Ally Richied is cute!

As many people know, I love kids! They are all amazing in their own ways, and I am honored to have known so many kids in my life. I have kids in my life from working at Goddard, I have kids in my life who I've just known along the way, and of course the kids of my friends. One of my longest known friends, Jessica, lives in Seattle and has two adorable daughters. Jessica and I were re-united after literally 15+yrs when I lived in Enumclaw, Washington. We were BFFs during the time that NKOTB and Debbie Gibson were cool! Anywho: after we were re-united, I flew back to Seattle a few times to have dinner with Jessica. I've also been lucky enough to hang out with the girls.

Late last night, I received a picture message on my phone from Jessica with such a lovely surprise! Ally had made me a card saying that she wants to see me again in 2010. It is nice to know that the few times that I saw her, I made some sort of impact! She'll be surprised that all goes well, I'll be be back in September 2009! Her little card truly made my day, and am happy to have one more little pen pal! I seem to have them through various states! See you in September Ally & Kamdyn!

Willie the Bird

**Warning, I know many of my friends are animal lovers and I promise that this story turns out okay... just know that!!*

Yesterday after work, I was driving "home" to my parents house in Delaware after work. My Uncle Rob is in town, so I decided to head on to their house and visit for a while and enjoy his company. (Life is never dull with Rob in town!). I was driving along, talking to Jen on the phone - catching up on Autumn's growing like a weed and the fact that she's walking now (crazy!), when I thought I heard a soft thud on my window. I thought - what in the world was that?? So - I am continuing driving through the neighborhood and notice I see some feathers laying down by my windshield wiper. Seriously - I'm trying to pay attention to what Jen is saying, but all I can think of is "oh my god... I killed a bird." I finally tell Jen, I think I killed a bird... AHHH! I pull up to my parents house, and thankfully see my Dad outside watering his lawn. (It's Neil, he has to make it look as much as a golf course as he possibly can! He takes pride in his grass.) I get out of the car and tel him I killed a bird and ew ew ew, please get it off my car and run inside so I don't have to see the burial. Dad comes in the house, "the bird was alive." WHAT!? Unbelieveable! My Dad had placed the small bird in the tree near the road. Thankfully, I just knocked the wind out of the poor little bird and he just needed time to rest in the tree before flying off and learning to fly once again. Whew!

A few hours later, we went to check back at the tree and the bird was gone. It's a good feeling to know that he only had a mild "hangover" as we called it. My Mom & Dad leave to go downtown Delaware for a quick errand. They jump in the car, and start pulling away when my uncle starts to yell "Stop!" That silly little bird had hopped onto the bumper of my Mom's car and again - was hitching a ride. One would think this bird would learn not to jump on cars! It didn't work out in his favor the first time, and he should have learned his lesson. Cars are not his friend! Rob then retrieves the bird, and holds it in his hands for about 2 minutes until it flies away to one of the bushes.

Kate and I went to check on the bird repeatedly to make sure that all was well, and it had not tried to hitch-hike on an other cars driving down West Fountain Avenue. Kate decided that Mr. Bird needed a name, and it was Willie (It's William when he's in trouble...) Willie let us touch him; but would not let us hold him. We tried to pick him up, but he flew away to another branch.

Willie may or may not become a full-time resident at the Warren House on West Fountain Avenue, and we are happy to have him as a part of the family. Even better, I'm relieved that I did not kill Willie and just hopefully knocked some sense into him. :)

*Everyone, meet Willie Warren!

Team Buz - Walking in Memory/Honor of Loved Ones

This past weekend, I had the honor of walking in the Columbus Memory Walk, which directly benefits the Alzheimer's Association of Columbus. I have walked in these walks before, but this time was special and had true meaning to the reason I was doing it. One of my best friends of 13+ years, lost her father to a battle of Alzhemier's a few years ago. I saw the pain and suffering that not only he was put through, but the suffering the Courtney and her family experienced during this long battle. This was my reason for wanting to support Courtney in her want to do this walk.

In sending out my email is asking for donations (which I really hate doing to everyone; but this cause was very important!), I learned that one of the families who I cared for at Goddard also has a loved one who has recently been diagnosed with this disease. Knowing two families who are both very close to me, it made this even more special. I decided to kick this up a notch, and surprise not only Courtney - but the Brenner family as well with a small tribute to their loved ones. Michele had provided me with a picture of her Mom with a small email she had written me explaining their family's heart ache of the diagnoses of her Mom, and I knew I could get pictures of Courtney's dad with no problems. I made a quick trip to Wal*Mart and purchased the paper to transfer pictures on t-shirts and print pictures. Knowing that I could not get the pictures on the shirts prior to the walk (since we get the t-shirts that day!), Team Buz proudly walked through the walk with Harry and/or Barbara safety pinned to our shirts. This was not only a surprise to Courtney, but a surprise to both the Scott & Brenner families. It is the least I could do for being such amazing people in my life. Courtney wore a flower that indicated she was walking in memory of her Dad, and I wore a flower walking in honor of Barbara. It was VERY special to do this walk for a purpose, and for someone who you actually know.

Upon my arrive home, I transferred the pictures onto my Memory Walk shirt. I am proud to show my love and support by having these two individuals forever on my shirt! Knowing that the Alzheimer's Association's color was purple; I proudly sported my purple Nike capri's with my purple Memory Walk t-shirt. I'll be honest, I looked like Grimace from McDonalds. Unless you were at the walk - you will not see evidence of this outfit unless the smaller version of the team picture is an okay picture of me. :) Sorry folks, use your imagination! Though, it doesn't matter how silly I looked, it's the meaning behind my all purple outfit.
*Barbara Lanning: Grandmother to Olivia, Owen & Jack Brenner.
*Harry Scott: Father to one of my dearest friends, Courtney.
*Flower in the middle says (It's hard to read): In Honor of Barbara Lanning

After the walk, Team Buz decided to head to Clintonville and have breakfast at Northstar Cafe. I would like to give a shoutout to the place that has the most amazing smoothie in the world! Not only were the smoothies amazing, they were the prettiest things I've ever seen! ...and let me be honest, since I am on a bland diet - I have to be very careful what I eat, I chose to eat yogurt and granola. I've never been a fan of yogurt or granola - but I loved every bite that I had! It was amazingly good!

*Kate's Blueberry Smoothie, my Strawberry Smoothie, and Courtney's Shooting Star Smoothie. Mmmmmm!

End of the day, I am happy to have participated in this years Memory Walk and am looking forward to doing it every year in honor of those who are special to me as well as others!

The Wilderness Adventure

I am one of those people, who believe it or not, is known for their personality. (Yes, I am one of THOSE people...) and so I thought by starting my blogspot, I would try to bring some smiles to the lives of everyone around me. I've had this blog for what now - about a month and a half and I have TWO blogs? That's pathetic. I blame Heidi for my even starting the blog, because hers is so hilariously funny that I thought - "Okay Becca, you are funny... write something funny like Heidi does and make your friends laugh!" I used to write blogs, when myspace was cool, and I would always get comments back raving about my humor. I don't know what has happened, but I have hit an absolute brain freeze. I had the pleasure of spending some "non-work" time with Heidi last night while she was in town, and explained that my blogs topics that are currently floating around my life are just not funny! I mean, I could sit here and give you story as to why my digestive system hates me, or the million positions at work we are trying to fill that is making me sprout some early gray hairs, but - bottom line: that's not funny! I am going to try this again, and I am going to give you my best efforts on bringing a smile to your face. If it's funny - tell me, and I will continue to keep trying!

2009 has been an absoultely fun year - and we're only half done! It started with my close group of friends surprising me with a birthday trip to see a Psychic in the deep heart of scary Columbus (twice). Each reading was very different, but we all took away different elements... more so from the first lady who wasn't higher than a kite and stumbling all over the place. (If you haven't heard this story before - I'll fill you in later!) With that - the birthday surprises between our group has been pretty fun this year! It is really something we haven't done before - which fits my New Years Resolution to a T. "Do more fun and new things." Perfect. For Amy's bday we surprised her with a trip of crossing the Canadian Border into Niagara Falls and seeing the ultimate US/Canadian Tourist place... of course we also gambled away money at the slots which is always a blast! Courtney's bday is in July and she doesn't know where we are going, but I know she'll have a great time! For Mary's bday - Mary is a big fan of camping, so we thought - why not as a group, let's go camping! This is something I can honestly say I have not done in I would say close to 15 years. I don't own a sleeping bag, I don't own a latern, and lord only knows the only thing that fits my air mattress are my Pottery Barn sheets... but yet, I wanted to give this a whirl and again, try something new!

We spent a Saturday night in Hocking Hills, which for all of you who are not familiar with Ohio - it is a very picture perfect trail (Old Man's Cave) and always good for a beautiful walk. Courtney found a camp ground which was only miles from the cave, and thought it would be perfect for the night. Of course, she calls me in a panic before we leave and says she forgot the address to the campground back in Cleveland and all she could remember was that the webpage had a picture of a caveman on it... oh great! I search, and thankfully find it without too much searching. The campsite for our tent was only $25, this may be the cheapest lodging I'll ever (willingly) pay for. The girl at the shack tells us we can pick any site we want within a certain row of numbers - so we go on the hunt for the perfect site. We find a spot, decide to pitch our tent (while it's daylight and we're 3 girls who really let's be honest - don't "rough it" often. Courtney had purchased the Cadillac of tents - and literally it took up almost the entire site. With our three air mattresses in it - we all three could have rolled around and never touched anyone! It was HUGE! Mary and I were very impressed with her purchase, to say the least! My job was to pretty much unpack the car while the two other girls pitched the tent. Once it was up and perfect, we set off to find the outhouses. We were camping, so we were well aware that we were really going to be roughing it with outhouses. To our delight, we found an actual BATHROOM WITH RUNNING WATER! Granted, it wasn't the prettiest or cleanest - but it wasn't an outhouse, so we really didn't care. Included: two shower stalls! None of us brought shower things, so forget that! But, we were pretty impressed that we had the option if need be! Our site is set, and it's time to hike...

We head to the hills to do some exploring, walking and picture taking. I decide not to take my normal tennis shoes - rather my Pumas which are cute and match my outfit. That might have been the dumbest move in all my life. You tell me that if you're by waterfalls - and going down steep rocks... are shoes w/ no real grooves good for walking? NO! I nearly fell once, but thanks to Courtney's quick reflexes - she grabbed my camera bag and saved me. (Thanks, Snot!) We had a fabulous walk - it was just as beautiful as I remembered. The sun was shining through the trees - and it was a perfect day!

After a few hours of hiking, we decide it's time for going back to the camp ground and attempt to start a fire in our pit. Mary brought logs, Courtney brought news paper, I brought a box of 100 matches - we should be golden. We start a little fire (I mean - the flame was little), and it goes out. So - we try again - throw in some more paper, throw a match in... andddd it goes away yet again. Literally - we do this for roughly an hour and a half... match in... gone. Paper in, paper on fire, logs not staying lit... and gone! At this point, I'll admit it - I just wanted a hotdog and toasted marshmallows! Exhausted from running around the campsite looking for logs, we thought it would be wise to go down to the little store just down the road and buy some sort of lighter fluid. (We had been to the store right before we started working on the fire, and we even saw the lighter fluid - but we totally thought we would be able to do it on our own. Dumb!) Mary and I make the journey to the store, buy some lighter fluid (and ice cream cones!) and head back to the campsite. Ladies & Gentlemen: After nearly 2 hours of working on the fire - the lighter fluid was key! We had a fire, we had cooked hot dogs, and we had toasted marshmallows! Ironically, before we went camping - Courtney and I had talked about how we were worried we would look like fools trying to start a fire. We talked ourselves into, we are 3 smart people and it should be NO issue. (Again, dumb!)

There is our fire - finally! It's hard to tell - but I promise that it was lit and it was working!

End of the day - did I enjoy my "roughing it" in Hocking Hills? I LOVED IT! I never knew how nice it really could be to sit in the middle of the wilderness, no cell phone service and just relax. I didn't think of work, I didn't think of life's troubles and I didn't worry about what was to come in the upcoming week. Instead, I sat there all weekend and enjoyed myself and bonded with nature and had a great time and would absolutely do it again in the snap of two fingers. The next time we will be a little more prepared. We will have: Nature-Friendly shoes, lighter fluid, and a sleeping bag that I didn't have to borrow from my pal, Mindy. I am looking forward to my next "Wilderness Adventure" and cannot wait to sleep under the stars once again!

Difficult Goodbyes

It's been awhile, I know! But, don't think that I am slacking - because that is certainly not the case. Actually, it's been the complete opposite of slacking and have been busy in maintaining my New Years Resolution of attempting to have more fun! I'm in a place in my life right now where it is absolutely critical to have fun. Though, like all people - we wish we had more $$ to have even more fun! So, my fun is limited in small portions! I'll tell more of my fun next week, after my fun-filled weekend. I'm going to keep this blog to be sappy and sweet and actually makes me kind of sad!

For a week and a half, my family and I spent some time up in Alaska on vacation. The reason for this trip was primarily to join in the celebration of my cousin, Keya's, high school graduation. We spent 3 days in Sitka, which is a small beautiful island town. You cannot get to the town by car, you have to take boat or plane. Seeing her was great fun since we don't get to see her often! Additionally, we were able to visit with my Uncle Rick, Aunt Debby, Grandpa Hal, Grandma Helen and Great Aunt Dolores. Being in Ohio, we are not lucky enough to see our relatives as often as we would like. Keya's graduation was just the perfect time to reconnect with everyone and see each other again. Leaving Sitka was hard, only because we all know that we don't see Keya, Rick & Debby enough. We are all so far away and that opportunity really never arises. Spending time in Kenai with my Grandparents for a few extra days was also a treat - because though we see them a little more, it is always fun to see them as much as we possibly can! I can only hope that we don't wait another 6 years to do this again...

A few weeks ago, I received news that one of the families that I have babysat the longest were moving to Alabama. I heard the news, and of course was sad to see the Dunsmore Family leave Ohio. I've known them since before Colin (now 6 yrs old) was born, and they have always been very special to me. I cannot be more thankful to have watched Colin & Nolan grow to who they are today. Yesterday, I went to go say my final goodbye before they journey off on Friday morning. For those of you who know me, when it comes to this stuff - I am an emotional basketcase. Hugging those boys goodbye, and having them tell me how much they were going to miss me (followed up with "Miss Becca, will you send me presents?"), really tugged at my heart! Not to mention hugging their parents who have not only allowed me to be apart of their kids lives, but who are truly a part of my family. Joe & Sheryl have done a lot for me throughout the years, and their gratitude for the times I shared with those amazing boys is something that I will never forget. I owe Sheryl so much - and she knows this. Nearing graduation at Ohio State, I had no idea what I was going to do with my life, and she gave this girl a chance at Staffing at Cardinal Health. She went on a whim, only knowing that I work well with children... because of her, I would not be in the position that I love today. (I guess she knew that I would use my babysitting/daycare skills for monitoring adults!) :)

Colin & Nolan surprised me with a mug with their picture to remember them... though I don't need a mug to remember those smiles! Did I cry in their presence? Thankfully, no. However, going to the car and calling my Mom and telling her how sweet everyone was with their goodbyes caused tears. I'm going to miss those boys tremendously (Sheryl & Joe too!). How could I ever forget Colin's big blue eyes and gummy smile as a baby, or Nolan's sweet and gentle spirit?! I will miss the entire Dunsmore Family with all my heart, but wish them well on their travels to Alabama. I never had a reason to visit Alabama before, but now I know of 4 reasons to visit! Love to you all!

*My mug with two grown and adorable boys. :(