Oh, am I supposed to be updating this thing??

Good morning blog readers! In case anyone was wondering, I am still alive and well. We had two major blizzards recently and I was off of work for over a week. Apparently, despite the fact that I said I was going to try not to blog at work, I do NOT blog unless I AM at work. SO here I am, back at work for my first full week in what seems like forever, blogging away.

Not too much to report. Valentines Day was last weekend and it was pretty awesome. We went out to dinner at Melting Pot, and then saw the movie Valentines Day. Bryan hated it lol. I loved it, AND Jackie and Evan were there! Jackie loved it too!

This was on Saturday, and Valentines Day was actually on a Sunday. For the actual day we went for a ride up York Road. We started in Cockeysville, and drove just past York, PA. It was a beautiful ride! Then Bryan made me dinner. Parmesan crusted tilapia, buttered noodles, and peas. So good!

I finally went back to work last Tuesday and had so much work to catch up on I didn't really have time to blog. I didn't really even think about it!

I'm back now though!

Bryans mom started Chemo on Friday, so we spent the weekend at her house and it was pretty awesome. It kind of reminded me of high school when you could have friends sleep over on the weekends. Linus even spent the weekend with us! He absolutely loved it.

We went to the Cafe Hon for dinner on Friday night and I got a really yummy crab cake. We got some cake to go and ate it for dessert when we got back to the house. Saturday we went to the Hagerstown outlets! It's such a pretty drive to Hagerstown! I think I'm destined to live in Washington County! Well, maybe Frederick. It's hard to say. Anywhere pretty with mountains! Anyway, I got two shirts from Ann Taylor outlet and I can not wait til it's summer so I can wear them!

After we got home from outlet shopping we ordered pizza and played games. We played a game called catch phrase, and it was one of the best games I've ever played. We also played Karaoke Revolution on the wii. I actually enjoyed that too once I finally sang. I was perfectly happy sitting out, but apparently nobody else was happy with that lol. After MUCH persuasion I finally sang some Taylor Swift and Katy Perry. It was fun. I admit it.

Yesterday was a day of relaxing. We ran a couple of errands and it was SO nice to be back to the apt. I layed around with Linus for most of the day.

Now, I'm here. Back at work. Sorry this entry was so boring, BUT this blog is about to take an interesting turn. Yes, I have a mission... You'll find out later.

Whoa There, Maryland. Calm The Eff Down!

Good afternoon blog readers! This past weekend the predicted blizzard arrived in full force. This was the second blizzard this winter, and we've also had various minor snow storms throughout the past couple of months. For some places (like Vermont) this is just a normal winter, but for Maryland this is unheard of! We have had our share of blizzards, but the last one was seven years ago, and the 6 winters since then have been mild. The blizzard this weekend brought about 26 inches of snow to Cockeysville, and 30+ inches in other parts of Maryland. Tomorrow/Wednesday we are supposed to get another foot of snow! It's crazy! I'm not necessarily complaining, but I have been in the house since Thursday night and it's starting to get old. However we did go outside to play in the snow on Saturday, and cleaned out cars off yesterday, so I haven't really been "stuck inside," just stuck in our neighborhood.

However, cabin fever is not the point of this post. The point is, where has this weather been hiding??? In my opinion, this is how winter should be every year! I love snow and I couldn't be happier about how this winter has turned out. Earlier this year I said I wanted to live in Vermont because you would never have to wonder if you were going to have a snowy winter. I think the weather gods heard me loud and clear and decided to show me that winter in Maryland could be just as snowy as winter in Vermont. Actually, I think it's snowed more in Maryland than in Vermont this year!

I am afraid that after the snowstorm tomorrow it might never snow in Maryland again haha. Oh well, I guess I should enjoy it while it lasts! Hooray snow!

Bring It On, Mother Nature. BRING IT ON!

Good afternoon blog readers! Well, another blizzard is upon us! There is 100% chance of heavy snow and blizzard conditions starting tomorrow morning and ending on Saturday evening. Frankly, I'm excited. We've already had a blizzard and a couple of small snow storms this year, and I'm not sick of it yet. I've been waiting and waiting for a winter like this, and now that it's here I'm certainly not going to complain! Some people (who shall remain nameless... hint - I live with him and he's not a cat), THOUGHT they wanted a snowy winter, but have started to complain. No. Not OK. I do understand the disappointment though, because our Superbowl party is this weekend and if it is as bad as they say it's going to be, we will probably have to cancel the party. Not the end of the world, but slightly disappointing. At least we already have the food, so if all else fails we can have our own little feast this weekend!

My point is, the snow is coming and I say BRING IT ON!

Retraction - I'm Angry

I just looked at all of the nominations, and somehow UP is nominated for best picture AND best animated picture. How is this fair? It's not. It can't have both! It just can't! Now poor Coraline doesn't stand a chance :(

And The Nominees Are...

Good morning blog readers! Today is an extra special day! Not only is it Groundhog Day, AND the premiere of the final season of Lost (yay!), BUT it's also the day that the Academy announced all of the Oscar nominations! I haven't looked at all of the nominees yet, because they were being announced as I was looking for them. However, I did manage to find all ten nominees for Best Picture. Yes, that's right, TEN nominees! They decided after last year that they needed to expand the Best Picture category from five nominees, to ten, in order to give more movies a chance. I will admit that there have been plenty of movies that I thought for sure would be nominated and then were completely snubbed. The category expansion made it possible for those movies to have a shot.

As exciting as it is having ten movies nominated this year, it's a little aggravating for those of us (like myself) who make an effort to see each of the movies nominated for best picture. BUT I can do it! I know I can! I've already seen five of the ten, and I think I'll be able to find the other five.

SO, without further ado, here are the 2010 Oscar Nominees for Best Picture.

(here is a list of ALL nominees http://oscar.go.com/nominations/nominees#category_animated-feature-film)

Avatar - I have NOT seen this yet. I said I would see it when it was nominated, so now I have to. It will be in theaters forever, so this movie should be the easiest one to scratch off the list.

The Blind Side - Saw it, loved it, cried my eyes out at the end. I do NOT think this would have made the cut if there were only 5 nominees this year, but I'm glad it did.

District 9 - Saw it, loved it, never even thought for a second that I would see it at the Oscars! This was the only movie on the list that I am truly excited about. It wont win, but I'm glad to see it getting the recognition it deserved. My only question, can aliens be nominated for best actor?

An Education - I have NOT seen this. I've never heard of it. This might be hard to find in theaters at this point. Grrr.

The Hurt Locker - I have NOT seen this, but I've heard nothing but great things. Hopefully it's still around! If not, we will find a way to see it!

Inglorious Basterds - I have NOT seen this, but Bryan owns it so I think we'll be ok haha

Precious - Saw it, loved it, knew the minute I left the theater that I'd see this one at the Oscars. Deserves any and all awards that it is nominated for, and would not be surprised if it takes the award for Best Picture.

A Serious Man - I have NOT seen this, and know nothing about it except that it was a huge nominee at the Golden Globes. Can't wait to see it!

Up - Saw it. Too emotional to watch again, but Bryan needs to see it so I'm sure I'll have to watch it with him. I'm glad it was nominated for best picture, so that Coraline can get the Best Animated Picture award that it deserves. I still don't agree with animated films being nominated outside of the animated films category, but again, it gives Coraline a shot so I'm good with it.

Up In The Air - Saw it, LOVED it, and disagree with every negative thing that I've heard about it. I thought it was a great movie, much better than I expected, and it deserves the nomination.

So there you have it!

And the Grammy Goes To...

Good afternoon blog readers! Well, last night was the Grammy Awards. I can honestly say that I have not watched the Grammys in at least eight years... I want to say it was 2001, but it might have been 2002. Either way, it's been a while. Honestly, I didn't really listen to popular music during that time, so I had no reason to watch the Grammy's. This year however, I went into pop music overload, becoming especially obsessed with Taylor Swift. Ah, Taylor Swift. Nothing beats driving in the summer with the windows down, listening and singing along to Taylor. I'm not going to sit here and pretend that she's the most talented musician in the world, because she's really not. But her music is catchy as hell and it's fun to sing along with. Taylor herself is just as easy to love as her music. From what we see and hear about her, she's a normal 20 year old girl who just happened to take over the world of music this year with her 2nd album entitled fearless. There is nothing controversial about her, she makes absolutely no attempt to be "edgy" or "shocking," and she really comes off as a sweet girl. Well... until she gets dumped by a guy!

She cleaned up at the CMA's and the AMA's, so it was no surprise when she received eight Grammy nominations this year. Her album was, after all, the #1 selling album of the year, AND if I have my facts straight, the #1 selling country album of all time.

Naturally once I heard about her 8 nominations, I figured it was time to tune into the Grammy's once again.

Of course she won the award for Best Country Album... That was a given. The biggest surprise came at the end of the show. She won Album of the Year! She beat out Lady GaGa, Black Eyed Peas, AND Beyonce. Everyone (including myself I'm sad to say) thought that Beyonce had this one in the bag, but apparently not! In fact, when they were announcing the nominees during the show, people in the audience were already screaming Beyonce's name! Well, sorry Beyonce, but you did NOT win. When they said Taylor's name I screamed so loud that I scared myself! YAY!

Of course now that she won all the haters are coming out in full force saying that she's talentless, and did not deserve to win. As surprised as I was that she won, I never once said that she didn't deserve it. Say what you want about her musical abilities, the award was for ALBUM of the year, not female artist of the year (which she did not win), and her album was HUGE! So there you go. Yay Taylor! Boo haters!