New Setting

For our anniversary this year I want to get my ring re-set. I am thinking that I may combine the stones from both my wedding band and my engagement band into one ring. I think I like a thicker band, as opposed to thin (more girly, delicate, ornate bands). I really have no idea though what I want. Here are some pictures I came across online. If any of you out there love designing jewelry, have seen awesome rings, or think you have any ideas of what would be amazing, please let me know!


I like the diamond set IN the band:

Thought maybe I could put the sapphires and diamonds from my wedding band in the side of my new band (to make it all-in-one):

A little different:

Thicker band:


I also love these type of eternity bands (but my fingers are size 3.5, so I am not sure if it would eat my finger, and since I already have diamonds and sapphires from my existing stuff, I would rather use them than have to get a totally new ring and gems):


**PS I know I am all over the board with these pictures, which is why I need some help :)

New Star Tours

Yep. I think this is one reason Ryan wants to get our season passes again (not to mention that he loves to see his Sally Bear happy and acting like a kid with the characters :) )

Dryer

The dryer is fixed - hooray! Or at least I hope it is (seeing as I have a load in the dryer and another one in the washer and I would HATE to have to find places around the house to air dry all of this right now :)).

Two weekends ago I was doing a load of laundry. I moved it from the washer to the dryer and turned it on the normal "auto" setting. It 'dried' for about an hour and then buzzed. I went over to fold it and everything was still wet. I thought maybe I didn't turn it all the way to the setting that I wanted, so I tried it again. Another hour went by and the buzzer went off. I checked it again, and still wet clothes. I tried another setting, thinking that maybe it was just the setting I chose wasn't working - so I went on HOT Heat and tried it for a few minutes. Nope. I called Ryan (he was surfing at this point) and let him know. He got home and we tried a few quick fixes we saw online (checking the lint traps, switching the circuit breaker to reset it, etc) and nothing worked. We realized that it had a 1 year warranty on it (that ends July 3rd). We called Lowes and checked to see if we needed to go through Whirlpool or through Lowes (since that is where we bought the washer/dryer combo). They said there is a 1 year warranty through both, but we decided to just go through Whirlpool. We scheduled an appointment for this past Saturday. The guy that came out tried a few things, and realized that it was the probably the fuse. He said that when he replaces the fuse, he also replaces the thermometer in the back. Well, he told us he didn't have the parts with him, but would go to the office (over in Carlsbad) to see if they had any in stock. He came back about 20 minutes later and let us know that it looked like they changed the part number recently and didn't have the exact one that we needed in stock. He said he would place the order for the parts we needed and come back on Wednesday. Today he returned (Ryan came home on his lunch break to meet hi, since he needed a strong man to help him lift the dryer in and out of the laundry closet) and it seems like everything is working. It was a hassle, but like I told Ryan, I am glad it happened 3 weeks before our warranty ran out than 3 weeks after it ran out :)

Free Metrolink

Get a free Metrolink train pass

How would you like to get a free Metrolink day pass to ride the train on a weekday anywhere in Orange County, just for filling out a two minute OCTA survey?

Seriously, that’s all you have to do. I just did it and it was super easy.

This is a limited offer so better do it now before they run out of passes to give out.

Click here to take the Metrolink survey to get the free pass

Click here to learn more about this special OCLink weekday pass

Click here to use a fare calculator to see how much you would save

You can only get one free pass with this offer. They will mail it to you. You can use it this summer beginning July 5, 2011.

Semi Finals :)

How about we hand the Nebraska Cornhuskers their first Big 10 loss...

We've reached the semifinals of the "NCAA Football Traditions" bracket & we're up against The Big Red's "Tunnel Walk." We're not even sure what that is...

But, we do know, you should vote "GO BLUE" daily: http://es.pn/UMvsNebraska

Are You At Risk?

I AM :)

Are You at Risk for Fibromyalgia?

About 5 million Americans, most of whom are women, live with fibromyalgia. And while the root causes of the disorder haven't yet been clearly identified, research has turned up some differences in how people with fibromyalgia experience pain — which may help to shed light on who is more likely to develop it.

Fibromyalgia symptoms are rooted in a dysfunction in the way pain is processed in the brain. "Fibromyalgia patients have been shown to have lower levels of brain chemicals that inhibit pain signals, including serotonin and norepinephrine, as well as higher levels of brain chemicals that cause pain signals, including substance P and glutamate," explains rheumatologist Chad S. Boomershine, MD, PhD, assistant professor in the division of rheumatology and immunology at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tenn. These chemical imbalances may explain why people with fibromyalgia find changes in temperature, light, and pressure on their skin painful while others do not.

Another avenue of exploration is the impaired stress response that appears to characterize fibromyalgia. Researchers are looking at the ways in which the stress hormone cortisol is processed differently by people with fibromyalgia, as well as other health factors, such as difficulty regulating blood pressure.

Fibromyalgia can occur along with many other conditions. This makes it hard to get a final diagnosis and can also confuse patients about whether one condition causes the other, or whether both are related to an overlapping symptom, such as disturbed sleep.

More of the article here.

Breakout Season?

Good News/Bad News: Justin Verlander is better than ever

If it’s possible for one of the game’s best pitchers to have a “breakout” season, Justin Verlander is having his.

Before this year, it wasn’t a shock to look at an average fan’s list of top five pitchers and not see Verlander. It’s not that baseball people didn’t consider him one of the best, but he’s never been a household name and has always seemed to pitch under the radar.

That’s all changed this season.

Good News

Pure dominance: For some reason – maybe because he plays in Detroit or doesn’t have a flashy delivery – it’s been easy to overlook the Tigers ace. But Verlander is putting together what could easily end up as the best season of his six full major league years, and what he did Saturday night further exemplified why he is baseball’s best pitcher this season.

Verlander toyed with the Arizona Diamondbacks in his last start, lighting up the radar gun with a fastball that got into triple digits, using a devastating curveball and dropping the bottom out of his other pitches, leaving Arizona’s hitters baffled and helpless. Verlander struck out a career-high 14 and scattered four hits over eight innings and probably would have thrown his third consecutive complete game had he not already used 119 pitches.

“He’s nasty,” Diamondbacks outfielder Gerardo Parra said. “He’s got everything. And in the eighth inning he threw 100 (mph) and 98 and 99.

The rest of the article here.

Cruisin' on the Bikes

This morning we ran some errands and brought our bikes along so we could go for a little ride when we were done. We went down to Carlsbad and got the bikes out. We rode along the beach on the 101. We had such great weather this weekend we probably could have rode all day (although we were hungry and Ryan was a little uncomfortable because he got a sunburn on his belly yesterday from our time at the pool). We stopped along some of the cliffs to watch the surfers and snapped a quick picture of us before hitting the road again.



While we were on our little ride I realized I really need to start getting my accessories for my bike... Basket, bell (or horn, not sure which I prefer yet), and streamers! Don't worry, once I doctor my bike up I will be SURE to take some pictures :)

Doxies 101

Sea Glassin'

Last weekend Ryan and I went down to the beach to find some sea glass.





We even found cool blue ones:



And a big yellow one:



And it is hard to tell in this one, but this is RED:



As you can see, we found a lot. So much so that we need to get more holders for it, because we are out of room!

Chubs and Friends

I noticed a few days ago that the fairies have been fighting. One will be sitting on the perch eating the nectar, and another one will dive-bomb the one eating and scare him away. This morning I noticed that in the palm tree by our window there was a chubby, little hummingbird. I talked to him for a minute, letting him know he could go over to the feeder and eat some of the fairy food. Well, all he did was sit in the palm (apparently I must not speak hummer). Anyway, Ryan and I were on the porch and we noticed that when any other hummingbird would fly by the feeder, Chubs over in the palm would chirp at them and they would fly away. I don't want them fighting over it, there is enough to share. And I don't want to have one mean, obese hummingbird sending all the others away from 'his' food. I guess we will just have to wait and see how it plays out. Maybe we will need to get another feeder, one for him, and one for the other fairies to share.

4th in the D

Okay, so we won't be in Detroit for the Fourth of July, but we will be doing the next best thing --- WATCHING THE TIGERS PLAY THE ANGELS. Hopefully we won't be the only 2 Tigers Fans, but even if we are, we can hold our own :)

A view from the seats we bought today:



6:05 pm - Jul 4 vs. Detroit Tigers / Fourth of July Fireworks / Celebrate our U.S. Independence with a 4th of July Firework show.

Pictures from the last Tigers game I went to - last year with my family:

WE SOLD IT

We sold the scooter this morning. We had quite a few people email about it, two or three people come and check it out, and this morning a gentleman came and picked it up. We are glad to have it done with :) Of course, it was fun (for the most part) while it lasted, but I am thankful to have it sold.

Scoot-scoot, you will be missed!

Mickey Is Calling

So last weekend Ryan went with Kornel up to Anaheim while he bought a car (Ryan had to drive them up so that Kornel could drive his new car home). Kornel being the funny guy he is, checked him and Ryan in at Disneyland, since it was a close by 'check-in' on Facebook. On Wednesday I went up that way for a training on our phone systems at work. The trainer even mentioned when we got done which direction to turn to go to Disney. Then Thursday I got the mail and there was a mailer from Mickey...



He misses us, just like we miss him :) I have to take it as a sign.

Don't worry Mickey! We will be back! It is just since the summer is blacked out with the passes we buy, we might as well wait till the fall (birthday presents) to get our annual passes again. I feel like it has been FOREVER since we have been to Disney... Okay, I think it was back in May of 2010 that we went last, so maybe not forever, but at least a year :) WE SHALL RETURN!!

So Sad

The crash was about 30 minutes away from Ryan's parents' house and it looks like the father was the pilot in two crashes - one in 2003 that killed his wife, son, and daughter, and another yesterday that killed him and his second wife. SADNESS!

Michigan basketball recruit Austin Hatch's parents die in plane crash; he's in serious condition

Austin Hatch, a member of the 2013 Michigan basketball team's recruiting class, is hospitalized in serious condition and his father and step-mother are dead after their plane crashed Friday evening in Charlevoix.

Petoskeynews.com reported that a single-engine aircraft with three passengers crashed into a garage in Charlevoix at 7:45 p.m. Friday. The aircraft was registered out of Fort Wayne, Ind., Hatch's hometown.

Karen Belcher, the director of publications at Canterbury School in Fort Wayne where Hatch is a junior, sent out a short email Saturday morning that read: "It is with deep sadness that the Canterbury community has learned of the deaths of Steve and Kim Hatch, parents of Austin '13, in a plane crash in Michigan on Friday evening. Austin was also in the plane and is hospitalized in serious condition. This is all the school knows at this time. Please keep Austin and his family in your thoughts and prayers."
A Charlevoix resident heard the Hatch's aircraft struggling before it crashed.

"It sounded like it was coming close to our house," Larry Nunemaker told Petoskeynews.com. "The engine kept cutting out. He crossed over the houses at the end of Carpenter and drilled in Teuschers' garage. It was definitely having engine trouble coming on."

FAA officials said the aircraft was headed to Boyne Falls, IndianaNewsCenter.com reported. The site also reported that Stephen Hatch was the pilot of a plane that crashed in 2003 on a flight from Michigan to Fort Wayne. Stephen Hatch and Austin Hatch survived that crash, but his wife, Julie; daughter, Lindsay; and son, Ian, died.

I Heart NY

Gay Marriage Bill Passes In New York

Gay couples and proponents of gay rights have a reason to celebrate tonight, as the New York State Senate has passed a bill that allows same sex marriage.

New York will be the sixth, and largest, state in the union to adopt gay marriage. Governor Cuomo signed the bill into law at 11:15pm on Friday, which means the law will take effect on July 24, 2011.

The decision, which passed 33-29, was the culmination of weeks of contentious debate and negotiations between Governor Cuomo and the GOP-controlled Senate. After the bill passed in the Assembly, it was unclear if the bill had secured enough votes to pass in the Senate. When a few notable undecideds joined the cause --including Republican Roy McDonald who famously defended his decision, saying "fuck it, I don't care what you think. I'm trying to do the right thing" -- the scale in favor of gay marriage seemed to tip.

Gay rights advocates are hoping the vote will galvanize the movement around the country and help it regain momentum after an almost identical bill was defeated here in 2009 and similar measures failed in 2010 in New Jersey and this year in Maryland and Rhode Island.

"We are leaders and we join other proud states that recognize our families and the battle will now go on in other states," said Sen. Thomas Duane, a Democrat.

Though New York is a relative latecomer in allowing gay marriage, it is considered an important prize for advocates, given the state's size and New York City's international stature and its role as the birthplace of the gay rights movement, which is considered to have started with the Stonewall riots in Greenwich Village in 1969.

The rest of the article here.

New Show

Ryan and I started watching a new show. Well, not so much a new show to TV, but a new show to us. Sons of Anarchy. We have been watching it online (duh, since we don't have cable) and finished with season 2 last night. We are going to try and slow down on season 3, seeing as the next season (season 4) doesn't start till the fall. I didn't think I would like it, but I have really enjoyed watching it with Ry.

Sons of Anarchy

Sons of Anarchy is an American television drama series created by Kurt Sutter about the lives of a close-knit outlaw motorcycle club operating in Charming, a fictional town in Northern California. The show centers on protagonist Jackson "Jax" Teller (Charlie Hunnam), the Vice President of the club who begins questioning the club and himself.

Sons of Anarchy premiered on September 3, 2008 on cable network FX. Its second season debuted on September 8, 2009, and its third season began on September 7, 2010. The third season of the series attracts an average of 4.9 million viewers per week, making it FX's highest rated series ever, surpassing FX's other hits The Shield, Nip/Tuck, and Rescue Me. On October 7, 2010, Sons of Anarchy was renewed for a fourth season set to air in 2011.

Norris Times Seven

Just call him Norris! Nick Lidstrom wins his SEVENTH Norris Trophy at the NHL Awards in Las Vegas! Congrats!

Silence is Powerful

25 Recap Video

In 17 cities across the U.S. supporters of Invisible Children participated in 25 hours of silence to speak out without speaking against the 25 years of war in central Africa. The money raised by the participants of 25 is allowing Invisible Children to begin building the region's first rehabilitation center for child soldiers. It's also creating radio towers that will help protect remote villages from LRA violence. Check out our latest Peace and Conflict Update for more details on the Rehab Center- http://bit.ly/jDM7sO

25 Recap Video from INVISIBLE CHILDREN on Vimeo.

Cousin Cara's Babe

My cousin Cara had her baby yesterday - on her birthday! How fun! Mother and Daughter with the same birthday. AND THE SAME NAME!!

Baby Cara (from my dad's cell phone):



Mama and babe:



A full head of red hair :)

Quarter Finals

Q-finals: (3) Clemson vs. (11) Michigan

Round 2: Michigan (Go Blue Banner) vs. Clemson (Howard's Rock)

Better NCAA College Football Tradition? Is this even a contest?

Vote "Go Blue" daily & help us reach the Semi's --> http://es.pn/UMvsClemson

Feelin' down?

Put a banana in your ear :)

The Vow

Okay, so I normally am NOT one for girl-y movies, but this one looks good - and it is based on a true story...


The Vow Trailer by teasertrailer

Big Ten Honors

Robinson, Football Recognized with Three Honors During BTN Awards Show

University of Michigan football claimed top honors in three categories during the fourth annual Big Ten Network Awards Show Monday night (June 20). U-M sophomore quarterback Denard Robinson was honored as Breakout Performer of the Year and for Most Dominating Performance for his efforts at Notre Dame on Sept. 11, while the Wolverines' triple-overtime victory against Illinois on Saturday, Nov. 6, was named Game of the Year.

More of the article (and each category) here.

S'Mores :)

The Art and Science of S'mores

Hey campers, how well do you really know the s'more?

Sure, it's the ubiquitous sweet treat that is fun to roast around the campfire and tastes great. But do you know the history of the s'more? Have you tried some of the daring (or, as some purists may say, heretical) variations of the classic chocolate/graham cracker/marshmallow s'more? For example, are you familiar with the "Russian matryoshka doll" technique? (Yes, as far as we know, this is still legal in every state.) Do you roast one using a wire hanger, stick or a Rolla-Roaster?

A group of REI sweet tooths has put together what is perhaps the definitive infographic on s'mores. Check it out, and share it with your camping buddies. We're betting The Art and Science of S'mores will make your next campground outing just that much more interesting.

The original post here.

Lidstrom 20th Year

Lidstrom to return for 20th season

The Red Wings got their man when legendary defenseman Nicklas Lidstrom told team officials last week that he will return for a 20th NHL season.

Terms of Lidstrom’s one-year contract were not finalized before today when the 41-year-old captain and general manager Ken Holland got together in Las Vegas. The Wings' pair is in Vegas for Wednesday’s NHL Award Show, where Lidstrom will learn if he won Norris Trophy for the seventh time in his career. He is also a finalist for the Lady Byng Trophy and the Mark Messier Leadership Award.

The rest of the article here.

Next Weeds Seasons

Starting soon! WHOO HOO!



Weeds is back for a whole new season, get a behind the scenes look at what's to come.

Smile :)

Smiling's my favorite!

The Muppets

The Muppets are back :) This Thanksgiving :)

Fairy Morning

The morning seems to be the best time to take pictures of fairies. Yesterday morning we took a few more pics :)