R is for Ronnebeck!

See? Tony ALWAYS starts the fights... First he picks on Shannon till she yells for Mom, then I try to step in and help out - and soon he has me in an arm lock and then I'm yelling for Mom. I remember fighting with my brother and sister when I was little just to fight. I think secretly all three of us were trying to drive Mom crazy - Sorry Mom. Since Tony ALWAYS started it... it ensued until Mom would raise her Mom Voice - I would answer "But Tony started it..." and Mom would reply "I don't care who started it; I'll END it!" then we would continue to punch and pinch on a smaller scale till the Mom voice came out again or until one of us (me) started to cry. I came across these photos today in my search for something to cheer up my desktop background and they made me laugh out loud . At what age do we stop picking on our siblings? For my brother? I think it will be once his sister's can hand it to him - and we're getting dangerously close even...

After reading my 'go eat worms' post - there was a card left on my desk by a co-worker this morning for a little pick me up. Thanks Min - it did make me smile!

After having a "No Body Loves me, Everybody Hates me... guess I'll go Eat worms" kind of a day yesterday I am trying to get back on the "quit feeling sorry for yourself" track. I am not 100% sure what's wrong, but I'm sure it's a mere blip in the radar of life, and I need to pull my head back on straight and figure it out... "let's go kid..." I can't really complain, I just returned from a weekend in Vegas with a great Girlfriend and we had the time of our lives... Oh yeah, and I live with this wonderful man who when I'm having a "no body loves me" kind of day, he totally feeds my ego - lets me cry, but not for too long... So with that, I give you ... my Slice of Life. Outside my Window - Can't really see outside my window right now... the sun is shining too brightly! ( YAAAY ) I'm thinking - that a big piece of chocolate could make the frowns upside down I'm thankful for - Eric ... I'm always thankful...

Today [well, Saturday] marks year #4 at my job! I never thought when I started job hunting in Seattle I would find a secure and wonderful place to work. I imagined myself hopping from job to job as a non college grad looking for a place to make a living. I lucked out – I found a job that I not only love but with a company I love and respect. I am proud and happy to say that it hasn’t felt like 4 years, and each and every day isn’t like pulling teeth – I can’t say that about some jobs I’ve had. Next year? Another week vacation (heck yeah!) Here’s to another 30 years! (or something like that). Love, -a

Happy Sunday from Ruhbarb the Tacoma Rainiers Reindeer! We went to our first Rainier's game of the season today! We went because Cliff Lee was pitching his rehabilitation game there! The line was clear across the parking lot to get in but it was worth the wait. Cliff Lee pitched 6 complete innings and we left when he was taken out, because he was the reason we went, the guy next to me was super annoying and we wanted to go over to Lee & Jessica's place in Tacoma to visit. After we left, we visited Lee & Jessica and then came home, ate some leftovers and now a little computer time before I hit the sack. I hope you all had a wonderful weekend!

So... In my haste to post photos from Vegas I forgot to post what is possibly my favorite photo of all time... okay maybe not... but it's pretty rad. Here I am chillin with Elvis. Turns out if your a man living in Las Vegas with a black wig, Guitar and a white leather suit you can be Elvis! I paid money for this photograph [on my own camera] and it was worth every red cent! Hope everyone is enjoying their weekends!

I've been so busy posting about Las Vegas that I haven't gotten a chance to post Eric's new herb garden! In honor of Earth Day (retrospectively) we planted Herbs on Monday. We have Basil (two pots), Parsley & Chives. We also repotted a cactus that we had that needed a bigger pot. Also, Aquaman turned two on Tuesday. I posted an older picture of him, but naturally like the crazy pet mom I am, I put on his birthday hat and gave him a frosty paw as his cake. I didn't buy the 2 candle for his birthday specifically ... i'm not THAT crazy - it was left over from my 25 th and since Eric didn't plan to use them again till my 52 nd I thought I would let Aquaman borrow it. I can't believe our little puppy is 2 all ready ! Oh and this counts for something new too because I've never had potted herbs before... only flowers :) -a

By Sunday morning we were almost completely burned out on Las Vegas. Not that we didn't love having girlie fun; but that place is exhausting. This picture pretty much describes Vegas for me; You are slightly moving around in awe of what is going on and the whole city is whirling around you at mach 5. I totally caught this photo by luck but I love it just the same. At some point during the trip we discussed tattoo's and even toyed with the idea of coming home with one each. But ultimately we thought our husbands would never let us go anywhere together if we came home tattooed so we went for second best and sought out Henna tattoo's . Mariya has had one in mind for a LONG time and thought Henna would be a good way to try out to see if having a tattoo on her forearm would be problematic in every day life. So here's her Ohm (I likely spelt that wrong). And here's mine on my calf - If [big IF for Eric and Mom] I ever get a tattoo I would have to be able to concea...

We really hit Las Vegas hard Thursday night and Friday that by the time Saturday Rolled around all we really wanted was some quality pool time! We rolled out of bed a little later and headed straight for Planet Daily's for some breakfast food. After Breakfast we headed straight for the pool. There were no chairs in sight open so we cozied up poolside and dipped our toes in. After about 15 minutes I crawled in because I'm half a fish and can't be near water without being IN the water. We hung out for a good couple of hours and then headed back to our room to assess the sun burn. We weren't sunburned too bad so we went to the mall in Planet Hollywood and tried out a water massage at the Zen Zone. We did the 7 minute massage and it was just perfect. We both rolled out of the booths dreary eyed and completely relaxed. And what do relaxed girls in Vegas Need? Giant slushy beverages! So we went to a daiquiris stand and got the half yard with a couple shots of rum. We en...

I don't know that I can even put into words how amazing LOVE was! Let me start with this, It's a Cirque Du Soleli Show and they do nothing half assed . Mariya and I left our hotel around 5 and headed over to the Mirage which is where LOVE calls "home". We took a cab and the cab dropped us off at the back door of the Mirage where this LOVE sign was. I was so excited I made her stop to take lots of pictures I love this logo so much! Oh and did I mention we got all ' babed ' out to go? We looked pretty good! I don't know what I was expecting from the show, but I know I wasn't expecting all the ambiance that was created from the moment you saw the entrance to the theater. RETRO!!!! All of the staff were dressed up like this - for the guys (and I never got a picture of the gals). The concession and gift shop workers all had retro shirts on as well! And the light up walk way was too exciting! We stood in front of this for awhile trying to get it to c...

(Paris - at night) As a side note as you read … My photos have gotten quite out of order and I’m no longer able to tell which went before what where and when. So… Instead of trying to make sense of them, I will just add little captions (like this) under them so you know what the heck the picture is. Thanks for riding along in my world of discombobulation! That being said you will see a little bit of Paris now, and a little when we actually went INSIDE it later We woke up around 8 am to get an early start on the day – we started ourselves off with a hearty breakfast of pastries and coffee from Starbucks; you can take the girls out of Seattle… you know the phrase. Any ways, then we walked around the Magic Mile Mall which is connected to Planet Hollywood (PH). We ran into a jewelry store and since Mariya and I both LOVE to shop for costume jewelry we were both sucked in at the words “50% off everything in the store”. We love to shop for jewelry because jewelry is pretty much one size fit...