1. I was struck by lighting June 13th, 1997. (Yes... Friday the 13th!) We had a really bad thunderstorm in Philadelphia. We lived in a 3 story row home that wasn't grounded. When the lightning struck the house it came through all the power lines in our house blowing out electronics, starting a fire in an outlet in my parents room. I was sleeping in a bunk bed and woke up to what I thought was the light bulb exploding. I slept with a metal locket on, I sat up trying to get out of bed and felt a jolt go through me. The locket acted as a conduct-er. My left arm had nerve damage and I needed physical therapy for a little while. The worst thing was going to the emergency room and having everyone ask, "Did you hair stand on end?!" To this day if I visit a new doctor and they check my reflexes they always say, "Hmmm, do you know your left side is weaker than your right?" And then I have to tell the story!

Image Credit

2. I'm left handed.

3. I can't write in cursive. It never stuck with me as a kid. I can sign my name and that's about it. Everyone always comments on my signature!


4. When I was 13, I won a grand prize trip for 4 to Los Angeles California and I got to co-host a kid's radio show called The Fox Kid's Countdown. I was even in their Fox Kid's magazine, lol.


5. We got to tour Warner Brother Studio's while in L.A.


6. My brother and I only wanted to go, because we were obsessed with the Animaniacs and thought they really lived in the water tower there, lol! We even dressed up as them one Halloween!



7. I will not set foot inside a McDonald's. I'm anti McDonald's for some reason. Maybe I went there too much as a kid, I don't really know.


8.That doesn't stop me from going to another fast food place... Wendy's! I ♥ Wendy's!


9. I've been to the Philippines, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Tokyo. The last 3 were just the airports I've been too... but when you have to use different currency in the airport to buy items like this gatorade, I think it counts!


10. I met my husband online on a Lindsay Lohan fan forum in 2004. :-p We were just friends at first. We had a long distance relationship for 5 years, and we were married in the Philippines, December 19th, 2009.

11. As a kid I was terrified of the one that yells in Dr. Suess', One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish. I would skip the page, or hide the book.


12. I have 3 tattoos. My name on my left ankle, pink stars on my right ankle and a rat tat on my right wrist.


13. I have 7 piercings in my ears, but I only wear earrings in my 2 cartilage piercings now.

14. I have owned 41 pet rats since October 2007. (Not all at the same time of course!) Pet rats have a lifespan of 1-3 years. (Updated: 11/14/13)

15. I currently have nine pet rats. 4 boys, 5 girls! (Updated: 11/14/13)

16. My rat Sugar was in the Philadelphia Metro Newspaper back in June 2009. I had come into work late that day, and all my coworkers kept coming up to me all day saying I was famous, lol.


17. I wanted to BE Laura Ingalls when I was a kid, I was obsessed.


18. The boys next door to us when I was a kid in the 80's, thought I was Punky Brewster, lol.


19. When I was a kid, I used to keep pieces of gold Crayola crayons in this Easter egg locket, I guess I thought it was treasure!


20. I taught myself how to play acoustic guitar in my teens, I used to even write and compose songs. I haven't played since 2004. I think I forget how to now...

21. I was home schooled from 6th grade until I graduated high school.

22. I took acting classes in my teens. They were pretty expensive, my grandparents were nice enough to pay for them. The owner of the classes, Rodney Robb, even gave me a scholarship for some of the classes.


23. I had a cat named Popcorn for almost 15 years. I used to dress her up when I was a kid, poor cat!


24. I never took public transportation until I was 28 years old. Now I have to commute on the train to work. I've been driving since I was 16.

25. I always eat cereal or soup out a cup or mug, because it's easier. I never use a bowl.

Just something I decided to throw together for dinner this evening. It turned out wonderful. It's a very hearty comfort food meal. It reminded me a bit of beef stew. Loved it! I will definitely be making this again.


I wanted to share the recipe:

Potato/Veggie Chicken Bake

Ingredients:

4 Boneless Chicken Breasts
1 can of mushroom pieces
1 can of carrots
3 small or medium potatoes.
Half an onion cut into small pieces
Salt
Pepper
Olive Oil
Parsley Flakes
Flour

Sauce:

1 can cream of mushroom soup.
Milk
Brown Sugar
Corn Starch
Worcestershire Sauce
Montreal Chicken Seasoning

Directions: Heat Oven to 350 Degrees.

1. Cover bottom of casserole dish with light coating of olive oil. Cut potatoes in round slices, then cut the slices in halves. Place around edges of dish and sprinkle with salt, pepper and parsley flakes.

2. Cook up your onions and mushrooms together with a little bit of olive oil in frying pan until onions are clear. 

4. Coat chicken breasts in flour, then sprinkle with salt & pepper and brown in another frying pan.

5. Place browned chicken breasts in the middle of the casserole dish. Pour in carrots, onions & mushrooms over the potatoes surrounding the chicken. 

6. Pour sauce over the chicken and veggies. Cover with foil and bake for 1 hour.


Directions for sauce:

In a bowl whisk together 1 can of cream of mushroom soup & 1 can of milk. Stir in about 4 tablespoons of Worcestershire Sauce, 2 tablespoons of brown sugar, 2 tablespoons of corn starch and a few shakes of Montreal Chicken Seasoning.

Picked up some books from the library yesterday. 3 of them, I just found while browsing on Amazon.com seeing what was recommended for me.

Here's what I'm reading:





































I also bought this. Very good book. But it's also very graphic, as it's a biography account of her kidnapping.










Here's what I'm still waiting to read from the library waiting list:























































(I do use Amazon Associates, but not because I've made any money- because I haven't! lol! But I like that I can show a picture/link with a book or music when I'm blogging. Plus I do recommend Amazon.com for their low prices. That or Ebay!)

Please meet sweet little Violet. She's a baby PEW. ♥ We got her today. She was a curious little rat with her paws up against the glass staring at us. ♥



I've updated My Pet Rat Page with some new pictures.

Also, Star's Rat Rescue currently has 50+ rats in the rescue, they need help with donations to buy food & other necessities. I've adopted 7 of my rats from SRR. So if you can help contribute please click on the Chip In below to donate! 



You can also join us at the Star's Rat Rescue forum. We would love to have you there to chat about your rats!

Just some cuteness! ♥

Iris grooming my finger, while lying on her back:



Aspen having an m&m:



Lily bean:



Rosie having a treat:



Daisy, my curly haired rex:



Up close and personal with Iris, lol!



All photos taken with my new Sony Cybershot W570.

F.B. and I headed to the Philadelphia Zoo today. It was 93 degrees out! (Too hot!) We spent around 2 hours there, it's a huge zoo. We wanted to go on the hot air balloon but it wasn't running today. :-(

Here are pictures and video from our day:

Zoo Loot, lol!

Let's just say the Pennsylvania Turnpike and I have a bad relationship. When I was around 19-20 years old, I ended up getting onto the PA Turnpike by mistake because US Route 1 had a median and I didn't realize I was in the wrong lane, until it was too late. Once you're on the Turnpike, you can't get off until you hit another exit. It's all highway, so there's no where to do a u-turn and go back the way you came.

When I got lost years ago this was before GPS on cell phones, etc. I didn't know I was supposed to take the "ticket" the booth printed out. So when I ended up at a toll booth later on crying to the guy that I was lost, all he did was ask for my ticket and charge me more because I didn't have the toll ticket. I couldn't even call anyone because I didn't know where I was.

I remember getting off and driving lost for awhile, until I came to this huge bridge- that probably connected PA to New Jersey. I sure did a u-turn there! I was not going to another state with only a little bit of cash. (This was before I had debit or credit cards too!) Eventually, I found State Rd, which I remembered passed through Philadelphia. I took it until I got home. That my first defeat with the PA Turnpike. Ever since then I've stayed away from the Turnpike. Getting lost, is a huge fear of mine.

So... Thursday evening F.B. & I attempted to take on the PA Turnpike again. We had directions to Allentown printed from Google. Which were not specifically CLEAR about which way to go when there's a FORK in the road! We ended up getting off the wrong exit and driving for miles. We ended up in Landsdale PA, first. Somehow using the GPS on my phone, we got back on the turnpike, but ended up in Norristown, PA. We ended up paying tolls about 3 different times and spending a over $7.00 just to get lost!

Traffic was atrocious when we finally got back on the PA Turnpike for the 3rd time to head home. There were no lanes, it was like Philippine traffic all over again! We were lost for a good 2 and a half hours. Wasting gas and cash on tolls. It was not a good experience, I'm not good when it comes to getting lost because I panic. Let's just say we never did make it to Allentown, PA... I needed a shot of vodka when we did finally get home. I had an awful migraine and needed a nap!

Since getting to Hershey Park also involves taking the Turnpike our plans for that changed as well. Maybe someday I'll attempt the PA Turnpike again and maybe I'll actually defeat it, instead of it defeating me! But not anytime soon...

Tomorrow F.B. and I are heading to the Philadelphia Zoo. It's my last vacation day from work. We already purchased our tickets and printed them out online, so there's no backing out of that. At least driving there doesn't involve the Turnpike! :-p

I have a new header banner as you can see! The image to the left is a seagull on the Schuylkill river bridge in Philadelphia on Market Street. The middle picture, is skyscrapers in downtown Philadelphia on Market Street. And the right picture is a palm tree during sunset at Manila Bay, Philippines. :-)

My favorite Sony Cybershot W55 camera died on the 4th of July. The button you use to take pictures broke off and since it was attached with plastic, it couldn't be repaired. Sigh... it gave me a good 4 years out of it though and took a beating since I had dropped it a few times over the years...

I ordered another Sony Cybershot on Amazon.com. I got the W570 with 16.1 MP for $149.00 on Amazon last week. The macro on Sony cameras is one thing I really love about them, since I love taking up close photographs of flowers, pets, food, etc. The focus is great. The low lighting photos are also amazing on this new camera. One shot I took of Aspen was actually in a dark part of his cage, but it turned out perfectly, not washed out with the flash at all! Love it!

Aspen

Olive

Clover & Honey

Iris

Other News:

F.B. has an interview for Amazon.com on Friday! It's for their shipment facility in Allentown, PA. So pray and keep your fingers crossed that all goes well! We are also going to the DMV one day so he can apply for his PA drivers permit.

I was also told today we will probably be getting furloughed from work by the end of July and not getting recalled until January. So good and bad news.

I have two vacation days on the 15th and 18th, so we are thinking about going to Hershey Park one day this weekend! I've always wanted to go!


(I do use Amazon Associates, but not because I've made any money- because I haven't! lol! But I like that I can show a picture/link with a book or music when I'm blogging. Plus I do recommend Amazon.com for their low prices. That or Ebay!)

F.B. and I headed up to Peddler's Village yesterday evening to watch a fireworks show for their Independence Day celebration. It was mobbed with people, I've never seen so many people at Peddler's Village before. The fireworks lasted around 20 minutes. It was terrible getting out afterwards though. It took us an hour to get back on the road we needed to get home. We ate dinner around 11:30pm at the Eagle Diner. We didn't get home until 12:30am or so.

Video of the Fireworks, sadly after only 2 seconds my camera said it ran out of memory for an HD video, lol.



Some cute stuff I picked up at Peddler's Village. I got an owl coin purse and owl earrings. (Putting the earring charms on a necklace chain though.) And a rattie cookie cutter! (Cell phone pic!)

Pretty Flowers at Peddler's Village:


A few weeks ago Kohl's had a great sale early bird sale. I got a 17 piece blender/smoothie kit for $19.99 plus 20% off when I used my Kohl's card! I love it, I've been making fresh fruit smoothies for breakfast every morning, making iced frapp's, and icy drinks. It's awesome! I even ordered my cousin one for her birthday. (Sadly, it's back to it's $49.99 price now.)


I also got a great sale price on a Land's End tote bag last week! I've always wanted one, they are so sturdy and nice. I got an aqua blue/white tote with my initials for $19.99.


My adorable rattie/mice pins, I found on Etsy and put on my tote bag:

My beautiful Ivy girl passed away today. She had a tumor and I think it had begun to block things so she couldn't go to the bathroom... she got very sick last night and by this afternoon she passed away. Her nickname was "Cream Puff", because when she was younger she was so squishy & round. Ivy won a photo contest once for Jen's Custom Crafts. She will definitely be missed, she had such a spunky attitude. ♥♥♥

I finished both of these books over the weekend. Both are really good, I'm starting to reread them again.

1. Sisterhood Everlasting- Ann Brashares









 2. Room- Emma Donoghue









(I do use Amazon Associates, but not because I've made any money- because I haven't! lol! But I like that I can show a picture/link with a book or music when I'm blogging. Plus I do recommend Amazon.com for their low prices. That or Ebay!)