My head hurts.

I did my taxes last week and it was a breeze - one W-2 form and the 1040 EZ form this year. I had my refund in just over a week!

Today I am doing my friend's taxes...multiple W-2s, rental property, educational expenses, side business, etc... Thankfully my dear friend, Diet Coke, is here to help me through the hours of crunching numbers. Part of me really enjoys grappling with tax laws - doing the research, figuring it out, etc. And a bigger part of me is reminded of how thankful I am to no longer be in the accounting field! :)

A side note...these are my newest discovery in the snack world...

Delish AND fairly healthy!
:) :) :) :) :) :) :) :)

February 1!

And I'm back!!!

I had to finish watching "The Bachelor" before I could get in here and start blogging. I was hoping something exciting would happen today so that I could come back with a splash...no such luck, so here's what my day was like...

8:15...crawled out of bed and sat on couch in my pjs checking my email and facebook on my iPod touch (this is how I begin every day!) I then threw on my workout clothes and headed over to the fitness center on campus to meet my friend Tracy for some excercise/catching up time. We walked two miles today. I guess I should say that I walked two miles and then went home. She did the two miles and then continued to work out. She's amazing! :)

Quick note about my walking...I set a goal on January 20th that I would walk 100 miles by my birthday (March 27th). That's 66 days or 1.5 miles a day. I know that I'll need a few days off here and there, so my aim is to walk 2 miles a day and that will allow me 16 days off between n ow and then. So far (13 days into it) have walked 23 miles! I'm pretty excited to meet this goal!

After walking I came back to my place, showered, did some work on the computer and then headed out to lunch. I met one of my former students for lunch at Subway. She transferred to IUSB last year and is getting married next month. It was fun to hear what she's been up to, catch up on wedding plans, and fill her in on life here at GC.

After lunch I met Amanda and we did some shopping. If you are my FB friend, you might of noticed my status today was lamenting how tired I am of my wardrobe. So, Amanda and I went to Kohl's where I bought 2 new shirts and a necklace. They were all on sale (which everything always is at Kohl's, right?!) and I am looking forward to having a little new variety in my wardrobe.

After I got home I did some more work until it was time to go and meet the other RDs and their families for dinner at the dining hall, as we do each Monday. As I was walking out the door a friend who works at Hesston College showed up! He's an admissions counselor for HC and was in town visiting students. He just had a few minutes to spare and dropped by to see me. So we walked across campus together and caught up. It was so good to see him! Dinner at the dining hall was fun as we shared stories about what's been going on in our lives the past week and played with Shawn & Rachel's kids!

After dinner I headed back here to watch "The Bachelor" with one of my former RAs. I will do a little more work on the computer and then will start working on my friend's taxes. He's got some new things on his return this year, so I look forward to learning some new tax stuff!

Anyway, that was my day. I'll talk to you again soon!

Goal...February 1, 2010!

So, part of me wants to just jump ship on this blog since I am soooo far behind (kind of like I did with scrapbooking), but I won't! My goal is going to be to start fresh again on February 1, 2010. You'll miss out on my exciting life happenings from the past 6 months, but if you're my friend on Facebook you've likely been up to date on the major happenings.

So, be prepared on 02-01-10 for more activity on simplysusie! :)

Weddings!

I was invited to many weddings this year. Here are photos from a few of them...

Me with David and Haly King.

Me with 4 years worth of Miller 3 RAs!

With Rachel & Chad at Tyler's wedding.

Me with the handsome groom - Tyler.

Ben and Anita cutting the cake I made for their reception!

Me with Amanda at Anita's wedding

The rest of the trip out east

I have again gotten so very very very behind on my blog!

I've decided just to post some of my favorite photos from the past 6 months and start fresh with recent happenings. I was trying to play catch up, but it's ending up to be too overwhelming.

So, here's the rest of my trip out East...

I was feeling a little crabby at the aquarium in NC.

Saw the birthplace of Pepsi in NC!

Kissed a frog...no prince appeared! :(

At Cracker Barrel in NC with Dawn's mom (Diane) and her little girl (Caroline).
Aren't we all cute in our shades?!

Making cookies in TN with my niece-Betsy and her friend.

Me and my niece Daisy on vacation in TN.

Visiting Aunt Ruby in the nursing home in KY.

In KY with my little cousin Leah! Isn't she adorable?!

Trip East - day 8

On Saturday Keri and I decided to drive a couple hours into Maryland to do some site-seeing in Baltimore. Neither of us had ever been to that area, so we were excited to see what all was there!

I'm a HUGE fan of the Food Network and one show that I really enjoy watching is "Ace of Cakes" which is about a bakery (Charm City Cakes) in Baltimore. We did some sleuthing online and found the address for that bakery. Even though I knew we couldn't go in, I wanted to drive past it and get a few photos in front of it...

Me in front of Charm City Cakes

A random series of events ended with me meeting the star of the show Duff Goldman on the sidewalk outside of the bakery. I was a little star struck, but he was really cool and seemed happy to meet a fan!

I LOVE this photo of me & Keri in her car on our trip to Baltimore!

I'm always a big clown, so here's me in a "crabby hat" at Inner Harbor.

Me being silly again - this time with a bike sculpture in Baltimore.

Trip out East - Day 7

Friday, June 26th I spent sleeping in and relaxing all morning. My friend Keri only had to work a half day, so she found me in my jammies and on facebook when she got home from work! :) We ate a quick lunch and then headed out to the beach for the afternoon.

Keri and the helpful beach umbrella.

Me catching some rays!

For dinner we went to Lazy Susan's Crabs. We had soft shell crab here.

This was a half order that Keri & I shared...we only ate half of it!
SO MUCH FOOD!

Me by the Lazy Susan's banner out front. My mom used to tease me about being her Lazy Susan so I thought this photo was funny.

Trip out East - Day 6

My first full day in Delaware was relaxing and peaceful. Keri had to work at the hospital, so I didn't bother setting an alarm and slept until I woke up. I spent time reading and relaxing around the house. I then rode her bike to the market uptown and bought some groceries to make dinner that evening. After taking the groceries back to her house and grabbing some snacks for my lunch I rode her bike out to the beach...less than a mile away! I enjoyed the view for a while and then rode back to the little shopping area and spent a couple hours waling around the shops just looking mostly. Keri was home from work when I got back from my lovely afternoon in Lewes. We spent the evening chatting during dinner and a movie that we rented. It was a wonderful day!

The view of the beach in the afternoon.

Delicious fajitas that I made for dinner!

Trip out East - Day 5

Day 5 of the trip I parted ways with the Housholders. They went on to visit other friends in Virginia and I headed further east....to Delaware to visit Keri Swartzendruber, a friend who worked for me as an RA my second year at Goshen. She is a traveling nurse and ended up spending her summer in Lewes, DE and I went to see her for several days...

I looked for my Knight in Shining Armor along the way, but didn't find him in the Yankee Candle Store in Williamsburg. :{

On the way to Delaware I had to cross the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel. It is a 17 mile long bridge/tunnel structure...5 miles of bridge over water, 1 mile of tunnel under water, 5 more miles of bridge over water, another mile of tunnel under water, and 5 final miles over water.
This photo was taken at the gift shop/rest area on the bridge.
For more info on the CBBT go to:
http://www.cbbt.com/index.html

We ate dinner at Crabby Dick's of Delaware.

Here I am playing with my food! :)

I thought this hat was funny!

Keri was dismayed by this sign in the parking lot.

Posing with Anita the crab.

Trip out East - Day 4

Day 4 of our trip was also spent in Colonial Williamsburg. We toured the Governor's Palace, walked around town, went to an outdoor play, spent time in the hands on kid's area and watched the whistle & fife parade go through town. It was another fun and exhausting day! The kids were such amazing troopers through it all!

The Governor's Palace used a great deal of weaponry in it's decorating!

The kids enjoyed the maze in the backyard of the palace. Here is Marcus peeking through at me. Such a doll!

Kirsten & the kids pause for a photo in the garden.
Marcus, Simon, and Kirsten holding Leah

The Govenor's Palace from accross the lawn.

I caused a little trouble and got myself handcuffed and...

thrown in JAIL! :)

Making myself at home in the kitchen of the kid's hands on area!

I looked quite at home, don't I!

The whistle & fife parade! Simon LOVED this!