One Year Older

It has happened again...

One more year has managed to pass me by & I celebrated yet another birthday! It started with a text message from my husband at 4:49 am as he was on his way to work & throughout the day the messages didn't let up. Friends & family sent their b-day wishes by text, email, voicemail & on Facebook & it made me feel truly blessed to have so many wonderful people in my life that care about HT :)

From my hubby, I got the most beautiful card which brought tears to my eyes - he is such a sweetie & is SO good to me. I am so lucky :) I also got this awesome silicone watch with "bling" that I have been wanting:

I was surprised at work with a devine Godiva Chocolate Cake covered in crushed Heath Bar candy made by my dear friend Stetson. There are no words to describe how dee-lish this cake was:

Once I arrived home, there was a mailbox FULL of cards from friends:

And a couple of surprise gifts left on the front steps by my dear friend Keri. These super cute kitchen towels for fall & a new coffee mug to add to my collection:

And from HK, this cute kitchen apron w/bling & "B-day Girl" martini glass:

Since Shane would be leaving for work shortly after I got home, I ended up getting us Chinese take-out for dinner rather than going out & we enjoyed a nice, quiet meal together. Then it was time for B-day cake! I made me a fruity B-day beverage in my new B-day martini glass, sliced me a piece of cake & took everything out to the patio to enjoy. What a perfect ending to a fabulous day!

Hapy Birthday to me :)

Fun in the Sun

Today I met up with my girlfriends HK & Deb for a pre-birthday celebration. We had a quick lunch at Chick-Fil-A & then made our way to Oceans of Fun for a day of fun in the sun. In the 11 years that I have lived in the KC area, I have never been to OOF so I was really looking forward to spending the day at the waterpark & taking in all the rides.

When we first got there, we made our way to the adult pool with the swim up bar & got 3 lawn chairs where we layed down our towels & ordered an ice cold beverage. Then we made our way to the first ride: the Aruba Tuba which was two twisting inner tube slides that vertically drop 43 feet into a huge pool.

Next ride was the Typhoon. This ride looked pretty easy but about halfway down after the middle hump it got scary. I started to pick up speed, then became airborne & then I couldn't see because of all the water spraying up at me & I started to panic because I couldn't see where I was. Then it dumped me into a deep pool with water rushing all around & I could finally see where I was. Let's just say we didn't do this ride again.


The Typhoon ride did us in & we spent the next couple of hours poolside chatting away & enjoying the people-watching.

The next ride was the Hurricane Falls. This ride is a 72-foot tall super slide that you go down in a huge circular raft. You twist down a 680-foot-long flume & shoot up the steep sides cresting close to a 90-degree angle. I thought for sure we were going to flip several times but we made it all the way to the bottom safely. This was a fun ride & would definitely do it again.

The last "thrill" of the day was the Monsoon. This is a ride with a large 20-passenger boat that travels up a lift and splashes down to produce a wall of water. We sat in the very front row & soon realized that maybe this wasn't the best place to be - we ended up soaked - which was so much fun!

After about 5 hours of rides & fun, we decided to call it a day. What a fun day it turned out to be & I was so happy to have shared it with my girlfriends HK & Deb. HT & Deb :)

A Chance

Miss Ava - 2 days old

And this is why I am so compassionate about "marching for babies" every year with the March of Dimes. Helping give little ones like Miss Ava a chance at life!

Top 2

Top 2 Tips of any kind

Beauty Tip #1 - Any of you who wear lipstick has had this happen to them at one time or another. You are talking to a friend & they say "you have lipstick/lip gloss on your teeth". It is embarrassing & you wonder how long you've been walking around, smiling at people like that! Well, to prevent this from happening again, after application, stick your index finger into your mouth (after washing your hands of course), close your lips around your finger, and pull it out. Any excess lip gloss/lipstick that would have ended up on your teeth is now on your finger. Works every time!

Beauty Tip #2 - If you find yourself suffering from an oily face (especially in this heat we have had lately), head to your nearest ladies room and try blotting your face with one of those ordinary, disposable, paper toilet seat covers. But make sure to grab one from the very back of the stack for sanitary purposes.

To use, tear off a small section of paper, apply firm, but gentle pressure, press and hold to your face until excess oil is absorbed. It’s an easy & inexpensive way to banish any shine — any time.

Miss Ava

She just couldn't wait any longer & entered into this world already a drama queen :)

Miss Ava Sophia Dombalis was born at 32 weeks via C-section to my best friend Stacey around 5:30am Sunday morning. She weighed in at 2.95 pounds - 15.5 inches long. Both Stacey & Ava are doing well considering the pre-eclampsia scare! Stacey will get to go home from the hospital Wed while Miss Ava will have to stay in the NICU for a few weeks.

Congrats to Stacey & Tommy on their newest addition!

Step-Up

Today I met my girlfriend HK for a "girls-afternoon" out. We met at the movie theatre to see Step Up 3D. We saw the first two Step Up's together so it only seems right that we see the 3rd one together. We took our seats, put on our 3D glasses & had to get a quick pic before the movie started:

We were both disappointed in the story-line (cheesy, predictable, bad acting) but LOVED seeing some familiar dancers from So You Think You Can Dance on TV as well as all the really cool 3D effects & dance-offs.

Always love an afternoon with my girl HK :) Especially since we don't get to see each other all that often!

Cicada Killer

Last night I went to let the dogs out to potty & something HUGE flew into the house. At first I wasn't sure what it was....then I see this on the wall:

It was a f'n Cicada...in the house...on the wall! I immediately freak out. If you have never been up close & personal with one of these things they are creepy & UGLY & scary. Shane was in bed so I had to battle this monster on my own. I grabbed a towel & gave it a few swats & the thing goes flying everywhere in the family room. I'm not sure why I thought a towel would take this thing down?!

After a few more swats I lose him. Had NO idea where he went. I started to panic. There was NO WAY I was going to bed with that thing in my house so I went & got the flashlight & looked ALL around the end table for him because that is where I last spotted him. 10 min go by & I finally found him wedged behind the speaker. I go & get a flip-flop to try & take him down & he starts making that noise that they make outside. O.M.G. it was SO flippin' loud! Truly amazing that something that small can make such a loud noise! I'm surprised it didn't wake up Shane. Freaked the dogs out though...

Well, one last swat & a smack with my shoe & he fell to the ground but he wasn't done yet. He was flopping all over the place. I opened the door & took my flip-flop & flicked him back outside where he belonged & the drama was over. My heart was racing & I had broke a sweat! That damn cicada got the best of me - I think I am going to be traumatized for life.

Week in Review

Since I have fallen behind on my "blogging", I thought I would just do a weekly review of this weeks happenings. Not been a very exciting week, but I do have a few things to share:

- Shane started the night shift with UPS on Monday night. Every 6 months they re-bid there positions & since he doesn't have enough seniority yet, he got bumped off the day shift. His hours are now 10pm-6:30am Mon-Fri so he leaves for work around 9pm and we have been passing each other on the road every morning as he is coming home & I am heading to work. He has now completed his first week & he says it isn't too bad....yet! At least it is MUCH cooler at night than during the day which makes for a tolerable evening working on the dock & driving.

- My BFF Stacey is 31 weeks pregnant & was admitted to the hospital with pre-eclampsia on Monday. She has spent the last 3 weeks at home on bedrest already but her blood pressure ended up sky high & she was testing postive for protein in her urine - not a good combo. She had this same condition 3 years ago with her son Marshall & he was born at 29 weeks. As of today she is still in the hospital stable & so is Miss Ava so we are all crossing our fingers that Ava stays snuggled inside for as long as Stacey can tolerate it.

- Friday night we spent a fun-filled evening at our neighbors' Dave & Gaels' house for cocktails, appetizers & some "adult fun"! Gael hosted a couples "Passion Party" which was an adult party that inspired ideas of how to "spice" up your love life :) It was hilarious watching the guys reactions to some of the items shown & a good time was definitely had by all!

That's all I got for this week. See - I told you not much has been going on. Just living the life...

Top 2

Top 2: Simple Pleasures in life

1) Sitting outside and enjoying nature. I LOVE to sit on our back patio, read my book, listen & watch the birds on the bird-feeder, hear the cicadas, owls & all the other sounds nature brings. I also LOVE to stand in the garage and watch it thunderstorm. It always reminds me of when I was growing up on the farm. My dad & I would stand outside on the patio & watch the storms come in looking for tornados while my mother was yelling for us to get down in the basement :) Good times...

2) HT Time - LOVE me some ME time. Call me a loner or maybe I am just REALLY comfortable with myself but I love to go shopping alone, go to a movie alone, get pedi's alone, lay by the pool & read a good book, catch up on DVR shows in my PJ's when Shane is working - just be by myself for a few hours. Once a month I take a day off of work for just me. I call it a "Heather Day" & do all the things mentioned above...all by myself. It keeps my sanity & is a nice & usually much-needed break from work & all socializing appointments :)

300th Post

Wow - hard to believe that this is my 300th post!? Who knew that I would have so much to blog about in my 30-something years of existance?! I find it even more shocking that I have kept this up for over 2 years now. June 11, 2008 was my very first blog post & I thank all of you who have followed & stuck by as an avid reader :)

Hopefully I can continue to keep you all entertained with "A Day in the Life of HT" for quite awhile longer!

Happy reading...

DD session #2

So we have eaten & thoroughly enjoyed the 1st months set of meals that I prepared from Dream Dinners & they were all very good. It has been such a nice treat to come home, have dinner thawed, & ready to eat in 15 min! I usually did a DD meal 2-3 times a week & it worked out well!

Since I enjoyed attending last months Dream Dinners session I went ahead & booked another one! I ended up meeting my friend Lisa there after work this evening to put our meals together & am excited about this months dishes. Again I did the 3-serving meals for a total of 12 meals.

Here are a few dishes that I prepared:

California Chicken with Fettuccine

Chicken w/honey, garlic & orange glaze with Jasmine Rice

Greek Island Shrimp with Fettuccine

Kentucky Pork Chops

Also while I was there, I received a "pay it forward" coupon which is worth $50 off to any friend who would like to attend a Dream Dinners session with me. I booked the next one on Aug 21st @ 10:30am for anyone who is interested...

Top 2

Top 2 Favorite - Colognes/Perfumes/Scents

1) Clinique Happy - I've been wearing this for about 12 years now & I just LOVE the "hint of citrus & flowery" scent! When I wear it, it makes me feel "truly" happy. It always reminds me of one of my best friends Stacey whom I don't see near enough of :( She introduced me to the perfume way back when we lived in SC & I have been wearing it ever since! The hubby wears Clinique Happy for Men & it smells dee-vine on him :)

2) Crabtree & Evelyn's La Source - this is another favorite "scent" that my dear friend Stacey introduced me to. I swear, she is one of my bestest-smelling girlfriends :) This lotion is a light, crisp, clean scent reminiscent of fresh sea air. I have their body lotion, hand therapy cream & body wash & LOVE it! It is a bit pricey so I don't use it everyday but definitely worth the $$!