it's been a L O N G time!!! Recap

a lot has happened... so much i think ill just do a couple small re-caps(in no particular order!) of what i have been up to:::


WASHINGTON DC:

• April 20-27th: Gran & I went to visit Erin and her family for a week during grannys birthday, we had such a great time!!! we got to see all the sights and everything!! i would love to go back again! mostly to spend some more time with Olivia and Sam!!! i was also able to visit my friend Shayne from when i worked at WDW, we got to walk around Georgetown and talk about everything and anything!!! Washington DC... ill be back soon!!!

RESTAURANT:

• We had a MASSIVE remodel in my familys restaurant. and i mean massive!!! im talking new paint, new tables, new chairs, new floors, new decor, new POS(point of sales) system, cool new handhelds to speed up the process... wow, it was a lot of work. i wish i would have taken better notes on what happened during the whole remodel, because really, so much went on!!! it all seems like a dream!!! but we all worked so hard! and i think it really shows!
  
• uncle paul even came out to visit and help us with our display at the restaurant! its wonderful!!!
  
• my dad even let me get an espresso machine!!! i have already started working on some specialty drinks just for Jc Mickelsons Restaurant!!!!
  
• so if you haven't seen the newly remodeled building yet, please stop by and enjoy!!!!
• also as of sunday, May 3rd, i am now Service staff Manager at the restaurant!!! i get to do a lot of the same things i have been doing, now i just get a fancy title to go along with it!!! (monthly staff newsletter, holding weekly mgmt meetings, monthly staff meetings, training, re-vamp training manual, finalise new systems(espresso machine, new handhelds!), hiring new service staff) anyway, a lot of the same things i have always done, but im really excited for this!!!
  

BIRTHDAY/GRADUATION:

• my birthday is August 24th, and this year i am turning 24.... i feel that i deserve a grand celebration!!! so bryan and i have decided to combine my birthday and his recent college graduation.. we will be celebrating on a cruise ship on our way to the caribean!!! i am so excited! and also very proud of bryan for graduating from college! wahoo!!!

so like i said, i have really been so busy, i havent really had time to blog, especially in detail!!!

im sure there is a lot more that i really would like to blog about, but for now, this will just have to do...

i would like to mention that i have started using Twitter more now, so if you really are interested in what i have been up to, you should follow me on twitter! find me: Violetrae

things and stuffs----

a list of things im enjoying at this moment:

• finishing HP7 - i might have cried!!!
  
• wearing my new cool hat all day long
  
• fixing a great dinner and having people actually enjoy it
• yummy cherry-chip pillsbury cake for dessert
  
• late at night scrubs
• lambie by my side
• a wonderful new pillow

what are you enjoying right now!??

99 things-

Here are the rules: Bold the things you’ve done and post on your blog!

1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea.
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been a passenger on a motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Kissed a stranger at midnight on New Year’s Eve
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Got a tattoo
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake - i put my finger in it, does that count?
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee


ok, well i didnt have as much as i thought i might have. i hope you have more...

i TAG: everyone who wants to play along.

Recap - January 09

January was amazing - a lot happened!!! i know it isnt over yet, but i know i have a lot on my plate, and if i dont start writing down im going to have a hard time remembering!!!
(my list is in no particular order)

• i started holding weekly manager meetings at the Restaurant
• my brother Michael got married to Stacy!! (it was a magnificent wedding!)
  
• Becky sue and Tess came home from Holland
  
• i am learning so much with our I.Health system(more classes to come!)
  
• i did a presentation in my alchemy class on Creativity
• finally visited St. George (the last time i was there was after my Holland holiday)
• locked the keys in the prius in st.g, luckily i have a great boyfriend who paid for the locksmith
• i published January Restaurant Newsletter
• inauguration day - i watched it with my mom, dad and gran on tv. i dont ever remember watching it before
  
• the snow melted, and then it snowed again.
• gran and i confirmed our plane tickets to Washington DC, to visit cousin Erin and her family! April 20-27!!!
• mom and dad went for a cruise, i have no idea where... somewhere out of florida, because they get to go to WDW without me, yes i am mad and sad and jelous! but its ok! i get the girls for the week!!!
• so far i only had 3 waitress shifts for the whole month, like i said, i have a lot on my plate!

ohh my goodness, so much, so much!

like i said, it has been such a good month! what a great start for a wonderful new year!!!

Cheers!

end of 2008 -

hooray for 2009!!!

i think i have had enough of a Winter break, i suppose its time to return to the blog-

ill start by saying how wonderful Christmas was to me this year- i was able to help my mom and dad with the Shopping and Budgeting! yes, i loved it!! mom and i set a Christmas budget, stuck to it, and didn't spend a penny more than we planned!

this year my Bryan and Stacy(mikeys soon-to-be-wife-i-poo) got to spend Christmas with our family! it was wonderful!!!

besides my usual [sometimes not neccissary] over the top planning and organizing, we did follow along with some of our familys traditions:

Christmas Eve: [my appoligies!! for some reason we have no photograpic evidence(unlike last years!) that christmas even came this year]

• make gingerbread houses out of grahm crackers... keeping in mind the whole time how good will it blow up....
• everyone gets all fancied up for christmas eve dinner. this year celeste, heather and i got new fancy christmas dresses- everyone looked so great this year! (haha, no pictures for you!! haha)
  
• for our fancy feast we always have red and green jello in some of my moms fine china. dad bought some really cool martini glasses, the stem of the glass is all twisty and cool like. also this year, i talked my mom into using a "Melon Fusion" for the green instead of lime.. it was wonderful
• opening a present, which is always pjs. this year heathers Build-a-bear "Tippy" got some pjs too, and of course to make it fair to me and lestys build-a-bears, they also got some new jammies.
• after we are all in our pjs, we smoosh into a car (we used the 2 black prius' this year), listen to Harry Connick Jr. singing the best christmas songs ever, and drive around town looking at christmas lights.
• we set out a cookie and a carrot for santa and his reindeer then head up to bed.
• all the kids always sleep in celestes room... this time there were 6 of us!!! we moved around her room so there were 3 queen mattresses in there! the only rule was that the beds had to be moved back before we went downstairs christmas morning-
  
• we usually try to watch The Santa Clause with Tim Allen, but we misplaced it so we decided to watch The Grinch instead.. it was a bit harder to fall asleep to, so we finished the movie later the next day.

so this years christmas was wonderful, it was great to spend so much time with the people i love the mostest!

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for our new years celebration we toned it down a bit compared to last years, but dad was gone for a class in california, so we couldnt have too much fun without him! i was excited though because bryan was able to spend this new years with me!

• we watched mikey play wii for a while
• we played phase 10
• we ran outside in the super cold air to blow up our ginger bread houses.. we only blew up mine and bryans. but it was good-
• after rushing inside, we turned on the tv to watch the ball drop (im not going to lie, i think this is the first year i have actually seen the ball drop...uhh..lame!)
• we toasted some welches sparkling grape juice in our fancy martini glasses
• and we all called it a night, we were all pooooped!

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anyway, goodbye 2008 - hello 2009!!!

im so excited for the things 2009 brings me! i cant wait for it all to unfold!