So I am getting more involved with social networking…not so much Facebook because I’ve been on that since 2006…but I am starting to understand and use twitter a whole lot more!
Follow me! www.twitter.com/tiffanytarpley
Are there any other good social networking sites? If so let me know!

Dunk Tank for the Red Cross!

So a year ago today was one of the worst days of my life.  That was the day my aunt, sister and best friend died.

Last night I became really sick.  I couldn’t sleep.  I thought it was because of something I ate right before bed, but I remember last year I felt the same exact way, the day before she died.  Just knowing there was nothing I could do to help her still tears my heart even today.

Not a day goes by when I don’t think about my aunt Sandra.  If you’ve been following me, my aunt was mentally retarded, but perfect in my eyes.  For the past two years doctors couldn’t find out what was wrong with her.  But even on her bad days she still smiled.

I’ve learned a lot from my auntie Sandra.  I’ve learned to try to enjoy life, even when it seems impossible.

She loved life, despite the hardships she faced in this world, she always kept smiling.

One day when I had a really bad day, my aunt sang this song to me that I will never forget.

“All night all day, angels watching over me my Lord.  All night all day, angels watching over me.”

And it’s true, I know she’s watching over me.

I’ll miss you deeply!!

First, thanks to everyone who came to try out for the Face of FOX Toledo.  I for one know that it is a very brave thing to do!  You should all be proud of yourselves for taking that step.

Second, the top 50 are now online at www.FOXToledo.com and you can vote for your favorite person.  The person with the most votes will automatically make it into the top ten.

How to vote?  Simply watch your selection all the way through, from start to finish.

I’m sort of sad to be handing over the reigns to someone else, but I’m excited to see who gets my job!

Good luck everyone!

I admit it. I’ve done it. Not often. I’m not much of a texter, but I see people almost every day who appear addicted.

I’m torn about laws against texting. Toledo’s mayor is proposing one. Bowling Green talked about one for months before rejecting it. Plenty of places have laws against texting while driving.

For safety reasons, it seems like a great idea. While driving to and from work every day I don’t like the thought of someone looking down at their keypad more than they’re looking at the road. Heck, while just talking on the phone, I see plenty of people driving too fast or too slow, weaving around, drifting into the wrong lane. Texting takes your eyes and attention off the road even more than a conversation does.

But do police need more things to look for during traffic patrols? Do we need government ruling another part of our lives?

Yet if someone causes an accident while texting, making it illegal gives the law another charge to file against the guilty party.

Plenty of things can distract us while we drive, someone pulling in front of us, a person on animal running into the street, a bee sting, a cup of coffee spilling.

We really don’t need to add to distractions. We all should keep our attention on the roads instead of our phones.

We’ll keep watching what happens with the texting while driving proposal in Toledo.

What would you do with $325 million? That question has been floating around quite a bit over the past few days. Lotto fever seems to be in full swing with the super-sized Mega Millions jackpot.

Now, I’m not exactly a big lottery nut. However, I do jump on the bandwagon when the jackpot gets big. This week’s drawing has had me dreaming up my lotto list over the past few day – all the things I would do with all of that money.  (more…)

I’m a Netflix newbie. Just subscribed for the first time a couple of months ago. I honestly don’t watch a lot of movies. Most of the time when I’m home, I feel like I should be doing something more productive, like cleaning, than sitting still for two hours staring at a screen.

But I kept hearing people, from my mother in law to co-workers talk about how great it is to just get disks in the mail, watch them and send them back in a postage-paid envelope.

Turns out, they were right!

I only signed up for the basic package, 2 movies a month for $4.99. That’s enough for me for now. Since I only get to the movie theater about twice a year, I have a huge backlog of movies on my list, waiting to be shipped one at a time when the previous one arrives back.

Funny to think about how excited we all were 20+ years ago when we finally got a video rental store in my small home town of Rome City, Indiana. And now places like that are being, in some cases, crushed by the competition that is Netflix.

Sad as it is to see the mortar and brick video rental places struggle, it really is nice not to have to remember returning a movie in time. I also love that I’m not burning gas to return my disk.

I suppose the U.S. Postal Service likes Netflix, too, at a time when e-mail and electronic bill paying is making snail mail start to go the way of the Pony Express, it’s more mail for them to deliver.

This week a few of my coworkers and I were talking about the fact that we MIGHT be ready for Fall.  Of course we want to keep the warm weather around as long as possible.  But we were getting the urge to pull out jeans and jackets, and even started making “want lists” of fall must haves like skinny jeans and boots.  We are also planning weekends full of tailgating at BGSU and Toledo football games.  All those great parts of Fall are fun to look forward to…but we all agreed with Fall comes winter and that means many many months of cold weather.  So we all decided we will not look too forward to pulling out or sweaters and attending football games…but rather enjoy what we have now.

10 years ago today, I was just moving into my dorm at Syracuse University. I was going to my first floor meeting (where I met my wife). I was settling into a place hundreds of miles from home, a place that would become my home for the next four years.
I was trying to think back to what that Shaun was thinking back then.
Some trepidation was certainly going through his head because out of high school he didn’t get into the journalism school, so the plan was to transfer in later (which did actually happen).
That Shaun was would never have dreamed about a first job in Texas, a second job in Ohio with a child and a wife 10 years later.
That Shaun probably dreamed big dreams and slowly those dreams are coming together.
That Shaun didn’t imagine all the twists and turns that this current Shaun would experience but that’s OK. Knowing the results before the game even begins isn’t much fun.
So now this Shaun moves onto another 10 year chapter in his life.
This Shaun doesn’t know what 10 years from now Shaun will be like.
Talk to me in 10 years to find out.