All Hallows Eve

My first pumpkin to carve!

So Halloween was pretty fun last night. We partied it up at Matt and Jill's house. Unfortunately my camera batteries were dead so I have no pictures. Lots of other cameras were flashing so hopefully I can get some funny pictures up here soon. I was a mummy and Ray was the archaeologist who unearthed me. Then I killed him. I tied for best costume with James who was Dwight and a dude who was a creepy Fayetteville hippie janitor. Good times at the Schilb's house.

Ray's pumpkin, he's kind of a pro.

My running saga continues...

In preparation for a gruelling half-marathon, I've been running at least a few days a week with my longer runs taking place on Saturday mornings. Not that I'm a fan of giving up my Saturday mornings or anything, but it does feel good knowing that I've exercised and still have the rest of the day to just chill. Well, today was my longest run so far - 7 miles in 69 minutes. The worst part - I had to get up at 5:30 a.m. and run on a treadmill. Why 5:30 a.m. and why on a treadmill? I'm in a project management class today at NWACC from 9:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m., and it was raining and cold outside this morning.

As hard as this training is and as much as I don't like it...I will run a half-marathon.

I'm glad that Monica's foot is getting better; I'm looking forward to jogging with her again.

Michelle Phelps

Turns out swimming the right way is kinda hard. I'm practicing again today and will probably be pro by next year. (ha ha!) It's the breathing that gets me. I just need a snorkel or even a little straw would do.

I'm a Fish!

I'm fixing to go swimming with Stephanie, Jill and Amber at the gym. This should be interesting seeing as how I've never been taught how to swim the right way. My good friend Amber is supposedly a champion swimmer and has promised to help me out. (I even have a swim cap!) Can't let my hair get chlorine damage!

Ray's first 10k race

So, I ran for my first 10k race yesterday (Labor Day). I've only been running for a few months, but I'm really starting to enjoy it. It brings out my competitive nature and I'm starting to see a little difference in my bod - for the better. This was my first time to actually run more than 5 miles; it was pretty hard. Monica was there to show me some support and caught some pictures and video afterwards. Check out this video...

Race

Hey, so here are some pictures that I promised a while ago.

Before the race so fresh and clean

After the race so hot and sweaty!

Woah Nelly

Genessa, Kara, Lacey, Ray and I just ran a 5K. It was really awesome as well as really painful. I want to take a super long bath now. Hopefully pictures will come soon but don't take that to the bank.

Our Trip (Belated)

So we went to Denver a few weeks ago and I'm just now posting pictures. I'm just now getting around to it 'cause it takes a long time for Blogger to upload photos and that's annoying. There is a possiblity that the entire host of pictures will come in separate blogs.

We went to a Rockie's game

It was fun

Then we went to an amusement park

It was fun

The Final Countdown

Jason Hunter and Josh Galloway duke it out. This is awesome and I almost peed. Hence the loud laughter in the background.

The Showdown

So Chrissy is uncharacteristically strong in her arms and she is a great arm-wrestler. Please note how she pulled my arm as close to her as possible. Also, in my defense I didn't mean to stand up a little and did sit back down before she cheated and bowled me over. I'm not a sore loser or anything.

I'm Feeling the Burn

Ok, so school is out and praise the Lord! I made awesome grades in all my classes and will be starting summer school the day before my birthday. How crappy is that? Because my birthday is July 2nd, I've never had to sit in school before. I guess we'll all have to do something fun that night to make up for it. Party at my house!
I'm planning on running a 5K at the end of June with Genessa, Kara, Michelle, Lacey and Lauren. It's going to be so much fun to run with these girls, I can't wait. Well, I won't actually be running with the first 3 'cause they're kinda crazy fast runners. Lacey and I will be sticking together 'cause we've been training together. As a matter of fact, we just went over 3 miles about an hour ago. I feel pretty dang proud of myself right about now. Not so much in the morning when I can't move, but now it's a great feeling.
I talked to Chrissy last night and now I miss her. We ran by their old house today and there were some strange looking vehicles in the driveway. I wanted to tell them to get out of my friend's house but that would have been really weird. So I did not do that.

Darn School

I really don't like to study. My attention span is not as long as it needs to be for all the school crap. Finals are seriously stressing me out. Tomorrow will be over soon enough.

I got lots of cool stuff from Ikea the other day so that's awesome. Don't worry, Chrissy I'll post some pictures.

-Monica

Holler-lujah

I just finished my last assignment for school! Holler! Now I just have to study for finals. We'll be good if I can remember the Cell Theory and all about Modern Architecture. Tomorrow, I will be shopping like a crazy mo-fo. Oh yeah, and studying.

P.S. How is it possible to get lost when you have a GPS? Dallas is large and my mom is hilarious.

-Monica

There and back again

I'm so stoked about this weekend 'cause my sister Celeste, my mom and I are all going to Dallas to hang out. The last time we did something like this, I was probably in 9th grade. What the heck, that's way too long. Sometimes the girls just need to get away. So we will get back on Tuesday night, I will do haircuts all day on Wednesday and then take both finals on Thursday (crap I'm nervous). Then on Friday morning I will leave to go back to Dallas with Genessa, Mariali, Lacey, and Kara for Jesus Culture (a conference). Do you know what all this means? Yeah, I get to go to Ikea twice. You jealous?

I'm Sad

So you know those friends that you just really like to be around? Chrissy is one of those friends for me. When we hang out whether it is dancing at Zumba, cooking and sometimes cleaning in my kitchen, hiking, or playing games, we laugh pretty much the whole time. There aren't too many people that can really really make me laugh, but Chrissy is one of those few. She and Josh have become our closest friends since we moved here...literally. They lived one street away and they're moving back to Ohio in the morning. We've known the whole time that they were trying to move back but I tried not to think about it. It would have been easier to not like them so much and then I wouldn't be so sad right now. Even though it's not cool, it's totally been worth it to get to know some great people. I'm really sad to see them leave but they are so excited to be living closer to family. I would be too.

There Chrissy, are you happy? I finally updated. :)

-Monica

P.S. The only bonus out of this is that they cleaned out their fridge so we don't have to go shopping for about a year now. We had just run out of ketchup, too. Score!

Somebody keep me accountable...please.

Okay, I admit it, I have a problem staying committed to things. I often times begin activities (insert something that's good for you), but lack commitment to follow through for more than 3 or 4 days. I need help.

To be held accountable I'm listing the 3 main things that I want to accomplish this year (maybe I'm being over zealous - but I don't think so)

1. Get in-shape (exercise at least 3 days per week and eat healthy: no more Dr. Peppers)

2. Learn to play golf (practice at home, go to driving range at least twice per month, and play at least once per month)

3. Get better at playing the bass guitar (practice at least 2 hours per week..I can do that right?)

Okay, so if you are reading this blog, you are hereby obligated to ask me how I'm doing. Thanks.

- Ray

The Big Apple

Since I haven't posted in so long....here you go. Here's a recap of last week:

Monday Morning 4/7/08:

I woke up at 4 a.m. to catch my 6 a.m. flight to La Guardia Airport in New York City. I got to New York and had to wait for my airport shuttle to drive me to my hotel (took about an hour to get there) I arrived at my hotel which was located just off of Time Square. I put my suitcase up and hung a few things in the closet. I had just enough time to brush my teeth and comb my hair before my first meeting at Wal-Mart's New York Apparel Office. For those of you who know me well....you know I love fashion. I had the opportunity to spend some time learning about our operations in NY, and was privileged to see next season's line-up. I think most people will be surprised at how nice the 2008-2009 collection will be. It was really interesting b/c there were several rooms throughout their offices that were lined up with different categories and styles of clothing (men's, women's, children)...they were also separted by brands. This was pretty cool.

I spent Monday evening walking around Times Square; which was INCREDIBLE. There were people everywhere....and I loved it. I also managed to make it to a Boardway show; Cry Baby! It was hilarious.

Tuesday 4/8/08:

I had a "Corporate Compliance and Ethics" conference to attend which was my main purpose for the trip to NYC. It was a really great experience. I heard new speakers, and met a bunch of new people. Afterwards, I went out to dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe and spent more time walking around and shopping in NYC.

Wednesday 4/9/08:

I attended my conference, and then spent the evening walking around. Before I realized it I was at the famous Empire State Building. So, I forked over $20 and went up to the top floor. The view was amazing. You could literally see all of Manhattan....in the distance you could see the Statue of liberty. Pretty neat. On my way back to the hotel, I hit up H&M and the Manhattan mall. Monica should be happy b/c I "hooked her up."

On my way back to my hotel I stopped and grabbed some pizza at this little tiny place on the corner. It was the BEST PIZZA that I have ever tasted. Half way through my dinner an old local guy sat at my table (all of the other tables were filled)...it was a little awkward at first, but we had a really great conversation that lasted about an hour. That was a good time.

Thursday 4/10/08:

I check out of my hotel around 10 a.m. and spent a few hours exploring the city before it was time to leave. I took the subway to Downtown NYC. I decided that I needed to pay my respects and visit Ground Zero. My heart was torn and the emotions that I felt right after 9/11 were reinvigorated. It was really sad; however, they were in the process of clearing the land to rebuild, which demonstrates new hope. Across the street there was a film crew that was blocking off traffic and pedestrians b/c they were filming a documentary about 9/11 and the World Trade Center.

I left there and went across the street to St. Paul's Church. This was the church that helped thousands of people right after 9/11. They still had tributes throughout the santuary honoring our fallen heros. That was really cool.

I also found 5th avenue. This is where all of the high-end luxury stores can be found. So, needless to say, I spent some more time shopping.

Overall, I had a really great week, but I missed Monica a great deal.

Other things that I saw:

The New York City Library

Grand Central Station

Central Park

Bryant Park

What I wanted to see and didn't:

Parson's Fashion Design School

Mood Fabrics

Madison Square Garden

The Statue of Liberty (up close)

What I regret:

Not taking walking shoes with me. My feet are still killing me.

Sorry Charlie

Ok, so I know it's been forever since I've posted, but seriously my life is a bit crazy right now. School is almost over, praise the Lord so then I won't feel guilty about playing around on the computer. Right now, I have about a million things to be reading and studying that I can't justify blogging. Just you wait, Henry Higgins, come May 2nd I'll be blogging the fire out of this thing.

I Wanna Dance

Last night, Trista, Ray and I went to see Flamenco Vivo at the Walton Arts Center. Wow, it was awesome. Those people can dance like nobody's business. The music was great, too. The musicians are so tight; I can't imagine how many hours of practice they put in for this. In my online Music Appreciation class, we have to go see 8 different productions and write papers on them, so this will be one of them. Our professor said he would be there and would buy anyone coffee afterward who wanted to discuss the show. I had never met him before 'cause it's an online class but I knew what he looked like. Tell me why our tickets were right next to his. Out of all the seats in the place, we were right by him. The cool part was that he had binoculars and that helped since we were literally on the back row of the balcony. The only bad part was that I couldn't talk and be disrespectful. Shucks. Just kidding, it was so good I didn't really want to talk.
We went over to Common Grounds for come coffee and cake with my professor. Nobody else showed up but we had a good time.

Trapsing through the woods

We went on a hiking trip with Josh and Chrissy this weekend to Devil's Den. For those of you who don't already read Chrissy's blog, here are some photos of our adventure.

We like to fight...

Always playing of course. (We have scary faces)
What in the world?
Pretty waterfall


We were in the "Icebox" and it was so cold just a few feet down that we could see our breath.

Heck yes, I went in a cave. There were bats.
Aww, Josh and Chrissy.
Aww, a giant and a little person.
We really do like each other...see?

And the glory of the lord shone upon Ray's face.

I felt like a hobbit in Middle Earth.

I like caves, they're fun times.

P.S. I need all of Josh and Chrissy's family to stop hating on Arkansas and encouraging their unrest here. They will be back in Ohio soon enough, no need to pour salt on my wounds. I greatly appreciate your cooperation in this matter.
Love always,
Monica

Revenge is Sweet!

Did you guys know that our dear friend Chrissy used to be Amish?

Payback for putting a gazillion sick pictures of me on your blog, Christina Galloway!!

Reading is Real Fun

I got this from my friend Hannah's blog. If you're always looking for a great book to read like I am, here's a hefty list.

Instructions: Bold what you have read, italicize books you’ve started but couldn’t finish, and add an asterisk* to those you’ve read more than once. Underline those on your To Be Read list.


Jonathan Strange & M. Norrell
Anna Karenina
Crime and Punishment
Catch-22
One hundred years of solitude
Wuthering Heights
The Silmarillion
Life of Pi: a novel
The Name of the Rose
Don Quixote
Moby Dick
Ulysses
Madame Bovary
The Odyssey
Pride and Prejudice
Jane Eyre
A Tale of Two Cities
The Brothers Karamazov
Guns, Germs, and Steel: the fates of human societies
War and Peace
Vanity Fair
The Time Traveller’s Wife
The Iliad
Emma
The Blind Assassin
The Kite Runner*
Mrs. Dalloway
Great Expectations*
American Gods
A heartbreaking work of staggering genius
Atlas shrugged
Reading Lolita in Tehran
Memoirs of a Geisha
Middlesex
Quicksilver
Wicked : the life and times of the wicked witch of the West
The Canterbury Tales
The Historian (I started having nightmares!)
A portrait of the artist as a young man
Love in the time of cholera
Brave new world
The Fountainhead
Foucault’s Pendulum
Middlemarch
Frankenstein
The Count of Monte Cristo
Dracula
A clockwork orange
Anansi Boys
The Once and Future King
The Grapes of Wrath
The Poisonwood Bible
1984
Angels & Demons
The Inferno
The Satanic Verses
Sense and sensibility
The Picture of Dorian Gray
Mansfield Park
One flew over the cuckoo’s nest
To the Lighthouse
Tess of the D’Urbervilles
Oliver Twist
Gulliver’s Travels*
Les misérables
The Corrections
The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay
The curious incident of the dog in the night-time
Dune
The Prince
The Sound and the Fury
Angela’s Ashes
The God of Small Things
A people’s history of the United States : 1492-present
Cryptonomicon
Neverwhere
A confederacy of dunces
A Short History of Nearly Everything
Dubliners
The unbearable lightness of being
Beloved
Slaughterhouse
The Scarlet Letter
Eats, Shoots & Leaves
The mists of Avalon
Oryx and Crake : a novel
Collapse : how societies choose to fail or succeed
Cloud Atlas
The Confusion
Lolita
Persuasion
Northanger Abbey
The Catcher in the Rye
On the Road
The Hunchback of Notre Dame
Freakonomics
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance
The Aeneid
Watership Down
Gravity’s Rainbow
The Hobbit*
In Cold Blood
White teeth
Treasure Island
The Three Musketeers

- Monica

I Luv Grammar

This is a post that a girl in my online music class wrote on the discussion board.


"Seeing that I have a very little musical background I found all theterms differently than I have heard before. I have just heard the basicinformation. However, with my background in literature I found the waythey identified a lot of the terms similar to sentences very easy tofollow. Throughout all of the reading I found myself trying to carrythis parallel to the structure of a sentence as very benefical to myunderstanding of the elements. One of the things that caught myinterest was the rhyme power just because it reminded some much ofdifferent types of poetry specifical iambic pentameter "

Moral of the post...Don't brag about having a background in literature if you don't know how to use correct grammar. Seriously.

-Monica

Wrigley in the snow

This is a reminder... do not eat the YELLOW snow.

- Ray

Extreme Blog Makeover

Okay, so I just gave our blog an extreme makeover. I hope you like the new look and custom graphics.

- Ray

Christmas is over and Santa is dead!

I guess Santa bit the dust.

- Monica

One Chance

So, I've been thinking a lot lately. Mostly, just about life in general and how to live it to the fullest. Well, I had this realization (I know I've had it before...) that you really only get one chance to make the most of your life here on earth. Well, that prompted me to think about a couple of things: 1. My relationships with my family and friends, and 2. My current work situation. To my family and friends: sorry if I haven't been good about keeping in touch (I do love you). Secondly, I have a strong desire to be an entrepreneur which is currently not being fulfilled. I don't want to live with regrets. I don't want to look back on my life and wish that I had the courage to start my own business. So, my passion to be an entrepreneur has been refreshed...I'm going to work on a few ideas that I have brewing and see what happens....

What are you doing with your One Chance?

- Ray

Helicopter Ride?

We went over to Brian and Michelle's house on Saturday and they invited our puppy to come along.

Here is a sneak peek at Wrigley and Moses' first play date.... Moses gave Wrigley the ride of his life. Yes, he enjoyed it. From the looks of it....they don't like girls, but they really do.

They actually played well together. Their parents were proud.

-Ray

Wrigs McGinty

So cute here!
10 minutes later...

Our dog Wrigley otherwise known as Wrigs McGinty or Barkey von Wrigley is really cool. Not so much today though. I think I'm going to take him to the pound and let him see where he's headed if he doesn't stop EATING TOILET PAPER!!!

- Monica

First Day of School

Yesterday was my first day back to school at NWACC since the summer. Overall, it was pretty fun since all we did was introduce ourselves and read the syllabus. I think it's going to be a busy but fun semester. I'm taking Biology, Music Appreciation, Beginning Algebra (ahh!!) and Art History II.
So far I have no clue what my major is. Possibly music or literature.

- Monica