The Thanksgiving Snow

So I am sitting here tonight sipping my Diet Coke, and letting my huge dinner digest, what a great dinner it was. And I wanted to take a minute for the things that I am thankful for. Besides the obvious, Matt, I am thankful for so many other things in my life.

I have a loving family, a mother who still looks out for me and worries if I'm doing the right thing. She's my best friend. A father who still sees me as his little girl, wants the best for me and always cheers me up. A big brother who would stop the world for me if he had to, and a little brother who's always there to make me laugh.

I have Matt's family, they are such wonderful people. I couldn't ask for a better family to be brought into. It may be just a last name that makes me a part of their family, but to me the way I feel when I am around them. I feel so welcome and loved. I never thought another family could make me feel that way. It's so great to share that with them.

I have 3 beautiful healthy dogs that are the world to me. Indy, Cloey and Vinny. Indy or Bug as I call him, is my protector, and lover, he's always looking out for us and making sure we are ok. Cloey is my little play mate, she's always up for a game of catch or a good walk. And then there's Vinny, my little cuddler. I can't sleep with out him next to me. He's always there to watch a movie and keep me warm. Together they make our house a home, everyday I come home and they are so excited to see me. It's like I had been gone an eternity. Their tails wag when they are happy they cry when they're upset. If only humans were this easy to read. I love my dogs, I am so thankful for everyday I get to be with them.

I have a roof over my head. I have a beautiful home that Matt and I have created together. We have torn down walls, painted walls, replaced, extended, redone everything in this house and now it's "ours". We may share it with a few ghosts, but they never give us any greif about paint colors. My house is here everyday waiting for me when I get home. Warm and cozy, just the way we made it.

I have a job. Some people these days can't say they have a job. It may not be a fancy job. I work at a trash company for god sakes! But you know what, I have a wonderful boss, awesome coworkers, and the pay ain't that bad either!

I have a ring on my finger from the love of my life. It's a diamond we picked out together. A diamond that means he will forever be mine. He will stand by me through the good and bad. He will be there for our children, he will be there for me. He supports me in everything I do or want to do. If I get a crazy idea, he's already on board waiting for me. He never laughs at my ideas for the future. He shares the same views on many things that I do. There are days when we are laughing so hard, and I thank god I found someone that can make me laugh the way he does. When I get off work, and I am driving home I wish my car could fly cause I can't wait to walk in the door and see him. I call him everyday just to talk, and we talk for like 15mins, you'd think we hadn't talked in days. There is always something to be said between us. When I have some good news, I can't wait two seconds to tell him. I love buying him little surprises, just so I can see him smile. He makes all my dreams come true. He's never going to disapoint me with anything he does. He's caring and compassionet, he's sensative and loving. He's strong and handsome. He takes time on me and takes care of me. I love Matt so much.

Today was insipired by the Thanksgiving snow. It's snowing tonight, the first time this season it has actually collected on the ground. It sure set the mood for the holiday. I ran outside with my camera to take a picture of the snow and all I could think about was how thankful I was for Matt. So I wrote our intials in the snow. I showed Matt my art and he smiled. I look forward to so many nights like tonight. Days filled with laughter and memories, and Matt by my side. The years will bring us different things, kids, new home, new stories and new memories, but one thing will never change. I will always be thankful I stumbled across Matt. He's changed my life forever and I will forever be thankful for that.

Things You May Not Know About Me...

* I thought of more things then I thought I could. I hope you learn something new about me, or find that we have something in common.

- I love New Years Eve.
- I have to take a shower everyday.
- I have a horrible sweet tooth.
- I wear contacts/glasses.
- I love having painted toenails.
- I love the smell of fresh cut grass.
- I am afraid of doctors and dentists.
- I hate certain foods I have never even tried.
- I want to travel to Paris, France.
- I have a pretty good green thumb.
- I want to open an animal sanctuary.
- I want to have a house on some land.
- I have never broken a bone.
- I was born 6lbs 9oz, almost a preemie.
- I want to have 3 kids someday.
- I like the names Makenna, Landon, Carly, and Ava.
- I want to learn to speak French.
- I can never pack lightly when I go on a trip.
- I have never been to the East Coast.
- I graduated with a 3.8 gpa.
- I failed algebra the first time.
- I first drove an '87 Honda Accord hatchback.
- I used to play with a Ouija board.
- I met my future husband, Matt, at Petsmart.
- I let Matt kiss me first.
- I am an awesome speller.
- I can type almost 200 words per minute.
- I got fired from my last job for being too quick.
- I drink 70oz of water every single day.
- I love lipgloss
- I consider myself girly, but not too girly.
- I recycle everything I can.
- I have milk delivered from Royal Crest, Yum.
- I love my Mom & Dad more than the world.
- I call my Mom everyday.
- I like gambling, but I hate loosing money.
- I have 3 dogs and 3 cats.
- I am allergic to cats.
- I want to be an interior decorator.
- I can get to work in 10mins.
- I come home for lunch everyday to let my dogs out.
- I am a good swimmer, we had a pool growing up.
- I love vintage pin-up girls.
- I will only drink one soda, Diet Coke.
- I am afraid of fish.
- I haven't read a book since high school.
- I loved History.
- I have too much lotion, I can't stop buying it.
- I believe in aliens.
- I believe in ghosts.
- I have never seen a ghost.
- I have seen a UFO.
- I am afraid of wild animals, bears, mtn lions etc.
- I could sit by the river all day long.
- I love having picnics.
- I used to write songs and poems.
- I ate alligator once.
- I love pajamas, I have too many of those too.
- I still play in the snow.
- I put sweaters on one of my dogs.
- I have to put diapers on that same dog while we are gone.
- I spend my extra money on my pets.
- I love Reese's PB cups.
- I eat around the edge of them first.
- I love new recipes.
- I moved to Colorado Springs for Matt.
- I got my dog Indy from Matt for x-mas in 2000.
- I have loved Matt since the day I saw him.
- I still have notes Matt wrote me from the first week we dated.
- I only have 5 cousins.
- I got caught stealing once, in high school.
- I was never invited to any dances or prom.
- I used to love playing barbies.
- I love roller coasters.
- I love orange/pink sunsets.
- I used to run the mile in 7min 15 seconds.
- I collect fairy figurines.
- I like hunting for antique bottles in our backyard.
- I worry too much.
- I've never left the United States.
- I love vodka. It's the only thing I will drink.
- I call Matt Boo, and he calls me Boo.
- I only have 10 months (exactly) to get this wedding finished.
- I have to say my favorite actress is Reese Witherspoon.
- I own my own home. And glad I did it.
- I had 2 gerbils, now I have 7...
- I have a super sensative nose.
- I can't sleep if the heater is on over 60 degrees.
- I could shop at Old Navy all day.
- I have a king size bed.
- I am crazy about Yankee Candles.
- I couldn't live without my DVR.
- I like my cerel soggy.
- I am scared of the dark.

- I am me, and no one else can say that.

Thanks for reading this, I had fun making it!

After I wrote this, I asked Matt to describe me. Here is what he said about me. "Outgoing, down to earth, smart, old spirit, funny, easy to get along with, you take special care of me, understanding, negotiable, cheery, creative, you know what you want, and that's about it Boo.."

What a nerd.

What I Have Seen In My Lifetime..

What has happended in my lifetime? Well I was born in 1982. Here is what I have seen...

In the year 1982 this is what things costed:
A loaf of bread: .55 cents
A pack of cigarettes: .85 cents
Cost of a gallon of Gas: .91 cents
Cost of a first-class stamp: .20 cents
Average Cost of new house: $82,200.00
New Car Average price: $7,983.00
A new Apple Computer: $1298

I have seen 5 Presidents:
Reagan, Bush Senior, Clinton, Bush Junior, Obama

This is what I have seen since I was born:

1982 - MS-DOS first licensed

1982 - The word "Internet" appears

1982 - Liposuction introduced

1983 - Sally K. Ride, 32, first US woman astronaut in space as a crew member aboard space shuttle Challenger

1983 - The introduction of the CD, vinal record sales decline.

1984 - The first Apple Macintosh goes on sale.

1985 - The launch of Bill Gates first operating systems, Windows 3.1

1986 - The Nintendo debuts, launching the video game empire.

1989 - Death of Lucille Ball

1990 - The Hubble Space Telescope is launched

1990 - The Berlin Wall comes down

1992 - The LA Riot

1993 - A 13-year-old Los Angeles boy accuses Michael Jackson of fondling him

1993 - First humans cloned.

1993 - Waco, TX massacre

1994 - Olympic figure skater Nancy Kerrigan attacked.

1994 - OJ Simpson accused of killing his wife.

1995 - Oklahoma City Bombing.

1995 - OJ Simpson, not guilty.

1996 - Introduction of HDTV

1996 - Approximately 45 million people are using the Internet.

1996 - Scientists analyzing a Martian meteorite claim that it may provide evidence for the existence of ancient life on Mars

1996 - Dr. Ian Wilmut and his team clone the world's first sheep from adult cells. The lamb born in July 1996 is named Dolly.

1996 - JonBenet Ramsey is killed in her home on Christmas eve.

1997 - The movie "Titanic"

1997 - Comet Hale-Bopp is the closest it will ever be to Earth until 4397

1997 - US spacecraft begins exploration of Mars

1997 - Princess Diana dies in car accident.

1997 - The launch of the World Wide Web.

1998 - President accused in White House sex scandal; denies allegations of affair with White House intern, Monica Lewinsky

1998 - The Athena probe finds frozen water on moon

1998 - The FDA approves the male impotence drug Viagra

1998 - 77-year-old Senator John Glenn, the first American to orbit the earth

1999 - The world awaits the consequences of the Y2K bug

1999 - Shooting at Columbine Highschool in Littleton, CO

1999 - The number of Internet users worldwide reaches 150 million by the beginning of 1999

2000 - Cuban boy Elián González, crosses waters into America

2000 - NEAR spacecraft becomes first to orbit an asteroid

2001 - Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh executed

2001 - Terrorists attack United States. Hijackers ram jetliners into twin towers of New York City's World Trade Center and the Pentagon. A fourth hijacked plane crashes 80 mi outside of Pittsburgh (Sept. 11). Toll of dead and injured in thousands. Within days, Islamic militant Osama bin Laden and the al-Qaeda terrorist network are identified as the parties behind the attacks.

2001 - Artificial heart implanted in man

2002 - Pennsylvania miners rescued after spending 77 hours in a dark, flooded mine shaft

2002 -Snipers prey upon DC suburbs, killing ten and wounding others (Oct. 2–24). Police arrest two sniper suspects, John Allen Muhammad and John Lee Malvo

2003 - Saddam Hussein is captured by American troops

2003 - Space shuttle Columbia explodes, killing all 7 astronauts

2003 - Actor Arnold Schwarzenegger elected California governer.

2003 - The Hubble telescope has detected the oldest known planet, Nicknamed Methuselah after the aged biblical patriarch, the planet is an astonishing 12.7 billion years old

2004 - Gay marriages begin in Massachusetts

2004 - Martha Stewart, diva of domesticity, was sentenced to five months in prison in July after being found guilty on four counts of obstruction of justice and lying to federal investigators.

2004 - Janet Jackson has wardrobe malfuntion during Superbowl

2004 - American Idol remained one of the top-rated shows on television

2005 - Pope John Paul II Dies

2005 - Hurricane Katrina wreaks catastrophic damage on the Gulf coast

2005 - Number of deaths of U.S. soldiers in Iraq reaches 2,000

2005 - Cancer replaces heart disease as No. 1 cause of death for people ages 85 and under

2006 - John Mark Karr admits killing Jon Benet Ramsey, but is he telling the truth?

2006 - Saddam Hussein is convicted of crimes against humanity by an Iraqi court, and hung.

2008 - Markets Plunge Around the World

2008 - First black president, Barak Obama

Ghost Hunters Live...

So yesterday was our much anticipated day at the Stanley Hotel in Estes Park. If you've never been to Estes Park I suggest you go. It's about 45min west of my hometown, Loveland, CO. Not only do you get a beautiful drive up the canon. But you also get a cute little town, kind of like Manitou Springs. So anyways, we had made reservations to go on a ghost tour at the Stanley Hotel. Which is where Stephen King got the idea for his story "The Shining" all the events in the book and movie were inspired by Stephen's events at the hotel. So our tour starts out in the lobby where our tour guide talks about the owner F.O. Stanley who built the hotel in 1909. Hard to belive my house in Colorado Springs was only like 7 years old. So he explains some of the history and what we might expecet to see on our tour. He first takes us into the ballroom. Which is where F.O. Stanley's wife Flora is said to play the piano and some nights, like the night Stephen King spent the night, there is said to be a party going on with dancing etc. But in reality no one is there..I dont think I caught anything in my pictures of the ballroom. And We did not really have any weird feelings in this room either. From here we went to the most famous room at the hotel. Room 217. Which is said to be haunted by Ms Williams, which was a caretaker at the hotel back in the day. She died in that room from a brain anurism and is said to haunt the room. If she likes you she will help you out, by unpacking your luggage and putting in the dresser, or making you a hot bath. If she doesn't like you, she will do things to make you leave. Like if you set your alarm, she will unplug it and move it across the room, she will turn the TV on in your room to channel 42 which is a nonstop showing of the movie "The Shining" and she will shake the bed etc. But the maids have said if you dont make the bed just right, and go to clean the bathroom, you will come back and all the covers will be on the floor. They say Jim Carey stayed in that room while filming Dumb and Dumber. And checked in at 5pm and checked out at 11pm. And still to this day wont talk about what happened in that room. This is also the room Stephen King stayed in. This is the bathroom where he saw the young woman, and went to kiss her and she turned into an old nasty woman. That was Ms Williams. This was all in the movie "The Shining". I took several pictures in this room and did not catch anything. But I had a really faint feeling in this room. My legs were weak like I wanted to fall over. From here we went back down the hallway to the stairway. Which went to the 3rd and 4th floors. The tour guide said this stairway is said to be a vortex for the spirts. People will stand in this stairwell and will get nose bleeds, cry, faint, etc. I felt really sick when I stood here for too long. Here is a picture looking up the staircase. We didn't catch anything looking up. My brother did see shadows on the ceiling of the 3rd level and there was no one walking there. And Matt was video taping and his camera was going in and out of focus alot. When we got to the 4th level I felt a lot better. I looked over and took a picture looking down the stairway back to the 2nd level we were on and caught this orb. You may need to click on the picture to make it bigger. So now we were on the 4th floor which is said to be haunted by Lord Earl Dunraven. He is the man that orginally owned the land and sold it so F.O. Stanley. Lord Earl Dunraven liked the 4th floor because that is where all the young nannies would hang out. The odd number rooms on the 4th floor were nannies and even were the children. They say that Lord Earl Dunraven can be a little flirt. And likes to run his fingers through womans hair, or touch them. If you stay in an odd number room on the 4th floor. He will knock things off tables in the room, just so you can pick them up. Then he will pinch your butt. If you're a woman of course. There was an episode of Ghost Hunters, where the filmed at the Stanley Hotel live on Halloween night. The guys stayed in room 409 which is the nannies break room. Which they have now made into a hotel room. There is a closet in this room, and on the show the door would keep opening up. And then a glass shaddered in the room. They had it on film. So anyways. We were walking down the hall to go see this room. Matt and I were at the end of pack and he was holding his video camera and I was looking into room while the tour guide spoke. Just then I felt a finger run right under my right butt cheek. I turned around and there was no one there. My first thought was Matt...why are you doing that? So I said to Matt "Did you just touch my butt?" He looked at me, and turned white. He said "NO!" I couldn't believe how real it felt. I could have sworn Matt did it. But his left hand was holding the video camera!! So my brother told the group "We just had an experiance!" and I told the group what had just happened. And the tour guide said "Great, you can be my volunteer!" So he put me in THAT CLOSET!! He said woman will go in there and have their belts undone or fingers in their hair or some kind of touch. First I get in there and it's pitch black, I opened the door right away. And the tour guide shut it again. I stood in complete darkness, knowing there was about 2-3ft of space behind me that could soon be occupied by Lord Earl Dunraven. I stood there and stood there, seemed like hours went by. I felt someone behind me, and what felt like very faint fingers on my hips. Could have been my imagination. But I had to get out of there. Then my mom went in there. She didn't feel anything. That was probably the most scared I have ever been in my life. This part of the hallway also had stairs which led to the bell tower. The kids would sneek up there while the nannies were on break and ring the bell. And sometimes the kids would fall off the roof. This is why so many spirits of children haunt the 4th floor. They say between 2-3am you can hear kids running up and down the hall playing. But on this part of the tour while Matt was video taping, you can hear the bell in the bell tower ringing. In real life we did not hear this bell. The tour guide didn't mention it, nothing. So we are still trying to get in touch with someone at the Stanley to find out if the bell in bell tower really rings. We then continued down the hall to where all the even numbered rooms were (the children). The tour guide sent the 4 kids in our group to sit on a couch down the hall. And told us to snap pictures like crazy. He said sometimes you can get more kids in the picture then there really are down there, creepy. So anyways, I started to take a few pics and my camera started flashing low battery. There is no way it could have been a low battery because I charged them that morning. And all the pics I took turned out really blurry and weird. You may need to click on it to see. One lady in the group got an orb in her picture while taking pics down the hall. But I didn't catch anything. After this part of the tour, we went back down to the lobby. My batteries were fine.. and then we went into the basement. Which has underground tunnels. He said a lady in a previous tour group took a pic down one of the tunnels and had a man with a chisel staring back at her. I caught this orb down the tunnel. The tour guide said many spirits are said to haunt the basement. Because the rock the hotel sits on. I can't remember all of it but something about limestone and granite. Something about the limestone absorbes emotion, and the granite absorbs feelings. The tour guide said alot of stuff happens in the basement. He has had his shoe laces tied together while giving the tour, and then he went to walk and tripped. So now he triple knots his shoes. We didn't really have any feelings or anything in the basement. But I probably wouldn't want to be down there alone. I also caught this orb on the other side that tunnel in the previous pic. So after this the tour sadly came to an end. Would I say the Stanley Hotel is haunted? Yes I would definantly say it was haunted. I am also wanting to go on that tour again and again now that I know what to look for. Matt also got the buisness card of the tour guide to set up a private tour. Yikes, I dont know. Matt now wants to stay at the Stanley Hotel for a night. I dont know I might end up staying the night in the car. But we will see what happens with that. All in all we ended the day with a stroll down the main drag in Estes Park and got cookies. What a fun day we had.

To Be A Jamison

So last night I was surfing the net, and I had read several times about a web page that my soon to be mother in law, Becky, goes to a lot called FindAGrave.com. You can type in a name and it tells you birth, death, burial location etc. So I typed in Matt's Grandpa, Lafayette Jamison. So it pulled up all his information, there was a picture of the tombstone where he is buried with his wife Irene, and some pictures of them together.

But when I hear the name Lafayette Jamison, so many good things come to mind. I swear there is not a day that goes by Matt doesn't mention something about him..What an honorable man Lafayette was. Or as Matt calls him, Pappap. I never had the honor of meeting Pappap, but I wish everyday that I could have. Matt talks about Pappap's days in war, flying his B-17 "Little Gizmo" over Germany in World War 2, and dropping paratroopers. Be flew 25 (I think) missions without a scratch. Matt takes me to Dairy Queen for ice cream all the time, and he always stops to say, "Pappap used to take me here." Matt laughs when he tells me the story about Pappap twiddling Wrigley's wrappers into nails and making smiley faces in his ice cream cones. We drive by the house they used to live and Matt is rushed with a million more memories. It's sad to think of how close Matt is to his Grandpa and now that he has passed away all Matt has left to share with me is memories. I know how bad Matt wishes I could have met Pappap. What awesome Grandparents Matt had. No wonder Matt is the person he is today, he had such amazing Grandparents and even more amazing parents.

I was never really close to my grandparents and now that they are gone, I wish more and more I could have known more about them. I remember at their funeral I learned more about them then I had in the 20 years I was alive. To hear Matt speak of his Pappap makes me urn for that connection with my grandparents. So when we visit Pappap's grave, I morn for him. Then I feel this warm calming feeling, like I can morn for my grandparents from there. Since my grandparents are buried in Nebraska and Arizona, I can make my connection through Pappap.

So I feel even though Pappap is not here, I have this feeling that I need to earn the name Jamison. Soon I will be Lisa Jamison, my children will be direct descendants of Lafayette Richard Jamison. I know Matt will be telling our children stories of their Great Grandpa day after day. I thank you Matt for telling me the things you do, and I know our children will too. Matt you should be so proud to have Pappap as your Grandpa. And to be a Jamison, would be livin' life High on the Hog!!

Worry Wart...

So I've noticed as I get older the more things I think of to worry about. I find myself worrying about things completely out of my control. Today I was talking to my mom about my new weight watchers diet. She had done it in the past and had lost 12lbs, which is awesome. She then started to tell me about the blood test she had just had done, and how it came back as 120 for her gloclosamen levels. They say 130 would be the onset of adult diabeties. So it got me thinking, my mom is not overweight or obese. I think she looks great, and she still does all the things she wants to do. She tries so hard to loose weight just like me, she's done all the fad diets and it never budges the scale. Got me worrying about my mom. She's such a great person, everything she has ever done and still does for me. She's my best friend. I look up to her so much and only wish I could be half the woman she is.

My little brother has been struggling with diabeties since he was about 12 years old. He has to prick his finger everyday, test his blood and do shots in his stomach. He's had a couple of close calls, he drove his car off the road one time when his levels got too low and he blacked out. He tries so hard to keep up with his diabeties, but I know he's probably sick of having diabeties. Sometimes I wonder why I was so lucky to not have gotten it and he did? He didn't deserve to get it, he was still a child. But I guess you have to deal with what you've been given. Below is a picture of me and my little brother Jason, making cookies on the counter. Look at how much flour is on Jason's jeans...haha :)

A Kick In The Behind

So today at work I was surfing the internet (I had nothing else to do I promise) So anyways, why does it seem that every add or popup has something to do with loosing weight? Then I got to thinking that my weight and loosing weight is on my mind about 95% of my day. How sick is that? Why should I waste time worring about such a thing when there are so many other things in life to smile or be happy about. So I've been debating joining weight watchers. I had heard alot of good things about it, and my friend is doing it and has lost 25lbs. They make it simple I guess, by allowing you to eat what you want and still loose weight.

So I joined the online weight watchers. I'm not ready to go to the real life meetings where they weigh you in front of everyone there. I will just track my progress online. So I was surfing around in there, it's really awesome. I tracked all my food for the day, they do the point system. And I knew I was eatting pretty good, and according to the point system, I am doing pretty good.

So then I had to pick a workout plan. I picked the Buff Bride-To-Be!! Cute huh? So today is day one. And I know in past posts I have said this would be the start of weight loss, but this time I have a kick in the butt from Mrs Weight Watchers. I am required to weigh in online and track all my food and activities. So here goes!!