Day #2

The meaning behind your blog name:

Okay so this post is going to be short and sweet because the meaning behind our blog name is pretty self explanatory. Basically we are sisters, there are 2 of us, and our last name starts with a Z. And that's the story of how we came up with the name Z Squared. Ta-da! Sorry we don't have a more exciting story behind it but there ya go :) 

Day #1--Amy

15 interesting facts about me...

1. When I was born my mom was septic which basically means she was full of infection so when I came out I was apparently blue and didn't make a sound. They rated me a 1 out of 10 on the apgar scale 10 being the most healthy. Needless to say it did not look good. They rushed me out of the room and my poor parents didn't get to hold me til a week later. Luckily after 9 days I made a full recovery and here I am.

2. I have never learned to swim because the water scares me so much. Many have tried to teach me but alas none of them have succeeded. It's kind of embarrassing when your 23 with a bunch of flotation devices holding you up out of the water and there are 5 year olds swimming laps around you but whatever.

3. Ever since I was little I've been prone to getting bloody noses. If my nose gets bumped or the weathers really dry you can bet on there being blood. It's pretty gross. I would say I get at least 2-3 nose bleeds a month. And no it's not because I pick my nose. Jerks! :)

4. I have more than once and by different people been told that I am one of the goofiest girls that they have ever met. I'm not sure how to take that but I guess I'll take it as a compliment.

5. Sunsets are my favorite!

6. Although I'm known to be somewhat of a commitment phoebe I've always been obsessed with weddings! I love going to weddings, I love looking at bridal magazines and could (and have) spend hours looking at wedding photos. Who knows maybe one day I'll be a wedding planner. I would love that!

7. I get stressed about the dumbest things. I remember once at my previous job we took a stress test and if you got higher than 20 that meant you were stressed. Yeah I got over 100. Hopefully if I took that test today I wouldn't score so high but who knows.

8. I absolutely hate confrontation and avoid it at all costs although I wish I was a bit more feisty.

9. I love to laugh probably more than anything in the world. You can't take life too seriously.

10. I, like Erin, am also obsessed with sports but mostly college football. I think being a Zito you have to like sports. It's just the way we are made :)

11. I love making crafts unless it involves sewing.

12. I am one of the biggest procrastinators in the world and it has gotten me into trouble many times but I never seem to learn my lesson. That's probably another reason why I'm always so stressed.

13. I love photography! Both taking pictures and looking at others photography. I blame my cousins for this. You know who you are ;)

14. I love gossip. I know that sounds terrible and I try to stop but it is probably one of my favorite things. I never create it I just love hearing about it. What can I say it's one of my biggest weaknesses!  

15. My family and friends are the most important things in the world to me. They truly are the BEST and I don't know what I would do or where I would be without them. I love them all so much!

Day #1--Erin

Even though it is a shot of me in my swimmer, I still love this photo, because it was taken about a year and a half ago when I was in Almeria, Spain.

15 interesting facts about me:

1. I love to stand on my head.

2. I was dropped on my head when I was 2 days old (insert joke here--very funny, jerks!)

3. I write poetry when I try to understand my feelings

4. I love to draw and want to be an artist.

5. I have never had a broken bone (that I know of)

6. I love learning and doing new things, but I get bored easlily and move on to the next thing. I am mediocre at so many things!

7. I love to play and watch sports

8. I am scared to death of snakes

9. I am a good memorizer

10. I am a C.E.R.T.---Community Emergency Response Team

11. I want to save the world

12. I am a great listener--I would rather listen than talk. Unless I think of something witty to say or am with my family. We just all talk at once. We each think we are funniest people ever!

13. If you are a friend, you will probably be my friend forever. People mean the world to me. Especially my family.

14. There is nothing that makes me feel more alive than running

15. I am hilarious! :)

30 Day Blog Challenge

As I'm sure many of you have noticed Erin and I have been Slacking a bit on the blog posts. A couple of months back our cousin Kristy (chillygator.blogspot.com) started a 30 day blog challenge and challenged us to do it as well. We have been meaning to start it but just haven't been able to get around to it for one reason or another. Anyway we decided that we need to get the ball rolling so here we go. Wish us luck that we can actually achieve our goal!

day 1- recent picture of you and 15 interesting facts about yourself




day 2- the meaning behind your blog name



day 3- a picture of you and your friends



day 4- a habit that you wish you didn’t have



day 5- a picture of somewhere you've been to



day 6- favorite super hero and why



day 7- a picture of someone/something that has the biggest impact on you



day 8- short term goals for this month and why



day 9- something you're proud of in the past few days



day 10- songs you listen to when you are happy, sad, bored, hyped, mad



day 11- another picture of you and your friends



day 12- how you found out about blogger and why you have one



day 13- a letter to someone



day 14- a picture of you and your family



day 15- put your ipod on shuffle: first 10 songs that play



day 16- another picture of yourself



day 17- someone you would want to switch lives with for one day and why



day 18- plans/dreams/goals you have



day 19- nicknames you have and why you have them



day 20- someone you love.



day 21- a picture of something that makes you happy



day 22- what makes you different from everyone else



day 23- something you crave for a lot



day 24- your last five facebook status'



day 25- what I would find in your bag



day 26- what do you think about your friends



day 27- why are you doing this 30 day challenge



day 28- a picture of you from last year and now, how have you changed since then?



day 29- in this past month, what have you learned



day 30- your favorite song

So yeah not so sure how this is going to work with 2 people. We may split them up and do an every other day thing or maybe we will just do two posts a day. I guess we will just see how it goes. Also not sure if we are going to start today or tomorrow. It will probably all depend on how we feel after watching the bachelor tonight ;) We would like to extend the invitation for anyone with a blog to try this out. Just let us know if you do so we can check yours out :)

South Bend/Chicago Trip

Well, this post is over a month late. Sorry, it's been a busy month! About 5 weeks ago, My Dad, brother, cousin, myself and 6 other friends of my brother, hopped on a plane in our U of U gear head for Chicago. Our destination, though, was South Bend, Indiana. Home of the Fighting Irish. The game would prove to be quite painful, but all in all, it was a great trip.

All 10 of us walking to Harry Carey's for dinner

Picking up the rental cars

Matt, Harry Carey and me

on campus

Looking mafioso in the Cathedral

Look who we found--Eric Weddle. All in the pic excluding my Dad will admit to Eric Weddle crushes!

outside the stadium

All of us inside the stadium

We are clueless right here as to how bad this game will be. 3.5 hours of rain and pain

We sat in the faculty section of ND and found some sweet Catholic friends to take our photo

The fly-over



Last pic I took of the field. Before the game even started. There was nothing good that happened during the game.

The game was horrible and we got rained on almost the whole time. But South Bend was beautiful and the fans were very warn and inviting. I would totally live in South Bend. It was lovely! That night we drove back to our hotel in Chicago and walked a few blocks to Giardanos for some deep-dish pizza. I have no pics of it bc we waited 2 hours to get our pizza and i was so tired by the time we finally ate. Next day was Sunday. My co-worker, Seth and his wife Bre used to live in Chicago and they told me we had to have breakfast at the Bongo Room. So we did. It was delightful! (see proof below)

Dan's Oreo-banana pancakes



Matt had the breakfast burrito and hash browns



Dad had pumpkin spice pancakes



I had the chocolate tower of french toast. Are you kidding me? And this was only 1/2 the portion. But I ordered a side of bacon and they brought me out 8 pieces. Weird,  but no complaints here. It was delightful.

After, we were thinking of getting tix to the Bears/Vikings game, but they were pricey and we were spent after the game the day before, so we opted for a boat tour of the city instead. It was cold, but fun.



At Navy Pier. This was pretty much the end of our journey. After this we drove to the airport and flew home. All in all, it was a great trip other than the game that we flew there to see. But we had a good time, have some new Cathollic buddies, ate some delicious food, were able to touch Eric Weddles arms of steel, and for that we are all happy campers!

My New Love...

This past Sunday was my Mother's Birthday. Happy Birthday Mom! For her Birthday some of the family decided it would be fun to get her lightroom photoshop and so began my love affair with it. As most of you know i recently bought a Nikon D3000 and am absolutely in love with taking pictures with it and lightroom helps so much! Anyway I thought it would be fun to show some of the pictures I've played around with in lightroom. So here we go...

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My little Ammon. Didn't change much here just softened his skin and he had a little rash under his nose that I got rid of. 

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After

Mom and Dad in Cedar Breaks. I love them!

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Erin who looks good no matter what. She is definitely the photogenic one. Brat!

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After

Sarah at the temple waiting for Whit and John. Just gave this one more of a retro feel. No touching up needed.

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Whit's hair at the wedding. So pretty!

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After

I'm just going to apologize right now for the before of this one. Scary of me! The kiddies always look cute though!

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After

My little Easton sporting the U hat. Just made his skin more clear. How cute is he?

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After

All I can say is thank goodness for photoshop!

                                                                                

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Hottie Mcgee @ Salt Flats.

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Up in the Canyons on a Fall day.

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Took out all the chocolate on Easton's face (not that there's anything wrong with having chocolate on your face. Can you tell we are related?) also used the retro preset. If you have lightroom get retro preset. It's one of my favs!

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Easton the Giraffe in sepia chic (also an awesome preset!)

                                            

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Temple with autumn leaves.