So, I’m sitting at my desk and Tiffany Tarpley is torturing me. She has Five Guys for dinner, and I can see the grease outside of the brown paper bag. The food looks so good, and it’s getting close to dinner time. ugh.

I have only had Five Guys one time. My brother-in-law swears by the food there, and so we went to a restaurant location in D.C.

I am pumped that Five Guys has opened in Toledo, Ohio.. I have heard from other co-workers that more franchises will be on the way in our area. Woohoo!  If you didn’t know, the current location is at Westgate.

Have you tried Five Guys??? What do you think?

P.S. Work has been fun today. I think I felt Kristi’s baby kick. haha.

Over the weekend I was able to go see a doctor in Sylvania.. he was speaking to people in the community about the H1N1 virus.

Obviously H1N1 has been a hot topic lately. I have done several stories about prevention, vaccines, and fears.

Dr. Tom Bauer spoke to a small crowd at a natural foods market on Sunday, and he basically said that H1N1 has been overblown… at least when it comes to stats. We all know that more people die from the seasonal flu each year.

Still, people want to know what to do to protect themselves from getting sick. Dr. Bauer says it’s time to take away the Halloween candy from kids. Also, cutting down on sugar will only make your immune system stronger.

Also, a diet rich in colorful fruits and vegetables will help you out. Plus, exercise..

Dr. Bauer also touched on the fact that many people take supplements to help boost their immune systems on a regular basis. He says doing this won’t really prevent anything, but it may help strengthen you.

This is information I feel like so many people know, but don’t really follow through on.

Especially this time of year I find myself wanting to work out less and eat more. Dr. Bauer calls this the hibernation process. I definitely can relate.

I have found that working out with friends really helps me stay motivated! Plus, it’s a lot more fun..

I haven’t received the seasonal flu shot or the H1N1 vaccine at this point, and I’m hoping that I won’t need to get it.

Ok, so I love the holidays like the rest of us. There is nothing more exciting to me than spending time with loved ones and friends. Also, it’s fun to buy presents for people, decorate, etc.

Even more important– I believe that Christmas is such an important holiday to celebrate because of what it means…

On the flip side..

I hate the fact that I turned on the TV the day after Halloween and saw a store commercial for Christmas gifts. And no, it wasn’t the K-Mart one about layaway.

I’m not saying that I can’t handle this or anything, but it just seems unreasonable that this promotion starts so early. Just saying…   It seems that every year, this gets earlier and earlier.

For me personally, I love Thanksgiving, and I hate to see such a great day of eating get passed over.

On that note, I will go home tonight after work and rake leaves… and enjoy the fall weather.. while it still lasts.

I can’t even believe it, but one year ago today my husband, Luke, and I were married.

As I sit here at work on a Sunday, I keep thinking about the fun we were having a year ago and I wish I could go back to that day.

Looking back I think I would do a lot of things differently when it comes to planning. I definitely wouldn’t spend as much money, and we probably would have cared a lot less about minor details.

I am so blessed to have Luke, and all of the family and friends in our lives.

My sister, Laura, is getting ready for her big day in December. Her wedding will be here before I know it.

In the meantime, after work I am going home to help comfort my sick husband. He has bronchitis. We’ll have to celebrate our anniversary once he gets better.

Yesterday I was able to see the H1N1 virus vaccinations in progress.

People were at the Springfield Township Hall in Holland and it was no surprise that the line was already out the door when our crew got to the event.  We were there pretty early too.

I’m sure many waited for more than an hour because the line wasn’t moving insanely fast.

The health department focused on five target groups when it came to the vaccinations.. including 18-24 year olds and pregnant women.

Young children were also in line, and when they received either the nasal spray or the injection, many were uncomfortable.

However, I didn’t see any young ones cry… but one woman had a slight panic attack in line.

I felt really bad for her, she started sobbing pretty bad and it made for an awkward couple of minutes.

I think it only goes to show that people are pretty concerned about the H1N1 virus.  No one is really sure what it is all about, and some have fears.

Getting a shot in general can be high on a person’s fear list.  Not to mention, talking on camera…

You’d be surprised how many people were more afraid to comment after they were vaccinated.

What are your thoughts… are you getting an H1N1 vaccination?

When it gets cold outside, that’s when I want to start baking. I love sweets (as most people who know me know)!

Here is a recipe that I love, thanks Betty Crocker.

Harvest Pumpkin-Spice Bars
4 eggs
2 cups granulated sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
1 can (15 oz) pumpkin (not pumpkin pie mix)
2 cups Gold Medal® all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1 cup raisins, if desired

 
Cream Cheese Frosting
1 package (3 oz) cream cheese, softened
1/3 cup butter or margarine, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups powdered sugar
1/2 cup chopped walnuts, if desired

1. Heat oven to 350°F. Lightly grease bottom and sides of 15×10x1-inch pan with shortening. In large bowl, beat eggs, granulated sugar, oil and pumpkin until smooth. Stir in flour, baking powder, cinnamon, baking soda, salt, ginger and cloves. Stir in raisins. Spread in pan.
2. Bake 25 to 30 minutes or until light brown. Cool completely in pan on cooling rack, about 2 hours.
3. In medium bowl, beat cream cheese, butter and vanilla with electric mixer on low speed until smooth. Gradually beat in powdered sugar, 1 cup at a time, on low speed until smooth and spreadable. Spread frosting over bars. Sprinkle with walnuts. For bars, cut into 7 rows by 7 rows. Store in refrigerator.

I was proud of myself yesterday.   I ran the Ryan Serber 8K classic in west Toledo with a couple of co-workers (Michelle Zepeda, and Howard Chen). Since last year I have been an avid runner so it was exciting to actually run a race and do a decent job.

Anyways, besides the feeling of accomplishment, the race is definitely not about me.

Ryan Serber was an anchor/reporter at FOX Toledo for a long time. He died of brain cancer in 2006… I was lucky enough to work with him for a few months.

I remember how great of a writer and speaker he was. It seemed that Ryan could put together a story so quickly, but it was always done so well.
It is fitting that 300+ runners compete in a race every September in Ryan’s name. His wife Carrie told me yesterday that her husband was passionate about running. He even did some marathons during his fight with brain cancer.

I was able to do a story on the race during our Sunday night newscast, check it out!  It’s called, Running for Ryan.

Ok, did anyone see what Kanye West did to Taylor Swift at the VMA’s? The MTV show only proves that anything can happen on live TV.

I was working, so I didn’t see it live, but I have watched in internet videos about how he dogged Taylor Swift while she was accepting her award for Best Female Video.

Basically, he just took the mic away from her during her acceptance speech and said that Beyonce should have one for her video instead.

I haven’t really watched the VMA’s in years, but this really caught my attention.

Obviously, it’s not the first time that the rapper has said something controversial, but what a dumb thing to do.

Also, I must admit that I am a fan of Lady Gaga’s. She’s pretty crazy and every single that she has out right now is catchy; however, did anyone see her outfits last night?

I mean, she’s nuts…  the whole bloody performance at the end of the show was disturbing to say the least.

P.S. The web sites are www.mtv.com and for Lady Gaga go to www.omg.yahoo.com

9/11

I can’t believe it has been almost 8 years since the 9/11 attacks. Time flies. Yet, if you think about what actually went down on that day, it takes you right back to the confusion and pain that Americans felt because of the violence against our country.

God bless the families, who to this day, have to deal with loss because of what happened.

As for me, I can only remember that time in my life as a time of change.

The morning of 9/11, I woke up in my dorm room at BGSU. It was my freshman year of college. People I barely knew at the time rushed in to watch the TV. At that time, I didn’t even know what was going on, I had slept through the attacks.

I remember going to class (which was still pretty intimidating because it was my third week away from home) and the professor said, “It’s terrible what happened today, but we still have to learn.” He went right on teaching.

Watching the footage now is pretty horrible, I have a hard time with it.

On a side note, my brother got hit by a car just 3 days before 9/11. At that time, it felt like everything was falling apart in the world. Thank God Danny made a full recovery. Love ya, brother

Anyway, I wanted to ask… where were you on 9/11?  Do you know anyone who lived in NYC at the time?

I love the Y. I go to the Fort Meigs location several times a week and everyone there has always been super nice and helpful.

With all of the issues going on right now with the south Toledo Y, I thought it would be nice to share some good Y news.

I received this e-mail yesterday:

Grand Opening – New West Toledo YMCA

Bring your family and celebrate the Grand Opening of the new West Toledo YMCA on Saturday, September 12.
Join us for a Ribbon Cutting Ceremony at 10 a.m. followed by West Fest from 11 a.m. – 6 p.m.
Tour the new facility and enjoy free family activities, snacks and refreshments.
Special memberships rates available.