don't blink

i can't wrap my head around the fact that we've called this place home for a year.
a year!

things i love about pittsburgh: (in no particular order)

1. my friends. i really can't stand the thought of me not having them so close for the rest of my life.
2. it's beautiful here. the trees, green-ness (i like to make up my own words), bridges, old buildings, grey skies, sky-scrapers, stadiums. it's all so, so lovely. just kidding about the grey skies part.
3. my new-found hobbies. i had to get kind of creative once i moved here (i know, heaven forbid). i have found new things that i enjoy doing that i don't think i otherwise would have even attempted.
4. my calling. why does nursery have such a bad rep? i love it. those kids make me smile.

5. cinemas in the park. each week, local participating parks play a family-friendly movie outside for free.

6. the restaurants. i think we could go out to different places every day for the next three years and still be discovering new, fun places to eat.

7. the wildlife. we see squirrels, chipmunks, deer, & groundhogs all over in our yard and i love it. two days in a row, i saw the same deer 'family' - a mom and her two babies. so darling!

8. the rivers. i could have just lumped this into #2, but i feel they deserve their own number. pittsburgh is nestled in-between two rivers that form the Ohio river. one of our favorite things to do is ride our bikes along the 'trails' by the river.

9. i love that there are lots of fun places within a relatively short drive. since living here, we have visited columbus, washington d.c., erie, & west virginia. there are a lot of places on our bucket list that i'm excited for.
10. the thunderstorms. they are second to none.
11. the library system.
12. oh and we can't forget about our Steelers. i have never seen a place so obsessed with their sports team(s). this house is even painted with Steeler pride.

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have you ever gotten a book recommended to you, and when you get around to wanting to read it, you can't remember what it's called or who it's by?

i don't work for goodreads but maybe i should.

i love this website. it helps me keep my books organized. it helps me remember which books i want to read. it helps me to easily browse through books and see if any of my friends have read them, and if so, how they have rated them.

go ahead. take a loook around. sign up for it. and then add me as a friend. (come on, liz. you know you can't turn down any social-networking site)

feels like home to me

i was finally able to take a teaser-trip "home". four days is way too short. there were so many people that i wanted to see while i was there, but i just wasn't able to.

the roads looked much wider to me. i asked my parents if they widened the streets. turns out, i am just used to skinny-minny Pittsburgh roads. the whole time i was there, i was dreaming of cycling my way around on this flawless Utah asphalt.

and we ate lots and lots of yummy food

and you can bet that i spent a lot of time kissing the cheeks off of this little squirt.

as i was putting on lip gloss, she asked if she could have some. what a girl.

the whole reason i went to Utah was to celebrate her upcoming second year of life. i think she enjoyed herself, what do you think?

the hammer

it's always nice to be welcomed back to work with an over-sized poster.

i think my boss missed me.

holm family

i was able to snap some photos of my friend, atrena's family. i could take pictures of beautiful people all day long. and their kids stole my heart...seriously.

thanks, holm's for letting me practice on you!

ba-donk-a-donk

i get a fair share of comments from complete strangers regarding my caboose. here are a few recent ones: "damn, girl! you have got a badonkadonk!" "you get a lot of compliments on that thing?" not only does my keister provide opportunities to hear funny things from strangers, it also poses a jean problem. i realize it's hard to make out exactly what the picture is. do you see that huge bulge in my jeans? that's the gab between my back & my pants. and you should see how tight these babies are on my legs & butt. they really need to start making jeans that are tush-friendly.

god bless america

at church on sunday, the congregation rose to our feet as we belted The Star-Spangled Banner. i had to fight really hard not to shed a few. i love our country.