Happy Birthday Liz!

23 years ago on this day, one of my best friends in the world was born. I just want to say happy birthday to one of the best people I know, Lizabeth Kimmie Walther. Being friends with you has done many things for me. I’ve learned to laugh at any and every situation, I’ve learned that sometimes having thick skin is good for you, I’ve learned that spending a spontaneous Valentine’s Day with your best friend in NYC can beat out a romantic Valentine’s Day with a boyfriend (most of the time), I’ve learned that boys will come and go but best friends are there forever, I’ve learned that even though most other people in the world think it’s a bit strange, I find it oddly awesome that my best friend is living with my parents, in my old bedroom, even though I live two hours away. While I’m sitting at work, you’re spending a lovely (well-deserved) day on the beach.
I’m more than jealous and wish you the best birthday ever! Love you.

luckiest ever.

so i've said many times before that i am one of the luckiest people i know. today is a testament to that.

so you may have read how my camera stopped working this past weekend. as i said, it was a sad, sad day. last night, i updated my facebook status to say: "mourning the death of my camera. who wants to contribute to my next one? i'd love you forever." clearing being my sarcastic self and trying to have some humor in this sad situation.

on a sidenote: i am 23 years old have been friends with adrian for 23 years. we grew up as next door neighbors and were pretty much inseparable since then. a few years back she moved to omaha nebraska and obviously we haven't gotten to see each other nearly as much as we wanted. we rely heavily on facebook and texting to stay as close as we have.

so anyway. last night adrian commented on my facebook status and asked what kind of camera i had and if i was looking at getting a new one. i told her pretty everything that i wrote in my earlier post, and that was that. she said she had something to send me, that might help me make a decision. i assumed it was a book or something like that. then today i get a text from her telling me "DO NOT BUY A CAMERA i bought one for you!"

....are you joking? i was at work, sat there in shock, and didn't know what to write. so obviously my first response was, "are you out of your mind????!" she admitted that while she might be, she did indeed buy me the exact camera i wanted (the yellow/green olympus styulus tough 6000) and it will be arriving at my apartment this thursday or friday. after fighting back and forth with her about whether or not i would accept this gift, i think it's safe to say that i lost that battle.

SO. this leads me back to my belief that i am the luckiest person i know. and i'm not just talking about my great luck in getting this camera as a gift. i'm talking about the people i've chosen to surround myself with. this is really a testament to them and how great they are.

i asked adrian if there was something she wants as much as i wanted that camera, because i clearly owe her. her response struck me, and i think it's something everyone can/should learn from. she said, "i don't want anything. i am more than happy with the things that i have. that's why i wanted you to have something! my life is simple and happy =)" i think everyone should live their life so that this is true.

thank you adrian! you are simply amazing. i owe you big time. i am already scheming for many christmas and birthday presents to come. thank you for being the constant definition of a best friend in all of my 23 years.

RIP Olympia

anyone who remotely knows me knows that im obsessed with pictures. all aspects, really. taking them, being in them, posting them, everything.

so clearly it was a sad sad day when i realized that my amazing little yellow/green Olympus SW 790 is no longer working. i've had it since Christmas 2007 and i love it. it's waterproof, shockproof and freezeproof and has definitely been put to the test. i brought it snorkeling with me in the bahamas and boogie boarding with me in the dominican republic. it's been dunked in plenty of pitchers of beer and used as a toy to occupy a 4 and 6 year old in a pool on many occasions. it will be missed. RIP.



here's the new dilemma in my life. albeit a small dilemma in the grand scheme of things, i still consider it one.

I need a new camera. This is not an option. I do not function well without one. Not to mention that i have 5 straight upcoming weekends with events i know i will want to photograph (14th - AC, 21st-24th - OCMD, 28th - friends bday party, 29th - Kayleigh's Annual Summer Party, 5th - Dane Cook in AC).

Here is what i do have options on: do i get a cheaper camera (not waterproof) just to have one and save up for the one i really want. OR do i just splurge and get the one i really want (which costs around $250)? the thing is - remember those bills i was complaining about in my last post? they're still there. but to me a camera fall under the necessities category. i could always charge it and pay it off slowly but surely. (clearly this is what i'm leaning towards).

The new one would be an Olympus Stylus Tough 6000 which is basically just a new and improved version of my beloved camera. It's waterproof, shockproof and freezeproof but is 10.1 megapixels (instead of 7), has a much larger screen, much better zoom, etc. it's awesome. and it still comes in the color that i love oh so much.



i just don't see the point in spending money to fix the old one or buy a cheaper, non-waterproof when i could just put that money towards this baby. also - at this point i'm so used to have a more rugged, waterproof camera that i think going back would be a mistake on my end and wind up costing more anyway. not to mention that my friends have come accustomed to playing the "lets dunk shanas camera in beer and pretend we hate her to scare/amuse other people" game and i fear that they might continue that game without realizing my new camera isnt waterproof.

i know this is a lot of rambling just about a camera but i'm just trying to weigh my options. any thoughts/suggestions?

i am not a grown up.

i'm in denial that i have grown up.

there. i said it. everything is pointing to me still being a kid. all i want to do is hang out. take naps. drink beers. have fun. (okay so maybe kids don't drinks beers but i'm not willing to give that up).

unfortunately, my rent, cable, gas, electric, student loanS (yes, plural) and all the other bills are saying otherwise.

by the time i get home from work most nights, all i want to do is eat dinner, relax and get to bed. therefore, ive been trying to have as much fun as possible on the weekends. it's a vicious cycle really. because this lack of sleep on the weekends just escalates during the work week. but in the words of my dad, "it all comes with the territory. you're not a kid anymore."

on a different note - my dad has been unemployed for quite a few months now. last time i was home i helped him update his resume and today he asked me to apply to a job at Fedex for him. ever since he was laid off (stupid economy) he's been in denial and hasnt wanted to get back to work. says he doesn't want to grow up. in a way, its been great for him to be around while my mom got her surgeries (knee and back). but i think he's realizing that it's time for him to step up and get a job again. today he said something that made me tear up. He said, "i realized i want to be just like you when i grow up."

now that i think about it...if it makes my parents proud then maybe i DON'T mind being a grown up.

really?!

Ok - so I admit I'm awful at this blogging thing. But it was brought up again at today's staff meeting so I figured I might as well try it again. (it's just that twitter is so much easier/quicker)

Anyway - the other day i was driving home from work and saw this next to me:



it's not just me, right? this child is FAR too young to be riding on the back of this motorcycle. he can't even wrap his arms around what i'm assuming is his dad. this is ridiculous. so much so that i was on the phone with my mom, told her to hold on, and took a picture of this ridiculousness with my phone (just got an iphone!)

we won't mention the fact that i think motorcycles are crazy dangerous for ADULTS let alone 5 year olds. i'm hoping that the mother of that child sees the craziness of that father so at least there's some home for him.

Side note: since I believe everyone's stopped reading this anyway, i think i'll be updating much more frequently. I recognize that i don't really have a "theme" but too bad. I like to update about what's going on in my life. the end. =)

Been a long time...

...shouldn't have left you. (without a dope beat to step to..step to,step to...) ok that's enough. but i haven't posted since March 2nd. I guess I've been pretty busy since then.

Here's a quick update on the major things that have been going on:

1. My mom had to get her third knee replacement on 4/9. She's a pro by now but it was still scary. She had her right knee replaced when i was a soph in high school. that one failed when i was a soph in college and she had to have the right one replaced again. I might have mentioned before that my mom also has a slipped vertabrae in her back, which she also needs to get surgery on. However, the doctors refuse to do the back surgery until she got her left knee replaced. I guess it was bad enough that they don't think she'd be able to fully rehab her back with a bum knee. makes sense i guess. So now she's out on disability, and pretty much confined to our little house with just my dad. This means she is going crazy. And guess what? as soon as she's 100%, she's going right back in for the back surgery. YAY!

2. My brother and his girlfriend moved out of my parents house into a small one bedroom apartment in Bethalto, Illinois. My brother's been talking about it for a while but he finally did it. He wants to be a commercial pilot and found a great school out there that will get him everything he needs. I hate the fact that he is almost 20 hours from home but I am incredibly proud of him for knowing what he wants to do and actually going out there to do it. I can't lie and say i don't miss him every single day though.

3. I turned 23. Every single year i say: WOW this was the best birthday EVER. and every single year i'm right. they are constantly outdoing the year before. ridiculous. my very best friends from home drove up to stay with me for my birthday weekend. Liz from Maryland, Tom from Philly, Nicole flew in from Ohio, etc. We went out Friday night with Lila, Katie and Frankie to celebrate. Then saturday morning, Liz, myself and our friend JeanMarie went to get tattoos. It's something liz and I have been discussing for YEARS. literally since high school. and it was finally time to do it. I got a celtic knot shamrock on the inside of my left ankle and i absolutely love it. the place we went was awesome thanks to advice from a few coworkers. After our tattoos, we met up with some of my friends from work at a pub crawl in Morristown. After that, we drove back to Clifton, had dinner and got ready to go out in the city. I am so grateful to everyone who showed up. It was such a nice mix of people (friends from home, friends from SHU and friends from work) - i literally had the best birthday ever.

4. I've lost 17 pounds. my work started the Coyne Fitness Challenge on March 10. Since then, I've joined ballys and have been pretty diligent about going 3 or 4 times a week. I had started going after work but after a while I was tired of getting home at 9 and still having to eat/relax. Instead, I've been getting up at 6 and going into the gym. Then I get ready for work there and head in and am still here by 9. Not gonna lie, i have a ton more energy as well. Overall, it's going great. Not to mention, if my Fitness team wins, we get a half day off of work and a half day at a spa on Coyne! can't beat that!

5. I'm going to the Dominican Republic on May 14th and I could not be more excited. Lila found us a great deal that we couldn't pass up so I am looking forward to a week of craziness with Lila, Katie and Shamira.

I think that pretty much sums up the major happenings since March 2nd. I need jump back on the blogging bandwagon. I'll work on it.

Hidden iPod Function

so this is basically just me rambling but this past Friday I drove from Parsippany to Westminster, Maryland. A trip that took me about 5 hours when all was said and done.

The only time I really use my iPod is in my car, and more times than not, I listen to it on shuffle. With over 2800 songs, it's hard for me to choose just one so I just listen to it like that. That being said, as I'm going through the shuffle, sometimes a song comes on and makes me want to listen to another song by that artist. It's annoying because then i have to go out of the shuffle thing and find that artist/song/album whatever.

So on Friday, this was happening and I was getting annoyed so I went to turn off my iPod by holding down the down button. Turns out I was holding down the center button and guess what pops up????? a little list that lets you search all songs or albums by that artist.

It's like apple read my mind. I know i sound like a huge dork right now, but it's the little things that make me happy I guess. haha. I figured I would share incase anyone else has been wishing for this function. haha.