Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!

I seem to be late posting on these holidays, but still I wish everyone a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! As for me I had a wonderful Christmas and birthday and am now a big 24 years old. Next year I will be a quarter of a century old...that's ridiculous!

Sickness

Yeah, this sucks...I finish all of my finals and I get a break from school and what happens??!! I get sick. :-(

Good luck to all!

Good luck to everyone with papers and finals and such! Oi veh!

Picture of the Month-December

Yeah, yeah, so Brad has gotten in 2 pictures of the month. He just has the most interesting pictures and many of them have to do with falling down or breaking something. Besides, this one fits this time of the year so well. Anyway, all I have to say is better luck next time Bradley.

Happy Late Thanksgiving!

Happy Late Thanksgiving to all. I hope you all enjoyed a nice holiday weekend. I sure did. I got to see my family, Ryan, and a bunch of my close friends from high school...I sure miss you guys!

Flying Cat

HAHAHAHA!!! I'm not sure if it is real or not, but this cat video is hilarious.

Wienerworld meets Blindmelon

This video has the best of both worlds, Wienerworld and Blindmelon! Two wonderful things from my past!

(Mac users - Control+Click the link and choose to "Save Link As.." then open from your computer)

Charlie Brown Thanksgiving

Hey everyone...tune into ABC at 7:00 pm tonight for Charlie Brown Thanksgiving!! YAY! And then Tuesday, December 2nd at 8:00 pm for Charlie Brown Christmas. These are what you call REAL cartoons!

Picture of the Month-November

Ok, so I lied...I did have the stuff to do the November picture of the month. So this is the ad/picture for the month of November. There is a crazy story behind this one. My friend Andy received this ad in a spam e-mail and thought it was me, so asked me if I had ever done any modeling. Of course I said no, and he then sent me this picture. Crazy, crazy. Click on the thumbnail and check it out.

Concert Announcement

If any of you are in town this weekend and have nothing to do you are welcome to come the University of Louisville School of Music New Music Festival. The Collegiate Chorale will be performing this Friday night, November 7 at 8:00 pm. Our portion of the concert is only 30 minutes long and will consist of some strange and beautiful repertoire.
The Symphony Orchestra will then be performing Saturday night at 8:00 pm.

Sorry I'm late

Sorry I am late with the picture of the month change for November, but my poor little ibook is in the shop for repairs. Right now I am stuck using the PEE CEE and the stuff I need for my picture of the month is on my ibook. I should be getting my apple back in a week, so it will just leave you in a bit of anticipation for the new picture of the month.

New Addition

Let's all welcome our new addition, Red Kitchen Aid Mixer, to the Tiffany/Ryan family. Here is an early picture of it, considering it will not be around until Christmas.

Pre-Congratulations

Pre-congratulations to Jill because she is getting married this weekend! I'm in the wedding and very excited. It will be a lot of fun! It makes me realize that we are big girls now! Unbelievable!

The Italian Job

Finally got to see the movie The Italian Job this weekend. It was great...mostly because it has Mini Coopers in it. Check out the site.

Happy Birthday Kirsten!

Yippee, now you're legal! Happy 21st Birthday, Kirsten!

Wonderful, Wonderful Wastes of Time

Here are the top waste of time games on the internet that I've found. If you have others feel free to suggest!

1. Copter Game

2. Fly Guy

3. Text Twist

Bread Sad

How sad that Bret has discontinued his blog. :(
He did this a while ago, but I was looking through peoples' blogs, got to his, and it's all gone. All that work, down the drain; therefore, I will be removing his link on my page in the next day or so.
Let us all mourn for Bret's blog.

Picture of the Month-October

This month's picture is in honor of my friend Brad who, yes, in this picture has successfully broken a bed. Congratulations Brad!

Last Night's Concert

Last night we had a showcase concert featuring the Collegiate Chorale, University Chorus, and Cardinal Singers. It was a great concert and we all enjoyed singing it. The best part about it is that I got to conduct a piece with the Chorale. Here is a picture of me directing the Chorale. Yippee!

Which Homestar Runner Charater are You?

Take the quiz to find out which Homestar Runner character you are.

I am Marzipan. I hate Marzipan.

Or here is another Homestar Runner quiz to fine out which character you are.

Eric Whitacre

Actually Ryan should be posting this on HIS blog, but since he probably won't it gives me something to put on mine. Eric Whitacre, a big composer in the music world, is coming to Lexington next week to do a lecture and a concert at Transylvania University. While he is there, he will be hosted by a local high school...can you guess whose high school this could be???? YES, you're right, it's Ryan's high school! Eric Whitacre will be attending one of Ryan's choir classes at Lafayette High School! It's really a big thing and Ryan is very excited.
Check out the Eric Whitacre website.
This article about Whitacre's opera on the Apple website is pretty cool too.

Bad Tiffy

So, yes, I am being scolded by Bret for not posting in a very long time. I was doing so well this summer, but the whole school thing started again and there isn't much time. There isn't a whole lot to post about right now either. If something really good happened then I would post it. But nothing has.

Happy Birthday Ryan!!

Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday dear Ryan, Happy Birthday to you!
Enjoy your day!
I love you!

Girl of the Week

So Ben, Brad, and Barry have started this great idea of having a "Girl of the Week." One girl is chosen to be the girl of the week and is invited to their apartment for a lovely evening. Brad cooks a meal, (I had spaghetti, salad, and brownie), then we play a little James Bond! Woo Hoo! It's really nice and I was the first to be chosen! What an honor!

September 29th Concert

Hey Everyone! I would like to invite you to come to the UofL Showcase Choir Concert on Monday, September 29th. It will feature the Collegiate Chorale, University Chorus, and Cardinal Singers. It starts at 8:00 pm and will only run about an hour. Each choir will perform approximately 15-20 minutes and I will be conducting a piece with the Collegiate Chorale. This will be a piece that I will do on my Graduate Conducting Recital in February, information on that coming soon! :) Hope you can make it!

Lovely Apartment

I have been down at Ryan's in Lexington (that sounds like a bar's name) this weekend and his place looks great! Before I left the last time we finished putting out things, and arranging things, and hanging pictures. When I came down this time I brought our buffet that we bought to match our dining table and chairs. We moved it into his apartment and we copied off of Janice and hung our paintings/drawings of places we have been Europe above the buffet. It looks fan-damn-tastic! You all should try to come down and see it...oh, and Ryan too, of course. :)

Happy School Starting

To those of you who are still in school like me, I wish you all "Happy School Starting" and good luck this year!

Picture of the Month-September

A picture of my dear Ryan, whose birthday is on the 16th of September, is the picture of the month for September. Isn't he so cute?!

My Own Domain

I have a challenge for you all...I need a suggestion for a domain name. I am going to try to have my own domain. For an example I will use our friend Kirsten. Instead of being a part of bretw.com, Kirsten is her own vottleobodka.com. I need something creative, something simple, something that suits me just like vottleobodka suits Kirsten. hehe. Please help me in my quest to find the perfect domain name. (Maybe there will be a prize involved for the domain name I like best.)

Stream of Consciousness

Ok, so I'm sitting here in Ryan's basement trying to think of something to type in my entry, but nothing came to mind,

then I thought of doing a stream of consciousness entry, which is what I am doing right now, but earlier today at Ryan's house we saw three deer outside his basement window/door, they were so pretty, two fawns and a doe, and Ryan commented on the spots that the fawns had and said I wonder if they will keep their spots, and I said no, that they only have the spots for protection, it's a type of camoflauge, did I spell that right, and then they lose their spots when they get older, I don't remember where I learned that, but Ryan didn't believe me, but I know I'm right, right?? I don't know if this is really a stream of consciousness entry, because I just talked about the deer for a big chunk of the paragraph, oh well, I almost typed paragraphy, but anyway, I think that's about enough for right now, I don't think I will do another stream of consciousness entries, I don't really like it, I hope this wasn't too annoying, have a good evening in your own stream of consciousness lives.

Online All the Time

YAY!! Guess what?? I now have cable modem!! That's means I don't tie up the phone line when I'm on the internet, that means I can use my away message on ichat/IM, that means I don't have to wait to dial-up, that means everything is faster, that means mom and dad and I can be online at the same time, that means I can be online all the time...
It also means I have a new e-mail address. I won't be using my tiffers@epowerc.net anymore. You can either send to tiffers@mac.com or my new tiffersnh@insightbb.com.

He's a Big Kid Now

Ryan starts his first job today. I'm so excited for him! I think he will do very well. Good luck Ryan!

Blackout

I'm sure all of you have heard about the "Blackout of 2003" (I hate when the media labels things going on like that.) by now. That was pretty amazing! I had heard on the news last night that Indianapolis prevented us from losing power because we are on the same northeastern power grid. Interesting, huh?

Arm Exercises

This is kinda random, but I'm trying to work on my arms and make them bigger and more muscular. I have five different exerices I do for my arms, but was wondering if any of you who may work out have any suggestions. I want noticeable arm muscles, ya know, like Jennifer Garner arms!!

He's Moved In

Ryan is finally moved in. It took a lot of work, but with the exception of some small things he is moved into his apartment in Lexington.

Tomorrow is Our Moving Day

Ya know like, Tomorrow is my dancing day, but not. Anyway, now that I have said that, Ryan is moving tomorrow. My parents, his parents, and Andy Raker are helping in the move. I hope it goes smoothly. From packing up all of his stuff I NEVER want to move again. It's too much work. I couldn't imagine those of you who move to college and then back home and then back to college and then to a different apartment, and so on and so on... I like to stay put. But alas we will probably be moving again in a year, or at least I will be to join my love in Lexington. hehe. Well, that is all for now. Good night to all.

Everybody's Movin'

Good gravy, everybody is moving! Ryan, Bret, Courtney & Alisha, Jennie! It's a moving-fest! It makes me think of the song by Kermit the Frog and his gang..."Movin' Right Along"
I know, I'm a dork.

Packing Up

So Ryan got a call from the apartment people in Lexington on Tuesday and they said that he can move in earlier which means he will be leaving this weekend instead of the following weekend. It's finally starting to hit me that he's going to be gone. It's going to be hard not seeing him considering we've never been apart the whole 5 years we've been dating.
Well, just wish us luck on his move.

New Furniture

Guess what?? Ryan and I bought our first piece of furniture together yesterday. It's a wooden dining table and four chairs and a buffet to go with it. It is in the Shaker style and it's so cute! We don't have it yet because we had to order the buffet and it won't be in for a week or two and Ryan doesn't move until next week so we just left the table and chairs there to store for right now. It's so much fun!

Kirsten, do you remember??

Hey Kirsten, this is a random thought, but do you remember when a bunch of us were out at Don Pablos and you ordered fajitas, but pronounced it FA-JI(the j sound)-TAS?? Just curious.

Picture of the Month-August

The picture chosen for the month of August is one that not everyone will know about, so I shall share the story.

As you can see, the picture is of a concrete cowboy. This cowboy was discovered when Tiffany Lemons, Eli Day, Derrick Pedolzsky, and I were on a Danger Run on Halloween. We were lost with our directions and I pulled into a driveway to turn around. In the process of turning around I almost ran into this lovely concrete cowboy sitting on a stump! (It is funnier if you were there.) Anyway, so the cowboy became a running joke. It became so much of a joke that it was stolen from its home on Blackiston Mill Road and left on my front porch. This cowboy was then passed from me to Tiffany then to Eli to be held by each of us for a year. After the three years were up it was kindly returned to its owner. On the same day that Eli returned it to the location on Blackiston Mill Road, I went by and took this picture. Unfortunately the cowboy did not return to its place on the stump because, as you can see in the picture, after the three years of being away it had been replaced by a concrete angel. Nowadays you can drive by the house on Blackiston Mill Road and view the stump that used to house the concrete cowboy.

Bret's Site - THE Video

Hey Everyone! You need to go check out Bret's site. Look at his entry on July 28 entitled THE Video. It is hilarious!

Wedding Plan Update

So the wedding plans are going well. I've got quite a bit booked. So far we have the church, the reception hall, the organist, cake lady, person to do the invitations, my dress, the wedding party, the florist, videographer, and some small things. I'm trying to decide on a photographer now. It's really difficult because they are so expensive! Hopefully I can get it decided before school starts again. It's been fun so far!

Hello Bill & Marilyn!

Welcome to my blog! Not much going on today, just helping Mom clean the house. Hope you enjoy looking through my blog. I guess I should stop typing, so I can go help. Thanks again for the soup recipe. Have a good day!

Congratulations Ryan!

Such wonderful news!! Ryan got an excellent job in Lexington for this coming school year. It is a high school choral position at a performing arts school. The school is Lafayette High School. This is a pretty big job and he will be very busy this year, but I'm sure he will have fun. I'm so excited for him, but when he moves I will miss him so much!

Sight-Seeing in Germany

We had a great time in Germany. In Berlin we were able to do a lot of sight-seeing. This picture shows one of the remaining areas of the Berlin Wall in its original place. There is a fence around the wall to prevent people from breaking off chunks. We also were able to go to a concentration camp north of Berlin, called Sachsenhausen. This camp was more of a work camp than a death camp. It was really interesting to see.

I'm Home!!

YAY! I just got home from our trip. We were supposed to get in last night (Thursday night) at 9:00 pm, but our flight from Chicago to Louisville was cancelled due to weather. We got a hotel and spent the night in Chicago and left on a flight this morning (Friday) at 10:50 am. That's about all right now. I'm hungry, gotta go. Tata.

Day 2 in Berlin

We had a good, but tiring day today in Berlin. We went out and saw some neat things like the remaining bit of the Berlin Wall and also a museum called Topography of Terror (about the Holocaust stuff). It was pretty interesting. This city has a crazy history. We also saw the composer Felix Mendelssohn's grave and also the Singakademie where he went to school. It's pretty amazing! The only down thing is that I have a cold. UGH. It blows. (hehe)
Anyway, I'm tired and need to get to bed, so I can get better. Talk to you all soon. Gute Nacht.

Hello from Deutschland

Hello Eveyone! Yes again, I am in Germany. We just were in Wernigerode with the Cardinal Singers from UofL and competed in a choral competition. The group won in the Gospel category and got a gold rating in the Chamber Choir category. It was a lot of fun and we did well. We were well liked by the townspeople and the people involved in the competition.
Now we are in Berlin. We do not leave until Thursday, so we have a few days to sight-see. We did a little bit today.
Anyway, we are doing well and having fun.
Aufwiedersehen!

A WONDERFUL Time!

Last night, Friday, was the best night I have had in a long time! Renee, Jennie, Christina, Leslie, Danny, Bret, and Ryan came over to my house. The reason was not a good one, (we were working on music to sing at Sam Day's funeral which was today), but the time spent together was wonderful. As you can see, aside from rehearsing, we returned to old habits, such as Jennie's amazing rocking trick above, and we talked about old stories. I absolutely love these people. Even though we don't get together as often as we should, it seems as if no time has passed since our last meeting and we pick up from where we left off. It's kinda sad to think that such a terrible thing brought us together, but then again, it brought us together and it is amazing to have wonderful friends like this who are so willing to be there when the going gets rough and you need them. I wish for everyone people like this in their lives.

Vote on a Honeymoon

Where should Ryan and I go on a honeymoon? Place your vote and give some reasons why.

1. Alaskan Cruise

2. Hawaii

3. Caribbean Cruise

4. Specific Island in the Caribbean

5. European Cruise

Picture of the Month-July

This picture is in honor of Bret, the creator of my blog! (Those are his real teeth too!) Without him I would still be in the stone age using pencil and paper for a journal.

Free Pack of Printer Paper

From now until sometime in the fall, I think September or October, Office Depot is giving a free pack of recycled printer paper to anyone who brings in an empty ink cartridge to be recycled. This is a great deal! We're helping the environment and getting free paper! I encourage you all to take advantage of this. You may have to check to see if your Office Depot is participating.

Kat's Vet Trip

Today dad and I took Kat to the vet. This has been his first trip to the vet since his traumatic leg experience (if you don't know, my cat is now a tripod, having only 3 legs). He did very well. He deserves a sticker.

GOTCHA!!!

GOTCHA MARSH!

Picture of the Month-June

In honor of Wienerwald and Jennie Bad Knee this picture has been chosen by the panel as June's picture of the month!

Mini Coopers

This is my next car!!! Maybe not in red though because they have a lot of colors from which to choose. Ryan is teaching me how to drive a stick-shift so I can get a Mini.
Check out the Mini Cooper site.

Recipes

I'm trying to collect good recipes...sort of as a hobby, so if you have one please share!

Wedding Dress

Here is a picture of my wedding dress. Isn't it beautiful?! :) I'm so excited! I went to Cincinnati to a bridal store to try it on and it was lovely, but a little too expensive, so I am having a lady make it.

Picture Pages

Do you all remember Picture Pages with Bill Cosby??? It was a tv show and he had this pencil or crayon or some kind of writing utensil. I just barely remember it. Let me know if you remember and refresh my memory about it.

Ryan and Me

Here is an old picture of Ryan and me.

Busy, Busy

Good grief...I come home from Germany and I am very glad to be home and excited to relax for a while and now this weekend I have two weddings to go to. Don't get me wrong, it's not that I don't want to go, it's just that I want some time to be lazy. :)
The first wedding is tonight, Amy Parker's, a friend from UofL and tomorrow afternoon is Brittany Denison's! I need to get my mental notepad out for these weddings to log ideas for my own!! Yippee!
Ok, that is enough for now. Ryan and I are going to run some errands.

Four Legged Cats

Just for the record...I don't mind four-legged cats (sorry Squeakie and Breezer). Bret was the one who decided to add that...although it was pretty funny.

Germany Trip

Since I was not able to write while I was in Germany I will write some stuff now, if I can remember. :)
The first part of the trip consisted of a choral competition. It was excellent. The choirs were fantastic. Not only was there a competition, but every night we went to a different town to here a concert given by two of the groups involved in the competition. It was a nice way to see the small towns of the area.
(We stayed in Martkoberdorf which is a quaint place in southern Germany close to Munich.) During the competition we stayed in this house that this family rents out. It was three floors: the family lived on the ground floor, someone else lived on the first floor and we were on the second floor. It was so nice, cheap, and she brought us breakfast every morning!
The later half of the trip was a choral conducting seminar. We conducted portions of music, and teachers would critique our work. It was definitely a learning experience.
Finally at the end of the trip we got to do a little bit of sight-seeing. We went to two different castles Neuschwanstein & Herrenchiemsee built by Crazy King Ludwig II (but he wasn't actually crazy.) The castle at Disney world was based on Neuscwanstein and Herrenchiemsee was patterned after Versailles.
We flew out of Munich and so also got to sight-see a bit there. In Munich we went to the Hofbrauhaus which is basically a huge beer garden!!!
Come back soon and I will have some pictures posted from the trip!
(Jennie, there is a surprise one especially for you!!!)

Sorry

Hello Everyone! I am very sorry that I haven't been writing in my blog. We didn't have regular internet service. :( Thanks for all the comments though!
Right now I am in Amsterdam getting ready to head back to the U.S.
The trip was wonderful and I will post some info on my blog when I am home.
(Ryan says hello too!)

Thanks Bread!

My good friend Bread (Bret) sent me an e-mail in the wee hours of the morning with an excellent idea...to create a web journal for me!!! I believe they may be called blogs, correct me if I am wrong. He thought of this in the perfect time, for I leave for Germany tomorrow and will be able record the happenings of the day on the web for all to see!
Well, thanks again to Bret and Ryan, sorry, I forgot, Ryan helped him with it and picked out the lovely flower background.
Good night to all and the next entry will be from good ol' Germany.