Sunday Musings

I'm so proud of my new city ... St. Louis ... for coming out yesterday to support Barack Obama so incredibly yesterday ... Between 80,000 and 100,000 people in front of the Arch to hear this amazing man speak. Even if you don't support Obama, that is INCREDIBLE. This particular rally broke records all around - the sheer amount of people is truly amazing! This is a history making election and I'm so proud of St. Louis for coming out and supporting him. The picture below just took my breath away - to see all of those people in that space makes my heart sing. And if you want to hear what he said yesterday in St. Louis, you can watch the video HERE.


What struck me powerfully was this particular segment of his speech ...

'Because while my opponent thinks this campaign is all about me – the truth is, this campaign is about you. Your jobs. Your health care. Your retirement. Your children’s future. That’s what this election is about. That’s what I’m fighting for. Because I can take two more weeks of these attacks from John McCain, but the American people can’t take four more years of the same failed policies and the same divisive politics. That’s why I’m running for President of the United States.'

I think he is an amazing man that I would be proud to have as our next President. I've been very taken by his calm demeanor, his integrity, his honesty. I find him so refreshing and feel so good about the idea of him leading our country, particularly given our current challenges. I can't wait until Election Day! So that I can cast my vote for change.

I know that each of us decides who to vote for based on so many different factors. I wanted to share with you how I feel and where I'm at right now. But, ultimately, I just hope that, whoever you decide to vote for this year, please educate yourself about the issues and make your decision based on your own values! Try to get beyond the rhetoric and negativity in order to decide who you believe is the right person to lead our country. It's incredibly important that we all come out to the polls this year, whoever you decide to vote for.



(voting element by Penny Springman)

Saturday Musings

Want to see the two cutest kids that ever existed (okay, I'm their mom and can say that!). Here's a photo today by the scarecrow we have out in front of the house. The kids love it! And I love my brand new camera which takes fantastic pictures!


And Alex got his Hulk Hands ... which he's been asking us for over and over every time we go to Target. He's loving them ...

And Meighan picked out a Doctor Barbie that came with twin babies. She immediately sat down in the dining room to play with her new toys!

Just wanted to show you a couple of photos tonight ... that's all I've got! Night!

Friday Musings

Just wanted to jump on for a moment and say hello. My camera arrived today so I'll be able to begin to post pictures again very soon. We are all ready for Halloween around here except for the pumpkins. We just might make a trip to the Pumpkin Patch this weekend to round up our pumpkins! If so, I'll post pictures.

Here's another of the Sweet Shoppe Designs quizzes ... this time with a Halloween theme. What kind of Halloween candy are you?

Halloween Candy Quiz





You are a Pumpkin Cookie


Like the pumpkin cookie you are both sensible and always welcome


Find out which Halloween Candy you are at Quizopolis.com

Apparently, I'm a cookie. Which makes sense to me right now since I'm cookie obsessed right now. I don't know why but cookies are calling to me these days ...

Okay, I'm off to bed ... Have a good one!

Layout Musings

Here are some recent pages for you to see ... I've been on a creative streak lately and I'm taking full advantage of it ...

Tuesday

Hello everyone ... I'm sorry I haven't posted an update in awhile. Needless to say, it's been crazy here. Well, in the end, Wachovia was purchased by Wells Fargo. That includes the securities business which means my firm. I'm actually really happy about the result of all this craziness. I think that the outcome is perfect for Wachovia, Wachovia Securities and the public. Wells is a great firm with a wonderful reputation. They have very similar values to Wachovia and their culture is quite similar to ours. The merger should be less painful than it would have been with Citigroup. It will also cost considerably less for the taxpayers than the Citigroup which is a good thing. In terms of my job, I have very high hopes for the merger and what it means for me and my department. Wells Fargo does not have much of a securities brokerage now which means that there should be very little overlap. Hopefully, that will bode well for us and our department. We don't know much yet as the whole thing is so new but I feel good about it and how it will impact me. Apparently, they've announced that our headquarters for securities/brokerage will remain in St. Louis which is good news. I prefer to stay here rather than have to potentially move again. We really like it here so I'm glad that its likely that we'll be able to stay on in St. Louis. So, ultimately, there will be a lot more change coming but at this point, I'm happy with where we are and where we're going at work right now. I'll keep you posted.

Otherwise, things are well here. We've been continuing to put the final touches on the house. I'm being entirely too indecisive about hanging things so I need to get it together so Paul can hang all of our pictures, etc. I need to let go of wanting/needing perfection and just go with what I like!

I'm planning to buy a new camera tomorrow when I get paid because my other one is still broken and its going to cost me almost as much to fix it as I would to get a new and improved camera. I'm missing mine soooooo much. I can't wait to get my new one in my hands!!!

One last little thing - over at Sweet Shoppe Designs they do a 'From Our Blog to Yours' series that I'm going to try to begin posting here on occasion. Just for fun!

So, here goes.

First, from the 9/25/08 post - how fast do you type? I thought this would be interesting since I think of myself as a fairly good typist and I have always scored very high on typing tests. So, I took the test and my results were:

73 words

Typingtest

I think that's a little slower than I'd expected but I didn't feel like trying again LOL

Second, from the 10/2/08 post - they asked what is your favorite fast food. Well, that is a tough one for me. I'm really trying to limit the fast food these days but if I'm forced to pick just one, I think I have to go with Wendy's (I've yet to see a Wendy's here in St. Louis, by the way! Do they exist here?). I like their burgers quite a bit and their fries are good (not as good as McDonald's but a close 2nd).

And lastly, from the 10/9/08 post, what is your ice cream personality? This cracks me up. So here goes, I did the Ice Cream Personality Test and apparently I am :

Your Ice Cream Personality:

You like to think of yourself as a fairly modest person. And it's true that you don't talk yourself up... but you're also pretty happy with who you are. You are a pretty cautious person. You look before you leap, and you don't leap often. There's a bit of a wild child within you, but it doesn't get out often. You are a somewhat open minded person, but deep down you're fairly conservative. You don't like trying new things very much. And if you do find something new you like, you stick with it. You are a natural multitasker. You feel alive when you're doing more than one thing at a time. You can be a big dramatic and over the top sometimes. You are bold in every way.

Well, as I read this ... I think it's actually pretty accurate. What do you think?

Okay, that's it for tonight! Thanks for checking in. I have a TON of layouts to share which I'll try to do this week. Maybe tonight if I'm feeling industrious!

Wachovia Musings

I just wanted to make a quick note here about all the Wachovia stuff in the news since I've been getting a ton of calls and emails from all our friends and family about how it impacts me & my job.  Basically, Wachovia Bank was purchased by Citigroup for 2.2 billion in an all stock deal.  Wachovia Corp. will hold onto the Wachovia Securities brokerage business as well as the Evergreen investment management division.  So, at this point, Wachovia Securities will continue to operate as a subsidiary of Wachovia Corporation - WE WERE NOT SOLD TO CITIGROUP.  We will separate from Wachovia's troubled banking businesses once the transaction with Citigroup closes, probably at the end of this year.  What does this mean for me?  Who knows!  There is a lot of uncertainty right now in terms of the future of our business.  At this point, we're continuing business as usual until the next steps are determined.  It is my understanding that WSLLC remains a profitable and growing business.  My job is NOT at jeopardy at this point and I don't see it being at jeopardy in the foreseeable future.  I do NOT regret our decision to move to St. Louis in July.  In fact, I'm still certain that it was the right decision at the time & that there is a lot of opportunity for me here in St. Louis.  There will be a lot of changes to come but I've come to accept the fact that working in corporate America in today's world means accepting that change is the only constant.  There is a lot of change and chaos in the financial world right now so who knows what can/will ultimately happen.  It's a crazy, crazy time!  I'll keep you posted as I know more that I can share but, at this point, all is well for us here in St. Louis.


Oh, one last thing, my mom did a couple of very cool post about the kids school and their visit to St. Louis earlier in the month, if you want to see the photos etc - check it out HERE.  You can also see our new couch in some of the pictures - man, I love that couch.  Soon, I'll go through the house and take pictures to post here.  My camera just broke - argggggggh - you can imagine how UNHAPPY I am about it.  What am I going to do if I can't take pictures!?!?  We're trying to determine if we can get it repaired or if I need to just break down and buy a new one.  So, I won't have a ton of current pictures up for the next little while but I'll still add layouts as I finish them up!

Gotta run! Talk to you soon ...

Recent Scrapbook Pages

Sunday Musings

Wow, I've been so lax with the blog lately. It's been so crazy at work and at home that I just haven't gotten to it! So, I have lots to share tonight!

The kids are doing great. Learning so much at their new school (which we LOVE!!) and enjoying having a play room where they can go crazy with the toys! The kids are taking dance classes now which they are enjoying. Meighan loves the idea of being a ballerina and Alex just likes that he gets to wear shoes that make noise lol There was a carnival at their school last weekend which we went to and had a great time. Here are some pictures of their fun ...





Other than the fact that I put Paul's Mustang in a ditch (yes, I'm an idiot & no, there was no major damage besides my pride), it was a great night!

Earlier in the month, my mom and Dave came to visit and we had a great time hanging out for a long weekend. I can't wait til they come back for Halloween!





September has been pretty good. Lots going on at work (and no, I don't know anything about Wachovia or the possibility of another merger/buyout. All I know is what you know which is the reports in the media). Staying busy and continuing to try to finish unpacking with two 3 year olds who'd rather play! Football season has begun (go EAGLES!) so most of our Sunday's are spent with football on in the background. It's beginning to look like fall is coming to St. Louis so we had to stock up on cooler weather clothes for the kids this weekend. I'm soooooo excited for cooler weather although I know that its been pretty tame here this summer!

That's it for now - I have laundry to go fold and episodes of Dexter to watch (have you seen this show??? OMG it's wonderful! Great TV!) I have a lot of scrapbook pages to share but I'll do that in another post. I'll be back soon ...

Happy Labor Day! We're still feverishly getting unpacked and settled into our new home. It still feels like chaos and I have to let it go .... which isn't easy. We will eventually be all unpacked and settled in but it takes time. Especially with 2 toddlers and a full-time job! The long weekend helped a lot - we got amazing amounts done with our extra time! But, there is still much to be done!

I wanted to catch up on posting my recent layouts since its been awhile since I've shared. Here's what I have to show you tonight ... I'll be back with more commentary on the move and our new home but I just don't have the energy right now with everything else that's been going on!

















That's it for now ... more to come!