NEW POST!

It's finally here...not Valetine's Day...not 2009...it's a NEW post from the Ballard's!

I have been hounded to write a new post, so here it is. I think I'm going to proceed with making a list of new things in our lives as of the new year.

1. I got a new job. I didn't get laid off from my old job, I actually quit. It was very relieving for me as I was working almost 80 hours the week before I left (no overtime). I had worked at Gettys for 2 years, so it was time to move on. I am thrilled to say that I was able to get a better job with better pay in such a loose cannon economy!

2. My new job is with a company called Coalesse. They are a division of Steelcase...and I will be a sales rep there. We have a great website if you want to check it out--coalesse.com I am going to be a rep for Orange County only, which so far has been great. I live very close to most of the firms so that is helpful.

3. We went home for Christmas, and it was short, but I was glad to get back to the warm weather. I don't know how people do it!

4. I am going to be getting a new car with my job. It is between a Ford Escape or a Ford Taurus X; I get to pick the color and interior!

5. Brad and I went to the Improv and saw Drew Carey perform. He was making fun of the Price is Right...how he cannot believe some of the people who actually win something because they seem stupid.

6. I have been on a book kick lately. More non-fiction than fiction. I find myself only wanting to read "real" books or else it's a waste of time for me if I cannot learn/grow from them.

7. Brad's birthday is coming up on March 18th. He will be 29! One more year and then the big 3-0. HAHA.

8. Our kitties (yep, gonna do it...gonna go to the kitty update) are still not getting along. I am thinking it will happen soon? I also think we are going to shave Gizzy like a lion. Her hair is out of control with matted hairballs, so we think that is our only option.

9. I wanted to say Congratulations to all of our friends who are pregnant again! I'm glad it's you and not me :)

10. Brad and I are going to celebrate Valentine's Day by making Fondue. I think I can do it, so he bought me a set for the Holiday. We are also going to drive up the coast (he doesn't know it yet) and enjoy the scenery. The reason why I am doing that is because I was stuck in traffic on the 405 near LAX yesterday, and I thought it would be quicker to find the Coast Highway to get home. 2.5 hours later, I pulled into the driveway (should take 45 minutes without traffic). I found a lot of interesting places to explore...so I want to show him.


There you are...our lives over the last couple of months. I will try to take some pictures of our explorer day and share them with everyone. I hope this blog entry finds everyone healthy and happy--I know we are!

I've Been Tagged!

What does this mean? Well, it means I'm IT...of course. My friend Kim Antisdel tagged myself and some others on her blog, which means we have to tell 5 (I made that number up) interesting things about yourself so your readers can know more about you. So...drum roll please.

1. Let's talk...the microwave. It bothers me when people take their food out of the microwave 1 second before the beep. Honestly, just wait for it to beep. If you wanted it in the microwave for 59 seconds, then you should have pressed that. On the same subject, I need those same people to push "clear" on the microwave so when I use it it reads the time/0 on the screen. I'm not a tidy, clean, or OCD personality type, but this irks me for some reason.

2. I think I was a trucker in my past life. I love to drive. Usually when we are driving distances, I force Brad to let me drive. It's a thing I have. I also drive a stick shift, so when there is no traffic I find myself "racing" when shifting gears. I also enjoy skipping a gear. It may not be good for the car, but I find it all sorts of fun. Example...downshifting from 6th to 4th is the best!

3. I can't stop staring at my cats. I could honestly look at them for hours at a time. Also, I find myself saying, "Brad, look at Gizzy...isn't she cute?" He doesn't think cats have facial expressions (gasp, I KNOW!), but I find myself entranced with their funny little minds and faces.

4. It's annoying to me when I don't get Brad's movie quotes. He can watch a movie once and start quoting it. I always say...what movie is that from. His reply: the one we JUST watched. (I kind of have a memory problem, too.) On the flip side, I don't like to watch movies more than once. My rationale is that I could spend that same time watching a new Oprah or another movie I haven't seen.

5. Finally...I am obsessed with chocolate. So much so that I hide it in the house. On first glance, I think there is no chocolate in the pantry, so I wait for the "craving" to wear off. Brad says it takes 15 minutes. If I still remember after that, I go to the hiding place. Behind the large bowl in the pantry. Mmm. Chocolate.

There you go! If anyone else who reads this and has a blog would like to participate with their own quirkiness, I call...Tag, You're It!

Overdue Update

Well, since our last post our computer decided to die. We ordered a part that took two weeks to get, so we were checking our email on my laptop from college. Not the quickest computer. Needless to say I didn't have enough patience to post anything during those two weeks. Now that we are back up and running, here is a little game of catch up.

I am lucky enough to share my birthday month with some of my co-workers. 4 of them actually. A couple of them decided to rent out a space in Edison Bar in LA. (http://www.edisondowntown.com/) The bar is a 1920's theme, so that is how we were supposed to dress. My accessory was my black band around my head...I'm sure the people of that era would be disappointed with my "costume."


Amanda and Myself


Everything else has been fairly normal. I have been working a lot of hours (like I said, it's normal), and the kitties still don't get along. Here is a little video of their love for one another.




So that is it for the OC Ballards. We are excited to come home for Christmas! I hope it doesn't snow too much.

Madonna in Concert

So I have this strange mindset that I cannot post anything on here without pictures. With that being said, I can really only use my camera on special occasions...meaning, I'm not going to just start taking pictures while we are out to eat or at a friends house for dinner. When I started the blog we had a lot of events coming up, so it was very easy for me to post once a week. Now, however, I feel like I don't have enough "good material" to blog about. UNTIL NOW. My co-worker, Marla, was able to get us tickets to the Madonna concert in LA--well it was her husband actually. It was with myself, Marla, Brynn, and Amanda, all from work. Three of us are Scorpios; we each celebrate our birthdays in the month of November. Back to the concert--Madonna looks amazing for 50. During the concert we made a pack to never eat again, then we realized maybe could eat soup, after that we realized she didn't start getting into shape until her 40's, so we have time. Britney Spears and Justin Timberlake performed with her, which was a surprise, so that was super exiting. We had great seats and saw a lot of celebrities. What a perfect birthday present! On a side note, if you didn't know, Scorpios celebrate their birthday MONTH, not day, so because it was still within that time frame, this does not have to be my only present (cough, cough, Brad). These are the official Scorpio rules; I didn't make them up.

In other Ballard news...Brad is playing on a soccer league on Sundays with some of his old soccer buddies form Waukee who live out here. He is also going to start coaching a flag football team with one of our friends starting in the winter. Gizzy and Smokey still hate each other. Shhh, don't tell Gizzy. She doesn't know. And...drum roll please...My birthday is November 19th. I will be 28.


Brynn, Myself, Amanda, Marla

Donald Sutherland...I said, "I love your son!" That's all I could come up with??

Dennis Quaid and Wife

Madonna

Britney and Madonna

Our Floor Seats

Slideshow Time

We're back! I apologize for not posting for so long, but I have been busy with work and then my sister and James came into town. They came last week and stayed through the weekend. Most of their time was spent in Disneyland, but they stayed with us Sunday-Tuesday. Since I normally post a couple of select photos (usually the ones where I look the best--how selfish!), I decided to download all of the photos on a slideshow. Also included amongst the family photos are ones of Gizzy, of course. As Julie will attest, I am a crazy, obsessive mother. As for the family vacation, we went to the Getty Museum and the Griffith Observatory. ...I added music to the slideshow, let me know if it works...Enjoy!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

ISU vs. Baylor = Unfortunate

One of my co-workers, Brianna Rasmussen, went to Baylor. When I first met her (almost a year ago) and found out she went there, I immediately thought about how ISU would play her team in hopes to have some sort of tick mark in the win column that season. With that in mind, I told her about this ISU alumni bar in Long Beach were we could watch the game. I figured we would win, so it wouldn't be a big deal for me to bring 1 Baylor fan to an ISU alumni game watching location. Wrong. To back up for a moment, I had been receiving alumni emails for the past 4.5 years. Recently, I decided to actually read one. It was worth it. They explained how the local ISU fans gather at a bar in Long Beach (about 30 min. north) to watch the games. Brad and I loved the thought of meeting up with more Iowa folks so we decided to finally take advantage of the alumni emails. Here is the Iowa representation yesterday: Boone, Spencer, Fort Dodge, Lehigh, Perry (myself), and Grimes (B-rad). There were also people from Illinois, Minnesota, and Wisconsin who went to Iastate, but were not from Iowa. Go Cyclones! Anyway, we thought it was pretty exciting to know people from rural Iowa ended up with a similar life as us. End of story goes something like this...we lost. Again.

Here are some other updates:
1. I got summoned for Jury Duty.
2. My sister and James come into town next Wednesday.
3. Gizzy and Smokey are still not friends.
4. I colored my hair darker.
5. We are coming to Iowa for Christmas!


Brad and I

Brianna (Baylor's only fan) and Myself

While Smokey is Asleep

The Wagner's Farewell

Tessa worked with me at Gettys for over a year, and tomorrow she and her husband, Stephen, are moving back to Oregon. Tear. Today they had a little BBQ to send them off. We, I mean everyone but me, played croquet, ate yummy grilled food, and caught up with some great people. Let's go back to the croquet portion of the evening. I started on team "ballard," but I quickly felt the pressure of the game with the first swing. I realized--I'm not good! What is that all about? I'm always good at sports. Then, once I realized it is not a sport, I gave the mallet to Brad. When this happened, we were in last place. Once I was out of the picture, team "ballard" won! Here are some pictures of the victory. Oh, and there was also a cat from the neighborhood that became our croquet onlooker. Brad thinks his name should be Tiger, I'm going with Morris. Enjoy!


My First and Final Attempt

We Won!

Morris (I post, so I win)

Jeffrey

Tessa (left)