Life has been so busy in the past month I don’t even know where to begin. There have been definite highs and lows, running around, making appointments and definitely an range of emotions.

To begin, Rose has cancer. She has Sinonasal Adenocarcinoma which is basically a cancer in her nasal passages. Her nose had been running/bleeding so we had a mass removed (I did not see it so I’m not exactly sure how large it was or anything along those lines – heck, they could have not removed anything and I wouldn’t be the wiser… although she isn’t bleeding anymore). After the mass was removed it was tested and was cancerous.

We had the option of radiation therapy, which would prolong her life by 6 months to a year or to keep her on anti-inflammatories until she passes. As radiation therapy is expensive and not pleasant (although not as harsh as it is for humans), I’ve decided to keep her on the drugs and hope she outlives their diagnosis.

When I was 12 I learned all the books of the new testament (which I believe I could still recite now), memorized Psalm 23 and saved enough money to buy a dog. A black lab. I had wanted a dog as far as I could remember, especially a black lab ever since I saw puppies in my fifth grade teacher brought hers in. We went to about 3 pounds, only one of which had a black lab but there was no connection.

One Saturday in the summer we went to the West side of town and visited a pound there. Two black lab ‘puppies’ had just been brought in the day before. They were 6-months old but already large. Rose ran up to the side of the cage right away, and I knew she would be mine. She was just so excited to see me and now, 11 years later she is still just as excited every time I walk through our door. I’ve heard that sometimes people get that one perfect dog in a lifetime – the perfect dog for you, your lifestyle and your expectations. Well, that is Rose.

Rose sleeping on her bean bag chair

This past month has had sad news but I have also found happy news, sort of. I’ve finally found an apartment (and so has Mark)! It’s exactly where I’ve wanted to live and beautiful. I move in next week and will be adding pictures! I say “sort of” happy news because this is, obviously, a hard time for me to FINALLY be moving away from home because I can’t bring Rose with me.

I’ve had such a hard time finding an apartment that allows pets, and is within my price range, that I gave up and accepted an apartment that doesn’t allow dogs. This is very hard on me and I am really hoping that it doesn’t negatively affect Rose but I am trying to stay positive and continue to be excited about moving into my own place. It is LONG overdue and I’m ready for it.

Small details: work is going well, I’m connecting with more young professionals in Cincinnati and ready to start cooking in my own kitchen. I will also be starting a blog called “Oh to Live” showcasing people just living. I’ll give more information later on!

Happy Father’s Day!

A black Rose with no thorns is a beautiful thing.

Melissa

If you’re new to Twitter then listen.

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• Listen to what’s being said.
• Listen to who is saying it and how many people they’re following.

> It’s not all about the numbers, but if 100,000 people are following someone – they’re probably sending out good stuff.

• Check out twitter.com (when you’re logged out) and look at the ‘top tweets‘
• Go to Twellow or Wefollow and search subjects. So many people have Twitter accounts right now that you’re bound to find 10 or 20 who are high up in the industry/genre/thing you’re into. Are you a foodie? Check out Rachael Ray or Paula Deen. In to politics? Of course Barack Obama has a Twitter account but did you know Sarah Palin has one too? She may not be the brightest crayon but 127,000 people want to see what she has to say.

• HERE are 10 Insider Tips to using Twitter. If you know what # or RT means in regards to Twitter – you don’t need the tips.

• Don’t understand why you should be on Twitter? Check out THESE reasons. Searchability – News – Availability….
  

• And remember, DONT do THESE on Twitter… [There is no right or wrong way to tweet | Don't ask people WHY they unfollowed you | my personal favorite: NO PEANUT BUTTER AND JELLY SANDWICHES! No one cares where you're going for lunch or what you're eating... unless you phrase it in a way to make them care (more on this later)]

Now try out HootSuite or TweetDeck to make tweeting a little easier to manage!

Peace and things.

These days, the social sphere has given the masses the power of truth. These days, because someone says it… it can become true. A kernal is all it takes to grow a great corn stalk and likewise, a small half-truth now has the power to become true if enough people say it. Of course we’re taught to second guess everything we hear – but if you hear it from 10 -seemingly reliable- sources, won’t you begin to believe it?

Case in point – the many celebrities who have had their Twitter accounts hacked to tell audiences that they had passed away (Brittney Spears, Kanye West and the big one that lasted for a while – Johnny Depp).

On the other hand, social media in general (and Twitter to be more specific) has added to today’s hyper world. We’re moving twice as fast as we were 30 years ago and people want to know things the instant it happens. Take the Iran election for instance, and the fact that Twitter was covering the protests and rallies long before CNN.

Or take at Haiti – where did I first hear details about the horrible earthquake? Twitter. Where did I see pictures of the destruction? Twitter. Who did news sources (like CNN AM Fix) turn to for extra support to their reporting? Twitter, consumer generated photos and their blog.

What you’re saying is important now. You have the opportunity to share anything with the WORLD. Unfortunately there are many idiots in this world who have the same opportunity. Let us hope that, as it has in the past, intelligence and dedication will be the front of today’s mass information.

This guy seems to think so: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10095/1048013-291.stm

Duke is the basketball team people love to hate. Why? Because they’re that good

And this guy agrees with me, Coach K (Krzyzewski) is pretty sweet!! http://www.nj.com/college-basketball/index.ssf/2010/04/post_3.html

I’m excited about tonight’s game, are you?! GGGOOOOO DUKE!!

I picked her up around 5:30 and she was SO ready to leave the vet’s. When we got home the other dog -Saff- was ready to jump her but we held her off so Rose could get half way across the kitchen, before she flopped down and dosed off. She ate 1/2 a cup of food (which she was excited for) and then she half flopped over and has been asleep since (3 hours later).

I just hope when we go in for the X-rays in a month, they won’t have to give her anesthesia…

But she’s good for now, and the doctor said he doesn’t see anything serious as of now.

(in the process of writing this Rose woke up and is laying on her belly looking a little confused… now it looks like her head is going back down)

Melissa

>I am employed (pat on the back) in a job that I really enjoy but still living in my parents basement. This has it’s ups and downs. I’m saving a lot of money but mom has access to me -and my things- all the time. It also means I don’t feel free to cook or buy groceries of any kind if I want to be the one to eat them.

Back to the job – I enjoy it but working 8-5 is not all it’s cracked up to be. Especially when it’s cold and dark outside and you just want to go back to bed! Warm salty breeze and the ocean anyone?!

>I have the same car I had in High School (Saturn). Again, ups and downs here. Sylvia (the car) is kind of old/dying and I have to constantly add oil to her and pray she doesn’t just decide to stop going on me. Dad has milked many years out of her – more than anyone else could have…

> Mark and I have been dating for 3 years and 5 months. Only ups here and hopefully it will keep going up!! He is pretty awesome (as you can see in photos below!). For my birthday, he’s taking me to Chicago to visit some friends! Suggestions on where I should go there?!

If I WERE in my own apartment tonight and I WERE cooking for myself, this is what I would like to make for myself [shout out to Rachael Ray whom I love]:

Croque Monsieur-Style Monte Cristo Sammies (minus figgy salad?!)

And I would make this for Rose (she’s 11 now!!) Doggie Stew < actually looks really good!

- The Big M

P.S. anyone know of a clean, nice apartment in Oakley?!

The Super Bowl party was a success! Even though the Saints beat the Vikings to make their path toward Super Bowl glory, I was glad they won!

Above is Mark’s Apartment where we hosted the Party and the next photo is Katie (his sister) and I working on the food:

Of course, we weren’t posing at all..!

And here is the layout of the FOOD! [Stuffed mushrooms and guacamole dip as well as 1 ton of chipotle chips were added later!]

Recipe for the potato skins: Click Here

And truly the World’s BEST Deviled Eggs: Here

Beautiful Logo Artwork by Katie!

I was exhausted by the end of it but overall it was a lot of fun! I can’t wait until I have my own apartment so I don’t have to borrow Mark’s! And yes, I am betting that day will be coming very very soon (me moving into my own apt.).

Love entertaining,

Melissa

P.S. Why do they call them Deviled Eggs?!?

And WordPress is really making me angry so you’ll just have to deal with the terrible photo/text layout of this post. Thx!

The USA may not be full of saints but we were built on the foundation of freedom when that ideology was brand new. Not freedom from capitalism. Freedom from having no choices. We weren’t promised that everything would be fair. We were promised that we would have some freedoms that – at that time – were unheard of.

We have the freedom of religion (You don’t like church that’s fine. Prez Obama isn’t making you go or affiliate with any religion). The freedom of speech (you wanna say the gov’t sucks, then you can and THEY won’t kill you for it). We are given the freedom to bear arms, and to not be searched unless there is probable cause [so if you had this suicide note hanging around your house, no one could find it unless you gave them probable cause to search you].

Taxation without representation? Seriously? Do you even know what that meant or what they were fighting for?

Oh, and by the way, once you file your taxes for the first time, you pretty much have to file every year after. You can’t just skip a year because you have no job or income. That’s not how it works. I knew that when I was 18.

You didn’t die for freedom. You died for frustration, impatience and stupidity. Sorry you felt like you got screwed over but you didn’t change anything. You can’t kill the government. You can only kill the people who are working hard to stay on top just like you are.

Frustrated that people feel ‘violence is the only option’.

Did Martin Luther King Jr. kill anyone? No. Did he make a BIG difference? Yes.

Melissa

We had another ‘work at home’ day today — thankfully all my work is done over the computer! I am very excited to announce that as I am working in social media, I am able to work with HTML coding. I really like code, and figuring out how to manipulate it to do what you want. I have been recently working with one of our non-profits to create a ‘newsletter’ tab and a ‘donate’ tab on their Facebook Pages! Although they are fairly simple, both look great [I'll have to ask if I can post a link on here or not] and it’s exciting to have created them from scratch!

I’m currently looking for an apartment — although I’m not sure how long it will take me to find the perfect place. Being a girl, moving out on my own, I’m afraid of moving into a place with another creepy landlord [in college, we had a slightly unscrupulous maintenance man but there were six of us]… so I’m slightly hesitant to move. I will have my 70lb ferocious black lab with me…… but still a little worried. To all those women who live alone, am I overreacting?

I am lucky that my journalism program taught me how to look at property records and do quck/free semi-background checks

Does anyone know of good properties around the Cincy area? I’m looking in a certain area but open to anything!

cold and snowy,

Melissa

In case you’re hosting a party and looking at the last minute for that perfect touch, here’s an awesome recipe I found!

Super Bowl 44 Potato Skins

• Pierce 4 LG russet potatoes with a fork. Bake directly on the oven rack at 350 degrees until tender, about 1 hr.
• Let cool, then quarter lengthwise and scoop out flesh, leaving a ¼ inch shell.
• Brush both sides with melted butter and season with salt and pepper [and some grated cheese if you'd like]. Bake, skin-side up, at 450 degrees until crisp, about 15 minutes.

For the Saints:
Assorted sliced Italian deli meats, provolone, olive salad and sliced pepperoncini

For the Colts:
Mayo mixed with mustard and hot sauce, sliced fried pork cutlets, chopped tomato and diced red onion

Or you can choose your favorite team: Team Potato Skins

I hope everyone has fun at the Super Bowl, and since the Vikings are out… may the best team win! Of course I’ll be posting photos of my sniffly nose, Mark’s small apt. [and HUGE TV], the sweet food and our party!

Peace out.