Happy Anniversary to me!

I graduated from Georgia Southern 11 years ago today. Who would have thought that in 1992 while sitting in my junior year english class and watching this hokey video about this place called Georgia Southern (featuring some dude riding a bike around 'In the Pines'?!) and decided that GSU was the school I was going to (didn't even apply anywhere else!), that my life would change about as much as anyone's life could change. I am so grateful to have gotten a degree (that I never used), but mostly I am grateful for the memories and the people I met along the way - many of whom are named Ricker:-)

Thank you to all of my friends that became like my family while we were in school - I love you all like you are my family and I am so grateful that that we have grown up together. We share a bond of memories, secrets, trips, boys, dorms, activities, band, and I consider you each to be my sisters - I love you all!

Thank you also to those who were my friends and then let me become their family. It's been a wild ride and I actually learned a lot along the way.

P.S. Today is my BIL's b-day - Happy Birthday Clint! My first memory of you is Curt's little brother who sat quietly in the back seat listening to music or reading on trips to Atl to see Curt's other (very non quiet) brother Chris. Humm....guess I pegged that one correctly!

P.S.S My cousin Kimberly is graduating on Sat. I am really proud of her - I can't imagine how hard it's been to keep going while being married and having kids, but she did it! love you.

Do you know what the Wise Men brought to baby Jesus?

Apparently we celebrated Halloween a little too much around our house because Abby is still a little bit hung up on it. She told me that the Wise Men brought baby Jesus; Gold, Frankenstein, and Mur. I was like, "ok, apparently Halloween really made an impression on this kid"

I think i'll use that to segway into posting Halloween picts...here they are!


For Halloween this year, Abby was a.......well....umm....she was a princess cowgirl. Yeah, that's it - a princess cowgirl. I had these great intentions to make a costume, but when it came to Oct 31st I was woken up by my neighbor at 5pm trick or treating and I STILL hadn't figured out exactly what Abby's costume was going to be. So, last minute decision, put every pink thing she owns (and that's a lot of things) on her and send her out the door. My dad came over with the Ranger because our neighborhood is way too big to walk. Plus, everyone's driveways are long! She had fun and had already learned the song, "Trick or Treat, smell my feet, give me something good to eat". Luckily, she did not sing that song to anyone in the neighborhood.



Would you open the door to this ensamble?!




Oct 26th: while my brother/sister in law and nephew CJ were visiting to see the baby, chris, abby and cj carved a pumpkin.

OCt 25th: Since Abby missed the family Halloween party, my dad set up trick or treating in the woods so abby could practice for the real thing.


Oct 30th: Abby's Halloween party @ school

What are 'The Rules' for dating when you're already married???

A couple of weeks ago, Abby and I went to Chick Fil A after story time and Abby made a new friend, Madeline. I was so proud of abby for her budding social building skills and struck up a conversation with Madeline's Mom about...mom stuff...whatever. As they were leaving, the mom handed me her card (apparently SAHM have their own business cards these days) and we said that we'd get the girls together to play soon.

As I was driving home I realized two things...

1. I was so caught up in abby making a new friend that i didn't even introduce myself to the mom!!
2. I didn't know the protocol for when to contact the mom - would today be too early? am i supposed to wait the typical 3 days like in a dating situation!? it's all too much to know!

being a SAHM is so funny - there's such a social aspect to it almost like high school, only you've got this other person (your kid) that you have to worry about even more than yourself. will they be liked, will they fit in, are they playing with the right kinds of people, are they learning the right things. and then some moms (none that i could hang with) are interested in themselves...what are they wearing, who are they hanging with, etc.

I have met quite a few SAHM since i started staying at home and I have made many friends...but abby is at the age where she is really starting to notice and want to play with other people and i want her to be able to do that as much as she likes. she is such a funny and sweet girl - i just love her! And, goodness knows she needs as much socializing as possible!!

P.S. I have had Ms. M's card for the past 2 weeks now, and i've been trying to still work up an e-mail. Well, today we were back at chick fil a after story time and I ran into her!! i told her that i still had her card and that i was wondering if they wanted to go to X place...she said they'd never been there but she thought it sounded fun. I just sent her an e-mail with the place's information and now i'm just waiting to hear back from her. Hopefully it won't take her 6 mths to reply like it did for chris when i sent him my first e-mail trying to set up a date!!

I'm so nice, they tagged me twice!!

1. the first concert i attended was the Indigo Girls when I was 24. Chris and I had just started dating and yes, we were the only hetero couple there. The concert was at Deer Valley Ski Resort - it was beautiful and we had a great time.
2. I LOVE movies!! My favorite is “Sense and Sensibility”. My favorite line is, “does she care for olives?”
3. I got my learner’s permit the day I turned 15 and my license the day I turned 16. My first car was a silver 1986 Honda 2 door hatchback that I got a few months before I turned 16. That car was awesome and held everything!! It has a lot of memories. I sold it to a teenager at my church in 1999 for $500 and she totaled it months later.
4. I can’t watch scary movies. If I am flipping through channels and I hear the music or see a scene from a scary movie, I can’t sleep that night. This especially happens when Chris is out of town and it’s normally “Silence of the Lambs” (this happened last night as a matter of fact!) I’ve never seen “Nightmare on Elm Street”, Friday the 13th, Halloween, or Saw – the scariest movies I’ve ever seen were the Scream series – I still can’t even look at that mask without it keeping me up at night!
   
5. I LOVE LOVE LOVE diet coke. When you get one from the store and open it, if there are little ice slivers in the bottle – it’s like a Christmas present for your mouth.
6. I never had an Atari, Nintendo or Sega growing up. We now have a Wii and my young nieces school me on Super Mario Galaxy! I just can’t win! I can’t even get past the first level of Super Mario 1! For Mother’s day, Chris bought me Super Mario Kart because it’s a game that you don’t really have to have skill to play, and you can’t really lose/die.
7. I love logic and strategy games – on long trips, I always bring a big book of logic puzzles with me and even brought Sudoku with me in the delivery room!
   
8. I am right handed, but can only snap with my left hand - I know, random!
9. I can't whistle - never have
10. I was adopted when i was 2 days old...it makes me as cool as a Cabbage Patch Kid!
11. I am a creature of habit!!! I always eat the same things, drink the same thing, wear the same things and go the same places. It takes a lot of the stress of life away from me because I know what I like and I know when I go to a place that I won't leave hungry! For at least 10 years, Bryers Deluxe Rocky Road was my favorite ice cream. They recently changed the formula and I don't like it anymore - I haven't found a substitute and ever since, I rarely eat ice cream.
    
12. My first time in an airplane was my junior year of college and I went two places that year - Miami and Salt Lake. Furthest distances I've traveled now are; west - Oahu, east - Paris, south - Miami, North - Ottawa (I traveled a lot for work in my first job out of college)

I hereby tag the following:

Kimberly
Wren
Jessie
Stacey J

The rules...
You must tell you six random things about yourself and then tag/award four other bloggers who you think qualify as “kreativ” (it's the creative blog award, but I can't get the picture to stick). It better not be anything I already know about you either!!!