Traveler's Dilemma

Happy Saturday, Highlowaha! It's Katie here. After all the 'rain' this week (albeit good rain), let's talk about some sunshine!

As I'm sure you're all aware, earlier this week we officially entered summer. With summer comes everyone's favorite thing: vacation! While I'm not taking a summer vacation this year, it is still fresh on my mind. After all, just today, the Beeny boys and I kicked Richard and Claudia out of town for the weekend so they could take a little vacation together and my friend Nicole is preparing for a month-long vacation to Europe!

It is with Nicole in mind that I write today's post. You see, she has a packing challenge on her hands. She is going to Europe for an entire month. She has one suitcase in which she must fit everything and still have it weigh less than 44 pounds.

While talking to her on the phone yesterday afternoon, she was telling me of her situation and asked me how she should pack her clothes. I have heard of many different approaches to packing for such a long trip. They include the traditional fold, rolling them, laying them flat, and even As Seen on TV, vacuum bags to seal them tight. Let's face it. Packing for a summer vacation takes a small slice of creativity to make it all fit. How do you pack your clothes? Take the poll below to let us know your opinion. My opinion (which I shared with Nicole) is to roll them. However, she still seemed a little hesitant after that advice from me, so hopefully all of you will be able to help her with this dilemma.


Get This - Survey Results - GlowDay.com

To close for today.....where are you going this summer? We all know that Peggy went with her DD to Florida for a volleyball tournament and I know Kat returned recently from vacation. What about the rest of you? Any fun plans?

Signing off until Monday with the song of the day...

A Bargained Story

Before I begin, there are two orders of congratulations due to members of this community.

Happy Birthday, Robin!

The second is a little more personal to me and goes out to one of our loyal lurkers. Happy Anniversary (a day late) to my mom and dad. They celebrated 28 years yesterday. Today's post and creative idea come from the basement of their house.
Before we get into the story about my mom and dad and the creative idea I will share today, I must first give some background as to how I decided to post about this topic today. About a week ago, I was over at Claudia's house and she was trying to bribe Matthew to brush her hair (let's face it- doesn't it feel great when someone else brushes your hair?!). In order to keep him motivated to brush her hair, I told him that if he kept brushing, I would tell him stories about my childhood, about my mom, my dad, and their house (the house I grew up in).

I was explaining to him that my mom and dad moved into their house a few months before I was born almost 23 years ago. They have not moved since then. For this reason, there is a lot of history in that house and our childhood is built within the walls of that home. I told Matthew about one of my favorite parts of my house. In the basement, my parents have a ledge that goes around most of the room. For as long as I can remember, that ledge has been full of picture frames. The frames hold pictures of my brothers and me, family friends, family members, and my parents. While that ledge has now become walls full of shelves- it still holds years of photos. I was telling Matthew about some of the frames on the ledge and that if you were to open the back of the frame, you would discover years worth of pictures behind the one that is showing in the frame. For example, each of my brothers and I have an 8' x 10' frame that holds our school pictures from Kindergarten to senior year of high school. While our senior picture is the one that you currently see through the glass in the frame, if you were to open them up, you'd find years worth of school pictures.

Looking back on it now, this is one bargain of a scrapbook for me and my family. There are no fancy stickers or layout of photos. Instead, it is simple and nostalgic. It's nothing fancy, but I think that's what makes it so special. Part of me feels sad that some of the magic of printing and framing pictures is being lost through the new digital age. Now, don't get me wrong, I love technology just as much as the next person, but in the same way I think snail mail has a special feeling to it, I also think printed photographs in a frame have a special feeling.

I can't wait to take my children to my parents' home and look through all the photos around the house. I can't wait to point out my "favorite" photos to them. I think that wall of frames is one simple touch that makes my parents' home extra special and significant in my life. So, today, consider going out and having a photo printed. Then, buy a frame to put it in. Next year, replace it with a new photo but keep the old one behind it in the frame. Begin your own bargain of a scrapbook.

Do you already have framed pictures around your home? What's your favorite picture? If you were to choose one photo that you wanted to be framed and hanging in your home right now, what would it be?

Announcement:

• After 'playing around' on Facebook for awhile last night, I discovered a feature on Robin's page where you can 'follow' blogs through a feature called 'Networked Blogs'. You can find a new widget on the right side of the blog, with a button that says 'Follow This Blog'. If you are on Facebook, please press this button and share the word about HLA with your Facebook friends!

Signing off until Monday with the song of the day...

Fortune Telling

Welcome back to another day here at Highlowaha! It's Katie here to bring you a creative idea for the day. After talking about friendship bracelets last week, I was thinking of fun projects I did as a kid during the summers. One of those projects was always making my own fortune teller out of paper. I know this was popular among my friends and I'm sure some of you have made them before, but I thought it'd be a fun idea to share today.

1. Start out with a piece of 8.5 x 11 paper
2. Take the top right corner of the paper and fold it downward along the left side border of the paper
   
3. Cut off the extra rectangle of paper below the fold you just made
   
4. Now unfold the paper to make a square.
   
5. Take each corner of the paper and fold it into the middle of the square to make 4 triangles
   
6. Flip the paper over and repeat the step from above
   
7. Pick up the paper and fold in half once and then fold in half again
   
8. Lay the paper flat with the side with 4 squares facing up
9. Color each of these squares a different color
   
10. Flip the paper over and label each of the smaller triangles with a number 1-8 (in order)
    
11. Lift up each of the larger triangles and write a fortune underneath to correspond with the 1-8 number on top. You should write 8 fortunes.
    
12. Pick up the paper and push the four corners together to make a fortune teller

I hope that made sense. Instead of trying to give you step-by-step instructions on how to use it, I've decided to include a youtube video to show you how to use the new paper fortune teller you've just made.



I have one slight twist on this that you could do with your kids. You could put a chore as one of the fortunes. Then, they could play this game to see what chore they needed to do that day. Maybe take out the trash, vacuum the living room, etc. Or maybe you could put fun "trips" as the fortunes. A night at the movies, going to the public swimming pool, etc. Take a twist on this however you want with your kids for the summer. Feel free to share them in the comment section.

Now for a little fun for us! I have written some fortunes on the inside of my fortune teller. We will do this in 3 rounds today for you all to find out your fortunes. Here's what you need to do to participate! First, between 5:00 AM and 12:00 noon make a comment in the comment section telling me which color you want to choose (orange, pink, green, or yellow). At 12 noon, I will post telling all of you what numbers you need to choose from. Sometime between 12:00 noon and 3:00 PM, you need to choose one of the numbers that I give you to choose from and post your selection in the comments. At 3:00 PM, I will comment one more time telling each of you what your fortune is for the day! I hope some of you will play along! See you at 12 noon for the first round!

Signing off until tomorrow with the song of the day...

Lights, Camera, Friendship

Happy Birthday, Tera!!!

Happy Saturday morning, Highlowaha! Katie here to bring you our final day of lead-up to National Friendship Day which will be happening on Monday, June 8. Today, we will take time to share and read stories about friendships that we are all so glad to have.

Some of you sent in photographs of you with your closest friend(s). While some of you also sent along a description of the friend(s) you are photographed with, I decided it would be much more meaningful to hear it from you rather than me relaying the message through the blog! With that in mind, enjoy some photographs of HLA readers with their friends...

Before signing off for the day, I would like to take a few minutes to honor the friend I have included in the slide show. My photo is the first one included in the slide show and in my picture is one of my best friends, Kristina. Kristina and I met in college while we both lived in Kennedy Hall at Bellarmine University. At first we only knew each other through association as she lived with one of my classmates in the Education program, but during our sophomore year we became instant friends. I love this picture because it perfectly captures our fun-loving, care-free, but loving friendship. Our favorite things to do include spending a weekend on her family's boat in the middle of Patoka Lake (in Indiana), sitting on the living room couch of her apartment talking and catching up until 4 am, and taking trips to downtown Louisville to play in the water fountains at odd hours of the night.

I love my friendship with Kristina because it is so natural and even if weeks pass where we are unable to talk to one another, it feels like not a day has passed when we do get to talk. There is never any pressure to be a "better friend", but instead a mutual understanding that we are so blessed to have one another. Kristina shows me the creativity in being spontaneous and getting out of my regular routine. She shows me the creativity of what can happen one day when I just decide to "let it go". It is this leap of faith and spontaneity that I am trying to include in my plans for the future, and I know that if it doesn't work out, Kristina will be one of the first people in line to help me figure things out from there.

What about all of you? What makes your friendship so special with the person you included in your photograph? If you were unable to submit a photograph, what photo would you have included and why is that friend so special to you?

Signing off until Monday with the song of the day...

HLA Hoopla

Good morning, HLA! It's Katie here to bring you another day of celebration for National Backyard Games Week! Today we are going to talk all things carnival! A few weekends ago, Heather posted about local festivals in our towns, but today I'm posting to challenge you to host your own festivals and carnivals in your backyards!

As inspiration for today's post, I will share that Claudia purchased some banners from Pottery Barn that are meant for your own at-home carnival. Take a look at the slide show below to see some of the banners hung throughout her backyard. (sorry, blogger was having issues and I could not upload the pictures directly into the post when I wrote this!) These banners would make the perfect decoration and inspiration for any backyard carnival.

One way to incorporate a backyard carnival into your summer plans is for you to host your own neighborhood carnival. Picture this: You volunteer to host the carnival in your yard and then invite each neighbor to host a booth at the carnival. One neighbor may take face painting, another the classic duck pond, and another pin the tail on the donkey. Each family in the neighborhood would attend the carnival with their children, but would also host a booth. This would be a great summer get-together for your neighborhood! If you feel so inclined, many of the banners pictured above would make great additions to your carnival. I'm sure Claudia will be glad to share purchasing information.

For those of you in Student Affairs, what about a carnival at your summer staff retreat? Each department within your division could be responsible for hosting a booth. Judicial Affairs could take a pie throwing contest, and Res Life could take the ring toss.

When I think back on the early seasons of Jon & Katie Plus 8 (before all the drama began), I remember when they hosted a birthday party for the sextuplets that was a carnival. What if each attendee was in charge of having a booth instead of bringing a present? The possibilities are endless!

Just as we shared our summer traditions and plans for water and soaking up some sun, how about we share plans we can make for carnivals this summer? Who is up for the challenge of planning a summer carnival for your neighborhood, family, or friends? What carnival game ideas do you have or have you been a part of in the past? Do you have a theme in mind for your carnival?

Signing off until tomorrow with the song of the day...

Pegboard Turned Organizer

Good morning, HLA land! I am back after a long hiatus from making a post! This past week I have been getting acquainted here at UT Arlington and have been without access to the Internet. I'm back now, though- have no fear!

The weekends for me usually include a bit of cleaning and re-organizing from the whirlwind of the previous week. For that reason, I'm going to share with you all an organization idea that a friend of mine shared with me a few months ago. It involves jewelry, though I think you could stretch it to include any number of things.

My friend from college, Ashley, has a lot of jewelry (like many of us) and was looking for a way to organize it so she could walk in first thing in the morning and just grab the pieces she wanted to wear that day. I know for me, with my jewelry box, I spend half of my time trying to find a matching pair of earrings or pulling apart necklaces to get at the one that I want. Well, with her solution of a pegboard, that problem is solved! Easy access= saved time each morning! With the discussion of budgets in mind yesterday, this organization solution is also cheap and budget-friendly!


Here's what you will need. Simply make a short trip to Home Depot to pick up a 2x4 sheet of pegboard (less than $5). If it's more than you need or if you want to fit a limited space, just ask them to cut it to size. This is a service that they will provide for you, free of charge! You can buy the pegboard in white instead of the industrial color, but you could also consider painting it to match or accent the walls of the room in which you will hang the board. The other supplies you will need include 1/2 inch boards or 1 inch by 1 inch boards on the sides to stick the pegboard out from the wall. If you screw the pegboard directly to the wall, you won't be able to put the hooks through the holes in the pegboard. You will also need hardware to hang the board, a screwdriver, and the hooks to hang the jewelry.

The hooks come in a variety of sizes, so you can buy exactly what you need to fit the space in a way that makes sense for you and your jewelry! For some people, they have a lot of long necklaces, so they need more hanging space so the necklaces don't get tangled. For others (like Ashley), they have more earrings and Ashley created a solution for storage with an ice cube tray!

What about the rest of you? Do you have a way to store your jewelry that you want to share with all of us? Any other organization tips for the day? (Kat, I am sharing this organization idea with you in mind! Happy Fish-food!)

Have a great Memorial Day weekend, everyone!

Signing off until Monday with the song of the weekend...

Living for the Moment

Good morning, HLA! It's Katie here and it's currently 3:15 am. I have yet to finish packing so that I can leave Virginia later this morning. I have spent the last 8 months at JMU and so in my post today I would like to take some time to reflect on my experience and what I've learned from the people I've met along the way.

When, I came to JMU, I had just spent four years at Bellarmine where I lived my four years up to the max and took on every leadership position I could get my hands on at the time. All of this involvement and leadership helped me to learn a lot about my abilities, interests, and talents as a student. Then, I came to JMU and I was able to mentor and supervise some undergraduate students who were experiencing the same journey I had been on for the past 4 years. What I found was that sometimes I got so caught up in the work I was doing that I forgot to remember what was most important- enjoying each moment for what it is.

I was reminded of this tonight as I was sorting a pile of books that I wanted to take with me to read for the summer and a pile of books that could stay here in Virginia in storage. One of the books I stumbled upon was "The Why Cafe" by J.P. Strelecky. This is one of my favorite books of all time. A professor of mine from Bellarmine had me read it during my sophomore year. The book is all about a man who is driving one night and gets lost on a long abandoned road. He keeps driving until he stumbles upon a cafe and decides to stop and get a bite to eat. Once inside the cafe, he is confronted with some of life's most profound questions. Ultimately, his experience in the cafe confronts him with the way in which he has been living his life and asks some important how and why questions.

As I flipped through the book, I quickly stumbled upon one of my favorite parts of the book. Essentially, it asks why we spend so much time and energy doing the things we don't find fulfilling because when that one thing comes along that we find fulfilling, we won't have the time or energy for it anymore. The book also speaks of how we spend so much time talking about how we are planning for the days when we can do what we really want to do instead of just doing them right now.

About the time that I read through that section of the book, I dropped what I was doing, grabbed the book, and headed off to spend time with a friend whom I have become very close to this year. I had to ask myself, why spend the night packing and being alone in my apartment when I could go fulfill my friendship by spending some of our last hours in town together by talking through our memories of the year and how our friendship has developed since we met in August? For me, I know that my life is fulfilling when it is concentrated on the relationships I have with others and how I fulfill each of those relationships. Tonight, by spending 3 hours talking with her, I was doing what I wanted right in that moment instead of spending time on something I didn't find fulfilling. This is our last night in town together and that time will never come again (she has graduated and will not be returning next year)- why waste my time packing when I can live my life in a way that I find fulfilling? For me, I'm so glad I spent that time with my friend, fulfilling what has been a great friendship for me this year. I will leave Virginia tomorrow knowing that I spent some of my last hours here with one of my best friends and I will know she is aware of how much she means to me. After all, I did give her my copy of that book to read.

This is my challenge to each of you: Do one thing today that you find fulfilling that you would not normally make the time to do. After all, if you don't do it now, you may never have the time or energy to do it when it comes around again. What is it that you find fulfilling? What will you do today to add that special dimension to your day?

Signing off until tomorrow with the song of the day...

Survival of the Fittest: The 10 Week Challenge

Congratulations to Montana Kelly on the birth of her daughter,
Delanie Grace on May 1, 2009!

Good morning, Highlowaha! It's Katie here, but before we get started I would just like to say thanks so much for all of your wonderful ideas and punch line suggestions yesterday! I plan to mill it over today and then make some final decisions tonight as I pull their gifts together. I will certainly let all of you know how it goes over.

As promised yesterday, today I will share another piece of my world with you. As I mentioned, I am currently a first year graduate student at JMU. In the early part of next week, I will be leaving JMU for the summer. I will be headed home to Kentucky to see friends and family for a few days, and then it's off to Arlington, Texas for the summer to work in Orientation at the University of Texas- Arlington. There is one minor detail that has to fall into place before all of the fun can begin- PACKING!

I am a procrastinator to my core, and packing is no different. Those of you with college-aged children have probably felt the parental frustrations of your children waiting until the last minute to pack up their things. I am no different. Except now, I've moved enough times and far enough away from home that my parents don't have to stress over it anymore- just me! Yesterday, in an effort to avoid studying for my final exams, I decided to do some packing. I realized that I needed to make some quick decisions about what I wanted to take with me to Texas and what could stay here in Virginia, in storage, for the summer. Obviously, there are some things that have to come with me, such as: clothes, shoes, bedding, office supplies, and toiletries. However, I have a lot of possessions which I do not necessarily need to bring with me for a 10 week stint in Texas.

For me, it's like survival of the fittest for my "fun" gadgets and gizmos. I decided to challenge myself to decide on the top 3 things that I think I will use this summer and allow myself to pack those. After all, I do only have my little car with me and so space is a factor I have to take into account. Here's what I narrowed it down to and the fun objects that will be coming with me for the summer:

1. Cookie Baking/Decorating Supplies: cookie sheets, piping and flooding tools, cookie cutters, dye for the icing, etc.
2. My Craft Corner: Sharpies, stickers, paint, mailing supplies, glue gun, mod podge, etc.
   
3. iSound and iPod: What would my summer be without my music? I will be bringing these with me so that I can listen to some great music while making those cookies and sending those packages. Plus, I have to share this love of music with my new roommate, right?

So, if you were packing to move somewhere for 10 weeks, what 3 "fun" items would you bring with you? These are things that you don't have to take with you, but deep down you could never live without. I can't wait to hear what each of you would bring! Plus, if you have any packing tips- I'm always happy to hear those, too!

Signing off until tomorrow with the song of the day...

A Beach With No Sand

Good morning, Highlowaha! It's Katie here after what feels like a really long hiatus! However, I'll be with you the next two mornings bringing a piece of my world to you. Today, we're going to be on a similar wavelength as Claudia was yesterday with her Cinco de Mayo/Teacher Appreciation gifts. Let me start with a little background.

I am currently a first year graduate student at James Madison University. I work as a graduate Hall Director in a residence hall that houses 235 freshmen. In my building, I supervise eight undergraduate students who serve as resident assistants on each of the nine floors in my building. I have been with these students since August when we went through training together and then opened our hall to all 235 freshmen to enter their first year of college. Now, eight months later, it is time to bring the year to a close as all of those freshmen will be moving out of our hall this Friday. As their supervisor and as a way to say thank you for all of their hard work this year, I am hosting a "closing dinner" for my staff on Friday evening. At this dinner, I will be presenting each of them with an end of the year gift from me as a token of my appreciation for their hard work this year.

Enter today's post. I have the gift, I have all the supplies I need, and I'm in the process of pulling it all together. However, one VERY important piece is still missing from these gifts. The punch line!!! What is a fun gift for my staff without a fitting punch line to go along with it. What I mean by punch line is the tag to go on each of the gifts that will, in one short sentence, give them a synopsis of the purpose behind the gift. An example of this was at the beginning of the year, when I gave them each a bottle of Coke, a package of popcorn, and some toenail polish. The punch line for that gift was "Pop Your Feet Up and Relax"! For this gift, I have nothing! This is where you, my trusty HLA community and friends enter the picture for me! You are just the creative group of people that I need to help me out! For me right now, it's like I have a beach, but no sand. I need the sand to top if off (talking in a figurative way).

I have included a picture of one of the gifts I am giving them to help you understand what they will receiving. For each of them, I painted a terracotta pot and am having all of their residents either sign their name or write them a short note. Then, on the inside of the pot will be a magazine, a pair of flip flops, a pair of sunglasses, their favorite candy bar, and some sunscreen. As you can tell, it has sort of a relaxation/summer focus. So what do you think? Do any punch lines immediately come to your head? Throw them my way! I have been thinking on this for weeks and I just can't seem to come up with the right line!

What about the rest of you? Do you have any gifts that you will be giving to wrap up the end of the year for your students, your child's teacher, your Girl Scout troop, etc? What will you be giving them and do you have any great punch lines that you are using? Please feel free to share in the comment section today.

Signing off until tomorrow with the song of the day...

Get Your Hot Glue Guns Ready!!!

Happy Saturday morning, Highlowaha! Katie K here to get your hot glue guns running! One week from today, the fastest two seconds in sports will take place at the 135th Kentucky Derby in Louisville, Kentucky. As some of you may know, I lived in Louisville for 4 years while going to school at Bellarmine University. It is there that I met Claudia and Heather, along with many other Highlowaha community members.

As a member of the Louisville community for four years and having grown up in Kentucky my entire life, I have seen my fair share of news and sports coverage of the Kentucky Derby each year. One thing I always notice is the hats those women wear! There is nothing quite like a Derby hat. For today's post, I decided to look and see if there was any history associated with the hats at the Derby, and I was lucky enough to find it!

"Hats have played an important role in the history of horse racing for centuries, dating as far back as the world famous Royal Ascot in the United Kingdom, where it is decreed that 'all guests within the Royal Enclosure adhere to a strict dress code: male attendees must wear full morning dress including a top hat, whilst ladies must not show bare midriffs or shoulders and must wear hats'. It didn't take long for the royal dress code to catch on at the major racetracks in the United States. Albeit a less severe dress code than the Royal Ascot, Churchill Downs patrons taking in the Kentucky Derby in particular have been enjoying this respected tradition since 1875."

So today in HLA Land, we will make our own Derby hats for this year's Derby. I, along with my friend Candace, made a hat as a demonstration for today's post. Our hat is a JMU theme (our colors are purple and gold). There are pictures below for you to see so you can get some inspiration. Also, if you do a google images search for KY Derby hats, you'll find some great examples! All of this leads me up to the announcement of HLA's first Derby Hat Parade!

Take the next week to make your very own Derby hat. Then, take a picture of yourself in your hat and email it to us at highlowaha218@gmail.com by Friday, May 1 at 5 pm. Come back next Saturday morning to see our parade of Derby hats. This is a patch-yielding event, but you must submit a photo in order to earn your patch. Cheryl put out some competitive words yesterday when she said we should all be jealous of her jeans- we need to give her some stiff competition! Get those hot glue guns toasting and then toe it up at the gates to see who gets most creative with their hat....and earn another patch for your denim!

Seeing as how today is another day in our Derby giveaways, I invite you all to place votes on how much you think it cost me to make my hat. In the comment section this weekend, the person who guesses the closest in dollars and cents, without going over, will win a Michael's gift card to help them in making their own hat. You have until Sunday at 8 p.m. CST to cast your vote.

Announcements:

Yesterday's Winner: With a guess of 47 slug bugs, our winner from yesterday is AZLori! Congrats! The record number of slug bugs seen by the O'Pry family is 44....for those who are curious!

Gift of 218: In early March, HLA community member Melanie emailed Cheryl, Claudia, Heather and I informing us that she had two tickets to the show Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, which was coming to Louisville in May. Melanie offered these tickets to our community in an effort to raise money for the Gift of 218. Our team immediately decided to do a raffle in a few locations in Louisville. On Monday of this past week, all the sold ticket stubs were collected and totaled. In the end, we sold 54 raffle tickets and raised $270 for our Gift of 218 service initiative! Luckily, this is enough money to grant another gift. Some of us in this community know of a single mom of a young daughter who has worked and put herself through college for the last several years. She will be graduating two weeks from today. We would like to grant her a memory as she celebrates this significant accomplishment in her life. More details to come soon. In the meantime, if you know of any deserving families that you would like to see receive one of our Gift of 218 memories, please email us more information about this family to highlowaha218@gmail.com.

Signing off until Monday with the song of the day...

Wat's Yur Lnguae?

Having trouble understanding that title? Don't worry, you're not the only one. As some of you may remember, Claudia mentioned on Tuesday, that I, Katie, was feeling a little ill. For three days now I've had a raspy, almost non-existent voice and it has taught me that sometimes it's harder to communicate than we realize. These three days reminded me of a presentation I went to back in the Fall semester about a book called The Five Love Languages by Dr. Gary Chapman. While the book focuses on couples, the presentation I attended was talking about employees and friends. The main point behind the presentation was how people have different ways in which they prefer to communicate and be appreciated- the five love languages. Today, I want to share with you these five languages and what a person may appreciate based on their language.

To begin, let's take some time to figure out what each of your love languages is by taking this very short quiz:

I feel especially loved when:

1. People express how grateful they are for me, and for the simple, everyday things I do through words.
2. A person gives me undivided attention and spends time alone with me
3. Someone brings me gifts and other tangible expressions of love
4. Someone pitches in to help me, perhaps by running errands or taking on my household chores
5. Someone expresses feelings for me through physical contact

* * * * * *

Now, let's discuss what your love language is based on your answer to the question above.

A = If you chose this answer, then your primary love language is Words of Affirmation. You feel loved when another person tells you that he or she values you as a person and appreciates your special way with the most ordinary tasks. Sometimes all people want is a hand written note that thanks them for their contribution, or a verbal compliment telling them, "You must be the best baker in the world! I love your oatmeal cookies!"

B = If you chose this answer, then your primary love language is Quality Time. You feel closest to another person when you receive focused attention. Whether it’s sitting on the couch and having a brief conversation or playing together in a tennis league, quality time is a love language that is shared by many. Setting aside focused time for these people is what matters most to them.

C = If you chose this answer, then your primary love language is Receiving Gifts. Tangible expressions of love assure you that the other person is not only thinking about you, but that he or she cares enough to show you. These gifts need not come every day, or even every week. They don’t even need to cost a lot of money. Free, frequent, expensive, or rare, any visible sign of your love will leave them feeling happy and secure in your relationship.

D = If you chose this answer, then your primary love language is Acts of Service. You feel most loved when someone helps you carry out your responsibilities. Even simple things like laundry and taking out the trash require some form of planning, time, effort, and energy. These little sacrifices will mean the world to you, and will ensure a happy relationship.

E = If you chose this answer, then your primary love language is Primary Touch. You feel most loved when you literally make contact with another person. You enjoy being touched and feeling another's embrace. It is important to remember that this love language is different for everyone. What type of touch makes you feel secure is not necessarily what will make your mate or friend happy. It is important to learn each other’s dialects. That way you can make the most of hugs, handshakes, kisses, or other physical contacts.

What becomes most interesting is when you begin interacting with others who do not have the same primary love language as you. This creates an interesting dynamic of trying to communicate with one another through different languages. Each of these languages makes us feel appreciated in one way or another, but we each have our primary language which we prefer. I hope that each of you takes time to share with us in the comment section what your primary love language is based on your answer to the question. Also, feel free to give an example of how someone has shown you love or appreciation through your preferred language.

Before I close out for the day, don't think that I forgot this was the HLA Derby! Have no fear, we will have a prize for today! I have taken this short quiz and I also had Claudia, Cheryl, and Heather take it too! Anyone who can correctly guess what our love languages are will go into a drawing for a copy of The Five Love Languages book. Since some of you may not know us as well as others, if you can guess correctly for 2 out of the 4 of us, you will be entered into the drawing.

Attention to the anonymous posters of HLA Land: Don't forget that if you post as anonymous, we will not be able to put you into the drawing to win our Derby prizes! Feel free to post as anonymous if this makes you feel comfortable, but we would love for you to have a chance at winning some of these fabulous prizes!

Yesterday's Winner:

After Cheryl, Claudia, Heather, and myself voted last night, we simply could not decide between Peggy's Mother's Day cactus/porcupine joke or Melanie's phrase about a sharp cookie. So, I put both of their names into a hat and had my friend Candace draw one out. And the winner is....

Melanie with her phrase "You are one SHARP COOKIE!"
for the first day of school or finals week!

Congrats, Melanie! The porcupine cookie cutter will be headed your way!

Signing off until tomorrow with the song of the day...

Do-Re-Mi

Peggy got me thinking yesterday when she mentioned that she had a theme song of the day for her birthday. It got me thinking about music and the major role it has played in life. I remember as a kid when we would take family vacations every summer, we would always drive through the night. I would get to ride in the front seat as my dad drove because I couldn't sleep in the car. Part of my duties for the night-time drive was controlling the stereo. I used to love flipping through all of his cassette tapes and finding my favorites. My love of music is something I learned from my dad. I believe my love for random music at random times came from those nights of listening to his mixed tapes as we drove.

Then there were my teenage years of thinking I was the next Britney Spears. Turning my stereo up as loud as I thought my mother would let me have it (or sometimes louder) and belting each song at the top of my lungs. Looking back on those days now, I apologize to my family for the years of painful singing that must have come from my bedroom. My brothers would be outside on the basketball court picturing that they were shooting the winning shot of a national championship game, and I was inside my room picturing myself in front of a sold out crowd as the next Celine Dion.

This love of music in my youth turned into a gift I liked to share with others beginning in my teen years and running through to today. In high school, I took part in a group called CLC, which was a group of my classmates that met each week with a teacher from school to just talk about life’s issues. At the end of our two years together, I put together a CD of songs that reminded me of them, of our group, and of the times we had spent together laughing, crying, and sharing memories. Each song was representative of a specific person in the group or a specific memory I had of us together. I wrote a letter to all of them along with the CD, explaining the reasoning for each song to be on the CD. This was the first of a few times that I would put a CD like that together for someone I cared about deeply.

For me, music has been a way of expressing myself. I have put together those compilation CDs, I have put pictures/PowerPoints to music (as I did for my friends for graduation last year), I have sent music to a friend who needs a pick-me-up, and I have shared music to celebrate holidays (such as Peanut Butter Jelly Time). Now, I would like to share my love of music with each of you every time that I make a post. I will sign off each time with my song of the day. My song of the day often matches the mood I’m in when I’m writing the post. Look for the first song of the day at the end of today’s post.

Now, what about you? How have you used music in a creative way recently? Have you ever shared the gift of music with other people? What is your song of the day today?

Signing off until tomorrow with…The Song of the Day

Sharing Your Story

Good morning, Highlowaha! It's Katie here ready to start another day with you!

Today I would like to take some time to honor someone I consider to be an American legend, and someone who I feel can have a great impact on many of us. Today is Maya Angelou's birthday. While I would not call myself one of her biggest fans or say that I have read the majority of the pieces she has written, I do know that she stands for a strong message. I know that she has strong themes of identity, race, family, and personal growth in her writings, and for many of us, these are the themes of our lives.

Back in June of last year, we spent a day on the blog trying to find our connections with one another. One of the strongest connections that we found was our desire to write and be published. I believe there were over 15 of us that day that all stated we have a life goal to get published. When I think of my desire to write something worthy of being published, I look to writers such as Maya Angelou who take a strong stand for what they feel is important and write about it. I think each of us has a story to share, and I know for many of us on the blog, we want to share that story.

Having said all of that- it leads me to wonder where each of you is in the writing process. I figured we could share what is is that we want to write about and have published. I'll get us started! For the past 5 years of my life (4 years of undergraduate study + 1 year of graduate study), I have sent my high, low, and aha to Claudia every Sunday. It started out as a requirement for the class I was taking with her, but it continued as my way to reflect on my experience each week. 5 years later, we have hundreds of my highs, lows, and ahas. Now that I am studying student development theory as part of my graduate work, I understand what I was experiencing as it relates to development theory. I would like to take all of these reflections and partner them together with some of these theories to create a book for my field on the development of a college student. Hopefully one day I will make this dream come true.

Now, what about you? What do you want to write about? Have you gotten started? What plans do you have in place already?

Before signing off for the day and in sticking with our theme of sharing one new idea every day, I would like to share some tips I have received over time as I've shared my goal of getting published with others. One mentor once told me to make sure I keep a notebook next to the head of my bed every night to write down any middle of the night ideas I have. He told me it was important that I write at least one thing in this notebook every day to keep the ideas flowing. He also suggested that this notebook only be used for the ideas related to my book. This way, all the thoughts would be centralized in one location instead of having them spread all over the place. Another mentor once shared a set of Top 10 Tips for Writing Like a Pro. Check out this website for the tips: Top 10 Tips.

If you don't have a desire to write and be published, do you know anyone that does? What have you done to encourage them in this pursuit? I once sent a care package to the person I hope to write my book with that included red pens, motivational quotes about writing, a notebook to be jotting down ideas, etc. Is there something you could be doing to encourage this person to share their story?

Signing off until Monday...

What Did the Jelly Say To the Peanut Butter?

Answer: Stick with me and we'll go places!

Cookie Cutter Challenge announcement at the end...

Good morning, Highlowaha! It's Katie here ready to celebrate National Peanut Butter and Jelly Day with you! As someone who loves peanut butter- I have to say they certainly have gone places together and I am excited to share in this holiday with each of you. I also love that yesterday with Claudia we talked cookies and cookie cutters, and today we are talking PB &J! That's my kind of week if you ask me!

Before we begin our celebration of this national day, I feel it is important to understand the history of how PB & J sandwiches gained their fame in this country. For this history, I did a bit of quick google researching and this is what I found...

"Historians didn’t make reference to the sandwich until the 1940s. In fact, the first mention of the sandwich came during World War II, when peanut butter and jelly sandwiches became part of the US military rations.While soldiers enjoyed them abroad, word got out here at home about the concoction and with limited supplies of meats and milks Americans adopted the sandwich as a low-cost meal."

With that in mind, I would like to say that while I am not glad they had limited supplies for food during the war, I am glad that this amazing concoction was created! In the spirit of the day, I decided to also look around on the web to find a new recipe with PB & J that is a variation to the traditional sandwich. I found some PB & J bars that I think I may try to make today. I will share the recipe with you in hopes that you will find the time to make them and celebrate today, too!

Peanut Butter and Jelly Bars

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup (1 stick) cold butter or margarine
1 egg, beaten
3/4 cup grape jelly
1 2/3 cups peanut butter chips

1. Heat oven to 375F. Grease a 9-inch square baking pan; set aside.
2. Stir together flour, sugar and baking powder; cut in butter with pastry blender or fork until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in beaten egg until blended.
3. Reserve half of the mixture; press remaining mixture onto bottom of prepared pan. Stir jelly slightly; spread evenly over crust. Sprinkle 1 cup peanut butter chips over jelly. Stir remaining 2/3 cup of the peanut butter chips into reserved crumb mixture; sprinkle over top.
4. Bake in heated 375F oven 25 to 30 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool completely in pan on wire rack. Cut into bars.

Looking for other ways to celebrate this great holiday? How about posting in the comment section and sharing with us your favorite way to eat a PB & J sandwich? For me, it is extra crunchy peanut butter, strawberry jelly, wheat bread toasted, and cut into fours. I can remember being a kid and asking my mom to cut it into fours for me, and I still do it to this day as a 22 year old who brings her lunch to work with her! I'll never be too old for a PB & J sandwich!

Are you allergic to peanuts and you can't join us in the stories of PB & J sandwiches? How about just playing the song below, singing along, and letting the kids dance along to it! It's a hit with the 20-somethings, so I'm sure your kids will love it!

Cookie Cutter Challenge: The winning cookie cutter from yesterday's post is the porcupine. However, as a small disclaimer: if Fancy Flours does not have 2 of the porcupine cookie cutters in stock, then we will default to the 2nd chosen cookie cutter which is the tow truck. In the off chance that they don't have two of those in stock either, we will go with choice number 3 which is the stegosaurus cookie cutter.

Signing off until tomorrow...

March Madness: Texas Wins By A Tidbit

Free For All Friday question at the end...

Good morning, Highlowaha! It's Katie here again bringing you the results from yesterday's semifinal match-up between the Wisconsin Cheese Hens and the Texas Tidbits. The crowd was truly split yesterday on which idea was the most creative or valuable, but the Texas Tidbits pulled out the win by a very close margin! This means they will advance to the finals of March Madness next week. As a result, we say farewell to the Wisconsin Cheese Hens by sharing their remaining ideas, products, websites, etc. with all of you.

Pudgie Pie Camping Dinner- Iron Chef Edition
Each summer the hens and their families go camping and on Saturday evening, we cook pudgie pies-aka tonka pies, aka- pies with a pie iron. Any way- we use a pie iron and use bread or a bread substitute (tortilla, etc). Once it's filled the iron is placed into the campfire and cooked to perfection. Each family is assigned to bring a secret ingredient and then the families go to town creating the most inventive and tasty treat possible. We have a blast concocting creations- ingredients have included crab, guacamole, blueberry jam, chipolte, and pineapple!

Social Networking Sites
We can personally attest to how helpful sites like facebook, linked in and twitter have been in helping us reconnect with old friends -CLAUDIA! They are also a great way to professionally network.

Studying Technique- let your kids test you!
For those with school aged children who need assistance studying for tests: Have them create a test for you and let them grade it. Through the development and grading process they learn more than rote memorization and it has proven to be quite successful!

Thank you to the Wisconsin Cheese Hens for their participation in March Madness! Your ideas have helped to enhance our community and we have enjoyed having you around! Best of luck to the Texas Tidbits on Monday versus the California Golden Girls!

Free For All Friday
As mentioned above, since today is Friday, we do have a Free For All question for you this week! On February 23, 2009 we introduced our new service project, the Gift of 218, to our community. The "Gift of 218" coordinated fundraising efforts to provide an experience for a family that might not otherwise be able to afford it. We spent that day raising money for the project and just a few days later we were well on our way to providing our first experience or memory to a family in Louisville, Kentucky.

We are now in search of more stories and nominations of families in need throughout the country. Claudia, Cheryl, Heather and I have brainstormed some possible a way to begin collecting these stories. Our idea is to create a blurb of text that we will place in a number of places to gain exposure and encourage others to nominate a family in need. We have discussed placing this text in church bulletins, PTA newsletters, sharing it with the Big Brothers Big Sisters, Salvation Army and Boys & Girls Club organizations. Now, we are in need of more ideas!!! What suggestions/ideas do you have of other places we could share our text with in the hopes of gaining stories of families in need? Let us hear it in the comment section!

Signing off until tomorrow...

March Madness: Round 2

Good morning, Highlowaha! It's Katie here today to bring you another match-up in our March Madness competition! March Madness is a month-long competition we are hosting among eight teams from across the country. Each team is composed of 5 or more fierce competitors and they met to develop a line-up of their most creative ideas, products, websites, recipes, etc from the past year. Beginning two weeks ago, these teams were pitted against one another and the competition began. After the opening round, the competition was narrowed down to four remaining teams.

The first two of these four teams competed earlier this week and the California Golden Girls came away with the victory and moved on to the finals. Today, we are gathering together for the match between the final two of four teams. Our competitors today are the Texas Tidbits vs. the Wisconsin Cheese Hens. I will share the number 2 idea from their line-ups and you the readers will vote on a winner. So, let's get to it!

The Photo Purse
This is either a 8x10 or 5x7 black purse with clear plastic sides to insert a photo. This is a great idea for displaying photos of your children, pets, a favorite landscape, flowers- the sky is the limit. This idea was introduced to our team by Hen Christine who actually markets these to local boutiques, etc. The photos show an example of photos of children- this was a mother's day gift to myself and also a gift to a mother-in-law. We can honestly say that we got stopped constantly by people commenting on how cute it is!

***OR***

Frownies
We love "Frownies"!! We can't afford Botox (nor would we get it, too scared!), but we want to look young and worry free, so we swear by these. Plus all the movie stars love them. You just wet them and wear them on your "trouble" spots to help retrain your facial muscles for a more relaxed, carefree look. You no longer have to put up with those pesky furrow forehead lines or those tiny #11 lines between your eyes. Check out the website for all the details. http://www.frownies.com

How to Vote:

Vote for the idea you consider most winning by simply making a post in today's comment section, indicating either "Purse" or "Frownies". Votes must be cast by 7:00 p.m. CST.

Signing off until tomorrow...

March Madness: California Goes For The Gold

Good morning, Highlowaha! It's Katie here welcoming you back for another day of March Madness. Yesterday we had a great turn out for the first match-up of our semifinal round. We had a total of 37 votes cast! After a close competition all day long, the California Golden Girls won by a 5 point margin. As a result, they will be going for the gold next week in the finals. Unfortunately, this now means we must say goodbye to Iowa's Big Idea Babes. Today I will share with you their remaining three ideas, products, websites, recipes, etc.


1. Personalized Onesie Wardrobe for Baby
At a baby shower I co-hosted last year, we requested that all attendees bring a onesie that they had decorated themselves to their taste. When they arrived at the shower, they placed the onesie in a basket by the door. The mommy-to-be then had to guess who had decorated each onesie. It was amazing how creative and fun each attendee was in their decorating, and of course the baby-to-be had a wardrobe of onesies created by loved ones. Later, each of the attendees received a photo of the baby wearing their creation.

2. Home Art Gallery
My daughter started preschool this year, and now we have a barrage of art projects and drawings. I have struggled with what to keep, display or toss. I have finally decided to dedicate one wall in our home as the "Miller Family Art Gallery." (http://partyplansplus.com/davinci.htm) I bought several Lil' DaVinci Frames that are made specifically for displaying children's art (front opens like a cabinet to insert new pictures). They display the pictures beautifully, my daughter gets to take pride in choosing the artwork, and the front of my refrigerator is no longer a mess!

3. Easy, Peasy, Freezy Pie!
Chilly Peanut Butter Pie recipe- easy and delicious!

1 8 oz. carton Cool Whip
1 9-inch graham cracker crust
1/2 cup strawberry jelly or jam
1 cup cold milk
1 3.4 oz instant vanilla pudding mix
1/2 cup peanut butter

Spread 1 cup Cool Whip over bottom of pie crust. Drop jelly (after stirring to make smooth) by tablespoonfuls onto topping; spread carefully. In a bowl, whisk milk and pudding mix until thickened. Add peanut butter; mix well. Fold in the remaining Cool Whip and spread over jelly. Cover and freeze for 4 hours. Thaw for 10 minutes before serving.

Thanks to the Iowa Big Idea Babes for their participation in March Madness! Thank you for sharing your creativity with all of us. We hope you will stick around and remain part of our community. Congrats to California- you'll be up again next week in the finals!

Signing off until tomorrow...

March Madness: Round 2

Good morning, Highlowaha! It's Katie here, ready to begin Round 2 of our Highlowaha March Madness. As some of you may remember, two weeks ago we began our own version of March Madness in which eight teams competed by sharing their most creative ideas, products, websites, resources, recipes, and more. These eight teams met at center curt and four of them advanced to the semi-finals and will face off this week! This week we will pull back out their playbooks and share their number 2 idea. We, the spectators, will vote on the day's M.V.P...or as the case may be, M.V.I. The winning teams will then advance to next week's championship game!

Today it will be the California Golden Girls vs. Iowa's Big Idea Babes. Remember that YOUR vote determines which team advances. We had a tremendous turn-out for the two previous weeks of voting, and I hope the crowds will fill the stands again today! Without further ado, here we go!

Flash Drive

Put the flash back in your flash drive!
Who says saving documents has to be boring? In a matter of minutes you can flash up your flash drive with something as simple as a finger puppet! These creative and easy to make flash drives are an affordable and fun gift for friends, family or coworkers!
Materials:
Small Flash Drive
Small Plastic Finger Puppet (can be purchased at most party or craft stores)
Easy-Mix Resin (can be purchased at most craft stores)
Directions:
Pop outside cover off of flash drive.
Carefully hold flash drive in finger hole of puppet.
Pour resin into finger hole.
Hold carefully until resin is set.

***OR***

Elf on the Shelf

This adorable book and toy combination became a new family tradition this Christmas. The book tells the story of an Elf who comes to live in your home in December. The Elf watches over your children to see if they are being naughty or nice and reports back to Santa on their progress. Everyday the Elf hides in a new place and the children search for him. A great way to encourage good behavior and build excitement for Christmas!

How to Vote:

Vote for the idea you consider most winning by simply making a post in today's comment section, indicating either "Flash" or "Elf". Votes must be cast by 7:00 p.m. CST.

Announcements:

Women Who Take The Cake: After tallying the votes from Friday, it has been determined that there is a tie between Molly and Hannah. We have made the decision to honor both of them by sending each of them a cake! Thank you for your nominations of the women who Take the Cake and for voting on Friday!

Signing off until tomorrow...

Sharing Saturday

Good morning, Highlowaha! It's Katie here for another Sharing Saturday of questions from the game, "Cowgirls Ride the Trail of Truth." As some of you may remember, Claudia attended Misty's Annual Potato Soup Party where she played this game with other guests at the party. The game asks of series of questions around the topics of Sex & Body, History & Experience, Family & Friends, Spirit, Shadow, and Taste. Each Saturday this month we have taken a card from this game and posed the questions to you the readers, but we have also given you a suggestion of a way to incorporate the game into your life. This Saturday will be no different, so let's get started!

During my Spring Break last week, I took some time to travel home to Kentucky to visit friends and family. During my trip home, I spent a few hours visiting my grandparents at their house. It reminded me that I have a lot to learn from their life experiences and that great lessons can be learned from their journey in life. That was when it hit me. What if you were to use the questions from the game to create a capsule of the memories and stories of the women in your family?

Here is how I picture it happening. Plan an afternoon to gather all the women in your family: grandmothers, mothers, daughters, nieces, aunts, etc. at your house. Each woman in the family is to bring 2-3 pictures of themselves from throughout their life. Upon arrival, each woman draws a card from the deck and is therefore given a set of questions that they are to answer. During the next hour, they are to create a page for a scrapbook (you would provide paper, markers, stickers, etc.) using their pictures and answering the questions on their card. In many ways, it becomes an outlet for them to share stories about themselves. At the end of the hour, each woman in the family will add their page to the keepsake book. The beauty is that it does not have to be anything fancy like a scrapbook. Its beauty is in the pictures and the stories told by the women of your family. It becomes an immediate keepsake for the family to commemorate the women who keep it thriving. For granddaughters like me who know they have so much to learn from their grandmothers and aunts, it becomes a way to acquire these lessons in life.

For me, I now have hopes of trying to make this happen in the days before my brother's wedding this summer. (Call me crazy?) Until then, though, I'd like to take today to get to know a little bit more about each of you by posing some questions from the Cowgirl game. You can choose one question that you are interested in answering or you can feel free to answer them all. No matter what you choose, we hope you will share a piece of yourself with our community today.

• Who influenced me in the way I deal with relationships?
• How do I characterize myself?
• Tell a story about my favorite pet.
• What would I do if I knew I wouldn't fail?
• In what way am I a martyr?
• Do I do my own housework? How do I feel about it?

Signing off until Monday...

Women's History Wednesday

Good morning from Virginia! Katie here welcoming you back for another Women's History Wednesday. As some of you know, we are spending each Wednesday during the month of March honoring a woman in our lives who has inspired us creatively. Cheryl started us off this month sharing the story of her aunt who taught her about Zentangles and last week Heather shared the story of her mother's creative ideas surrounding children. It is my pleasure this week to share with you the inspiration behind my work as a supervisor of undergraduate college students.

When I was an undergraduate at Bellarmine University in Louisville, Kentucky I had the pleasure of being a resident advisor in a freshman residence hall where I worked/lived on a floor with 40 female freshman students. My supervisor was the Hall Director, Shingi Nyamwanza. Three years later, now that I am a Hall Director in a residence hall, I find myself referring back to many ideas and tactics that Shingi used with us. The best thing about these ideas are their ability to be applied in a variety of arenas. This might include your work/role as a supervisor, Girl Scout troop leader, mother, sports coach, or PTA member.

1. The Accountability Jar. I'm not sure if this is what Shingi called it, but that's what I'm going to call it for today. This was a jar in which Shingi had each of us take a slip of paper and on it we were to write one duty or "chore" that we would like someone else on staff to complete for us on one side and our name on the other. Then we put all the slips of paper into the jar, and it stayed in her office. If someone was late to a staff meeting they had to pull a slip of paper from this jar and then complete this task for the person who wrote it. It was her creative way of keeping us accountable.

2. The High 5 Award. This is an idea that I have implemented with my staff this year. Each week, a different RA on staff would be awarded the High 5 Award. It was an outline of a hand on a piece of paper. On each of the fingers there was a different reason listed as to why that staff member had made a difference in the building that week. Some reasons might include: covering a night of sitting desk duty, helping with a roommate conflict, putting on a great program, etc. If I was the recipient during week 1, I was then responsible for giving the award to another staff member during week 2. I love this idea because it was not awarded by the supervisor, but instead it is awarded among equal members of the staff. I also love it because it is very inexpensive but can be very meaningful!

Thank you to Shingi for the impact she has made on my life. Hopefully she will check in with us today and make a post!

Before we close out for the day, we have one thing left to cover....Highs, Lows, and Ahas! As is our tradition here at Highlowaha, I ask that each of you take some time to share your High (best thing), Low (worst thing), and Aha (something you learned) from the past month in the comment section today. Beginning this new year on Highlowaha, we are going to add a new component to our tradition on these days. As we stated at the beginning of the new year, we would like to invite each of you to take a seat with us at the table each day to share in the creativity of this community. In keeping with this goal, we would like to invite one of you to join us each month to share your High, Low, and Aha within the post for the day. This individual will be randomly selected through the postcards in the Random Acts of Kindness box. (Not sure what I'm referring to? Check the post from 2/24) Each month on the 18th, we will draw a card from the box and this person will be our special guest for the following month. So, later today we will pull a name to be our guest for April! If you still need to get your postcard in the box, send it off in the mail to the following address:

Claudia Beeny
4012 Harvestwood Ct
Grapevine, TX 76051

For the month of March, we have invited Shingi to be the guest at our table and she has shared her High, Low, and Aha with me so I can post it here for all of you to see.

High - Spring is almost here! I love DC in the springtime :-)
Low - One of my closest girlfriends got laid off - I feel so helpless.
Aha - (so many this past month)- Life is all about building relationships. Its more about who you know not what you know... ( Sad but true. I could argue that that's also my low)

Don't forget to share yours with us in the comment section so that you can go into the hat to win a Highlowaha t-shirt with your favorite Ray on it!

Announcements:

Shamrock Shakes: Below are Claudia, Cheryl, and their boys enjoying some traditional Shamrock Shakes at the Beeny household on St. Patty's Day! Take special note of the McDonald's straws. As we know (via Claudia) all shakes are better when had through a McDonald's straw.
Cookbook: Don't forget today is the last day to submit recipes to Tera for the first ever HLA cookbook. Email them to tmichalski05@jcu.edu.

Women who Take the Cake: Don't forget about this easy way to honor a woman in your life. Send nominations by 5pm today to highlowaha218@gmail.com. Send a paragraph of 200 words or less describing why this woman "takes the cake". The woman we choose will be presented a cake on your behalf.