified copy of our marriage certificate.

And to quote my friend Wendy, "All is well in my world."

Tell me I look young when I'm 40, okay?

Last Tuesday I turned 22. Yet I still look way too young for my age. Everyone keeps telling me that one day I'll appreciate it, but when you're 22, you want to look 22. You don't want to look like you're 16.

Think about it. You have roughly 4 stages of your life: Child, Teenager, Adult, Senior. When you're in one section, you don't want to look like another section. Unless you're a senior and want to look like an adult. Who wants to look like a teenager when they're an adult! You may want to look like a younger adult... but not a teenager.

About a month ago, I attended a meeting in a building that was not mine. When I was getting a visitor badge, the receptionist asked "What are you here for?" That is a standard question. "Are you here to see your parents?" That is not a standard question.

And Jared wonders why there are days when I wear make up (he calls it cover up, I call it enhancements). I actually look a year or two older!

So if I look so young, why are people surprised when I tell them my actual age? It's not an "Oh! You're so much older than you look!" Rather, it's an "Oh! You really are so young!" Okay. It's not THAT big a deal. Everyone is entitled to be young at some point in their life. This is mine. You had yours... now let me have mine. WITHOUT you tell me that I'm young. I know. Let's move on...