I LOVE AMERICA!

Seriously, this country is great.  We really don't even need TV anymore because the blog world is a soap opera.  I have quite a few favorite blogs and I thought I would share.  

But first I want to share what stirred my excitement and love of America and its blogs. 

I have an obsession with photography blogs.  I am amazed at their talent and steady hand.  I think I have a good eye and following so many photographer's blogs gives me inspiration, but I could never be a great photographer without a steady hand.  Anyway...there is a feud in the photography world and it is as exciting as The Bold and the Beautiful.  It started with DJ speaking his mind about Pictage and SmugMug and then Gary Fong speaking his mind about DJ speaking his mind and WOW!  It's some good stuff.  Where I do have an opinion, I will keep it too myself since I don't know either, I don't have any experience with Pictage or SmugMug and I am not a photographer. If anything, I really just want everyone to get along and I bet most people feel the same way.  I know that sounds so cliche because of course everyone doesn't have to agree...okay, I have said too much.  But really...I know for sure after reading both their blogs for YEARS that they are both good people and where it may take awhile, they will get "back together" just like Brooke and Ridge always do on The Bold and the Beautiful.  (In Italy they LOVE this show...they call it Beautiful.)

Here are my just some of my favorites...and I really have lots of favorites, so this is like 2% of my favorites. 

Photography blogs...

Jessica Strickland...our wedding photographer!

Blue Candy...my long lost high school friend who is the BEST!

Friends...

Kristen Leep...our bestest friend in the entire world!

Horseradish...my comedy mentor!

Work Stuff...

The Cranky Product Manager...story of my life and it isn't even my life!

Life as a Healthcare CIO...it's my career, healthcare (my passion) and personal all in one!  I die! 

Celebrity Gossip...

Perez...there are no others that are worth it!

Wedding Stuff...I can't believe I am just picking 2!

Style Me Pretty

Snippet and Ink 

Anyway, I do dream of someday have a more "purposeful" blog about something interesting and useful...but in the meantime, this is my journal to share what's on my mind. :)   

The Life of Joey's Girl is really random...

I keep thinking of more and more random things that I can share with my friends. It's funny because so many of you already know these things about me and are enjoying the reminders. I have seriously been addicted to everyone's random 25 on Facebook. I don't know why, but I love it. It just really seems so honest. I think it is crazy how open people are...this coming from someone who has a blog posted to the world. Do you know that I have someone in Germany that follows my blog? Hello, Germany! I brought up the "random 25" to Joey and he looked at me like I was crazy because he had no idea what I was talking about. After I explained it, I think he then started to understand what all his Facebook notifications have been the past couple weeks. He's such a beginner.

Anyway...here are more.

29. I write my emails in lists and bullet points. I just think that they are easier to read. Sometimes I get these super long emails at work and I think to myself...could they have just highlighted the point? I definitely don't expect people to email in lists and bullet points...not necessary, but if it takes a novel to write an email...then let's talk. I actually have two times designated during my work day to walk around and talk to people. I can get more decisions made and stay more in tune with my projects in those times than just sitting at my desk talking to people through email. I probably eliminate a lot of emails by walking around visiting people.

30. I keep a hand rosary at my desk. It seriously comes in handy when you have anxiety like me. I do count and have some breathing things that I do, but seriously...the most relaxing thing for me is to pray. And as I think about it...I don't even pray for the anxiety to go away...I just start thinking about all the things I am grateful for and before you know it...I'm good. I'm pretty open to all faiths and find that as a faithful Catholic, I don't necessarily migrate to Catholics...but to those that are faithful. For example, some of my best friends from college are Jewish, but even though we believe in different things, we gravitate towards each other. We relate when it comes to tradition and family. My Italian Grandma's best friend is Jewish. Best Friend Jeanette and Grandma Angie always saw that Italian-Catholics and Jewish people make the best of friends...I think that is just because they are. :)

Obama

Obama
Originally uploaded by carisse kristen

Project Runway

I'm so glad Project Runway is on tonight!

Blogs

I was so busy traveling that I wasn't able to celebrate the one year anniversary of "The Life of Joey's Girl" Blog. So...Happy Anniversary. It seems everyone has a blog these days and in the past few weeks, a few of my friends have started their own. My cousin Charlton left for Spain Tuesday and he is going to try to keep us all informed of his semester via his blog. My friend Jill and Joe's cousin Morgan will also being trying to tackle the blog world as well.

It is funny because no one really reads my blog except for a select few, but the few that do are very loyal. :) My life isn't that interesting unless I am on a trip or vacation, otherwise my work week isn't necessarily worth blogging about. I try to post something every few days, but sometimes I forget about it for weeks.

Some people blog like a journal; they just say how they are feeling on that day or week in their life. I'm not as comfortable with that, but I think it is interesting to follow a blog for a long period of time and "experience" milestones of others. There are also a lot of political and professional blogs that can be informative or provide interesting perspectives...or they just make me mad.

In any case, last April I started using Google Reader and it is the easiest way to stay on top of all these blogs. It also keeps me organized since I check blogs at home and work and from wasting time with no new posts, etc. I haven't taken full advantage of everything Google Reader has to offer yet and there our many other feeds that do the same thing, but I started with Google Reader and am now invested.

Also, just an FYI that Leep has had her blog since 2000, so we are ALL way behind the times.

I'm HOME!!!

No posts from Amsterdam, but it was a beautiful city. It may actually be my favorite city. It is so laid back, the people are wonderful and everyone spoke ENGLISH! By that point in our trip I was ready for some conversation with others. Amsterdam is known for its floating flower market. Some people don't know that I have fresh flowers all spring and summer long and I have tons of flowers in our yard also. Here is a quick snap of some of what the locals can get everyday of the year in Amsterdam. Today I went and bought tulips for the house to remind Joe and I of our trip.



The first people I called when I got back was of course our parents, but then I had to call Tracey to see if I missed anything at work. Which I didn't...but I am ready to go back. I can promise my boss I won't be taking any of these long trips again...until my honeymoon. :) Surprisingly, we are thinking about staying close to home for our honeymoon..however, since we don't even have a wedding date or anything else planned, things can change quickly with us.

It was a Starbuck's morning...

It was a Starbuck's morning...
Originally uploaded by carisse kristen

I needed it!!!!

Bring on the PUSH UPS

This is me being truly obsessed with Dr. Oz this week...

Getting angry is good for you and you should respond to your anger. Telling yourself to "stay calm" is one of the worst things you can do because you're supposed to act out when you feel threatened and are angry.

Dr. Oz recommends doing push-ups, stretching or deep breathing. This way you are reacting to your angry, but you're not burning any bridges or putting any holes in the wall. Plus, it will strengthening your arms, which will help my friend Peggy with her osteoporosis!!!

So, if you come by my office and see me doing push ups, you know that I am dealing with my anger. :)

6 Walnuts a Day!

Okay, so I am obsessed with Dr. Oz's new book and thought I would share a little Dr. OZ fact.

The best nutrients to keep your cerebral powers strong are omega-3 fatty acids. They do lots of other stuff too like helping with losing weight, preventing diabetes, lowering blood pressure, etc. You can get these from 13 oz of fish a week, 2 grams of fish oil, OR just an ounce of walnuts a day (6 walnuts!!!)

I am bringing walnuts to work tomorrow. At least 6 a day for everyone!

I Miss Jeff

I Miss Jeff
Originally uploaded by carisse kristen

Here are some gifts Jeff has bought me over the years. Some shells and some chirt. Not sure what chirt is but I keep it in my desk drawer.

Jeff left Indiana for NYC last month. He talks to Earth on his blog! This may sound weird to my two blog readers, but he is so FUNNY.

He's single too. He likes long walks along the urine smelling streets of
New York, likes to try new restaurants, and he is a Pisces, like me. I have a link to his blog on the right. Check it out. Ignore the socially incompetent stuff. It's a joke. ;)

Sent from my iPhone

Top of my Head

Top of my Head
Originally uploaded by carisse kristen

I need my haircut, collen.

Sent from my iPhone

Healthcare

Most of people that read this blog are my dear friends and know me and what is important to me. And for the most part…this blog is definitely personal and fun, and rarely if ever too serious.

However, there are slight hints to some of the things that I am passionate about…one of those being health care. I actually have a long list of health care blogs that I read either daily or at least every couple days. A few of those I have highlighted as my favorites to the right. So why do I care so much about health care…it could be because my mother has been a hospital administrator for over 20 years or that I have two beautiful sisters that are single moms and are blessed to be in the nursing field. And now I have a brother studying physical therapy. Of course, Shaners, the baby, is going to a ball player…but if that doesn’t pan out, he is a quick and smart thinker and he may be the doctor of the fam.

Now, where I don’t work in a hospital, I like to believe that I spend my work days helping a large percentage of the hospitals in the US. Of course, this sounds a little over dramatized…but I am only 28 and believe in my company’s vision. However, this blog will definitely not be my work outlet. I could always start a blog to share my thoughts about healthcare, but I may not always share the same message as my superiors. Not that I have anything bad to say…but really it is just my thoughts streaming and I don’t really care about grammar on this blog. Obviously. Plus, a blog is hard to keep up and for now, I prefer to put my efforts into my career and family. Lastly, I don’t think my two readers would care…would you? :)

PS I just mentioned all my family members and we can’t forget that my father has the best job of us all…he takes care of the fields at Notre Dame…or as he calls them…the Holy Grounds. :)

St. Patrick's Day Phrases

I was looking for a cute St. Patrick's Day t-shirt online the other day and found some super silly ones. Here are some of the quotes on my favorite ones.

I see green people.
Irish whiskey makes me frisky.
I'm so Irish I poop leprechauns.
Irish need not apply. I like Italians.

Can you tell it is almost 5 on a Friday? By the way, I didn't buy one. I am saving my money for Italy. 44 days!

Happy Valentine's Day

Happy Day! It is beautiful, snowy, great day in the SBI. All the schools were closed last night, and I didn't know it. When I was driving to work I thought I was super late because there were no cars or buses on the road. Then I got to work and no one was here yet...apparently the side roads are not plowed yet, so it took awhile for everyone to get moving this morning. It actually feels the warmest it has in a while, plus the skies are this gorgeous blue.

I'm so excited because tonight Joey and I are going to Ciao's for dinner. It has become our Valentine's Day tradition, and they always save us a table. The other great thing about today is that our new floors are being installed. Yippee!

I will post pictures of the floors and my trip to Florida soon.

I have had lots of new visitors to the blog in the past few days. How exciting? It is probably just exciting to me. Anyway, Joey still hasn't checked out my blog. He doesn't want everyone to know about our lives. I completely agree with him that somethings are private, but somethings are just so wonderful I want to share. Like this fun picture of my little cousin! He is so cute.


After work, my team is heading to my favorite little bar.







I am starting to get a head cold, so I probably shouldn't go. However, a couple of brewskies will help me go to bed early and get a good night sleep. Tomorrow is a catch up day at work!

Bears Win!

Super Busy

I'm super busy at work, but thought I would take 5 minutes to share a picture. I ran home at lunch to put some clothes in the dryer and snapped a quick picture of myself. The irony is that I have been moving nonstop the past 4 days and I really need to sit back for a few minutes and relax. Maybe I will just CHILL out tonight and forget about the laundry or all the documentation I need to write at work. Doubt it. :(

New Year's Resolution

Welcome to my first ever post to my bog!!! I am so excited. I have five new year's resolutions and I plan on keeping them all.

1) Start a blog...AND post to it at least once a week.
2) Move out of our apartment. Joey and I have got to get out of here and move into our new house! It is just sitting there waiting for us.
3) Organize all my addresses. I have them everywhere. On my work computer, my mac, little pieces of paper around the house...everywhere.
4) Lose 5 lbs. Mainly the weight I gained the past few weeks from the holidays.
5) Update my resume. I am not looking for a job, but I haven't done it in a few years and it needs to get done. My awesome boss would tell me the same thing. Actually, I think he told me I should update it last year at this time.

My blog will help me stay on top of these resolutions as well as a way for me to share all my snazzy photos and tell you about all the trips I have planned this year. I hope to head to Sarasota, Daytona, Italy, the Bahamas, Laguna, and San Francisco. I also hope to fit in a trip to Vegas...but I can't guarantee it.

~Joey's Girl