...Amazon.com!

Could you imagine what the Amazon.com store would look like? Like, if it were a store in your town (not on the internet), just down the street from Smith's (which my GF and I absolutely love...and miss), and you actually got to walk in. First off, better than Walmart, which I also love, but hate the lines. Second, it would literally have everything you ever needed and more. It would have all the stuff it normally has, but if they didn't have it, the back alley would open up to all those people that sell their stuff through Amazon. So, really, you could get ANYTHING you've ever wanted.

The ceramic jars you've been dying to have are in aisle 17, the brass napkin rings are in aisle 25, the extra shoelaces with pictures of Spongebob are in aisle 41, the wart remover cream is in aisle 87, the feather free pillows are in aisle 119, the Accounting textbook for class is down the back alley 3rd table on your left, and the human size robot 11th table on your right! All those things and more are offered there...one stop shopping! You could get all those items new or used and the farther "out back" you walk, the cheaper it all gets! You could even sell those things at your own table out back 59th table on the left once you have no use for them anymore!

But then, who wants to do all that walking anyway, so I guess that's why we love the internet! We have aisles 17, 25, 41, 87, and 119 right in front of us and the back alley is a click away! AND, somebody else delivers it all right to your door! Are we getting lazy? Does the Amazon.com store on Wyoming blvd. have mall walkers? Imagine getting a large heavy box of something and having to carry it all the way back down the alley, through the store, and to your car...instant weight loss program! But then again, our fingers get a good workout going type, type, click, click!

So, next time you're on Amazon.com, remember to thank them for making Life so easy!

~Chix

...Cute Kids!

I'm not lying when I say my niece and nephew are THE CUTEST KIDS in the world! Okay, maybe it's a bit biased, but if you saw them, you might agree. I've seen lots of cute kids in my days, but these 2 are probably the best you'll find ANYWHERE! Okay, so I'm really REALLY biased, but just when you think they couldn't get any cuter, they do something that melts your heart! My nephew is 6 weeks old and still hasn't hit his "Born On" date, I've seen him twice in person, I've held him once in my arms, and I've seen millions of pictures...and he's beautiful. I know that's such a girly term, but since he's so little I can still say that. He is absolutely gorgeous and looks just like my nephew! Yes, I meant to say that because he looks just like himself...nobody else...he may do things that resemble my brother or others in the fam, but he's himself (his little self). He's got these great big brown eyes...at least they looked brown when he opened one for half a second while I was holding him. He's got a great smile and I'm pretty sure he's very excited to finally be home to meet his sister and his auntie! Okay, and probably the rest of the family too!

My niece is 4 and a half and although has her moments that make you want to punish her for the rest of her life, she does something that makes you want to reward her for the rest of her life. If I knew how to work this blog site, I'd post the cutest video in the world of her holding her knew brother and she says, "He's my bestest brother I've ever had!" He's gazing up into her eyes and she's so lovey-dovey with him that they both win awards for the CUTEST KIDS EVER!!!! And my brother wrote the other day that he caught her cutting her own hair...CUTE! And then he caught her rubbing nail polish remover on her face, just to notice it was because she had nail polish on her face...again CUTE! We've all been that age and have done this stuff before, maybe even worse. Lucky for me, I'm just the auntie who gets to see her on the good days. My poor brother and sister have her everyday and deal with the good and the bad, but I'm pretty sure that when they go to bed every night, they thank the lord for giving them the 2 CUTEST KIDS IN THE WORLD!!!!

So, for all you other kids out there, you may be cute, and do really cute stuff, but you'll never add up to my niece and nephew, who are worlds above everyone!

~Chix

...Life!

Life sneaks up on you when you're not expecting it to. Silly thing called Life! You are living it everyday, but sometimes you can actually feel yourself going through the motions. You don't know where it's gonna lead you either. You are on a specific path in your Life, but you really don't know what's behind every corner. For instance, I am creating my Life path as I write this...I've committed to writing my blog (almost) every day, but who knows what I'm gonna write about until I put my fingers to the keyboard. I may have mapped out a topic a few days prior, but I'm not sure what I'm gonna say as I write. It's like creative writing...it's creative Life-ing!

Each member of the New Orleans Saints woke up this morning knowing that their Life was on a new and adventurous path. The set out to make it to the Superbowl, and through some process, they ended up winning the most important game of the season to get to the Superbowl...Life got the best of 'someone' last night and put the Saints on that track instead of the Vikings. Even the Colts process wasn't easy, but 'someone' helped turn things around and they too have made it to the Superbowl path. Life brought excitement for those 2 teams, and for the other 2 teams, Life brought relaxation after a long hard fought season.

As for me, Life has brought me some crazy days, some fun days, some tired and lazy days (lots of those actually), some smart days, some motivated days, some angry days (few), some loving days, some stressful days, some sad days, and some happy happy days. I thank Life for all it brings to me because it has made me the person I am today and it makes me want to keep Life-ing everyday!

So, next time Life brings you lemons (oh, you've heard that one before?) Okay, next time Life gets in your way, just remember "That's Life!"

~Chix

...snow in Albuquerque!

It snows in Albuquerque very rarely, but when it does, the temperature drops to low 30s and everyone seems miserable! Except for those who love snow and understand that if it snows in Alb then it snowed even more in the top ski places. I don't ski. Never been before. Maybe I'm good at it, but I've never gone. Not much desire to go out into the cold and fly down the side of a mountain when I can be at home where it's warm and there's cold beer in the fridge! Just my opinion of course and I think it's great that there are so many people who love to ski and who can take my GF whenever she wants to go (when her knee is feeling okay of course). I feel really bad about that...the fact that I've never gone snowboarding or skiing and my poor GF hasn't been able to go, but once, since she's had her knee surgery (4 years ago)! The one time she went she said it hurt like hell, so I'm not sure when she's gonna go back up to the mountain top, but I'll be cheering her on while I watch a football game in my pajamas on my couch!

Anyway, whenever there is some crazy weather in Alb, you wouldn't know it if you slept in. It can rain, snow, freeze over, and melt within 4 hours, so if you're doing a project or watching a movie, you'll probably miss it. If you are flying into Alb from anywhere and your plane is delayed because of bad weather in Alb, you wouldn't know it when you finally arrived. This is the one place where you can get all 4 seasons in one day. I woke up at 9:30 and there was snow covering the ground...it's 11:00 now and you wouldn't even know it snowed!

Anyway, I'm just glad there's no wind...that's what really makes the cold suck! I spent 10 days in Sarasota, Florida at the beginning of January and everyday there was colder and more windy than today. I still had a great time, but it made for a cool day at the beach and only one day of fun in the sun that was spent at the ballfields anyway! Oh well, I wouldn't trade it in for anything. Although if it were warm, Candy wouldn't have seen ANY of my games! And she would have come home with a really bad sunburn! Gotta love it!

So, next time you wake up to snow, take a picture, cause it lasts longer!

~Chix

...School!

I'm a chronic student! I am nearing my last days as a Masters of Accountant student and I'm more nervous about what I'm gonna do after I graduate. I mean, I know what I want to do, but I keep thinking maybe I'll take some classes! Most of you are thinking, "She crazy!" and others are thinking, "That's just like Roshelle!" and some of you are saying both! But honestly, I love school. I like buying the books, going to class, learning stuff, highlighting my books, tabbing my books, and sometimes doing homework! I know, I sound really geeky and nerdy, but it's true.

Now that I've gotten all that out...my 2 classes are gonna be brutal this semester! I have Financial Accounting 3, which is taught by this professor who seems to have a lot of fun. He is very smart and knows what he's doing, which is probably why he talks so fast and speeds through his lecture. I'm already knee deep in reading material and homework. My other class is Assurance Services which deals with Auditing, which is going to be a whole lot of memorization. So, as much as I love school, there comes a time when I have to sit back and evaluate how I'm gonna make it through each semester (alive). This semester is going to be a lot of study time, reading, working problems, studying, memorizing, study groups, reading, and studying.

So, if I don't answer on the first ring, call back in June!

~Chix

...being TOO nice!

I have sort of a problem, and my GF will confirm, that I am sometimes TOO nice! Now, I say 'problem' because it can be a problem when people start taking advantage of me. And she's very quick to point this out to me! She is very strong and independent and does everything for herself, but really hates the fact that I let people 'use' me. Well, I understand where she's coming from because she's always worked so hard for anything she's ever wanted in this world. I have worked hard too, but sometimes I let people get the better of me and I help them in lots of ways...whether it's money, time, kind words, or something else, I'm a very giving person. Don't get me wrong, I can still be mean if I feel like it, but I usually don't feel like it! I also don't go giving strangers money like the guys on the side of the road...although I did give a lady with 2 dogs some spare change (the story follows below) and I gave a guy with a Broncos hat a dollar!

I'm not sure why I'm like this, but there's always been something inside of me that says to take care of people. I remember when I was younger (early college) I would ask my dad for money. If I asked him for $50 then he'd give me $100...if I asked for $100, he'd give me about $140. He said, "if I need $50, then I might need just a bit more!" So true! He was a wise wise man...a wise wise man! So, I sort of figured if I am in a position to give somebody 'just a bit more' then I will. I'm hoping that one day it'll come back to me 2-fold!

Please understand that my GF is a very VERY giving person...she always thinks of others before herself ( and I love her for that), but she has no problem saying NO! I'm not quite sure how to say that! I am capable of saying, sorry I can't help at this time, but I seem to always find a way! I just hope it comes back around before I'm tapped out!

So the story with the lady with the 2 dogs: One day I had a presentation in one of my classes on certain aromatherapy and massage points on the feet to help you relax. I removed my ring and watch so I could demonstrate the pressure points with the aromatherapy oils without getting them all greasy. I went through the rest of my day at school and went home after classes. Tash and I decided we needed to go buy some essentials at Walmart, so we made a quick trip. When we were leaving the store there was a homeless lady with 2 dogs sitting out front playing music and had something out to collect donations. I used to carry all my change in my pockets back then so I had a handful of coins to give her and we pet the cute cute dogs and went on our way! So, the next morning Tash woke up to me in tears in the bathroom because I couldn't find my ring...the ring she gave me! And then it clicked: I took it off for class, put it in the pocket with the change, and gave it to the homeless lady! SHIT! We spent the whole day driving around looking for that lady and checking out pawn shops...to no avail! Very upset and depressed that evening, I returned home from school to find that Tash bought me a new ring that I still wear to this day! She is truly an amazing friend!

So, next time a friend asks you for something, if it's not outrageous, maybe you can find a way to help them!

~Chix

...Asking Questions!

I am terrible at asking questions. I mean, I ask questions when I need to know certain answers, but according to some close friends of mine, I don't ask all the questions I should be asking. For instance, if I happened to run into an old friend who is engaged to be married, I would tell them congratulations and maybe ask when the wedding was. Thinking ahead about how excited someone would be once I told them who I saw, and that she was getting married, and how she looked, and when the wedding was, I thought they would be excited to hear what I had to say. WRONG! I was supposed to ask how he proposed? What shape her ring was? Where she's getting her dress? Who the bridesmaids are? How her parents are? Where she's living? Where she's working? If she's been in contact with anyone else? Is she pregnant? Etc, etc, etc.

It all started with my dear friend Cassy. She is the queen of questions! She knows exactly what to ask to get all the juicy details about anything. I don't know how she does it, but I do know that she'd get very upset with me when I didn't ask all the right questions. She'd always ask me what the ring looked like and I'd never know! Then it moved on to Natasha. She never had tons of questions, but really liked details about stuff. I felt like I forgot to enroll in the college course of Proper Question Asking 101. She wanted to know what they were wearing (an issue of my memory which I've discussed before is not what it should be), she'd want to know if they've talked to so-and-so recently, or what they've been up to for the last few years. The best thing about Tash is that she actually knew all these answers from her CSI-like ways on MySpace and Facebook. She could probably have told me who I would run into when I went to the mall next week! Then there was Jamie...she asks lots of questions. The only difference is that they're always about how YOU are doing. That's nice. Sometimes I'd discover new things about myself that I never knew because I'd never questioned myself before. And now I have my lovely Candy! I always make fun of her because she repeats herself a lot, but I'm pretty sure it's to test my memory! She asks me questions about everything and luckily, because I'd probably forget to tell her things if she didn't ask. I know that's not a healthy way to have a relationship, but I think after 4 years she understands that my memory is going as I get older! She reminds me of stuff when she asks questions, so I'm luckily not as forgetful when she's by my side. Important NOTE: That is NOT why I keep her around! Anyway, she encompasses all the question asking qualities of Cassy, Tash, and Jamie, because she asks lots of questions, wants to know the details, and wants to know about me. Important NOTE: THAT'S why I keep her around...she's actually into ME!

So, next time you want to know something from or about me...just ask Candy!

~Chix