Sunday, November 1, 2009
We had a couple whirlwind months where we went to Mackinac for a 4 day weekend, had a 5 year reunion with my MBA class in Bloomington, went to North Carolina with Steve's family for a 4 day weekend (where I really really wanted to see Dawson's Creek locations, but wasn't able to find much w/out paying for the tour), had our 1 year anniversary, and a ton of other stuff! Things are really going well with both of us - our work is keeping us busy during the week, but we're both enjoying it.
Our dog is teaching us patience and teaching us to not care about objects because they can all be chewed by a puppy. Our ottoman, bedspread, comforter, door frames, shoes, etc have not been able to escape the wrath of Alton. Last night he even barfed on our bedspread in the middle of the night - that was fun.
We put our townhouse on the market back in September. We've had a few showings (one was a 2nd) but no offers and the activity had died down to nothing now. It's kind of sad, but then again we're happy here. We just want to buy a house with a yard because now is a great time to buy. No big deal, but if you know anyone who wants a nice townhome - feel free point them in our direction :)
We're going over to my parents' for dinner tonight - we are that cool :) Have a good week, I'll do my best to post soon (at least more soon than July, sorry!).
Monday, July 27, 2009
How many have you read?
Where do you fall in the list? The BBC believes most people will have read only 6 of the 100 books here.
Share this with other cool people or the walking damn dead. :D
Copy this into your NOTES. Look at the list and put an X after those you have read. Tag other book nerds.
1 Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen x
2 The Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkien
3 Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte x
4 Harry Potter series - JK Rowling x
5 To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee x
6 The Bible (The entire thing!) x
7 Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte x
8 Nineteen Eighty Four - George Orwell x
9 His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman
10 Great Expectations - Charles Dickens
Total: = 7
11 Little Women - Louisa M Alcott
12 Tess of the D’Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy
13 Catch 22 - Joseph Heller
14 Complete Works of Shakespeare
15 Rebecca - Daphne Du Maurier
16 The Hobbit - JRR Tolkien
17 Birdsong - Sebastian Faulks
18 Catcher in the Rye - JD Salinger
19 The Time Traveler’s Wife - Audrey Niffenegger
20 Middlemarch - George Eliot
Total: 0
Total so far: 7
21 Gone With The Wind - Margaret Mitchell
22 The Great Gatsby - F Scott Fitzgerald x
23 Bleak House - Charles Dickens
24 War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy
25 The Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams
27 Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoyevsky x
28 Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck
29 Alice in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll
30 The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Grahame
Total: 2
Total so far: 9
31 Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy
32 David Copperfield - Charles Dickens
33 Chronicles of Narnia - CS Lewis x
34 Emma-Jane Austen x
35 Persuasion - Jane Austen x
36 The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe - CS Lewis x
37 The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini
38 Captain Corelli’s Mandolin - Louis De Bernieres
39 Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden x
40 Winnie the Pooh - AA Milne
Total: 5
Total so far: 14
41 Animal Farm - George Orwell x
42 The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown x
43 One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
44 A Prayer for Owen Meany - John Irving (I feel like I might have...)
45 The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins
46 Anne of Green Gables - LM Montgomery x
47 Far From The Madding Crowd - Thomas Hardy
48 The Handmaid’s Tale - Margaret Atwood
49 Lord of the Flies - William Golding x
50 Atonement - Ian McEwan
Total: 4
Total so far: 18
51 Life of Pi - Yann Martel
52 Dune - Frank Herbert
53 Cold Comfort Farm - Stella Gibbons
54 Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen x
55 A Suitable Boy - Vikram Seth
56 The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon
57 A Tale Of Two Cities - Charles Dickens
58 Brave New World - Aldous Huxley
59 The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time - Mark Haddon
60 Love In The Time Of Cholera - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Total: 1
Total so far: 19
61 Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck x
62 Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov
63 The Secret History - Donna Tartt
64 The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold x
65 Count of Monte Cristo - Aleandre Dumas
66 On The Road - Jack Kerouac
67 Jude the Obscure - Thomas Hardy
68 Bridget Jones’s Diary - Helen Fielding x
69 Midnight’s Children - Salman Rushdie
70 Moby Dick - Herman Melville
Total: 3
Total so far: 22
71 Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens
72 Dracula - Bram Stoker
73 The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett x
74 Notes From A Small Island - Bill Bryson
75 Ulysses - James Joyce
76 The Inferno – Dante
77 Swallows and Amazons - Arthur Ransome
78 Germinal - Emile Zola
79 Vanity Fair - William Makepeace Thackeray
80 Possession - AS Byatt
Total: 1
Total so far: 23
81 A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens
82 Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell
83 The Color Purple - Alice Walker
84 The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro
85 Madame Bovary - Gustave Flaubert
86 A Fine Balance - Rohinton Mistr
87 Charlotte’s Web - EB White x
88 The Five People You Meet In Heaven - Mitch Albom (I read his other book...come on!)
89 Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
90 The Faraway Tree Collection - Enid Blyton
Total: 0
Total so far: 23
91 Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad
92 The Little Prince - Antoine De Saint-Eupery
93 The Wasp Factory - Iain Banks
94 Watership Down - Richard Adams
95 A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole
96 A Town Like Alice - Nevil Shute
97 The Three Musketeers - Aleandre Dumas
98 Hamlet - William Shakespeare
99 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Roald Dahl x
100 Les Miserables - Victor Hugo
Total: 1
Grand Total: 24
I would just like to say that there are a few "classic" books I've read that are not on here and I think that is CRAP! :) PLUS, I have read ALL the Harry Potter books - that should count for 7. AND I have seen the movie versions of at least 10 of these - so I'm saying I've read a lot more :)
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
We got to go to Symphony on the Prairie twice in two weeks! We went with friends to the Harry Potter music night and then the next week we went for the 3rd of July with Steve's family + my friend Gemma. We had great weather both nights and I just LOVED being there :) It is such a fun thing to do!!
On the 4th of July, we went to the IMA with Steve's family. Did you know it's free?! I didn't - they should really work on advertising that! It was really fun and I highly recommend it on a rainy day, like the 4th.
On the 5th of July I went to my friend Abby's baby shower - I can't believe she's having a baby!! Very exciting for her, but crazy to think that people my age are really starting to have kids regularly. I'm not ready for that yet. A dog suits us just fine for now, and even our dog has made me break down and cry a couple times (yes - one day before work while I was getting ready he would not calm down or stop biting me and I just couldn't stop him or myself from sitting on the floor and just crying!).
The next weekend was Sophia's wedding - it was good to see some people that I don't normally see - we had a good time! I can't believe she's in Palestine right now. That would be VERY cool, but VERY scary. Not sure I could be as brave as her.
Last weekend, we saw Harry Potter on Friday night and Braden & Anna's wedding party on Saturday night. Both good times.
After this, we're going camping, hosting Steve's brother Kevin & seeing DMB at Deercreek, going to Lisa's wedding, going to my 5 year MBA class reunion in Bloomginton, family reunion, trip to Mackinac Island (we're staying here and I'm VERY excited for the getaway weekend!), going somewhere with Steve's family TBD, going to Gretchen & Andy's wedding, and I feel like there are a couple other things on the schedule in between :) I really do like being busy. But it is tiring.
Work is pretty crazy right now - did you know that banks aren't doing well? :) Yeah, that keeps me busy since those are my only clients. I was "lucky" enough to be selected/nominated to join the leadership academy at my work - there was a whole application and selection process, so it's pretty cool but it also means I have tons more "noncharge" work on top of my normal work. We'll see how this goes...
I think that's it for now. I need to get some sleep. Have a great week!
Saturday, June 13, 2009
And we're off
Things are good here. Work is busy, but good - and at this point in time, I'm happy to have stuff to do and have some sense of job security. Steve's work seems to be pretty busy too - so it's a good thing :) We have our summer practically planned already. Last weekend we went to Coldplay on Friday and then Chicago for the weekend to see the US play Honduras. We got to spend some time with a friend on Saturday then had brunch with some more friends on Sunday. We also went to Ikea and I got to buy a milk frother, which I've been wanting for a while :) Steve got an espresso maker for his birthday, so I really wanted a latte!!
When we get back from Caravan, we're going to do Habitat for Humanity the next Saturday. Then we have the List's in town for the Fourth of July. Then a wedding. Then I think we MAY be free for a weekend or two, but we have a couple weddings and some family reunions, and Steve's brother Kevin is coming into town for a weekend to see Dave Matthews Band with us, and whew. It's a whirlwind. We're also trying to plan a weekend to Mackinac Island in MI in September, I think. We wanted it to be an anniversary weekend, but it says October is near the end of it's season. I don't like being cold - so Sept. will be fine :)
Ok, gotta finish up packing! Talk to you soon!
Monday, May 25, 2009
Taking the plunge

We got a dog!! We had been talking about getting a puppy for a while and found a cute one on the Indy Humane Society website last week that we decided to look into. We played with him today and he is just SO cute!! He has some puppy playfulness issues (ie: he likes to play bite when he plays...we're DEFINITELY going to have to train him out of this) but when he's calm he's perfect! This is definitely going to be a change for us - we have to be responsible for another being now. I think it will be good for us, but it will be a BIG change :) You'll hear more later, I'm sure...it will be interesting.
Introducing Alton Timberlake List (photos from the Indy Humane Society website - I have no idea where they got these almost professional pics!)
It was a nice weekend all around. Steve's brother Brandon came to town and we went to the 500 yesterday w/my family. My brother got hit by some debris!!! CRAZY! I haven't seen him since it happened, but got a nice war wound text picture. He's ok, but it is a good story!
Ok, gotta watch The Hills and play with the puppy!
Saturday, April 4, 2009
I am VERY excited for Steve's and my trip to Louisville at the end of April. We're going to go to Bardstown, KY on Friday (use up some Hilton Honors points - this is when work travel pays off!), and see the Makers Mark distillery during the day on Saturday. That night we'll stay in downtown LV here and we're going to blow our own glass Easter eggs on Sunday. I am SO PUMPED!! It'll be nice to get away on a not-very-expensive trip.
Last Saturday we made homemade guacamole and pita chips, and we had Gemma over for dinner. It was really easy and really delicious! I highly recommend making those again - the ingredients are: avocados, pico de gallo (sp?), garlic salt and lime juice. SO easy. And pita chips require cutting up pitas and baking in oven. Add in some easy quesadillas and you have yourself a delicious dinner!
Last night Steve and I watched The Graduate as our Netflix choice. I'm not sure I get it. I guess 40 years ago it was probably "riskay (how do you spell riskay? it's not risky)" to have a seductive older female, but I don't really get the whole story. I'm glad I saw it, but I don't get it.
I'm not sure what else I have to post right now. Oh, I have to admit my newest ummm...not necessarily obsession, but newest thing that I do. I listen to NPR on the radio in my car now. Yes. I do. I'm now just like a 55 year old man (well...and Steve, hehe). But I feel like I just learn so much and my drive is not wasted time anymore!! I am much more well versed in politics now and can fill you in on various things going on whereas before, I would just pretend to understand what you were talking about when you discussed such things :)
All right, off to watch more HGTV and play more online. Have a good week!
Saturday, March 7, 2009
Turn Me On
1. Put iTunes on shuffle.
2. For each question, press the next button to get your answer.
3. YOU MUST WRITE THAT SONG NAME DOWN NO MATTER HOW CRAZY IT SOUNDS!
4. Tag some friends who might enjoy doing this. (Optional?)
****************************
1. IF SOMEONE SAYS "IS THIS OKAY" YOU SAY?
83 – John Mayer
Here I stand, 6 feet small, romanticizing years ago - I guess?
2. WHAT WOULD BEST DESCRIBE YOUR PERSONALITY?
Haha! I’m almost the exact opposite!
3. WHAT DO YOU LIKE IN A GUY/GIRL?
We’re Not as Strong as We Think We Are – Rich Mullins
Um…I definitely am not strong and I like strong guys. I feel like this goes under 2 instead.
4. HOW DO YOU FEEL TODAY?
Makes Me Wanna Pray – Christina Aguilera
No actually today was kind of boring.
5. WHAT IS YOUR LIFE'S PURPOSE?
Building a Mystery – Sarah McLachlan
Interesting choice…
6. WHAT IS YOUR MOTTO?
Jesus Take the Wheel – Carrie Underwood
Ooooh – spooky choice.
7. WHAT DO YOUR FRIENDS THINK OF YOU?
Gloria – Mercy Me
YES! A Christmas song.
8. WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR PARENTS?
Longing Heart – Jeremy Camp
I got nothing – at least it was a Christian song instead of some rap song :)
9. WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT VERY OFTEN?
Infatuation – Christina Aguilera
x-tina again. I don’t think of a latin lover, though. Steve is from
10. WHAT IS 2+2?
Got Your Money – ODB
haha!
11. WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR BEST FRIEND?
Fighter – Christina Aguilera
WHOA, you would think I have a lot of her music :) Which I do… My best friend in jr high and I used to get in fights in jr. high…
12. WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THE PERSON YOU LIKE?
Everyone – Backstreet Boys
“We’ve been through days of thunder, some people said we don’t belong.” Except, most people said we DID belong together.
13. WHAT DO YOUR PARENTS THINK OF YOU?
Petit Papa Noel – Josh Groban (Grogan to my mom)
I don’t think this is even in English.
14. WHAT WILL THEY PLAY AT YOUR FUNERAL?
Cruz – Christina, again
“I’m leaving today. Livin it, leaving it to change.”
Hmm…
And I’m skipping the next Christina song if it comes up. Unless it’s What a Girl Wants. My favorite song e.v.e.r.
15. WHAT IS YOUR HOBBY/INTEREST?
When Love Came Down – Point of Grace
Ok.
16. WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST SECRET?
Tell Him – Celine
Hehe. I guess it shouldn’t be a secret anymore :) Oh and I used to LOVE this duet with Babbs.
17. WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR FRIENDS?
The Trouble with Love Is – Kelly Clarkston
Umm…there is no trouble.
18. WHAT'S THE WORST THING THAT COULD HAPPEN?
It’s not Over – Daughtry
Yikes. If it’s the worst thing and it isn’t over…not good.
19. HOW WILL YOU DIE?
Secret – Maroon Five
Boo – I was hoping for the answer.
20. DOES ANYONE LIKE YOU?
True – Ryan Cabrera
I hated to have to answer this one seriously and admit I have Ryan Cabrera’s CD, but it’s nice to know that someone likes me :)
21. IF YOU COULD GO BACK IN TIME, WHAT WOULD YOU CHANGE?
Papa Don’t Preach – Madonna
Oh, so you think I’m bossy?! What?!
22. WHAT HURTS RIGHT NOW?
Death and all his friends – Coldplay
I don’t even KNOW this song!
23. WHAT WILL YOU TITLE THIS?
Turn Me On – Norah Jones
That was fun!
I've enjoyed my evening by myself. Steve & my brother went on a trip, so I got to have the night to myself. It's been a while since I've just done nothing by myself - it was nice :) I miss Steve though. It's nice to do nothing with him too. But every once in a while - it's nice to be quiet and just hang out by myself. I had a nice bowl of Fiber One (honey oat clusters - yum!) for dinner and a glass of red wine. It's like I was single again!! I took a bath and now I'm about ready for bed. I accidentally fell asleep on the couch last night before 8pm and didn't really wake up except to go upstairs and get ready for bed when Steve told me to. I'm so pathetic :) But my busy season is almost over. It hasn't been too bad - I'm still waiting for something bad to happen this week though.
Ok, 'night! Hope you have a good week!