February 7, 2009 - Posted by danielle- 5 Comments
Kalki (Kelly) posted about her 4 year blogging anniversary and it made me realize that I’d missed mine. She very eloquently states some of the same reasons I blog. I suggest you read her post.
I’m not into Facebook and Twitter. This is my outlet for talking to friends and family instead. I always put my blog address on my Christmas cards just in case someone wants to pop by and hear the latest.
I started blogging on New Year’s Eve in 2004, so I usually think of starting on Jan 1, 2005, because I forget it was officially Dec 31st. I started by back-posting some of my cycling stories that I’d sent as letters to family and friends. My intro post on Dec 31st is one of the few times I made a point of posting my cropped face from the front. That was back when I wore my black-rimmed glasses.
Over the 4 years, I’ve written 564 posts and had 3,294 comments.
I’ve made friends who I never would’ve expected to find. Some of them still blog: – in no particular order -
Squirl
Amber – Ladymadaysia
Ern
Kalki
Honestyrain – honesty-rain not honey-strain. 
Poopie
One friend got into blogging more recently that I knew in “real-life” before reconnecting with her via blogging. I met her when I was in graduate school.
Jenski
Others have fallen by the wayside and were blogging ferociously, and then decided to quit blogging. Most of them felt they didn’t have time for it anymore. Some of them still have their blogs up on the internet though.
Ladybug
Closetmetro
Sheryl – Waveofmodulation
Momo
Amanda B.
And others read regularly, but don’t have blogs
TexasSeestor
Mom and Dad
SeaQueen
my mother-in-law reads occasionally
Denise?
BTW: HB fits into a special category – i.e. reads, doesn’t comment, but has a blog that says his name, so I never link to his blog.
I hope I haven’t forgotten anyone!
Anyway, thanks to all of you who come by regularly and still connect with me in this unique way.
I’m glad we are friends (and family – as the case may be).
July 17, 2008 - Posted by danielle- 2 Comments
I saw this at Ern’s and then at Jenski’s and felt compelled to try it out and see what was created by wordle from my blog. I had to ask HB what my RSS feed was (silly me). I kinda wish I’d done it before I wrote the itching post, but well, there ya go; I can’t change it now unless I delete the post and then put it back up.
I like that the words “camera” and “photos” are big. I don’t think that the size of the word is based on frequency in your blog or anything like that, but it is still cool.
October 16, 2007 - Posted by danielle- 4 Comments
31. There are 2 places that I would like to ‘go next’. One of them is St. Croix. One of them is Hawaii. For both, I’d want to snorkel quite a bit. St. Croix is easier because we’ve been there before and know a hotel and restaurants to go to – it would also be less expensive. Hawaii has been a dream for a while.
32. In the meantime, I’m wondering if I could convince HB to take a trip “up north”. This means northern Minnesota.
33. I’d like to go to Europe. I’m not sure if England comes first, then Ireland & Scotland and where France and Italy fit in. But someday, I’d like to go to some of those places.
34. In movies, Venice and Tuscany look really appealing.
35. I just got my passport – about a month ago.
36. I used to want to go on a hot air balloon ride – now, I’m too afraid of heights.
37. I get weirded out when I’m in really deep ocean water. I start imagining all of the stuff that is below me. Hence, boat trips are a bit unnerving for me.
38. I’m a bit of a nervous flyer too – but I can usually manage okay.
39. One of my worries with going to developing countries is either catching some weird disease or having a medical issue while there and not being able to be treated. However, I’ve heard stories from friends of how amazing their trips were – and it makes me curious. Almost curious enough to overcome my worries about disease.
40. I’ve never traveled through the western U.S. – Grand Canyon, Mt. Rushmore, Pike’s Peak, etc. But I would like to do that too someday. That is probably a more realistic goal than a foreign country. HB and I have talked about doing that, but we’ve yet to get serious about making any plans.
September 22, 2007 - Posted by danielle- 5 Comments
21. When I was a little girl, I didn’t really play with baby dolls. I played with stuffed animals, and the Rose Petal Dolls, and Barbie.
“Rose Petal Dolls?”, you may ask? Yes, they were my favorites of all of my dolls.
Here is the story of the Rose Petal Dolls.
I kept them in their boxes, to keep them safe. Mainly, so that nothing would get lost. But also because I loved the story on the back of the box. I see that they were $6.92 from Target.
22. I also played with Strawberry Shortcake.
She and her friend, Cafe Ole, loved to go for rides on the butterfly and on the horse and carriage.
23. I sewed a lot of clothes for my dolls. I was particularly thrilled to find that I’d made a couple of outfits each for my Rose Petal dolls and that they were still in their boxes with them.
Note: Rose Petal (the pink one) had a matching skirt, but her top is lost.
and in large
Can you see the 80′s influence on the clothes? Lily Fair is wearing harem pants and a shirt with those rucked (?) sleeves. Also, the big bow on the “sweater dress” were big too, if I remember correctly. I think the ruffles were in style too, especially in fancier dresses.
24. When we lived in southern Indiana at the ‘tip of the boot’ as I like to say, my best friend, Amber, was a couple of years older than me. We spent a lot of time swimming in their above-ground pool, making up dance routines and gymnastics, singing songs, playing games – 4-square and hide-and-go seek, riding bikes and rollerskating.
25. We moved from southern Indiana to just west of Indianapolis the summer between my 4th and 5th grade years. I was terribly sad to leave my friends, but I made a fantastic new friend, Denise.
26. Denise was with me during my pre-teen and early teen years. We (again) made up routines – especially baton-twirling and dancing combined. I particularly remember a routine to the Top Gun theme song.
We explored the woods. Rode our bikes down the road to the bridge and through the trails in the woods in our neighborhood.
We also played on the rope swing at my house and the rope in her backyard. We’d climb this ladder to the very top – past the step that you weren’t supposed to go above – and jump off, while holding the rope. She had older brothers, so her parents were particularly calm about our doing things that I had previously considered too scary or dangerous. I became a little more daring with Denise.
27. I don’t keep in contact with Denise anymore, but I still think of her. She was the maid of honor at HB’s and my wedding. She knew how to keep me calm that day.
I DO talk to her mom sometimes, who is also a friend of mine.
28. We moved to southern Indiana outside of Louisville between my 9th and 10th grade years in high school. Again, I was terribly sad to leave, but slowly, I made some friends at school.
29. I only attended that school in southern Indiana for one year, and then I went away to a public school for accelerated learning my junior and senior years where I made a lot of friends. It was at this school that at the beginning of my senior year, I became good friends with HB. We started dating after Thanksgiving my senior year.
If my family hadn’t moved and decreased my attachment to my friends, I might not have gone to that school. So, it all worked out very well in the end.
30. My feelings about that school are very complicated, since it was incredibly difficult academically and I think I was depressed for part of my senior year and didn’t know it. Also, I made some life long friends – particularly HB – there, so I can’t help but be ever so thankful and glad that I went. Finally, as difficult as the classes were, they really prepared me for college. My first year of college was much easier, as a result and helped keep me in science.
Final note: It was at that school, my junior and senior years, that I got the nickname Danie. But only people from that school call me that. It helps keep that nickname special to me.
August 30, 2007 - Posted by danielle- 3 Comments
As I mentioned in the title, this is the entertainment episode, so to speak. Yes, I mentioned what movies I don’t like in my 1 through 10 post, but I didn’t talk about which ones I DO like.
11. For movies, I love romantic comedies. I’m also really big into period/historical movies. If a movie has something historical and is a romantic comedy at the same time, it tends to be one of my favorite movies. One example would be Kate and Leopold with Meg Ryan and Hugh Jackman. I also like some fantasy movies like The Chronicles of Narnia.
12. For TV, I like shows that last one hour. I’m not a big fan of half-hour shows – which usually rules out most sitcoms. I like dramas – Dr. Quinn Medicine Woman was one of my favorites (of course, it was historical) I also liked the West Wing (at the beginning), JAG, and NCIS.
13. I am a huge fan of reality talent shows. I loved So You Think You Can Dance, Dancing With the Stars, American Idol and Grease You Are The One That I Want.
14. I’m also a fan of Survivor and Survivorman. I like Survivor for the plotting and personal dynamics that go on. When Survivor started, I swore I wouldn’t watch it because it sounded stupid. Then HB was out of town one night, I turned it on and got completely hooked. I like Survivorman for the pure survival skills he has to display in arctic, jungle, swamp, or other inhospitable places.
15. I read romance and historical fiction. – mostly historical romance. I’ve recently found an author who writes historical mysteries that I really like (Fiona Buckley in the Ursula Blanchard series). I like some contemporary romance – like Nora Roberts.
16. I don’t read intellectual books or books that are on booklists. I have found them to be too depressing. This is why I’m not in a bookclub. Maybe someday I’ll find one that reads the kinds of books that I like.
17. Reading is probably my favorite thing to do. That and eat really good food. Most weekends find me on the couch reading a book. That is one of the things I missed doing when I was in college. There was just no time to read ‘fun’ books. I usually devoured books during Christmas, Spring break, and summer vacation.
18. I get choked up/really moved by Praise Music/Contemporary Christian music. I tend to only listen to it on Sundays on my way too and from church, because it makes me too emotional.
19. When I was growing up, I hated country music with a passion. Now that I’m older, I like certain artist. Especially cross-over artists like Martina McBride, the Dixie Chicks, Sugarland. (or is Sugarland pure country?)
20. My favorite musical group is the Corrs. They aren’t very well known. But I love them. They are best known for their song Breathless. They are a family group (3 sisters, 1 brother) out of Ireland.
August 28, 2007 - Posted by danielle- 10 Comments
I have never done the 100 things that many bloggers have done. I always thought that I wouldn’t be able to come up with 100 things. However, because of Ern’s post – I’ve decided to brainstorm off of her first 8, which kind of means I’m just giving my opinion of the same topics. And then I’m adding a couple of extras.
1. I hate spiders inside the house. When I was little, I had my Dad or Mom kill any spiders I would find. Now, if the spider is large, i.e. bigger than a dime, or if it is particularly hairy, I ask HB to kill it. If it is smaller and thinner, I’ll do it myself. I hate that crunch sound. And I always try to use a big wad of tissue/napkin/toilet paper, because I hate the feeling of it under my fingers. bleck.
2. Once, when I was a pre-teen, I took off my glasses and got into the shower. I saw this glop of hair that was about the size of a silver dollar on the side of the shower and thought “Gross, Texas Seestor left a glop of hair in the shower.” And I started showering. After a while, I realized that the glop of hair had moved and that it was actually one of the largest spiders I’d ever seen. Definitely bigger than a dime, and definitely hairy.
Evidently my scream for Dad had a certain ring to it that let them all know I had encountered a spider.
Bleck.
3. I am not a big fan of people writing their own marriage vows either. So many times, it seems like they aren’t really vowing to do anything. They are just talking about what the love about the other person.
4. I’m not very ticklish.
5. I actually like most war movies, but the kind of movies that I absolutely will not watch are psychological thrillers. When trailers come on TV for psycho thrillers, I usually look away, shut my eyes, ignore it as best as possible.
6. I’m tired of seeing that preview for the Nicole Kidman thriller.
7. One of my pet peeves is when a road, like an interstate, is narrowing and while almost everyone is merging within a reasonable amount of space, there will be some idiot driver who insists on racing up to the very last bit of road and pushing their way in. I’ve been known to block cars from doing that. Particularly when I lived in Boston.
8. I used to hate cleaning the litter box so much, and Girlie-Girl was so blase about the litter box, that we’d change the litter out (the whole thing) once a week. As she has gotten older, she will not tolerate it unless it is scooped every day with a fresh layer on top each day too. She actually has 2 litter boxes.
9. I’ve discovered some new chocolates by Dove that I really like. One is their 63% cacao. And the other is their dark chocolate from various countries. One bag has squares that are labeled with the country where the beans are from. The chocolate really does taste different depending on the country. Note: these chocolates are not listed on the Dove website. So, I wonder if these are test market items. Maybe I should go buy some extras.
10. I drink All Day Breakfast tea all but one or two days out of a month. On my off days, I’ll drink Blackberry Sage or Passion Fruit Papaya.
