Oh How Time Flies...

I was searching some photos recently and came across some very funny photos. Since it is springtime and love is in the air - I couldn't resist sharing a1995 prom photo. Oh the memories. Oh the effort we put in to finding the perfect attire.

I wore a dress that I gotten at the evening gown store called Charlie's in Springfield. All of the girls wanted a dress from Charlie's. I knew that I had to have one too. I had never been deprived of dresses (through my pageant days), but I also wanted "THE" dress from Charlie's - black sequined halter with gold trim.

Blaine donned the ever-so-fabulous Mickey Mouse tux. (I am still laughing over that one.) It was awesome back then. It looked great on him, really it did. Friends of Blaine - can you EVER imagine him in a Mickey Mouse tux? Now seriously.

Well folks, here is the photo to prove it all... Laugh all you want, choke on your donut, and spew your morning coffee all over your computer screen...this was our dance at the prom forever printed in our Senior Yearbook - my stunned look and Blaine's Mickey Mouse tux.

Wow - how times flies.....

Grammar Police!

Some people are grammar police....and I am one too - sometimes. I realize working in communications, I should always have perfect grammar - blah, blah, blah. Someone (aka DH) pointed out to me today that I had misspellings on my blog. Darn.

So here are my ground rules: for this blog - whatever goes - this is for fun, isn't it? I will continue to have misspellings, misuse words and use slang. So if you see something that doesn't look just right or is just plain wrong, you can either let me know or live with it. I am willing to live with these grammar imperfections in my life...

Off the soapbox and moving on...

You Ain't Cool Unless You Have a Loose Screw!

UPDATE: Dan the Man will forever be tagged as having a screw loose!

Yep. You heard it here first folks - the screw is here to stay. After much debate in the Moore Family and another visit to the doctor (the family doctor this time - not some money hungry, surgery-eager vulture), Dan the Man has decided that the best route to take at this time is to keep his loose screw.

The family doctor brought up some very good points: 1) more surgery to go on a screw-hunting expedition could cause more damage than what it is worth and 2) if Doc himself had a screw inside of him, he would elect to leave it.

So there you have it folks....Dan the Man truly has a loose screw. And as someone once said, "this whole thing sounds 'screwy' to me!" (Kudos Melissa!)

** Note to Dad: I promise to stop posting lovely photos of you now. Well, until the latest from Gulf Shores 2008 surface.

Proverbs 24:3

All of our time lately has been dedicated to working on the house that we have been dreaming about. Lots of hard work - lots of decisions - lots of ideas going through our heads.

I came across this scripture while looking for house ideas (on a builder's site). I realized that we can put all of our effort into building the walls, finding the perfect light fixture and picking out fabulous wood floors. But what really matters is the Wisdom that is going to fill this house - the true riches of knowledge, wisdom and understanding are the precious and pleasant riches - not my fancy lamps, sofa tables and flat screens.

Just my thoughts for today...

Someone Once Said...

"A tree can make the front yard beautiful." Okay fine - I said that. And I meant it. Now let me tell you a little story about a tree that could - and then got knocked down.

On this fun (and not-so-fun) journey of building a champagne taste dream home on a state worker's beer budget, I knew there would be ups and downs. But I never knew that one "down" was going to happen.

Blaine & I chose a little piece of property in a neighborhood that we adored. A lot of deciding factors went into choosing this particular lot - but when it came down to it, we finally made a choice on our lot...the one with the tree in the front...the one where we could perfectly position our garage windows so the tree would be a focal point between them...the one where we might just have to be a few feet to one side closer to the neighbor to be able to have this tree "just right." So that is what we did - we began building our house around a beautiful tree (some called it a Birch, some called it a Cottonwood - it looked like an Aspen to me.) All I knew was I loved this tree.

And then the phone call came. Blaine said, "are you sitting down?" I knew something was wrong because he had tried to call me twice and had sent 3 emails to "discuss something about house." I said, "sure I am sitting...what's wrong?" I had gone through half a dozen scenarios in my head: the house burned down, the concrete cracked in half, the back fill cost $3 million dollars...I had thought of everything. But in my thought process I said "don't freak out. Whatever it is...it can be rebuilt." I had no idea... I was wrong....

Blaine: "I hate to tell you this...." Misti: "What...for crying out loud?"
Blaine: "They cut down our tree." Misti: "WHAT? @(*&(&%#(&#!!!!!"
Blaine: "The excavating guy cut down our tree!"
<Insert crazy lady voice here - you know the voice of the lady on The Christmas Story where Ralphie's mom calls another mom to tell her that Ralphie learned the curse word "fudge" from her son>
Misti: "@@#@%#% blah, blah, blah--- OOOOHHH fudge!"

I was furious. And the whole world knew it. That was my tree - the one I adored and loved. The one that was going to make my front yard beautiful. She was gone.....forever. Now she lays deader than a doornail in my backyard ready to be cremated.

Here she is: the lone little tree in my front yard. She left my front yard at a whopping 15-20 years old standing 50 feet tall. (I think that she took it better than we did.) She will replaced (and soon) but never forgotten. RIP little beautiful tree......

Now speaking of Deader than a Doornail - where is my excavating guy?

I Finally Did It....

I changed $500 (okay - not THAT much) to cut bangs (Cha-Ching!) I have been talking about it for a while - at least to myself. I was admiring Reese Witherspoon, Tyra Banks and now Heidi Klum. They are all hot women - and I wanted to look like them too. Okay fine, I am just a little bigger than them (okay a lot bigger), but I thought bangs would compliment my round face nicely.
So I called Brad (my hairdresser) and he chopped away.

I left my office yesterday looking somewhat like this:

And I returned to work looking somewhat like this:

I cannot decide if I love it or hate it. I am leaning towards liking it. I know my momma will love it - she has been trying to talk me into it for quite some time.

No one screamed in terror when I returned to work - so I guess it's okay. I wonder what the hubby will say...That will teach him to not leave me home alone too much.

I guess if I decide not to like it....it will grow out soon enough.

It is all about style, baby!

The Difference Between Men & Women

Now most of you have seen this before, but I cannot help but laugh at this everytime I see it. It is SO true. My cousin, Alicia, sent this to me a couple of weeks ago and I came across it again this morning.

Perfect timing - I am having one of those "I feel like a complete fat blob" mornings! I even stopped at the grocery store on my way to work this morning to stock up on 1 Liter bottles of Fiji water. (And they will probably sit on my desk at work for weeks waiting for me to actually drink them. Coffee is way more important to me, really.)

Why can men strut around acting as if they are the hottest creatures on the planet, while all of us women (who are far more beautiful than these manly, hairy creatures) criticize ourselves to no end? If someone figures out how to save women from body image self-destruction, let me know.

Until then, where are the donuts?

Daytime Television - UGH

For all of you that work during our weekdays, you will agree that you sometimes long for the days of staying at home and watching daytime television. Unfortunately for me, I have been forced to stay home the past two days. And what have I done? Plopped my butt on the recliner and watched hour after hour of daytime TV. (I recently hurt my back - working out at the gym...pathetic I know - and haven't been able to do anything but sit here.)

I have watched lots of TV over the past couple of days. I have seen extreme anorexia and multiple personalities on Dr. Phil, politics on the TODAY Show, hot topics on The View and couples fighting obesity on Montel. Throw in a couple of episodes of Judge Judy and UGH...get me out of this recliner!!

Geez...daytime television is depressing. Although these programs make my boring little life look great, watching some of these disturbed individuals is just sad. I guess I could have watched Erica Cane on All My Children but that would have whisked me back to the days when Julie and Ronnie had to babysit me while Mom & Dad worked...and no one wants to go back to those days!

Here's to hoping that I get to return to work tomorrow!!

I still love the lake in the winter!

I don't think that there is a time of year that I don't love the lake.

Blaine and I joined up with friends on Saturday night for some long-awaited smoked chicken wings at Shorty Pants (our favorite hangout) and then headed over to Jason & Cari's new hacienda for some poker playing. It was a great time by all (except for my constant sniffles and chronic cough I have developed - the cat lurking in the basement didn't help either.)

As we crossed over Grand Glaize bridge, I couldn't help but long for hot days in the summer cruising through the waves, beautiful sunset ahead headed to Shorty Pants. Instead, the green Ford Truck was giving me my ride. Not quite the same....

I am counting the days until the first Harbor Hop!!

A Penny for My Thoughts...

Blaine and I had the opportunity to visit the Denver Mint on our recent trip to Colorado. We found this exciting (since we are complete nerds). The artifacts just past the Security gates were amazing. There was so much history including money used in biblical times, fools gold from the Gold Rush and ancient gems which were beautiful.

Did you know that this Mint produces 50 million coins a day? Yes, I said a day. The coin produced the most is the penny. I am not so sure why we still have pennies since the good ole days of penny candy are far from gone...according to my Mom & Dad who probably tromped 10 miles in the 12 inch snow each day (one way) to get to school.

My favorite part of this Mint tour was learning about the newest quarter to hit vending machines soon.

"O-K-L-A-H-O-M-A...where the wind goes sweeping down the plains!!"

As the tour guide described the quarter, I couldn't help but recite this musical in my head. (I think that I learned it in 1st or 2nd grade probably during the Peanut Festival in Marlow.) I was amazed to find out that "Okla" means "red" and "Homa" means "people." Blaine's ears even perked up since he claims to be more Indian than me...which he is not. (He refers to himself as Chief Dirtybutt from the Nowipey Tribe - and would absolutely kill me if he knew I shared that, so let's move on.)

I was able to nab a couple of Oklahoma quarters before they hit the streets. Okay fine, I didn't steal them like they would have on National Treasure...I simply purchased them quarter for quarter. The best investment I think that I have made lately!!

If you haven't been to a Mint, it is worth the time. And that folks is my two cents...

Update on Dan the Man

Bad news - the screw is not passing. (And if you do not know what I am talking about...see the picture below...the one where the guy is holding the binoculars...and read that story.) We will know in the coming days of how to repair his loose screw.

Dont' worry, Dad. Britney Spears also has a loose screw!

I think that maybe a quick run to Ameristar Casino just might loosen up the screw and it would be gone forever. Whatcha thinkin', Dan the Man?

My Landlord Responded...

A quick update - my landlord has now spoken to the tenants above me. Now, they either understood completely or now have a hit out on me. Great!! I will keep you updated.

Dear Mother Nature,

For weeks now, we have been sitting and waiting for the concrete floors to be poured for me & Blaine's new hacienda.

Bottom line: Missouri weather sucks!! The old saying, "if you don't like the weather today then stick around until tomorrow, it will change" sucks too (especially when you are trying to pour concrete.)

Dear Mother Nature: I need clear skies and temperatures above 24 degrees for consecutive days please. I am not asking for the moon here, lady. Sincerely, your pal, Misti

I finally complained...

Let me tell you...it is nice to complain sometimes. And I finally did it - I sent a note to my landlord to express my disgust with the lack of insulation in the floors above and my frustration with the neighbors.

Direct quote: "I understand that choosing a lower level unit was our decision, but frankly, I have never lived in an apartment where you hear the neighbors as much as we do. I can take the occasional loud TV, walking noises, sounds from the washer and dryer and other unintentional disturbances. But the noises coming from above are becoming almost unbearable....Last night was a capper -- they began singing Karaoke at sometime around 3:30 in the afternoon, took a break from that (I am assuming to watch the Super Bowl) and continued the Karaoke until after 11:00 p.m. There are only so many times a person can listen to “Eye of the Tiger” without getting very frustrated. Add in a couple of arguments upstairs and a couple of heated phone conversations and it all becomes burdensome."

Not sure if Mr. Landlord cares or not...Bring on the new house - and quickly before I rip my hair out!!

Did you know...

This is the current weather in Gulf Shores, Alabama! Who is ready to move?

Gulf Shores, AL - Temp: 55°FClear

Jefferson City, MO - Temp: 34 °FClear (Feels like 24°F...What is this feels like crap?? Why can't it just be 34 °FClear

Brrrrr.....

If you have been outside in the past 24 hours, you know it is cold. Colder than heck to be exact. My car has trouble functioning in this weather, my legs are frostbitten because I was stupid enough to wear a skirt yesterday (cuteness is a priority, ya know) and my poor dog is walking around on her toenails so her paws don't touch the ground. Brrr....

So why does anyone in their right mind want to visit somewhere like Colorado in the winter? I don't know how to answer this question because me & the hubby are driving there next week. Stupid, I know. But I need a chance to redeem my poor snowboarding skills that occurred two years ago. Bottom line: I suck at snowboarding....really, I suck at all sports. Julie can attest to how graceful I am (not) in just about any situation. BUT I am going to give it another whirl....and when I say whirl, I mean whirl. I whirl all around, arms flailing about out of control. Kids scream in terror when they see me heading their way (& they should!! I would scream too.) Ski Patrol stalks me for fear of my uncontrollable whirling about stearing me into a poor unsuspecting sole. Having hot Ski Patrol is not so bad, I guess....except I don't know if they are really hot with all of the winter garb they are wrapped in. But a girl can dream can't she?

So I am dreaming of another trip to the snowy Rocky Mountains where the wind blows in my hair as I snowboard down the hill with hot Ski Patrol closely behind....enjoying hot cocoa at the ski lodge. But in all reality, the truth is I will be visiting the mountains with hopes of staying upright long enough to make it down the hill before dark, picking frozen ice and snow out of my hair and clothing since I have spend most of my time crashed on the ground, having a fresh cup of water and lots of pain killers and praying that my clumsiness does not land me in the emergency room. Wish me luck!!

**Side note for Misti's momma - Don't worry, Mom. Although it sounds bad, I still stear clear of avalanches and other opportunities to get lost in the mountains. Tailing the Ski Patrol watching my every move is also my hubby. He gets a real kick out of watching me crash every 3 feet knowing that I cannot gain the speed and momentum to plummet off the side of the mountain since I am on the ground most of the time.

A Few Loose Screws

Have you ever said, "Man, that person has a screw loose?" I know that I have on many occasions. But today, we found out that my dad, Dan the Man, has a loose screw...literally. Now before you go thinking that he is now checked into the psych ward, let me explain.

You see, a couple of weeks ago, Dad had back surgery. He is recovering nicely, but Dr. Strain (funny name, huh?) has discovered a screw in his stomach. WHAT? How did that get there? Dr. Strain blames the hospital...I am sure hospital blames the doctor. Either way, Dad is fine and will be passing along the screw sooner than later. Happy Recovery, Dad!!!

**On a side note, Katie, my beautiful Yorkshire Terrier, was recently x-rayed. The Vet, who we call Doc, found a staple in her skin. Weird. She hasn't ever had surgery...so who knows why she has her stomach stapled. Gastric bypass, I guess.