Get Simpsonized!

With all of the hype of the new Simpson movie coming out to theaters, there is a Simpson website. I went to the website to create my personalized Simpson character. She is named Martiel. You can also go to the site.

http://www.simpsonsmovie.com/main.html?cid=us&deeplink=avatar&deeplink2=undefined

Create your very own Simpson character and place the cartoon version of your self in a background of Springfield. See the avitar below (Martiel is walking down town Springfield) She is trying to find Moes Bar.

Here's The 411, To Get It Straight

I just found out about straight irons, and what a wonder it can do for straight hair! I know about curling irons for curling hair and straight irons for straightening curly hair, but I never thought to use a straight iron for straight hair. I love this "new hair tip." I was at the mall earlier this week and went to Regis Hair Salon to add some red low lights to my hair. The stylist finished my hair up with a straight iron and it made my hair shiny and smooth! All just by using this straight iron. I went to the store the very next day and bought a Straight iron. I plan on straighting my hair daily now to get that shinny, smooth look to my regularly frizzed out, straight hair.

Don't laugh now, this may be an old hair trick to some of my blog readers, but I just wanted to share with all of you about straight irons. It never occured to me to use a straight iron on straight hair. I am sharing the 411 to get it straight! (pun intended)

4th of July...

I better talk about our 4th of July festivities before it becomes AUGUST!

Our Fourth of July was a blast from the past! Our friends from Ohio drove out to St. Louis to visit us for the Fourth and see the firework show down by the Arch. We used my hotel discount to stay downtown and walked down to the Arch from there.

Starting around 3:30 we all decided to buy tickets to ride to the top of the Arch, which was a first for all of us, and was too cool! The St. Louis Arch is 630 feet tall as it is also 630 wide. The Arch is the “Gateway to promised lands” St. Louis was a breaking point or pit-stop before moving on closer to the West coast and making it to California to search for gold and fortune. People were migrating from the East coast in wagons and on horses to the West coast. Missouri marks the Midwest, and the Gateway Arch is like a giant doorway welcoming people across to the other side of the Mississippi River.

We all rode up to the top of the arch in these little, egg-shaped, pods with 5 seats in each. The egg-shaped pods reminded me of the Mork and Mindy TV Show, where Robin Williams’s character lands in a similar egg-shaped pod. We got to the top of the Arch; there are little, rectangular viewing windows to look out on the cities horizon and to the river side sky line. The views were beautiful. We even watched the helicopter rides land on the small concrete landing spot down by the river. I also took a photo of the Ariel view of the Bush Stadium, for the Cardinals.



After we explored the Arch we headed over to the festivities and bought some hot dogs with horse radish and a coke, totaling $6. Over priced vendor foods! Later we each had a $2 Snow cone, I wanted to get 3 flavors but it would cost an additional dollar!!! So I stuck to 2 flavors…Lime and Orange. Everyone else ate the solid red or solid blue flavors! The red and blue are what I call the “safe flavors” and not wanting to venture out.

We settled down into the crowd on the cement steps below the arch just before the free concert was about to start. Cindy Lauper was the guest singer, FREE! I might add. She sang her usual 80’s hit songs and some new songs as well. I tried taking a clear photo of her on stage, and also video taped her singing “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun.”
Cindy has short, lavender, hair and tiny as ever.

Here is a photo of Carly's oldest daughter, Amber and I during the fireworks show. She has pretty, long hair to play with and braid while rocking out to Cindy Lauper. I had a fun time hang out with her and the kids. I can't wait to have kids of our own soon. After the free concert of Cindy Lauper the firework show started up over the river. The fireworks reflected in the water beautifully. Andrew and I were watching the firework show and enjoying every moment of it.

MO Botanical Gardens

Once again, Mother Nature takes my breath away. I went to the Botanical Gardens here in St. Louis, Missouri with my friend Carissa. We took our cameras along and took beautiful photographs of the landscaping through out the Gardens. There is a pound section with sculptures, fountains to make a wish at, rose gardens, a garden maze to walk through, a Japanese garden, and so much more in between filled with beauty. The photos are taken by Martiel Hay, June 2007.

To pause the slide show move the computer mouse over the photo, this will also show a title for the particular photo.

I highly recommend a trip to the St. Louis Botanical Gardens, it is breath taking. Come out here and visit us and we will go together on a flower expedition!

Happy Birthday to You & You & You!

It is Summer Birthday season! Too many to try counting...I may have even forgot some, I am usually good at sending out a birthday card to my friends and family on thier B-days. If I forgot any of you, Happy belated birthday!


Starting with June 1 was Andrew's 29th birthday! We went out to Red Robin for dinner with our friends Marlon and Carissa. This is his last year of being "20 something". Next year with be the dreaded 3-0! I am not sure why so many people dread the big 30, even to an extent that they start fibbing about their age and say that they are 29, 28, 20 something. We will see what happens next year when we both turn 30 and find out what the fuss is all about. I am currious if I will proudly say that I am 30 or if I will join the group of fibbers and hold on to the age of 28/29.

A week later was our friend, Kim's Birthday. She lives out in Cali-for-nia, so we sent her a card with birthday wishes.

Then our friend April's birthday was at the end of June. Three of my coworkers had birthdays all with in one week!


Now it is July and both my dad's birthday and my cousins birthday are on the same day, July 3rd. There is the rest of July and all of August coming up for even more Summer birthdays. Including my own! I will be 29 this August the 19th. My brother ends the summer up with his birthday on September 1st turning 23. I can't believe how many birthdays there are this Summer.

Our Dog Has a Mullett!

It is summer time and the weather is getting hot and humid. Our dog, Duke has black, long, fur. I decided to take Duke over to Pet Smart for a grooming, when the groomer asked me how short I wanted his hair to be, I paused for a moment to think this through...I didn't want it to be too short, and I like his fluffy ears and long tail....I told her to trim down the hair for summer but keep the tail and ears alone. He also had long fur on the back of his legs, which I said to trim off also. In my mind I thought he would look good all trimmed up and he would also be less hot in the summer heat with out the long fur. Andrew picked Duke up from the groomers and I was at work, he text messaged me, "what happened to Duke? He looks so funny! all of his fur is gone." I could not wait to get home to see what he looked like and find out what Andrew was talking about.

With out the long fur on the back of his legs, they now look skinny, and with out the long fur on his body/torso his tail looks super fluffy...like a Mullet. His fur is short and then long, it is out of proportion like a mullet! We were calling him "Mullet Dog".

Here are some before and afters of our poor Duke, the Mullet dog.
BEFORE: With a long neck line, long fur, long tail, and furry legs.Duke has his "cigar" in his mouth. AFTER: No neck line, skinny legs, short fur, with a fluffy tail... Mullet Dog with his baby teddybear out on the deck! BEFORE: Long Neck line of fur. Duke hanging out in the rain.
AFTER: Short fur all over, no more neck line, and now he has the long furry ears remaining and it looks funny. The new Duke all trimmed back, chillin on his window seat in our living room.

Happy Father's Day!

This is a special opportunity to thank my dads for who they are. Thank you to my Birth-Dad, Kenny who gave me life and dreams towards my future. He taught me creativity, and a pleasure in poetry. He has since passed on and lives up in Heaven now, but I still hold his happiness close to my heart. Thank you to my Step-Dad, Mitch, who raised me as his own daughter. You are my dad who is filled with fun adventures and taught me to love the outdoorsy stuff. I caught my first fish with you and learned to ride a bike with you. Thank you dad, for always being there for me. Thank you to my Father-in-law, Bob for your encouragement and optimistic hopes you have for Andrew and I. I am a lucky girl to have had 3 dads, each caring in different ways, each supportive with my future goals and lovable with a hug to share. Happy Father's Day Dads!

Hair today gone tomorrow!

This past year I have been growing out my hair and had it all the way down by my bra strap. Sorry that is girl terminology for middle back...for any guys reading this blog. ;)

This is the longest I have grown my hair out since I believe 6th grade? I usually have my hair length just past my shoulders and even shorter. In the back of my mind I was motivating my self to not cut it and see how long I could grow it out. I also wanted to donate my hair to the Locks of Love when it reached 10 inches to cut off. I went last week to Great Clips and asked the stylist to cut my long layer off and just keep it past my shoulders; and that I would like to donate my hair to Locks of Love if it is long enough. She told me I could not donate it because it was highlighted and Locks of Love only collects untreated hair; hair that has not been died or highlighted, etc.

Darn-it! I grew my hair out just so I could do this and all I knew was that it had to be 10 or more inches long in order to donate. So now I know for the next time and want to pass this on to any of you who are thinking of chopping you long locks for a good cause to not dye it. I still cut my hair that day, but instead of my hair going to a wig factory it was swept up by a broom and donated to the trash can. My hair is cute at the shoulder length and starting to show some roots. I have decided now to not redye it and let the highlighted parts grow out, and maybe in about two years it will be "non-treated" and "10 inches in length" to chop off and give to locks of love.
Hair today gone tomorrow! A whole year of growing it out, just to toss into a trash can. Such a waist.

Here is more info on the Locks of Love: website

http://www.westampton.k12.nj.us/babreu/locks_of_love.htm

Emily's Baby Shower

I hosted another baby shower! Always the baby shower guest, not quite yet the mommy to be at the baby shower. This one was for my BFF Emily. She is 8 months pregnant now (baby girl) and getting ready for the big arrival sometime in early June! My guess is June 7th, 2007, @ 12:35 noon? better yet, 7:07 am or pm. the time and date would be a good luck day to be born on... (777). I flew back to Morro Bay on April 20th and the shower was on the 21st. It was a beautiful Saturday after noon. We played some funny baby shower games and ordered a lunch buffet from the Taco's De Mexico. I gave the moms and grandmas all corsage's to wear on their shirt to stand out from the rest of the guests as the honorary guests at the shower. With Emily and Josh having a baby it was a graduation to the next level in motherhood for them all. Both Emily's mom and Josh's mom moved up the level to being a grandmother-to-be, and the grandmas moved up to the level of great grandmas. Emily also wore a corsage as the new mother-to-be. The shower was a fun time spent with friends and family. I had a wonderful time visiting and I took a ton of photos. Emily was glowing the whole time.

Baby Shower games were: The string game. Each person cut the length of string they think it will take to measure around Emily's pregnant belly... The dirty diaper game was extremely funny. Everyone had to guess which chocolate bar was which out of 5 diapers by looking, smelling and maybe even tasting the "Poop" Cierra was smelling the poo and almost ate some to be sure on her guesses...So funny! Emily's mom had her nose right in it trying to make her guesses. Emily's sister, Marina looks she found a new fetish, smelling dirty diapers! She looks like she is in "poo heaven."

Is It To Late To Dye Easter Eggs?

Last week was Easter Sunday and I worked straight through the holiday, and forgot to dye my eggs! I have a dozen eggs in the fridge and an egg dying kit ready to dye eggs for the Easter holiday. Now that Easter has past, should I still dye the eggs anyway? Then I will have a dozen hardboiled eggs to make egg salad and deviled eggs with. Monday is my next day off and I think I will do just that. I am still dye eggs...even if it is no longer Easter.

I wonder how the holiday of Easter came in to a connection of dying the eggs pretty colors and then hiding them from children anyway? How do eggs tie into the Easter story of Jesus being reborn? Spring is a time of rebirth, the flowers are all in bloom and baby chicks hatch from eggs and bunnies come out for springs arrival...maybe the bunnies and eggs are more connected with the rebirth of the fresh season of spring? Hence the Easter Bunny, and egg connection? Where does Jesus fall into this commercialized holiday? Was his favorite animal a bunny? Clue me in blog readers and post a comment please, about what you might know about Easter.

On another note, the Thursday before Easter I was with my friend Carissa and her two little ones. I had the bright idea to take her two toddlers to the mall for a photo opp with the Easter Bunny. She thought it was a good idea and we hopped in the car and headed over to the mall. Her kids are 2 yrs old and 18 months and they seemed excited to see the Easter Bunny as we waited for their turn in line. When it came time to take the Easter photo, her 18 month old was TERRIFIED of the giant bunny, and didn't understand why she had to sit on his lap or even be near the bunny to get a photo, she was not going to have anything of the sort.

The friendly, cuddly, Easter Bunny was more like a Giant Monster in her eyes! Her brother was also crying and didn't want to get his picture taken either. I was standing on the side line with a camera trying to catch at least one good snap shot with the Easter Bunny. It was impossible! A photograph is worth a 1,000 words! Here is a photo of my friend protecting her young from the monster, otherwise know as the Easter Bunny, as they scream and cry in terror!

April Fools

I have neglected my blog, sorry. I have been so busy lately with work, Duke, and the house. There is so much to blog about!

Let's start back on April first, other wise known as April fools day! It was a sunny spring morning turning into a windy afternoon. I work at the Hotel at the front desk. I was working with my manager and coworker checking in guests. As a part of the check in process we make a room key using a key maker and inserting the plastic key into the slot. As an April fools prank on my manager I covered the key slot with tape so she could not insert the key. She fell for it and asked why her key would not go in and then saw the tape on the slot, and I looked over at her and said, "April Fools" She laughed and said, "this looks like it will be a long day with you two!" Setting herself up to be forewarned for any other possible pranks done on her.

Later she left the front desk for a bit and I thought up another prank for her. We use the hotel pens to write with when interacting with our guests. We keep the pens handy by each computer station we stand at. At the my managers keyboard there were two pens. I covered the ink end of the pen with a small piece of tape, so when she grabbed for a pen it would not write. (April Fool #2)

Then she was talking to a guest about the weather how it was changing from a sunny morning to all of the sudden getting really windy. The trees outside had white blooms on the branches and the small white petals started to fall and swirl around in the wind. I looked out the window and told her, "look! now it looks like it is starting to Flurry!..." My manager believed me!...and leaned over the front desk to see out the window and saw the white petals "flurrying" around and for a split second she fell for it! HA! (April fools #3) I stopped teasing her after that.

Our morning shift was coming to an end and the next shift was about to arrive and we would be then leaving. I ran it by my manager what she thought if I should put tape on all 3 key makers and on a few pens for the next shift to prank? She laughed and said to go ahead, she thought it was funny. I covered the key slots on the key makers and was set to leave. One coworker came in checked in a guest and fell for it, she tried making the key and it was covered with tape. I told her it was me and to leave the tape on the other two key makers when the other coworkers get to their computer station...

THEN! I am about to leave and a guest came up to me at the front desk asking if I could recode her room key because her key got deactivated by her cell phone. I told the guest, "I would be happy to recode your room key..." I take her key and go to insert it into the key slot....you guessed it! I pranked MYSELF! I used one of the key makers that had tape covering up the key slot! My coworker saw that I tried making a key and we both were cracking up with laughter! Happy April Fools to me!

I will blog more later, I am off to work.

Andrew and I are proud parents of...

Andrew and I adopted a baby boy, named Duke! He is so lovable and loves to play in the backyard. Duke is 1 year, 10 months old and a Irish Setter Mix. He is my first dog ever. I never had a dog as a pet growing up. Andrew grew up with a pet cocker spaniel, named Rocky and in his early years as a toddler he had a Golden Retriever, named Sadie.

Now that we bought our house and have a large back yard and deck we felt it was a good time to get a dog together. We adopted Duke from the animal shelter in St. Louis, MO. For the month of March the Shelter is having a discount on Black dogs and cats 30% off the adoption. The shelter has noticed a trend that the black animals seem to not be picked out as often as the other colors. People tend to pick out the beige, white, grey, and other colorful animals over the black pets. I can understand the black cat situation, where people are superstitious of black cats and would pick out a different color cat instead of black, but I don't think there is anything wrong with a black dog? It just so happens we fell in love with Duke and he has Black fur, and were given 30% off.

At the shelter he was named Dew, and I kept mixing his name up with Duke, the Shelter Volunteer asked what we will name him, and we both agreed with the name Duke instead of Dew. At home we nick-named him Duke-Boy, or Duke-Buddy. He is a black dog with tan areas on his paws, tail, neckline, and eyes. The color pattern he has is similar to a Rottweiler, being black and tan. He may be a Setter mixed with a % of Rottweiler too? The shelter was not too clear on what type of mix he is. We just know that he is our lovable dog Duke.

The great part is he has adapted so well at our house and we have a crate set up for him by the sliding door as his sleep area, he does not bark, he gets along with the neighbor dogs, and he is such a good dog over all. We set up a routine with Duke to let him out of his crate in the mornings and he goes directly outside to do his business and play then he comes back inside and he can eat or drink water, and hang out indoors or choose to go back out in the back yard. In the afternoons he gets a walk around the neighborhood and by evening time he is tired and he sleeps in his crate overnight and then the cycle starts all over again with the new day. Last night he voluntarily went in his crate for bed time, it was so great. Two days ago, he was playing in the back yard and came in the house to get a rope toy out of his crate, and went back outside. He understands that the crate is his area to keep his toys and sleep. It is the equivalent to a person having their own bed room, so the crate is Duke's bedroom.

Here are some photos of Duke. Maybe from the photos, some of my blog readers can help identify what type of mix he might be. Leave a comment by clicking on the comment at the bottom of this post.

Duke is in his crate with a rawhide bone.

We took Duke to the PetSmart for a grooming, and they gave him a red bandanna! He is so handsome!

This photo shows the color pattern he has similar to a Rottweiler, but he has long fur and a long furry tail, like a Setter dog.

We have a window seat in the living room and have designated this as his bench to sit and watch out the window. The window bench is by our sofa to be hanging out with us, but at the same time not sit on the sofa.

Pintch Me I'm Dreaming!

We are slowly moving into the house, and it is slowly sinking in that this is OUR HOUSE!

This is our first home and it is a big difference from an apartment. For one thing, there is more space and not enough furniture to fill it all. We have a back yard now, which is a bundle of little projects to do and we didn't have any gardening supplies! Andrew went over to Home Depot and bought some gardening/home related stuff to get us started. We still have a list of items to get for the house that we never needed living in an apartment. Some of it is stupid stuff like a garden hose, not one but two! One for the front and one for the back yard! Then we also need a trash can, we have been spoiled with the use of a dumpster and we don't even know when trash day is? LOL! I need to get one more shower curtain, two more toilet brushes, and two more plungers, because we now have three bathrooms....the list is growing as I sit down to think it all through.

Here are some pictures of us from last Friday when we officially got the keys to the house.

Silly Moment of the Day

I was at the cafe in my grocery store and there is a cafe girl taking my coffee order who is beyond "silly" Her mind was definitely elsewhere, or maybe she was new to the job and she didn't realise how silly this all was.

Martiel: "Hi, I would like to order a grande Tie Chee"

Cafe Girl: "Do you mean a grande Chi Tea Latte?"

Martiel: (giggles) "oops, I mean Chi Tea Latte, thanks."

Cafe Girl: (giggles) What else would you like?

(there are 2 brown muffins and 2 beige muffins in the treat shelf) Of course the brown muffins are the chocolate ones so I specified the beige colored muffins, asking which flavor they were...

Martiel: Hmm, what flavor are the beige muffins?

Cafe Girl: Oh I am not sure, let's see...I know that the brown ones are chocolate...these aren't marked?

Martiel: Do you know what the beige muffins are?

Cafe Girl: the brown muffins are the chocolate and I think the beige ones are?...
Well, these are chocolate for sure, and these might be?...

Martiel: It looks like maybe it's a banana nut muffin? I will have the Banana Nut muffin.

Cafe Girl: I'm not sure if that is Banana Nut... this one is Chocolate. (points to the brown one)

(UGH!) Martiel: OK I will have the mystery flavored muffin please.

Cafe Girl: Which one? This one?

(OMG!) Martiel: Yes, please.

Cafe Girl: Here you go, and here is your grande Chi tea latte...

This could have been a Sitcom episode, it was so ridiculous!
The muffin was indeed Banana Nut to let you know. I enjoyed each bite and nibble of it.

Shocking Confessions

Andrew and I have never actually meet Anna Nicole Smith...but the big question on all the news stations is, "who is the father of her baby girl?"

Even the head honcho of all news stations, CNN is talking about Anna Nicole, this and Anna Nicole that on a daily basis. It must be a slow news month. I can not turn on the TV with out hearing more about Anna Drama.

Multiple guys have come forward saying they think that they are the father.

Andrew just confessed to me that HE IS the father of her baby!

Quick To Think

Be as quick as you can. Get a pen and paper ready to jot down what instant thoughts come to your mind. I came up with the following. Now remember, I answered these quickly with out much thought. You have 3 seconds for each answer to honestly put what comes to mind. . . you never know what your sub-conscious may be telling you.. . give it a try.

1. I need a cigarette:
Hell no!

2. Sex:
is fun

3. Relationships:
happily ever after

4. Your Last Ex:
I think was Gay?

5. Power:
Girl Power

6. Marijuana:
the brownie kind doesn't taste good

7. Crack:
is whack!

8. Food:
healthy

9. This President:
will soon be gone in 2008

10. War:
not for it

11. Cars:
Mazda
12. Gas Prices:
Ridiculous
13. Halloween:
Candy corn!
14. Bon Jovi:
80's turned actor

15. Religion:
Presbyterian

16. MySpace:
addicting

17. Worst Fear:
Alzheimer's

18. Marriage:
happily married

19. Fashion:
forward

20. Brunettes:
smart

21. Redheads:
have been before

22: Work:
eager to start


23: Pass the time:
fill out silly questionnaires on myspace! ;P

24: Football:
Super Bowl

25: One night Stands:
For kicks not commitment

26: Pixie Stix:
The candy?

27: Vanilla Ice:
Ice ice baby!

29: Porta Potties:
only as a last resort!

30: High school:
MBHS

31: Pajamas:
optional

32. Wood:
carving

33. Surfers:
hang ten

34. Picture:
love it

35. First Love:
elementary school - Clark

House Shopping! Our 1st Home!

Andrew and I have been looking around for a house in Missouri to buy. We will be first time home buyers! No more apartment living will soon become a reality. We made an offer on the house pictured below, and got it! So far the paper work and more paper work is going on, as well as the building inspection and the bug guy came out too. We move in March and we are so excited! The house is 3 bedroom, 3 bath, living room, family room, 2 car garage, and a nice back yard with a deck. Pinch me, I must be dreaming?! The photos are provided by the Realtor site, as the current family has the house arranged. (Sorry, the colors are all distorted, and gives a poor example to show its true beauty) We have not officially moved in yet to have our own photos to post.

One of the 3 bedrooms has a boarder painted of mooses and forest trees, it matches the cabin like bedding the current home owners have. This may be a painting project in the future, not sure...I kind of like the painted boarder. This is a strange part to buying some one elses house. We are moving into a place where it holds many memories for a whole other family. Once we move into the house and it is officially our home; this room wont have the matching bedspread or a story behind the theme. It will be just a painted boarder and with no matching bed spread. If I paint over the boarder I feel like I am erasing some hard work of a project the current owners probably painted together on a weekend and bonded together with. ...Then I come in and paint it all away? But on the flip side to this, we will be painting in new memories to this room and other changes we make to the house makes this more unique to being OUR home. It will all be the beginning of new memories for us to connect with.

Owning a home will be a huge difference from renting an apartment as we have done in the past. The house is ours and we can paint funky boarders to match a bed spread, we can have a kitty for a pet and not have to worry about paying an additional $25 in rent for pets, we can do jumping jacks on the floor knowing it won't make load noises being the ceiling of the apartment below us! We get a garage, etc. which we did not have in renting apartments.

Here are photos some photos to walk you through what the house looks like. Starting with the living room. There is a window seat which has storage inside to keep afghans. Next to the living room is the dinning room and kitchen. The sliding glass door goes out to the deck and back yard. There is also a built in curio cabinet in the corner of the dinning room. I was excited to see this stay with the house. I liked it when I first saw it and thought the curio fitted perfectly in the corner there. Little did I know at the time the curio was built in for that particular corner. COOL!

The bath rooms: One has the original tub in a lovely shade of green, which will be a future project to update it.
The Master Bath is European style to keep the person in the shower separate from the other brushing their teeth, etc.
This 3rd bathroom is down stairs with the family room. Here are photos of the family room down stairs with a fire place. These photos are all from the Realtor site and some how the colors are all distorted after I pasted these into the Blog. The walls are NOT gray! They are a modern shade of mocha, and upstairs in the kitchen is butter yellow.

Some photos of the backyard with deck. The area of trees are in the common area behind our property and goes into a park.