Thirteen Things I Wanted to Be When I Grew Up 

1. Dentist.  This was around age three.
2. Astronaut.  This phase lasted for a LONG time!  I was into space until about 7^th or 8^th grade.
3. Marine Biologist.  From 4^th grade through high school, I wanted to be a dolphin trainer.  I even went to summer camp at Sea World.  TWICE!
4. Doctor.  More specifically – Emergency Room Doctor.  And then I remembered that I get faint at the sight of blood. L
5. Lawyer.  This was my aspiration for a year or two of college. Like father like daughter? 
6. Human Resources Professional.  The funny thing about this is that my first real job after college was in HR.  And I liked it.
7. Public Relations for a magazine or something cool.  This was in high school, while day-dreaming with my friend Kerry.  I worked in Communications/PR along with HR at my first job.  It wasn’t bad. J  There was lots of variety, and I wouldn’t mind doing something similar again.  I am not competitive enough, though, to work for some huge PR firm.
8. Stay-at-home Mom.  My friends in high school (and even college) thought I was crazy, but this is still a goal of mine one day when we’re actually ready to have kids.
9. Teacher.  I twiddled with this idea as I was getting ready to graduate college and had nothing planned after that. 
10. Nurse.  I briefly thought about being a nurse too, but then thought why not just strive for the best and go to med school to become an M.D.  And then I remembered the whole blood and guts and nastiness part of being a nurse or doctor.
11. Professional Shopper.  How fun would that be?!  I still wouldn’t mind this job!
12. Events planner.  Ditto. ;)  I love planning, researching, and staying organized.
13. Writer.  I use to dream about writing chick lit, nothing greatly literary, just a good, fun read (not trashy, of course).

After going through four or five stuffed ducks, I got Graham and Thatcher a few new toys last night.  One of them was an adorable little stuffed bear.  Unfortunately the puppies destroyed that bear in less than 24 hours.  How can something so cute make such a mess in a matter of seconds?

On a different note, they're approximately 14 weeks old already!  And in just a few weeks they'll start losing their teeth!  Maybe then they won't tear up stuffed animals so much.. ;)

I have not participated in a Works for Me Wednesday in a long time.  Tuna casserole is so easy, filling, and makes great leftovers so I figured I would share it with everyone!  There are two different versions - one is a little less healthy than the other, but they both taste great!! :)  My mom always made the healthier one when I was growing up, and then a few years ago my friend Matt introduced me to the cheesy version a few years ago.

Healthier Tuna Casserole:

1 box of elbow macaroni noodles

1 can of cream of celery soup

2 cans of tuna

1 package frozen peas

1 cup milk

Cheesy Tuna Casserole:

1 bag of wide egg noodles

1 can of cream of chicken soup

2 cans of tuna

2 cups cheddar cheese

1 cup milk

Preheat the oven to 350.  For both recipes you first cook the noodles, drain them, and then combine all ingredients in the pan.  Once everything is mixed together pour into a casserole dish or a 13"x9" glass dish.  Back for about 45 minutes.  If you'd like you can add crispy fried onions to the top of either casserole five minutes before removing from the oven. 

This dish takes very little prep time and it provides a lot of food.  My husband and I always have leftovers for lunch and/or dinner the next day or two!

Last week I went strawberry picking with my Dad and Katie one day after work.  It was a lot of fun and the strawberries are delicious!  Katie even made some strawberry jam that I am excited to try. 

We went a little late in the season, so the pickings were slim.  Next year I would like to go a few days earlier.  I think the strawberries go fast once they open. 

There's nothing better than eating a fresh-picked strawberry out in the field. :)  I would like to make a strawberry cobbler, but the task seems daunting and I am not sure if I have enough berries left. 

And yes - my dad wore knee pads.  :) He's one-of-a-kind!

So I am sick, with a sinus infection.  It sucks.  It started Friday morning with a sore throat.  I woke up Saturday morning feeling pretty crappy, and that just escalated for the rest of the weekend.  Today I am feeling marginally better, so hopefully I am through with the worst of it.

I came to work today, but my head is still a big ball of fuzzy congestion.  On the bright side, half of the office appears to be absent; a few people are out for a training class and probably a lot more are taking the week off because of the holiday on Friday.  That's good because it means I won't have much to do.  Normally that irks me to no end, but today I am grateful for a calm day.

I just hope I get better soon.  I spent the whole weekend relaxing.  After constant activity for the past month or two doing nothing for TWO ENTIRE DAYS was not an easy task.  I made it, though.  I watched two disks from Grey's Anatomy Season Three and I also watched The Other Boleyn Girl.  All three DVDs were good.

To stay positive, it was a good weekend to get sick - I think it was the only free weekend from the beginning of May to the end of July! 

My husband, Bryan, is starting a new job on July 1.  Well, it's not technically a new job.  For the last few months he's been on his own with one primary customer.  He will now be a full-time employee for this company.  He's still working for the same company, but there will still be a lot of changes, both good and bad.

Good: He has the security of knowing exactly when he's getting paid.  He will have health insurance (we're currently on my employer's insurance).  He'll have an actual office outside of our home.

Bad: Loss of flexibility.  He won't be home with the puppies as much, and it will be more difficult to take off early on my half-day Fridays. Different pay schedule that's either positive or negative depending on your point of view.

He also will be provided with a new car that he's currently in the process of selecting.  It has to be GM and it has to be in the mid-price range and it has to have good gas mileage.  He likes the Silverado pick-up truck.

I DO NOT like pick-up trucks, especially not for a man with a wife and two puppies!  They have such little cab space.  So currently we're having a disagreement about that.  He likes another car that I am not crazy about but I would much rather have that than a pick-up truck.  I know it's not my car, and not entirely my decision, but he hasn't really given me any say throughout this whole job switch process so the least he can do is not get a hideous pick-up.  Maybe I am being selfish, but I am an opinionated person that needs to have a voice!

Thirteen places I have visited in the past few years.

1. Grenoble, France.  I studied abroad in France during the summer of 2005 and it was a great experience.  I lived with a French family in Grenoble, a city surrounded by the French Alps.

2. Nice, France.  Gorgeous (but rocky) beaches.  A friend and I went parasailing and it was so much fun!

3. Geneva, Switzerland.  Grenoble was only an hour or two from Switzerland and I was able to visit Geneva a few times.  It’s a nice city with lots of banks and watches. J

4. Rome, Italy.  Rome is such a cool city – I would love to go back!  There is so much to see and do, and every building has a unique history.

5. London, England.  London is also a city I would like to visit again.  It has a really nice atmosphere, and there’s a lot to do in the heart of the city as well as in the surrounding country.

6. Vero Beach, Florida.  Florida is not quite as exciting as Europe, but I try and go each winter to visit my grandparents who migrate there for the colder months.

7. Aruba.  Bryan and I went to Aruba for a very relaxing honeymoon!  It was beautiful but HOT (90+ degrees every day, minimum 85 at night). Did you know Aruba is a desert island?  The next Caribbean island we visit will be nice and tropical.

8. San Jose, California.  We visited California in October 2008 and went on a tech tour through the Silicon Valley, stopping at places such as HP and AOL.  This picture is pre-tour at Stanford University.  It’s a really nice campus.

9. San Francisco, California.  San Francisco is also a fun city.  We walked along the Golden Gate Bridge, visited Fisherman’s Warf, and saw the sights of China Town. 

10. Chicago, Illinois.  Bryan and I visited Chicago this past weekend for a mini-vacation.

11. Grand Bend, Canada.  The Pinery is a really nice campground.  A little raccoon came in for a visit one afternoon.

12. Toronto, Canada.  Back in my Brand New days Bryan and I took a weekend trip to Toronto to see a concert.  We had fun and hope to go back soon and stop at Niagara Falls on the way!

13. Grand Haven, Michigan.  We went to Grand Haven while visiting his parents last summer and saw a wonderful sun set! J

Using webwalking.com, I calculated it (rounding down) that we walked a total of 21.8 miles in Chicago.  Not bad!!

Day 1 - 9.4

Day 2 - 9.1

Day 3 - 3.3

I swear that I work with a bunch of thieves - refrigerator thieves, that is.

Back in the winter I had a few (labeled) Lean Cuisine meals stolen. 

Recently I had put a small tub of Philadelphia Cream Cheese in the fridge, in a drawer, clearly labeled with my name.  I brought in a wheat bagel for lunch today, so I toast it and pull my schmear out of the fridge.  Lo and behold - It's almost empty!  There's barely enough cream cheese for a bagel!!  I had only used it one other time - someone is taking my cream cheese.  If they had asked, maybe it wouldn't bother me so much.  It just seems so rude, especially since my name is on it.

Oh the horror.

I am looking forward to dinner tonight!  My sister Katie stayed at our house over the weekend to puppy sit.  She loves to cook and bake and made a lasagna and tiramisu (from scratch) that looked delicious in our fridge this morning.  After a long, busy, tiring (fun) weekend, it's going to be so nice to go home to a home-cooked meal!