My Fave Songs

I am stealing this idea from my dear friend, Rebecca. She posted a blog regarding songs that she could listen to over and over that were her favorite songs. They are also songs that are so not cool and you are like - huh? Really, are you serious? I have included a few of my own favorite songs that I would never skip if they came up on shuffle mode on my iPod. They are usually ones I love to belt out to when I am alone at home or in my car. Enjoy! :)

Sailing by Christopher Cross





Raindrops Keep Falling on my Head by BJ Thomas



Never Ending Story by Limahl (it reminds me of my childhood, ok?)




Say My Name - Destiny's Child




Hello by Lionel Richie




If You Don't Know Me By Now by Simply Red




I Belong To You by Lenny Kravitz





Escape (Pina Colada Song) by Rupert Holmes

Eastern Caribbean Cruise - 2009

Wow. It has been awhile since I last blogged. I'm not going to apologize - life just happens!

We closed on our house right before Christmas and moved 2 days after Christmas. What a whirlwind of activities! It was stressful, to say the least. Anyone who has moved knows. We have been in our new home for a month now and we are loving it! There are just a few more rooms that need some work, including a dresser for our bedroom. I don't know how long I can stand living out of boxes for my clothes. The condo is listed and we are hoping to sell this as soon as we can. If we are not having any luck, then we will try and get a renter in there. You never know with how the market is these days!

Two weeks after we moved in, Troy and I headed out to Florida where we departed on our 7 day Eastern Caribbean Cruise. We had a blast! We had been to this part of the world before on a cruise, but we visited a couple of new islands we had never been to. Troy has been writing about some of our adventures, you should check out his blog! Our itinerary was Princess Cays on Eleuthera Island (Bahamas), St. Maarten, St. Thomas (we took a ferry from here to St. John and turned out to be our favorite island this trip) and last but not least, Grand Turk. The weather was great - except for a scare I had the first night on the cruise, which Troy also mentions in one of his stories. I have a wild imagination and my mind comes up with so many different scenarios. I am paranoid, I know :)

I was going to add some photos, but looks like Troy put all my favorites on his blog. Thanks Troy! Here is one to spice up the entry:

Turk Bay - St. John. I want to go back one day!

New House and Mini-Vacation

So I mentioned briefly in my last post that Troy and I bought a house. We are so excited! We are supposed to (crossing my fingers) close on it this week. Our first intention was to move in the weekend before Christmas (i.e. next weekend) but I think we are going to spend Christmas for the last time in our condo and move the weekend after Christmas. I wish I had saved some photos of it! It is a twin home in Taylorsville, right off of 48th South and 740 West - right on the border of Murray and Taylorsville. It's in a cul-de-sac and there are horses behind our fence. We have a yard (that's a first for me!) and a dishwasher - which we have been living without for over 3 years now. It's 3 bedrooms, 1 1/2 bath, 1 car garage AND a carport. WAHOO!

Last weekend I was able to fly out with my mom to see my sister and her family in California. They live right outside of Sacramento in a town called Lincoln. Troy couldn't make it this trip, he had band practice for his work Christmas party. We had a great and relaxing time! I played games with my nieces and nephew, went to see "Twilight" in a very expensive California movie theater, met my sisters new Basset Hound named Huckleberry and went shopping with my sister and mom. Oh, and let's not forget In N Out Burger! MMMMMM.... Here a few photos of my trip below.

Cameron and Huckleberry

Me, Mom and Huckleberry

Me, Cameron & Grandma

Grandma, Hailey & Aunt Katie

Samantha & Aunt Katie

Steve with his Christmas present from Troy and I - a Steelers Wreath!

The Balli Family Christmas Tree

Amy, Mom & Katie

Huck and Daddy watching t.v.

Sisters

Sitting on Santa's (Steve's) Lap! :)

We LOVE Christmas!!

Almost 1 month later...

This will be short and sweet. I know my page is still Thanksgiving themed, this will be changed soon! Not to worry. Life has been a whirlwind for me lately, so my blogging has come to a halt. Between buying a new home and selling my old one, Christmas, a vacation to my sisters and appointments with doctors regarding babies - I have had little time!

Stay tuned....

Disney and NKOTB

I have had the best weekend! Last Friday I had the chance to take my niece, Chloe to see Disney on Ice for an early birthday present. I was also secretly excited to go myself, so it was also a good cover-up to go with a child because no one thought I actually wanted to go. I ended up loving it in all its cheesiness. My favorite part of the show was Pinnochio and I think Chloe liked all of the princesses the best :) Here are a few pics from the night, all I had was my camera phone but they are still fun!

The princess herself

Saturday night I had the time of my life at the New Kids On The Block concert. I went with my friends Rebecca, Jessica & Rhianne and had a killer time! Here is a little background with me and NKOTB. I first discovered them at the early age of 11 years old and we were just about to move to Germany. I fell in love with them and had a major crush on Joey McIntyre. I went on to buy t-shirts, pins, had posters of them as wallpaper in my room and even joined their fan club! I had all of their tapes, even the Christmas album. So going to this concert was a mix of 2 things for me. One - that they were back together after 15 years and it was funny that they were doing shows. Two - that all I wanted when I was a pre-teen was to go to one of their shows and I was able to fulfill my childhood dream. And that is really something to me! The crazy thing is, they were all in great shape, still had great dance moves AND they sounded exactly like they did in 1990. Even their new songs are awesome. Not to mention that a few of them became even more attractive over the years. Time treated them well, I must say! No wonder Donnie Wahlberg's brother made it on my top 10 :) The place was full of late 20's, thirty-something women screaming and wearing their old New Kids shirts (that I wished I had kept, trust me!). I loved singing all of the words I used to sing over and over to my tapes back before CD's. It really took me back to those days that I have almost forgotten.

Back in the day.....look at that hair!

Lookin' good today!

One of my favorite songs:

Please Don't Go Girl

Gratitude List

It's been suggested to me that if I am feeling a little down, don't like the way things are going in my life, life isn't fair, etc... I should make a gratitude list. I don't do this nearly enough, but I'm going to list some things I am grateful for right now. Hopefully it will raise my spirits a little.

* Hot Baths. It's one of the most relaxing things I can do, and it's free. It helps my mind from going a

million miles a minute and it's rejuvenating.

* Great Job. I love my job and it's stable. I've

never been happier working anywhere else!

* A Home. I have a nice condo where I live with my husband and cats. I complain that it's too small all the time, but I need to be more grateful that I have a place to call my own and am able to make payments on it.

* Frankie and Roxy. To most people, cats may not be a big deal. But I love my cats. They keep me company and I know they are treated well and are happy kitties. Sometimes spoiled! They constantly do cute things that make me smile.

* My King Size Bed. After sleeping on a full bed with Troy for almost 3 years, we upgraded to a king. I love being able to sprawl out and not have to worry about kicking Troy in the side. I am also grateful that we are both not cuddlers in bed!

* Traveling. Luckily, Troy and I have had some extra money to travel. We have been on 2 cruises since we've been married, and going on another one this January! We have been to Hawaii, California a few times, Arizona, and Las Vegas. One day I hope to travel to Europe with him.

* Al-Anon. This program has helped me through the roughest of times. I love the friends I have made and the guidance it gives me through life. I don't know how I would survive without it.

Goosh Pants

I went to a Halloween party about a week ago with some friends. Rebecca and I bought these pants called "Goosh Pants" at the Halloween store for our costume. She also shares my same view and humor on most things! Then, being Katie, I had to go overboard and add things to the costume. Take a look at our creation!

We also won 2nd place for best costume at the party. I think we should have gotten 1st place over Raggedy Ann, but I guess everyone doesn't think messing yourself is funny :)

In addition to the store-bought "Goosh Pants" we added depends diapers as our hats, added a little chocolate frosting and some corn. It was so gross! Yet so funny. We came to the party saying we were party poopers but everyone just called us the poop girls instead. Needless to say, Troy is happy he wasn't caught in public with me :)