25 Things You May not know about Me

(And after you read this, you may wish you still didn't know!)

1. My favorite color is red. Red red. Like fire engine red.
   
2. My heritage is part Cherokee Indian, German and Irish. My ancestry has been traced back to Wales in 1692 (on my mom's side).
   
3. I have two plants. One is a Ficus and her name is Blanche. One is a Pothos, and her name is Germania.
   
4. I have been to 37 states. One day I hope I get to the other 13.
   
5. Nancy Drew is my hero. Seriously. And, my secret (or not so secret) ambition is to be a detective.
   
6. I like clocks.
   
7. I enjoy writing. When I was younger I was always writing stories. I would sleep with pen and paper by my bed in case an idea came to me in the middle of the night.
   
8. I love the music from The Nutcracker.
   
9. I've been to Guatemala twice on mission trips.
10. I have a crazy imagination. Seriously. It's crazy.
    
11. I'm short. But, since I wear tall shoes, sometimes people don't realize it.
    
12. I like to dance.
    
13. I have been known to walk around my apartment in pajamas pants, a sweatshirt and high heels. Oh, just because.
    
14. I would like to go to Greece. And England. Oh, all of Europe.
    
15. Cinnamon candles are my favorite.
    
16. I like sitting in the floor.
    
17. I enjoy making things. I have crayons, markers, oil paints (and more!). I'm going to school to be a teacher, so that's the excuse I'm sticking with.
    
18. I'm going to school for teaching.
    
19. I went to school in Missouri. I remember people. But, ask Melissa, huge chunks of my memory are missing!!
    
20. Chips and Salsa are staples.
    
21. I love potatoes.
    
22. When I was younger I had five imaginary friends.
    
23. My cousin and I had our own "detective agency." He was Spike. I was Tracy. My brother was our trusty dog.
    
24. I practically know the entire movie, The Wizard of Oz by heart.
25. Fall is my favorite season. Hands down favorite.
    

(P.S. 9 days!)
(P.P.S. 26. I have always enjoyed counting down to events. Like, birthdays, (yes, usually mine) and Christmas!!!)

New Hair!

I'll have to do some real pictures in the daylight, but here are some quick snapshots of my new red streaks!

Oh, Beautiful Beautful Me...

So tonight I visited my little friend Jessica. (Who will be 3 in a week). She decided to do my hair for me. That involved Jessica violently stabbing my head with a headband until it fit just perfectly, and then Jessica saying, "Oh Tephanie, that's beautiful. You are beautiful. 'Tay? Otay Tephanie? Otay?"
Of course, my response had to be, "Oh yes, Jessie, thank you so much."

I decided to share with everyone what this little wonderful child that I love did to me.

How well do you know me?

Okay, this one is different - this is funny. YOU fill in the blanks about ME and send it back to ME. But FIRST send a blank one out to all your friends, including me, so we can return the favor to you. Be honest. They're really SCARY to get back. It only takes a few minutes, so just do it!

Where did we meet?________

Take a stab at my middle name?________________

Do I smoke?_____________________

Color of my eyes?___________________

Do I have any siblings?_________________

How many? ________________

Younger or older or both? ________________

What's one of my favorite things to do?_______________

What's my favorite type of music?____________________

Am I shy or outgoing?______________________

Am I a rebel or do I follow the rules?__________________

Any special talents?___________________

How many children do I have?_________________

If you and I were stranded on a desert island, what is one thing that I would bring?___________________________

New Smile Makeover

Old smile:

New smile:

What has Stephanie been doing?

Hi everyone-

Here's a quick update on my life (prepare to be amazed).

This past weekend I moved back to the "VVA" as my friend and I call it. There is a pool- and a great place to walk. That causes me to be very excited. My room is now pretty much in place, except for some additional books that I need to bring up from my downstairs living area- which is NOT in place at all. Hopefully I'll get that tackled by the weekend. (I'll get pictures once it's decent)

Saturday is my church's annual Easter Egg Hunt. I am very excited about it. There are over 10,000 eggs, hot dogs and lemonade. So, it should be fun.

Next week (6 days and counting) I'm going to see my friends in Nebraska--YAY! That will be so fun!

I also have our Junior Bible Quiz State competition a week after that. For those of you that really know me, you should know that once a Bible Quiz geek, always a Bible Quiz geek. I can't seem to get away from it. It's been fun hanging out with the kids and getting to know them.

After that, hopefully things should return to normal for me. (I don't really know what normal is---I suppose it'll be more of me being my homebody self that I am).

Other than that, and getting over this cold, nothin' much else going on.

Love ya!

Welcome Home

Home sweet home...
Here are some pictures of my new house!

Beautiful isn't is? Okay, just kidding...

Here is my yard (note the bird house):

My driveway (and my car):
Front view:As you can see...we are still in need of some curtains. Right now we have a lot of blankets drapped over the windows. But, this is where I live!

Other news to note:

I started my Spanish class this week. I hope I survive.

Also, I am now in charge of JBQ and we are starting Royal Rangers and Missionettes again at church.

Confessions of a puzzle maniac

I am afraid that is true. I have now become a Sudoku addict. You may be asking yourself, "What is Sudoku?" It is a game of quick thinking, a game of logic, a game that tends to give me a headache. And yet, I am addicted. I have been told that there are 12 step programs to help with such an addiction, but I'm not quite ready to let go just yet.



AND to top it all off...I work on my puzzles in pen.

Domestic goddess...

So, tonight I was feeling rather pleased with myself. I had such a great plan. And, Queen of All Cookers that I am, I decided to attempt a new feat in the kitchen. Unfortunately, about a half an hour after I started concocting my new creation, my apartment was filled with a dark cloud, as smoke was pouring out of my oven. (I never knew that smoke would come out of the grates on the stove top.) I spent several minutes with my patio door open, fanning my ceiling, attempting to stop the loud beeping the was escaping from my tiny smoke detector. (Strange how such a small thing can make such an annoying noise.)

Obviously, as you see above, my first pie crust was a disaster. Never fear, however, I had a spare pie crust sitting in my refrigerator, and fifteen minutes later I was able to eat my Chicken Pot Pie without any burnt after taste.

Maybe I should stick to frozen pot pie...

And so a star has been born...

I stepped outside my apartment this morning ready to charge off to work. It was a quiet morning. The ground was speckled with dark spots from the rain that couldn't decide if it wanted to come on full force, or give way to sunshine.
The commute was the norm- fast moving cars, people eating doughnuts, stop lights and the like. I arrived at work as usual. I entered the corporate building little realizing that my life was about to change.

I was sitting in my humble cube at the end of my row when the cameras appeared. For approximately fifteen minutes I was in the spotlight, the Glory Land. I was living in the fast life- I loved the cameras and they loved me back. (Of course, the filming was for a promotional video for my company and because of the amount of people being used in the video my fame will more than likely be contained to fifteen seconds) And then the cameras stopped. And the lights faded. It was time for me to move back into reality.

There are those dreams that we all have. These dreams seem to lay just out of my reach, beyond where I can touch them, but close enough so that I know that they exsist. The wonderful thing is that while I have so many dreams that may come and go, God has so many more dreams that are better than my own, and more wonderful than anything I could have ever imagined.

In Jeremiah 29:11 it's written, "For I know the plans that I have for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future..."

So maybe I won't be a famous Hollywood star, but a girl can dream right?