kmkillian

Piano Pictures

Mon, 02 Mar 2009 17:27:11 GMT

As promised, here are some pictures of our new piano. Enjoy!

http://www.kcubes.com/gallery/v/kristina/PianoPictures/

Piano

Sat, 28 Feb 2009 02:11:10 GMT

We are now the proud new renters of a piano. We're renting it for 6 months so we can make sure we like it before purchasing it. It's an upright and it has a really pretty case...it sounds pretty good too. At least it sounds good for those of us that aren't concert pianists. Anyway, it's the next step to furnishing our "formal" living room, which will probably be know better as the "music room". Next up are two nice chairs (maybe wingback or something like that) and a small round table to go in between them. We're also going to get a nice small bookshelf of some sort to put all of the music books on. But, at least we have some things in that room now!! I'll post pictures when I get them on the computer.

Valentine's Day

Sun, 15 Feb 2009 19:19:36 GMT

So, Chip had I had a great Valentine's Day weekend. We always celebrate by eating fondue and this year we got a great deal for the Marriott on the Magnificent Mile in Chicago and there was a Melting Pot right around the corner. So, we headed up Friday afternoon and after checking in and changing clothes, we walked to the restaurant. We had a wonderful meal...as always. Then, as we walked back, we decided to stop at a grocery store and get some alcohol, instead of going to the hotel bar. So, we got some Black Cherry Rum and a bottle of Coke. Black Cherry Rum & Cokes are very good. We spent the rest of the night watching James Bond and just laying around.

The next day, our plan was to go to the Shedd Aqaurium. So, we got up and since we got up relatively early, we decided to go to the hot tub at the hotel. Unfortunately, it was closed, but the heated pool was open. It was nice, but no hot tub. Oh well!! So, we drove down to the aquarium and after paying $17 for parking, we got to the aquarium and there was a 1 hour+ wait to get in. That's something I've never heard of...why would there be an hour wait to get into an aquarium. Well, it was cold and the Field Museum was right next door, so we decided to go there instead. It's pretty much like a natural history museum. It was pretty neat and somehow the cashier messed up, so we didn't pay as much as we were supposed to. We weren't complaining though.

After that we made a trip to IKEA, where we found a curio-type cabinet for my Precious Moments statues. Actually, we bought 3 -- they're pretty small. But, I think they will look nice, espcially if we get the piano we think we are going to buy. They will actually look really nice with any piano we end up getting, since they're mostly just glass. So, we're actually getting to furnish our formal living room now, which is great since it's the first room you see when you walk in the front door.

Anyway, we had a great weekend and today we have some things to do around the house, so I better get going. Hope everyone had a wonderful Valentine's Day.

Espresso Machine

Fri, 30 Jan 2009 01:21:02 GMT

So, I tried making a mocha tonight at home. I haven't made one in a while because in San Diego, we didn't have room on the counter for the espresso machine and it was too big of a pain to get out all the time. But, in the new house, we have lots of room. So, I tried it out again tonight. It wasn't bad, but it just wasn't strong enough. I'm not sure if it's the coffee I bought...though it's an espresso blend, so I wouldn't think that was the problem. Maybe it needs to be ground a little finer than I did it. Any ideas??

It snowed!!

Mon, 10 Nov 2008 13:28:24 GMT

Well, they were just flurries. But, this is the first time in 4 years that I've seen white stuff floating around in the air in my hometown. It actually feels like winter here and I think (for the first few weeks at least) I might actually enjoy the fact that it's cold. Of course, come January, when the average is about 25 degrees, I probably will be longing for that San Diego weather again!! Anyway, it was fun to see the snow flurries for the first time in a long time.

Happy Halloween!!

Fri, 31 Oct 2008 16:03:32 GMT

I just want to wish everyone a Happy Halloween. I wish we could be in NC for the annual Halloween Party, but alas, we cannot. It's a little bit further of a drive than we want to do for a party. But, we hope you have a great time.

I thought I'd share Chip's costumes with you all...
1. He wore his Christmas sweater to the Halloween party we went to last weekend and said he was a "Holiday Challenged Party-Goer"
2. I made him a pumpkin that he could where around his neck and wrote the number Pi on it. So, he was a "Pumpkin Pi". That one we actually stole from a website, but it was something cute that Chip could get away with wearing to work.

Chip and I are going to spend a quiet evening at home watching some Halloween movies that we've taped over the last week. Hopefully, we'll get some trick-or-treaters this year...we haven't had much luck in the past, but I think this neighborhood is a lot more into Halloween than the apartment complexes we've previously lived in. Anyway, I hope everyone has a very Happy Halloween.

By the way...I wanted to make my Current Mood 'spooky' but they don't have that, so 'scared' is as close as I can get. Happy Halloween!!

You know you're not in San Diego anymore...

Mon, 27 Oct 2008 16:53:10 GMT

when the high for the day is 45 and the low is 30, but at least I've gotten to use our fireplace.

Thanksgiving without Family

Sun, 26 Nov 2006 18:05:04 GMT

Because we went to Los Cabos, Mexico last week for a 5-day vacation (which we'll post about later), we decided it would be best to stay in San Diego for Thanksgiving. This is the first time we haven't been with family. We were a little nervous we were going to end up all by ourselves. We had asked a bunch of people if they wanted to come over, but everyone already had plans. So, the Sunday before we left, we were asking people at church to come over and the pianist from the choir (Dan) invited us over instead. It was the first invitation we had gotten...which was a little upsetting since we had a few other people we thought might invite us over. But, we were happy about the invitation. The only problem...we know Dan pretty well, but we don't really know Alex (his wife) at all and we've never really done anything social with them. Also, we knew they were going to have a bunch of family in town, so we were the only non-family members there.

As our contribution Chip made a homemade lemon merangue (sp?) pie (he had made a homemade apple pie the night before to take for our social after church). And, I decided since they were so gracious to invite us, I would buy them a bouquet of flowers. So, we arrive and we are the ONLY non-family there, but they welcomed us with open arms. Alex's parents were a lot of fun (they're from the Ukraine) and her Dad told a bunch of stories. We also got along really well with Dan's sister, brother-in-law, and brother. Then, Alex's cousin and his wife also came. But, we had a really good time. There wasn't nearly as much awkwardness as I thought there might be (Chip claims he wasn't worried), but they had great food and everyone raved about the pie. So, all-in-all, our first Thanksgiving in San Diego without family was a success.

Friday morning we took a 6-mile hike up a moutain in east county with 2 other people from YAG. It was nice, but I was pretty soar afterwards. Then, I worked on Christmas cards and Chip worked on some other stuff.
Saturday, we spent cleaning, running errands (which wasn't nearly as painful as I thought it might be...Wal-Mart wasn't anymore crowded than usual), and we decorated the apartment.

Today, we're working out, grocery shopping, and going to church. But, after yesterday I realized every Friday and Saturday has some event until we go home for Christmas. Not to mention I have 3 major projects due, an exam, and finishing up the liturgical ministers schedule for church. So, we're going to be a bit crazy for a few weeks, but it will be nice to be home for Christmas and see everyone. I hope everyone else had a wonderful and restful Thanksgiving!!

Wed, 14 Jun 2006 23:42:16 GMT

Happy Birthday jawajames

A good day...

Fri, 28 Apr 2006 03:39:04 GMT

Chip and I went to SeaWorld today. They're having a special where southern CA residents can buy a regular price ticket and get a Fun Card, which gets you into SeaWorld for free for the rest of 2006. But, the offer expired on April 30th, so we needed to go this week. Plus, we kind of needed some alone time away from the computer and TV. Also, Chip just finished a paper, so he's been really busy lately.

Anyway, it was a good day, despite the rain. Yes, it rained today, of all days in San Diego. But, we made the best of it. We saw all 4 shows we wanted to see, between the mist/rain and we spent a lot of time in the aquariums while it was raining. We even found somewhere to eat under a cover. Then, we stopped by Cold Stone on the way home for an early dessert. Once we got home, we were both pretty tired and just wanted to relax a while, so we went and sat in the hot tub. Then, we came back in and watched Boston Legal which we had taped on Tuesday. Since Chip has been so busy, there are a lot of shows that I've already seen, but he hasn't. So, he watched a few of those and I took a nap with my head on his lap...it was very sweet. Now, he's fixing dinner. We're trying a new recipe from the Pampered Chef cookbook I bought...Sweet & Sour Shrimp. It looks really good.

So, basically, Chip and I have had a good day just spending some much needed quality time together...especially since we have a lot to do in the time before we leave for New Jersey on Wednesday.

Elizabethtown & The Island

Sun, 23 Apr 2006 00:56:07 GMT

Elizabethtown: I thought this movie was very good. It was kind of strange in some parts, but I was never bored with it. The only thing I wish they would have put in the movie was the reason for the recall, unless I just missed that at some point (you'll understand if you watch the movie). In any case, I enjoyed it quite a lot and would recommend it to anyone. I would give it 3.5 stars out of 5.

The Island: I really liked this movie. It's definitely a good action-packed sci-fi movie, for those of you who like that sort of thing. The ending wasn't that great, but the rest of the movie was quite good. I especially liked the scene that I think they filmed only to crash a bunch of cars or at least that's what Chip said while we were watching it :-)!! I would recommend this movie to those who like sci-fi and action. I would give it 3.5 out of 5.

We currently have Flightplan and I rented Prime to watch tonight while Chip's at school. I'm not sure what movies we'll get next. Some of the ones we have listed in our queue are in the 'short wait' category, so we may not get those right away, but we'll see.

Twitching Thumb

Fri, 21 Apr 2006 04:09:03 GMT

So, my thumb has been twitching on and off for the past two days. I talked to my mom to see if she thought I should be worried, but she said no, so I guess, for now I won't worry about it. However, because the muscle at the base of my thumb has been twitching for two days, it's kind of soar. I iced it down Tuesday night, but it didn't really seem to help. I've tried using it less, but that's more difficult then it sounds. So, if anybody has any ideas on what I can do, let me know.

Memoirs of a Geisha & Walk the Line

Sun, 16 Apr 2006 22:26:17 GMT

Memoirs of a Geisha -- Chip and I both liked this movie. It had a great plot that kept moving and the acting was very good. We were confused on a few things when the movie was over, but after talking about them, we thought we knew what happened. Overall an excellent movie. We highly recommend it. We would both give it 4.5 stars out of 5.

Walk the Line -- Chip and I both liked this movie too. It also had a good plot and unlike some other biographies, the movie kept our attention. Resse Witherspoon was definitely amazing and deserves any awards she received for this movie. Needless to say, also a great movie. We would both give it 4.5 stars out of 5.

We currently have The Island and we were supposed have Flightplan but the wrong DVD was in the envelope, so we have to send it back and they're supposed to resend the DVD. Post more later.

Alexander & Yours, Mine, & Ours

Sun, 09 Apr 2006 22:48:18 GMT

So, we've watched two more movies. Here are my reviews.

Alexander: This movie was kind of strange. I'd love to know how much of it is based on fact and how much was Hollywood's way of making it more entertaining. Like...was Alexander really gay? The other thing I noticed was how very bloody this movie is. If you don't like blood and guts, don't see it. But, despite all of its wierdness and all of its bloodiness, it did give me a better understanding of what Alexander the Great did. I do believe that part of the movie was based on some sort of fact. It was ok if you like historically-based movies set in BC times. I definitely liked Troy and Kingdom of Heaven better than this one though. I'll give it 2 stars out of 5.

Yours, Mine, & Ours: Ok, all I have to say is CHEESY!!! The movie definitely has NO surprises and the ending is very, very, very cheesy. If you don't know the premise, it's about a guy (Dennis Quaid) who has 8 kids and has lost his wife and a woman (Rene Russo) who has 10 kids and has lost her husband and they get married and their kids don't get along and the kids try to break up the parents...but I won't tell you the ending, although you can probably guess what happens. I will admit there are some parts that made me laugh and I do believe it is a great family/kid movie. It's very light and cute and doesn't take a whole lot of thought. But, sometimes we just need a good, wholesome movie that entertains us. For the type of movie it is, I give it 3 stars out of 5, but if you want something really thought-provoking, don't see this movie.

Kingdom of Heaven and Kicking & Screaming

Thu, 06 Apr 2006 15:35:17 GMT

So, we have watched two more movies this week. Last weekend we watched Kingdom of Heaven and last night we watched Kicking & Screaming.

Kingdom of Heaven -- Chip and I both thought it was pretty good. I thought it was an interesting look at the Crusades. I don't know a lot of the history, so I'm not sure how much of it is fact and how much is fiction, but it was interesting. There is a feature you can turn on while watching the movie that puts up captions about the history of that scene or something related to that scene. We watched the whole movie without it and then went back and watched the first twenty minutes again with it. It was really neat to see what of the movie was based on fact and what wasn't. It was a little strange that some parts were really gory when they didn't necessarily need to be and some parts weren't gory when you expected them to be. I would love to know how they decided which parts would show the blood and guts and which ones wouldn't. Overall, I think I'd give this a 3 1/2 out of 5. Plus, for the ladies, Orlando Bloom is a hottie!!

Kicking & Screaming -- Once again we disagree with Keith (surprise, surprise!!). We both thought it was a pretty cute movie, in general. There were some strange parts, like when he was addicted to coffee, but overall the movie wasn't too bad. I laughed more during this movie than I did during Wedding Crashers. So, I think it just depends on your sense of humor. I thought the little Asian kid was adorable, so that added to the fact that I liked the movie. I just don't understand why people said it was so awful. I didn't think it was boring (there may have been some boring parts, but not the whole movie). I thought there were scenes that were funny. And, I lliked the little kids. There also wasn't anything in it that was really dirty (sexually speaking), which I think is what bothered me about Wedding Crashers. At least this one seemed to have a normal plot. In any case, I would give it a 3 out of 5.

We have in our possession Alexander and we are receiving Yours, Mine, and Ours in the next few days. I think we may use one of our free movie coupons to rent Memoirs of a Geisha tonight, but we'll see how timing works out. We are a little irritated that we have had Walk the Line at the top of our list for a while and still aren't getting it. We'll have to see what happens with the "short wait" that is listed there. If this continues much longer, we may send an email complaining. Just one more note, please remember these are just my opinions and you are all entitled to your own!!

The Latest Movies...

Tue, 28 Mar 2006 16:52:08 GMT

So, the latest set of movies we've seen is Wedding Crashers and The Aviator. Here is my view on these two movies.

Wedding Crashers: Unless you like really wierd, stupid comedy, don't see this movie. We'd heard it was good, but personally, I thought it was a waste of my time and was a really strange movie. We watched the uncut version, which basically meant we got to see lots of breasts and probably heard the F... word a few more times. Not really worth watching. The movie was just bizarre. But, like I said, if you like that kind of comedy, than you'll probably really enjoy it. I would give this movie 1 star out of 5.

The Aviator: So, I thought this movie was pretty well done and painted a pretty good picture of Howard Hughes. Some parts were a little strange, but it was portraying a real person, so it made sense. It was kind of long, but I'm not sure any parts could have been cut. Sometimes I wasn't exactly sure what was going on, but I was also doing some work while we watched it. I would give this movie 3 1/2 stars out of 5.

The next movies on the list are Kingdom of Heaven and Kicking and Screaming. Not sure when we'll get a chance to watch these two, but I'll let you know what we think.

Movies so far...

Mon, 20 Mar 2006 02:27:15 GMT

So, we've now watched Must Love Dogs and we just finished watching Cinderella Man. This is my take. Both are great movies if you're in the right kind of mood. Must Love Dogs is a very cute romantic comedy and it makes you feel warm and fuzzy inside. Cinderella Man is the typically underdog sports movie, but also makes you feel warm and fuzzy inside, if you can get past the blood and such from boxing. So, there you have it. The next movie on the list is Wedding Crashers. That should make for a very different type of movie. Kingdom of Heaven is on the way...also a very different kind of movie. I think I'm really going to like this whole Blockbuster mailing us movies thing.

Movie Suggestions?

Thu, 16 Mar 2006 16:48:44 GMT

So, in case you didn't read my long post earlier, Chip and I have joined the Blockbuster version of Netflix. We already have about 50 movies in our queue, but we are open to suggestions for really good movies that you think Chip and I would like. Let me know if you think of any. Thanks!!

I can't believe it...

Thu, 09 Feb 2006 22:38:27 GMT

I just realized today that Chip and I have been working out consistently for the last 6 weeks. I know this may not seem like a big deal to those of you who have always worked out, but for me and Chip it is a great accomplishment. Not only have we been working out, we're going every day. We work out for at least 30 minutes every day and at least 3 of our workouts during the week are an hour. We have skipped a few days, but no more than one a week and every day except one that we skipped, we at least took a walk. The only day we skipped completely was last Sunday because we had to finish stuff for the Super Bowl party in the morning, went to church at noon, people came over right after church for the party, and then by the time we got cleaned up at 9:30, we were both exhausted. But, other than that one day, we really have been good. The other thing that surprises me is that the one day we didn't work out didn't lead to more than one day. Usually, we take a day off, then it becomes 2, etc. But, that hasn't happened yet. I'm really hoping that we continue this. As much as I don't want to work out most days, I know it's good for both of us. So, we'll see how we're doing in a few months, but for now, we're doing great.

Super Bowl Party

Mon, 06 Feb 2006 06:24:03 GMT

So, Chip and I had our first official party in San Diego. We were very concerned about the space in our apartment. We started asking people about the party last week, but we really didn't expect everyone to be able to come. We ended up with about 18 people in our apartment and it turned out just fine. We had a really, really good time and I think everyone else did too. We made lots of food and everyone seemed to like it. Some people watched the game, but everyone watched the commercials. We already had the computer set up in the office with a tv card, so we turned the game on in there too. So, some people spread into there throughout the night. Let's just say Chip and I know how to throw a good party. I think the best part about the party was that we have enogh friends in San Diego now to have a party and for people to come to the party. It definitely made us both feel a little bit better about being here.

New Consulting Job

Sat, 14 Jan 2006 07:46:46 GMT

Well, I haven't posted in a while...again. However, I have some good news this time. I have a consulting job. It's short term...only until March 7th and I don't get 40 hours, but I get paid more than double what I was getting paid as a temp or a sub, so the fact that I won't get 40 hours isn't that bad. Anyway, it's helping to design math games (some of them are web-based and others are offline games to be played in the classroom). It's been pretty good so far. Since Tuesday I worked almost 19 hours, so that's good. It's kind of strange because I'm working with one of my former co-workers (actually my old director) and 2 people who I've never met. I've talked to one of the other people on the phone, but everything else has been done over email. On Wednesday and Thursday I thought the other teammates were never going to go to bed. The emails just kept coming. There are nice parts because I can work at different times during the day and take breaks and do stuff during the day. There are negatives too, I don't really have a lot of interaction with other people, so it gets kind of lonely. But, Lucy has been a very sweet kitty lately and sits by me for a good part of the day, as long as I stay on the couch. I guess that's the latest on my job. I'll let you know how I feel about it in a few weeks. But, at least I'm making some money again.

In other news...we've kind of rearranged and cleaned up our office. We were making space for me to get a table to sew on and to set up the card table so I can do Creative Memories stuff. Chip also set up our laptop so we can watch tv in there. We haven't actually used the room for these purposes yet, but we also just finished cleaning everything up 2 days ago.

Also, we've been working out like crazy. We're both trying to lose some weight and get back into shape. So, we've been going to the fitness center (which isn't that great, but it's free) and working out. We've worked out every night this week. We're working our way up to working out for an hour 3 nights a week and at least a half hour every other day. We'll see if this keeps up, but we've done pretty good so far. Chip decided he would rather work out a lot more and eat pretty well, but not actually count points like in Weight Watchers, as we've done in the past.

I guess that's enough for now. If I think of everything else exciting, I'll let you all know. Hope you have a good weekend. We're going to a choir retreat tomorrow and Chip made his first Angel Food Cake to take with us to the retreat. We'll let you know how it turns out.

Tsunami Warning

Wed, 15 Jun 2005 04:37:39 GMT

This is the first time I've lived in a city that had a tsunami warning. It's a little scary. But...I think we're on the other side of very large cliffs, so I'm not too worried. Apparently there was a 7.4 earthquake somewhere northwest of San Francisco in the Pacific and they aren't taking any chances. So, they've said that up and down the west coast has a tsunami warning and people in low lying coastal regions should move to higher ground. Anyway, the warning is over in about 15 minutes, just thought everyone would like to know what warnings we have here on the west coast. Oh yeah, there was a small earthquake here this past Sunday. Chip nor I felt it, but lots of other people did. It was very mild and very short lived, so we must of have been walking around when it happened and didn't feel it, but it was the first one since we've been here. We don't have hurricanes or tornadoes, but we have earthquakes, tsunamis, fires, and mudslides, so I think that makes up for it. Talk to you all later. Hope you're having a good week.

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!!!

Sun, 08 May 2005 18:18:49 GMT

To all the mothers out there...I hope you have a wonderful day. Thank you for all you do!!!

A Great Saturday

Sun, 17 Apr 2005 21:29:34 GMT

Yesterday was a very good day. Chip and I woke up a little earlier than usual so we could take Michael Crotty to the airport. But, it meant that our Saturday was a lot longer than usual. We ran by Office Depot to pick up some clear labels for our wedding album and then came home and ate lunch. It was a beautiful day outside, so we decided to go to the park to play some games. We walked over there and began by playing Bocce Ball. Then we played with this paddle and ball set we got for Easter. It's called Sonic Smash and everytime you hit the ball with one of these paddles it sounds like a drum. We had a great time and we even got a little exercise running after the ball. Then we layed down on the blanket and I fell asleep while Chip played with his new Blackberry. We walked back to the apartment, ate dinner, and decided to watch the movie we had rented...After the Sunset. It had a good cast, but the plot was a little silly and strange. It was entertaining. We then decided to go get some Baskin Robbins. After we ate our ice cream, we came back to the apartment and went and sat in the hot tub for a little while. That is one nice thing about living here. All of the apartment complexes have hot tubs and typically the weather is nice enough to sit in them. We finally ended the day by watching Sum of All Fears, which Chip had taped a few weeks ago. I love days like that, where you don't really have any plans and then everything you end up doing that day is fun or relaxing or just what you needed. That's pretty much how I felt about yesterday. A great Saturday!!

GRE Scores

Sun, 13 Mar 2005 19:59:37 GMT

So, I took the GRE yesterday. The program I'm trying to get into says it requires a total of 950 on the verbal and quantitative together and a 4.5 on the analytical. When I finally got my scores at the end of the exam, I made a 560 on verbal and a 750 on quantitative. Needless to say, I was quite content with those scores. I still have to wait for my analytical scores, but as I've told everyone here, I don't think taking it again would help that score any. My prompts weren't bad and I think I gave some solid reasons for what I wrote. So, whatever I get on that part, is what I get. I am very glad that I prepared the way I did. Except the quantitative part, I think I was as well prepared as I could have been for everything else. I was a little nervous about the quantitative part becaue everyone had told me how easy it was, then when I took a practice test Friday night, I only made around a 500 on it. I was less than happy. But, Chip answered some questions for me and gave me a few pointers. I think that also having seen the type of questions the night before helped the day of the test. Obviously it all turned out well in the end. If you're going to take the GRE and you're not a verbal person, I really liked the Kaplan GRE Verbal Workbook that I got. It had some great tips and it had a whole section on how to increase your vocabulary, which is what I needed to do. Anyway, that's about it on the GRE. I'm glad it's over and I won't have to do it again.

I'll post a little later about our night out last night. We had a good time and we're starting to make some friends. To be continued...