& that's the way life goes

Day Three of My Michigan Bloggers is Jenni from JenRem. Anyone who doesn’t think that Jenni is the nicest person with the biggest heart has something wrong with them. She is always there with an encouraging word or something to make you feel special. My reader was definitely missing something before I found her blog. I love how she always has lots of pictures in her posts. I hope she gets a bulldog soon! There are so many things in her list that I’ve always wanted too. Clearly, great minds think a like! I can’t wait until she starts aerial yoga with us!

Enjoy!

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Day Two of My Michigan Bloggers is Sarah from Sillygrrl. Sarah is such a creative lady and she’s got a cute rat terrier like Liko (who after reading this post they share a lot of the same behaviors!). I’m hoping that some of her gracefulness in aerial yoga will rub off on me! Her blog is filled with a lots of happy and is definitely a ‘never marked as read’!

Enjoy!

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Since Ria is on vacation in sunny San Diego and won’t be posting any pictures of her cute puppies for a week I thought I’d share a few of mine. I got my rat terrier, Slayer, last year from a rescue organization and it has been 10 months of complete entertainment.

{via Sarah}

Slayer loooves attention. He’s not the sort of dog that will lay down and chill while everyone moves about the house. He’s my little shadow. The second I step foot on the stairs to go to another room, no matter how comfortable or sleepy he is, he’ll be right behind me.

Slayer is a little OCD about his food. He’ll run across the room, skidding up to his bowl, sniff his food and then take off in the other direction, sliding to a stop in the living room. He then repeats this spastic combination four or five times before finally setting down to eat. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him just walk up to his recently-filled bowl and eat.

He also gets what we call “the zoomies” where he runs around and around the main floor of the house, then upstairs, jumps on my bed, races back down stairs, a few spins on the living room rug, around the dining room table a couple times before diving onto his bed. Pretending to chase after him starts the zoomies all over again.

One of the questions I always get when new people meet Slayer is “Is he always like this?” Meaning…is your dog always such a spaz? With new people he’s all running and barking and trying to get my attention. He’s my little guard dog. But no, when it’s just us he’s the sweetest, most cuddly dog I’ve ever met. If I’m laying on the couch reading he will wiggle himself into the smallest space possible and then roll onto his back so I will scratch his spotted, hairless belly.

{via Sarah}

I can’t say enough good things about adopting a rescue dog instead of getting one from a breeder or pet store. While there are always things to work on, like jumping and going potty in the house, nothing compares to the look of excitement on his face when I get home from work every day. Slayer was likely abused in his previous home, so I know that by bringing him into my life I’ve made his a million times better.

I’m flying out to San Diego today. My Michigan Bloggers have so graciously agreed to post for me while I’m away. Enjoy!

Today’s post is from Supergirl. I’m beyond jealous of her yoga skills and city living with no commute. Supergirl is doing this awesome Friday Foto showcasing the beauty that is in Detroit. What I love about her blog is that she is so real and down to earth. I wish she posted more Oh and she has some mad bowling skillz!

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Hi, Ria’s readers!!! I’m Supergirl, and am usually found writing secretly over here.

While Ria’s off in sunny SoCal, I thought I’d recount some of my fabulous travel stories.

And by fabulous, I mean utterly horrendous.

{via weheartit}

First, let’s take a trip way back to the days I lived on the prairie, a.k.a Kansas. I was in elementary school, and my aunt, uncle and cousins took me on their vacation to Worlds of Fun. Worlds of Fun is one of those cutsey little amusement parks that get kids hopped up on cotton candy and rickety rides.

We’d made an overnight trip of it and were staying at the Budgetel. The name alone should have been our first clue that this particular lodging establishment was no Four Seasons. Our second clue was when we walked in to the room and found dried lipstick on the pillowcases. My aunt immediately called down for fresh linens. While waiting, we turned back the bedspread, only to find dried blood on the sheets.

Yes, dried blood.

It’s at this point that my mind blanks on the particulars. I think there was much screaming, an equal amount of yelling, and possibly a moving of hotels. I honestly can’t remember. It’s like the temporary amnesia that happens after a traumatic experience – I just can’t handle the reality of the situation.

Lesson Learned: Avoid the Budgetel, spring for the Holiday Inn.

My other traumatic travel experience didn’t come for a couple decades. A couple years ago, a friend and I had planned a trip to Europe. It was my first trip overseas and to say I was excited is an understatement. We were to fly out of Detroit, connect in Dulles Airport, and then head to Copenhagen for a few days before going south to Italy.

Due to high winds at Dulles, our flight out of Detroit was delayed. We rebooked so as not to miss our international connection. We were then rushed back through security in order to make our new flight out of Detroit. In the chaos, my travel companion noticed that the times didn’t quite match up and it was unlikely we’d make our connecting flight. I brushed her concerns aside with this oh-so-sage wisdom: “even if we miss our connection, it’s Dulles Airport, a major east coast gateway. There’s got to be another flight out that we could get on.”

Needless to say, we did miss our connection and there were in fact other flights out, but there were also hundreds of people in the same situation as us. After 24 hours in Dulles Airport, and no less than 7 flights we thought we were going to get on, only to have the plans fall apart before our eyes, and a healthy dose of horrible customer service just for good measure, we had to cancel our trip, fly back home to Detroit, and re-book everything for several months later. Let’s just say when you’ve been looking forward to a trip for the better part of a year, only to have to postpone it a few months longer, it’s a painful experience.

Lesson Learned: On international flights, always go direct.

Other Lesson Learned: Always listen to your wiser friend who can actually do math and realize when flight times do not in fact add up.

These important travel lessons have stuck with me along the way and I hope they do wonders for your future travel situations. And as for Miss Ria, I hope she has a wonderful time in sunny San Diego!!!! Color us all jealous.

Last month I saw this campfire post on JenRem’s blog, Absent Minded.  JenRem is another really awesome Michigan blogger.  Yay for mitten bloggers!

This a great way to get to know other bloggers and since the questions are from my own head they might be on topics she might not necessarily write about on her blog.   If you are interested in doing a campfire post with me leave a comment below or email me.  More info about the Campfire Network.

via Joe Gall Photography

If money and time wasn’t a problem, what degree would you like to have?

via d_rod

Oh this would be my dream situation. I would love to go back to school to get a degree in art, photography in particular. I really wanted to go back to get my Master’s in this, but when I learned that it would take me another three to four years, at a full-time status, and cost way more money then I could even fathom at the time, I backed out. I truly wish I could do this though. Creativity in the form of art is a huge outlet for me (take my Christmas Cards for example). If I couldn’t do photography, I’d love to do web design and/or graphic design. This whole concept coincides with my biggest, and really only, regret… which leads us to the next question.

We should live with no regrets, but I know we all have at least one, what is yours?

I like to think that I live a life without regret. I do everything for a reason and even if that reason doesn’t turn out to be as good as I originally thought, I still know that whatever happens in my life happens for a reason that I might not be able to understand at the time. With that being said, I only truly have one big regret in my life… 1. Not going away for college and 2. Not choosing a University that offers more programs of study to explore. Well, okay that is actually two regrets, but they really go hand in hand. Don’t get me wrong, I like my degree and I like my college experience, but if I could do it again, I would absolutely not choose a commuter school based on monetary reasons and I’d explore more choices for a career instead of picking something that seemed right at that time. Oh well, maybe one day I’ll go back. Until then, I’ll do the best I can with the best I have.

Tell me your secret guilty music selection you wouldn’t want anyone to know you listened to.

Okay, so I’m not really ashamed of my musical choices because I will rock out with the best of my CD collection around anyone (I have no shame). But since you asked, artist’s that I do hide and try not to listen to around new friends would have to be the Spice Girls (I have all their CD’s), Mariah Carey (I belt out her songs like a pro, especially the Christmas CD), 2ge+her (remember that MTV made band and their hit “U + Me = Us (I know my Calculus)”), and even all those old Jock Jam CD’s (I have number one and two and I love, love, love them!). I have a weird and wide spread taste in music.

If you could go back in time and relive something, what would it be?

Can I just go back and relive my childhood, say from the age 8 to 14? I feel as though I was forced to grow up way, way to quickly due to my parents relationship problems. Thinking back, I wish I could have had the opportunity to do childish things, like have sleepovers with friends, have silly dress up parties with the girls and just do other fun things that kids do. My childhood wasn’t all that bad, but I do wish I could have enjoyed it more as a child and less as an adult.

Would you ever participate in a reality TV show, which one? why or why not?

Hum, so it took me a few minutes to really decide if I would do this. For how much I share on my blog, I am a very private person. With the exception of these Campfire Network posts, I pick and choose what I share on my blog, absent minded (like all of us bloggers do). So with that fact, I don’t think that I could ever be on a reality show where they follow you around everyday in your real life. And not only that, I think I live a pretty boring life so no one would really want to watch that! Seriously, I don’t even think a local network station would want to produce this. HaHa. However, I would totally be on a reality show like The Amazing Race (because the challenge would be a great experience), The Bachelorette (because I would love to have a bunch of hot men fighting for my heart ), or Project Runway and So You Think You Can Dance! (if I could design clothes or dance, that is).

Check out my answer to her questions

I’m guest posting over at Lys‘ while she is getting settled in Wisconsin.  My idea of home.

Speaking of sanctuaries,  I would really love to hide away in one right now.  Would someone like to explain to me why I’m having anxiety?  My head tries to be logical but my stomach is in knots.

When I was little I used to get so excited for field trips and vacations I’d make myself sick.  Thinking about it, maybe I still do it subconsciously.  I’m WAY excited for this weekend.  I’m stressing over little things that I know in my brain I need to just let go.  Don’t borrow trouble, right?

Also, my Dad has been under a lot of stress and pressure trying to get his new school ready.  On top of that he thinks he has pinched nerve in his shoulder that’s making his arm tingly.  That really worries me.  He says he’s fine and he’s had it before.  And then he’s had a headache the last couple of days.  Maybe it’s the change in weather or sinus’.  He’s so stubborn and won’t go to the doctor, probably because he doesn’t have insurance and he’s already having a hard time.  But in the end that shouldn’t even be a factor. I just can’t help thinking that if anything happens to him I’ll be essentially an orphan.  I mean I know I’m 27 but still, I’m an only child.  I have no siblings and no aunts/uncles/family that I’m extremely close to (not saying that I don’t have family).  It scares the bejeesus out of me.

*BREATH

I just have to keep reminding myself that I can’t worry about things I can’t change.