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Winged Beauty+
I'm a 24-year-old newlywed of one year, living in Ann Arbor, MI (working all over SE Michigan... ahh!) & starting my Masters in Social Work degree @ Wayne State University! Life is great, but we all have our days... :)

Links+
Andrea's So-Called Life
Knit Butterflies
Andrea & Mark's Blog
Mark's Blog groupThink
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Tuesday, April 26, 2005

I'm not sure if any of you have been following the gossip about Paula Abdul... I haven't - don't even watch American Idol! Anyway, my mom just emailed me an article she got from her RSD support group saying Paula Abdul has the same disease she does - Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy. It's something my mom has dealing with since I was in 8th grade, but it was misdiagnosed for years as a knee injury (was really a disc in her back affecting the knee). Basically, having RSD means she's in pain all the time. I'm really proud of my mommy for how she handles having RSD - it's definitely nothing I want to experience! (When we got tattoos together, she said the feeling of the needle on her ankle bone was like the pain she had in her knee all the time...) Kudos to Paula Abdul for coming out & being an inspiration to others! Check out the article on USAToday.com

Marriage is love.

Saturday, April 02, 2005

Happy Day! Andrea is now an official MSW student at Wayne State University's School of Social Work. WooHoo! Good thing b/c it's the only school I applied to :P I didn't really wan't to go anywhere else... they have a great clinical program! Anyhoo, Just thought I'd share, cuz I forgot to let everyone on here know! :) Here's to adding another 25 grand to my student loans - cheers!

Marriage is love.

Tuesday, March 08, 2005

So I could be a bit more financially responsible. I'm guessing the average 23 year-old girl could too... right? I'm sure I'm not alone when I say I like to shop, but I need to move on into the "grown-up" world and learn to SAVE more than spend! My husband especially thinks so... Of course, I just got married less than a year ago, and being that we paid for at least half of our wedding and all of our honeymoon, this was a bit taxing on our savings and ran up some charges on the credit cards... So now if I want to ever go to Europe and buy a house, I need to crack down and buy NOTHING! If you know me personally, please remind me of this when you see me whip out my debit card! I need all the help & support I can get. My goal is to not order-in during my overnight shifts, cook more meals at home, and curb my spending on scrapbooking, yarn, & clothes... that kind of stuff. Hopefully more people will buy my knitting stuff! So far I've sold 5 cell phone holders, 2 sunglasses cases, and got one custom order for chopsticks holders! I also gave away at least twice that amount of stuff... so I need to sell some more. If you're reading this - buy something from me! My financial stability is at stake! ;) Seriously I have way too much debt and way too many bills... our heat/electric bill was $300 last month! Michigan SUCKS! Too darned cold! Plus the whole car accident fiasco doesn't help. It's cost $780 and counting... that's just the deductible and car rental costs. I'm hoping the insurance stuff gets sorted by Wednesday b/c I can't afford $140 for anoth week of car renting! Cross your fingers for me!

~A

Marriage is love.

Sunday, February 27, 2005

I'm so happy that the following awards went to the peope that truly deserved them:

*Best supporting actor: Morgan Freeman (Million Dollar Baby)
*Best actress: Hilary Swank (Million Dollar Baby)
*Best actor: Jamie Foxx (Ray)
*Best original screenplay: Eternal Sunshine
*Best director: Clint Eastwood (Million Dollar Baby)
*Best picture: Million Dollar Baby

I was going to have to boycott the Oscars next year if The Aviator took anything other than the "artsy" awards like score and costume design... (although Cate Blanchett was fair in getting the best supporting actress award). I thought Aviator was OK but very overrated. Hotel Rwanda, Million Dollar Baby, Finding Neverland, Sideways and Eternal Sunshine were far better films.

Anyway, I would've liked to see Don Cheadle (Hotel Rwanda) win for Best Actor, but I think this was Jamie Foxx's year, and I'm happy he got the award. He was so sweet when he talked about his grandma!!

SO.. if you haven't seen Million Dollar Baby - go see it!! You won't be disappointed :)

~A

Marriage is love.

Friday, February 18, 2005

Check it out!!! My eBay store,

Knit Butterflies

is now up & running! Woohoo! :)

Marriage is love.

I'm happy to say that I finally went ahead and made a cool website for my knitting stuff!

~ http://knitbutterflies.blogspot.com ~

I am in the process of starting my eBay store of the same name, but right now their image upload feature is down. I'll figure it out eventually!

Anyway, here's a little sample of what I've been making lately. If you like it, or know someone who would, head on over to Knit Butterflies and check it out!

Marriage is love.

Tuesday, February 15, 2005

I just watched a hilarious movie entitled "The Yes Men." http://imdb.com/title/tt0379593/

All I have to say is - I think we should put Bush in the management leisure suit!

My husband and I especially appreciated this film as he's a descendant of Finnish immigrants, and much of the film is set in Finland...

But anyway, check out this film - I guarentee you'll laugh yourself silly!

Marriage is love.

Sunday, February 13, 2005

Still not my president... (wake me in 2008 ;)

George W. Bush's 50 greatest accomplishments

1. I attacked and took over two countries.
   
2. I spent the US surplus and bankrupted the US treasury.
   
3. I shattered the record for the biggest annual deficit in history (not easy)
   
4. I set an economic record for the most personal bankruptcies filed in any 12 month period.
   
5. I set all-time record for the biggest drop in the history of the stock market.
   
6. I am the first president in decades to execute a federal prisoner.
   
7. I am the first president in US history to enter office with a criminal record.
   
8. In my first year in office I set the all-time record for the most days on vacation by any president in US history (tough to beat my dad's, but I did).
   
9. After taking the entire month of August off for vacation, I presided over the worst security failure in US history.
   
10. I set the record for most campaign raising trips by any president in US history.
    
11. In my first two years in office over 2 million Americans lost their jobs.
    
12. I cut unemployment benefits for more out-of-work Americans than any other president in US history.
    
13. I set the all-time record for most real estate foreclosures in a 12-month period.
    
14. I appointed more convicted criminals to administration positions than any other president in US history.
    
15. I set the record for fewest press conferences of any president since the advent of TV.
    
16. I presided over the biggest energy crisis in US history and refused to intervene when corruption was revealed.
    
17. I signed more laws and executive orders amending the Constitution than any other US president in history.
    
18. I cut health-care benefits for war veterans.
    
19. I set the all-time record for most people worldwide to simultaneously take to the streets to protest me (15 million people), shattering the record for protest against any one person in the history of mankind.
    
20. I dissolved more international treaties than any president in US history.
    
21. I've made my presidency the most secretive and unaccountable of any in US history.
    
22. Members of my cabinet are the richest of any administration in US histiry (the poorest multimillionaire, Condoleeza Rice, has a Chevron oil tanker named after her).
    
23. I am the first president in US history to have all 50 states of the union simultaneously struggle against bankruptcy.
    
24. I presided over the biggest corporate stock market fraud in any market in any country in the history of the world.
    
25. I am the first president in US history to order a US attack and military occupation of a sovereign nation, and I did so against the will of the United Nations and the vast majority of the international community.
    
26. I have created the largest government department bureaucracy in the history of the US.
    
27. I set the all-time record for biggest annual budget spending increases, more than any other president in US history (Reagan was hard to beat, but I did it!!!)
    
28. I am the first president in US history to compel the United Nations to remove the US from the Human Rights Commission.
    
29. I am the first president in US history to have the United Nations remove the US from the Elections Monitoring Board.
    
30. I removed more checks and balances and have the least congressional oversight of any presidential administration in US history.
    
31. I rendered the entire United Nations irrelevant.
    
32. I withdrew from the World Court Of Law.
    
33. I refused to allow inspectors access to US prisoners of war and by default no longer abide by the Geneva Conventions.
    
34. I am the first president in US history to refuse United Nations elections inspectors access during the 2002 elections.
    
35. I am the all-time US (and world) record holder for the most corporate campaign donations.
    
36. The biggest lifetime contributor to my campaign, who is also one of my best friends, presided over one of the largest corporate bankruptcy frauds in world history (Kenneth Lay, former CEO of EnronCorporation)
    
37. I spent more money on polls and focus groups than any president in US history.
    
38. I am the first president to run and hide when the US came under attack (and then lied, saying the enemy had the code to Air Force 1).
    
39. I am the first US president to establish a secret shadow government.
    
40. I took the world's sympathy for the US after 9/11, and in less than a year made the US the most resented country in the world (possibly the biggest diplomatic failure in US and world history).
    
41. I am the first US president in history to have a majority of the people of Europe (71%) view my presidency as the biggest threat to world peace and stability.
    
42. I changed US policy to allow convicted criminals to be awarded government contracts.
    
43. I set the all-time record for the number of administration appointees who violated US laws by not selling their huge investments in corporations that later made bids for gov. contracts.
    
44. I have removed more freedoms and civil liberties for Americans than any other president in US history.
    
45. I have created the most divided country in decades, possibly the most divided that the US has been since the Civil War.
    
46. I entered office with the strongest economy in US history and in less than two years turned every single economic category heading straight down.
    
47. I have at least one conviction for drunk driving in Maine (Texas driving record has been erased and is not available).
    
48. I was AWOL from the National Guard and deserted the military during time of war. I refused to take a drug test or even answer any questions about drug use.
    
49. All records of my tenure as governor of Texas have been spirited away to my father's library, sealed in secrecy and unavailable for public view. All records of any SEC investigation into my insider trading or bankrupted companies are sealed in secrecy and unavailable for public view.
    
50. All minutes of meetings of any public corporations for which I served on the board are sealed in secrecy and unavailable for public view. Any records or minutes from meetings I (or my VP) attended regarding public energy policy are sealed in secrecy and unavailable for public review.

Marriage is love.