Instagram

I love Instagram.  And why shouldn't I?  Some say it's a fad.  Maybe.  But you should know that I am easily swayed to follow the cool kids.  And the cool kids are fad fanatics.  In the 80's it was the Rubik's Cube and jelly shoes.  A decade later it was overalls and Birkenstocks.  Today it is a photo sharing program that those same kids have brainwashed inspired me to take my creativity to a new level.

Since joining Instagram I have posted 82 pictures.  These are my favorites.

This picture was taken at the cemetery in 

St. Joseph, Missouri where Matt's Grandpa is buried. 

My Maggie is one tough doggie to get a good pic of; 

she doesn't stay put for too long.

This is one of the very first pictures I took on Instagram.  

It was taken at my in-laws house.

A John Deere collage.  Matt, taking a ride though the pumpkin patch, 

a 4010, and gloves resting on a shovel.

A Mandarin orange.  One shot, one orange.

These pictures of my niece were taken this past weekend when my family
came to visit.  I love her so much. Double chin and all.

These are some lilies that I have managed to keep alive to some time now.
The picture was taken just after it had rained.  I love the color!

How I survived without an iPhone and Instagram for so long, I will never know.  As I write this I am trying to think of  something else I can snap, filter, and post.  You can follow me at @angelamariefry if you'd like.

Check (Off My Spring to Do List)

Today I worked my butt off and checked one more thing off my my Spring to Do List; power wash the smoke house.

Before

This, above all else is what I absolutely wanted to get done this spring.  I am totally mortified that we let it get this way.  Honestly, I have no idea how it got so dirty.  Nothing else around it was even close to being this gross.

Can you believe how disgusting?!

I helped too.  I didn't just take a million pictures.  Let me tell you, power washing is not an easy thing.  My arms will be sore in the morning.

After

This is not a very good picture.  But you can definitely tell the difference.  It's amazing what 2 hours of work can do!

After

 I am so glad this is finished.  I know Matt is too.  Now paint.  It's staying white, but maybe a little color on the trim and door.  All white is so boring.

Music

If you know me and my family than you know that my love of music comes from my Dad.  He is a fanatic, a collector, a hobbyist.  For as long as I can remember music has been a part of my life.  And it is because of him that it is still a part of who I am today.  For that, I am so grateful.

Me and Dad 1980

Please understand that when I say that music has played a role in my life I do not mean that any of us (me, my dad, sister, or mom) had any musical notable talent.  Both my sister and I were in the school band, but I faked it most of the time.  I just joined to fit in, like 

teenagers sometimes do.  My Dad can play the air guitar like nobody’s business.  And my mom cheered us on no matter how horrific we sounded or silly we looked.  We Followell’s enjoy the other side there is to music – listening, dancing, and singing along like we are the rockstar.

My earliest memories include music.  I can recall my Dad in my first childhood home wearing headphones, listening to his latest album purchase.  It was the early 1980’s so more than likely it was something like The Rolling Stones Tattoo You or Joan Jett and the Blackhearts Glorious Results of a Misspent Youth.  At that time I was rockin’ my toddler booty to Cyndi Lauper’s She’s So Unusual and Michael Jackson’s Thriller.

1982

It is at our home in the country that I can most associate to music.  My dad finally had a room  in the basement (that we called the record room) where music blared on a daily basis.  Day or night anything from Black Sabbath's Iron Man to Tom Petty and the Heartbreaker's Learning to Fly could be heard throughout the house via the heating vents.  Some nights the beating of the bass from below my room would put me to sleep quicker than any lullaby.

My dad is the reason I jump from my seat most mornings from having the radio cranked up the day before.  He is the reason I spend too much money on iTunes.  He is the reason I am sitting here listening to Robyn's Body Talk as I write this.  Although, I am sure he wouldn't be too proud of that one, it is my current obsession.

My 20th birthday

Music makes me forget that I cannot dance to save my life, but love to when I am alone.  Music makes me cry, it has healed my broken heart, it is my getaway from my sometimes stressful life.  I can't live without it.  Thanks Dad

Spring To Do List

Spring sprung more than a month ago and I just began to check items off my “Spring to Do List”.  In recent years I have become such a procrastinator that it’s almost embarrassing.  Maybe you don’t realize it, but I have noticed that most days I am uninspired to accomplish the tasks gathered on my ever changing list.  This has got to change.  Below are 5 things I hope to accomplish by June 20th.

#1- New Job (Search)

Not only is work sucking the life out of me at an alarming rate it I am sure it is also the reason my urgency to complete my Spring list has diminished.  A majority of my work is completed before lunch, which leaves me the afternoon to sit and stare at the most awful, dirty beige wallpaper I have ever seen.  I know what you’re thinking.  I should just ask for more work to do.  I have in the past.  But honestly, I am completely uninterested in anything pertaining to my current job.  I am never content.  My plan, my hope, my wish is to have a new job that I LOVE by Spring's end.  Cross your fingers.

#2 – Take More Pictures

When I was young my Mother would take pictures of my sister and me like it was going out of style; in the woods, on the deck, in front of the wheat field next to our house.  She took so many pictures in fact that we called her Delmar after a photography studio in Southern Illinois (which doesn't seem to exist anymore; for the life of me I cannot find a website for them).  I sadly have the Delmar gene.  My first digital camera was a Cannon.  It looks ancient when I look at it now.  Two years ago Matt gave me a Sony digital camera just in time for the birth of my niece Aubrey.  It was (still is) a good camera and takes great photos.  But it didn't take photos like the ones I saw on Etsy; the photos that made me green with envy.  After months of hinting, I am envious no more!  For Christmas I received a Nikon D3100.  Since then I have taken hundreds of pictures (most of my niece Aubrey; love the double chin in this one!); only a handful of which are good enough for me to admit I took them.  So maybe goal #2 should really be to learn how to better use my camera.  I’ve got the quantity down pat; its quality I am in search of now.

#3 – Organize Photos

After my Mom passed away and my dad moved out of my childhood home I more than gladly inherited our family photos; more than 25 years worth of completely unorganized, but extremely sentimental shoes boxes upon shoe boxes of memories.  Eight years later when my Grandma passed away I took over her photo collection as well.  Hers was more orderly; most in albums and some even labeled.  And I of course, have my own heaping pile of pictures I accumulated since 2nd grade (when I got my first camera).  Several times I have had the greatest intention of sorting, organizing, and finally putting these (I'm sure thousands of) pictures in albums for me and whoever else to enjoy.  Other than time my only excuse is that I am very emotional when it comes to the past.  It is terribly difficult for me to look though old photos without crying.  Family I have lost and friends that have grown apart weigh heavy on my heart.  But, I am determined to dry my eyes and after all this time give those pictures and my fondest memories a place to call home.

#4 - Crafts

As always my to do lists include crafting.  1)  Make a dry erase board from one of the old windows from the house.  2)  Summer wreath.  It's too late to start on a Spring one; they are very time consuming.  3)  Cork board for the office.  My plan is to buy a generic one somewhere, paint it (green?), and frame it.  4)  Make a corner shelf out of an old door.  This was somewhat started awhile ago.  So far, the door has been spilt in two.  5) Make a button tree; something like the pic on the left, but more colorful. Canvas - check.  Buttons, paint, and everything else needed for this project - fail.  Who makes a list within a list?  This girl!

#5 - Home Improvements

When you buy an 86 year old house it is inevitable that there will need to be improvements.  It is never ending.  Again...another list within a list. 

1)  Power wash and paint the (as Matt calls it) the smoke house.  I call it the shed.  And it is despicable.  It did not look like this 3 years ago when we bought the house.  It was clean and white. Disgusting.  How did that happen?  Honestly, I would just like it gone completely.

2)  Downstairs bathroom remodel.  See pic below.  Yes, that is a 1950's-ish baby blue bathtub you can kinda see on the left.  The floor sucks.  It's cold and, and..well, I don't have the right word for it.  Just know this...I hate that floor more than I have never hated anything before.  I will forfeit an anniversary trip this summer just to have this bathroom gutted.  I'm thinking nautical theme.  Or maybe gray and yellow.  I am really into the color peach lately.  See my Pinboard aptly named Downstairs Bathroom Remodel for my ideas.  Need I say more.

3)  Finish the backyard landscaping.  When we purchased the house this is what the yard looked like; overgrown weeds, in-ground pool full of dirt, trees where there shouldn't be trees.  Since then (with lots of help from Matt's parents) we have worked our butts off clearing the brush, planting grass, taking out the old fence, and unfortunately burying the pool completely.  Now that the trailer in the lot next to us (you can kind of see it on the left of the pic) is gone and our neighbor is extending his fence (so glad that we don't have to spend money on that) it's time that we make this a backyard that we can actually enjoy.  I am ready for a fire-pit and beating Matt to a game of Cornhole every weekend this summer!  


There are only 2 months left until summer.  That’s only 8 weeks for me to find my dream job while continuing to make better the house Matt and I call home.  Only 56 days for me to become a professional photographer (in my eyes), sort and catalog more than a decades worth of family photos, and craft until I am so burned out that I will swear of creating for good.  I’d better get started. 

One Hundred Sixty Eight Days

It's been 168 days since I last blogged. I've been a busy girl.

This is what I have been doing since October 26th.

 1) Went home to Christopher/Mulkeytown to spend time with my family and attend the Christopher Halloween Parade.




2) Went to St. Joseph, Missouri for a weekend to see my Matt's family (grandmas, aunts, uncles, cousins) since we were not going to be there for Christmas.

3) Had a physical done in my home (how cool is that) for life insurance.

4) Had Thanksgiving at our house this year. Both our family's attended. And I made the most amazing appetizer. Click here for the recipe.

6) Got hives more times than I would like to remember.

5) Celebrated the 4 year anniversary of our 1st date on December 1st.

6) Spent the night in Indianapolis and went Christmas shopping.

7) Got eye glasses for the first time. I look very studious in them if I do say so myself.

8) Attended my 1st winter wedding at Castle Finn Winery in Marshall, Illinois.

9) Got an awsome early Christmas gift from Matthew. See pic below.
10) Celebrated my niece Aubrey's 2nd birthday and Christmas (with my family) this year. We took an extra day off after Christmas just so I could be with my family a little longer.



11) Celebrated Christmas and exchanged gifts with Matt's parents, sister, and brother in law on New Year's Eve.

12) Rang in my 5th New Year with my best friend, Matthew. We were actually lost in sweet dreams at midnight this year though.

13) Visited the Terre Haute Children's Museum with Aubrey, Niki, Trevor, and Matt. Aubrey loves dinosaurs.



14) Had allergy testing done and found out that I am allergic to everything. Fortunately we found the right combination of medication to prevent my hives/itching.

15) Went on our 3rd cruise vacation/my birthday trip to Grand Cayman and Cozumel. This time we went on Carnival which turned out to be highly disappointing.

16) Had a follow up Diabetes appointment and to my embarassement my sugar tested at 190! There could be many reasons for that, but regardless...190! So, I started a new medication (Janumet) and it is working wonders.

17) Since spring came early (and seems to have gone today) we got our bi-annual mulching done in March. Two days and sixty bags of mulch later this is the result. Beautiful, if I do say so myself.


18) Had a garage sale with my mother-in-law and sold $130.00 worth of junk. And by junk I mean several of Matt's t-shirts and jeans/shorts that he never ever wore, but refused to get rid of!

19) Celebrated Easter with some of the people I love the most in this world.

20) Joined Facebook again. I have been out of the loop too long.


I'm glad to be blogging again.

Baseball

Not since the Michael Jordan era of Chicago Bulls basketball have I been so captivated by the world of professional sports. I remember watching the NBA finals 20 years ago with my family; biting my nails (my nervous habit) in the anticipation that my favorite basketball team just might win it all. And they did. Six times to be exact. Eventually, Michael Jordan retired, Scotty Pippen was traded and my love for basketball faded.

This time it is baseball and the St. Louis Cardinals. Sure, the Cardinals have always been my most loved baseball team. But now, out of the blue, I am obsessed. It is because for the first time in years I spent two wonderful weekends in St Louis watching the Cards play? It is because after I witnessed (in person) two regretful losses, the Cardinal’s astonishingly captured the NL wild card, beat the Phillies to become the NLDS champs and then win the National League Champion Series? Any way you see it, I can’t get enough.

I have faithfully watched the 107^th World Series and Card’s win (Game 1) and win big (Game 3) against the Texas Rangers, but then face two disappointing losses. Forget about date night, last Saturday night I had a date with the St. Louis Cardinal’s. I have willingly missed my favorite fall TV shows in hopes that I would see (and did) Lance Berkman and Matt Holliday score and Albert Pujols hit a homerun (or 2 or 3). I have forgotten about housework just to watch Yadier Molina catch with the perfection of a prima ballerina. Chris Carpenter, Jamie Garcia, and Jason Motte have my full attention from beginning to end. Of course I haven’t mentioned the entire roster, but each of them has played their part in bringing out a side of me that I forgot existed. And I (even if Matt doesn’t) appreciate that more than anything right now.

So, tonight (if the game is not rained out) I will nervously and nauseously settle down in my living room and cheer on my St. Louis Cardinal’s to a much needed win; not only for them, but me too.

Pinterest

As of lately I have a new obsession (besides Word Feud); Pinterest. For those of you that have not heard of Pinterest - it is an online pinboard where dorks like me can be immersed in it’s magnificence for hours upon hours. Remember when you were a teenager and cut pictures out of magazines of N’Sync, a great pair of jeans or the actor you currently had a crush on and hung them on the walls of your bedroom? That is exactly what Pinterest allows you to do. Except now your parent’s won’t yell at you for mucking up their house even though it is your bedroom. Or was that just me? Pinterest is a dream come true for list makers and collectors alike. You can post comments and follow other pinboards to your hearts content. It’s being called the new “social network.”

My curiosity (or maybe nosiness) brought me to Pinterest a few months ago. It was a friend’s Facebook post about the website that sparked my attention. And I haven’t looked back. Right away I was pinning the things I love to the default pinboards such as Books Worth Reading and For the Home. Since then I have renamed and added more than a dozen boards; Perfectly Pear (all things pears), For Maggie (my puppy), and Yum! (food/recipes that I would like to try) just to name a few. My favorite boards are Crafts (for my creative side) and Dream (on) Homes (for my dreamer side). There’s also Dress Up (fantastic clothes), I Love Purses! (another infatuation of mine), and Autumn (my preferred season). Shut the Front Door! is my newest board. It is filled with the most amazing doors.

Follow me on Pinterest (look to the right for the link). Request and invite so you too can create and share the things that make you happy. I assure you that you will become as smitten as I am!

Autumn

It’s here. The first sign that autumn is approaching overwhelmed me this morning. The smell of the cool air brought me to tears. Yes, I teared up at just the thought of cooler weather. It’s been a L O N G hot summer.

Maybe I shed a tear because I am a highly emotional basket case lately. But more than likely it was because of the memories that flooded my mind as I took in a trace of what is to come. Every year that fragrant glimpse of the coming cooler months take me back to some of the best times of my life; growing up in Christopher, going back to school and football season.

Although it’s been more than 10 years since I spent an entire season in Southern Illinois, I remember more than anything the perfect weather that fall brings. Days are warm enough to enjoy without the coat that was purchased as part of your back to school wardrobe. Evenings are just cool enough to need your favorite sweatshirt or worn in flannel shirt (yes, I wore flannel in high school…it was the 90’s, people) to break the chill. Back to school meant football. And football ruled my small town. My fondest memories of the Bearcats include walking the track my best friend in elementary school, marching band (even though I hated it) in high school and finally rooting on the boys as a cheerleader my senior year. Those times I wouldn’t trade for anything.

These reasons after all, is why autumn is my favorite time of the year. I could skip winter. I wouldn’t miss it. I shiver at just the thought of snow drifts taller than me. I could forget spring. Rain and the sunless sky depress me. As for summer, I could take it or leave it. Sweat and I don’t mix well. But please give me fall each and every year. I long for days where I am able to open the windows in my house and feel the cool breeze. I count the days until I can free my fall décor from its stuffy storage boxes and trim our home in the most beautiful color scheme. Is it too early now? I’m dying for a bowl of chili and a peanut butter and syrup sandwich. To eat it now would just be sinful.

Alas, today I am reminded that it is still August and stifling hot. Another week of 90 degree weather may kill me. However, the early morning, just before the sun starts to rise gives me hope that fall is right around the corner. They are the first sign that autumn is approaching. And that pleases me like nothing else.

Job Requirements

When I think of job requirements for any type of office work outstanding social, organizational, and communication skills rank high on the imaginary scale in my head. That was until today Today I feel as though the #1 job requirement...for any type of office work...should be how to properly use a Word program. The #2 requirement...how to properly (and professionally) make a form that not only employees, but patients will see on a daily basis.

There is a new "form" at work that is driving me insane! It has abbreviations that are incorrect. There are some that I don't even understand. Example: Retd. When I see this I think of the funniest line in the first Hangover movie...a very offensive term to some people. What it is supposed to mean is...Returned. I am an intelligent woman, but I had to ask what it meant!

Also, the alignment is off and they used an ugly font. The form is small and was cut into uneven squares with scissors. That alone irks me! (Side note: since when do I use the word "irks"?)

Being the good little employee that I am I will not say anything. Day, after day, after day I will cringe every time I see that little white, disproportionate piece of paper with the hellacious font. At least I will until it grows so old that everyone forgets about it and stops using it. Until then me and my OCD will just suffer in silence.

I wish they would have asked to make it. It would have been P-E-R-F-E-C-T!

I am a Fish

Not literally. I am a Pisces and that's close enough, right? I don't have fins or gills and underwater breathing is not my forte, but my love for water is undeniable.

If it were up to me (maybe it will be someday) I would live near the ocean. The smell of the water and the crashing of the waves soothes my soul.

Or maybe in the future we will have a lake view home. Dock included so I could swim and sunbathe until the sun goes down.

I'll even settle for a pond in my backyard where I can fish and sit on the bank and read a book.

From what I have been told our house, at one time, had the most beautiful pool in Marshall. Years later, after being severely neglected it had to filled with dirt. Needless to say I am quite upset about that. I can just see myself swimming laps just for the fun of it and Maggie tagging along. I would be a permanent prune.

For now, Mill Creek (it's really a small lake) will do. Sunday afternoons in the boat are fantastic, but evening cruises with my love are my favorite!

Maggie enjoys them too!