After having a chatty lunch with two fellow bloggers, Twitter enthusiasts, and Northwest Indiana residents, Natalie and Jennifer, we realized that there are a lot of great bloggers and Twitterers in our area, but we’ve yet to hear of a region tweet-up.

So, I’m proposing one in the near future. Preferably an establishment with a good drink special. Someplace in Merrillville? Don Pablos? Hooters? I’m taking suggestions on time and place. I’ll make sure the restaurant knows we plan on taking over and bring the nametags.

All bloggers and Twitter users are welcome. You’ll have more fun if you’re of legal drinking age. Are you up for it?

Spread the word and RT:

Are you ready for an NWI tweet-up? Suggest dates and times! http://tinyurl.com/dl7azy

I suppose that is the kind of statement you’d expect to hear from someone who is celibate…

Before touching down for his first visit to Africa, Pope Benedict XVI took the opportunity to pontificate on the AIDS pandemic, saying that condoms are not the answer to the fight against AIDS.

I think we can all agree that condoms aren’t the solution to the AIDS pandemic, but they certainly are an effective preventative measure. Especially in a country with limited medical care and widespread occurrences of rape.

While the Pope views condom distribution as giving those with AIDS the green-light to have sex, I believe the intention is to protect those that do not have the disease from contracting the disease. Will some view the condoms as the green-light? Absolutely. But why are we comprising the protection of many based on the rash actions of a few?

Several of the comments on the article are very well stated, especially those that expand on AIDS and STDs being a public health issue and not necessarily a moral one.

I miss PJP.

Meet my cousins…Madeline, Jack, and Katharine (their brother, Mitchell, his hiding from the camera as all teenagers do). Together, they are a rambunctious, messy, hysterical handful, and they have a little sister on the way this April.

With five kids, I’m not sure how their parents are going to find the time to send out Birth Announcements, but I can give them a tip…go to Doodle Bug Dezigns. Their announcements, invitations, and holiday photo cards are beyond cute and easy to order online between naps, feedings, and laundry.

Come April, I’m afraid I just might be out of my babysitting element when I’m outnumbered five to one!

I watch the ABC World News with Charlie Gibson every evening while I am eating dinner or getting in some Wii Fit stepping. I absolutely love Charlie and the way he engages everyone in the news and I especially enjoy that he tells me that he hopes I had a great day at the end of every broadcast. It’s his signature sign-off.

The other evening, I was super excited to hear Charlie introduce a segment about something I’m going to get to see firsthand this fall…Dolphin Bubbles at SeaWorld! Just watch, and you’ll quickly see why I was so captivated by the video…

Everybody knows that dolphins are super intelligent, but the story goes that one dolphin started blowing bubbles and taught all the other dolphins how to do the same! Now they all blow perfect circles, push them around with their noses, and swim through them to entertain themselves and the SeaWorld guests! It’s easy to see why the dolphins are a huge attraction at the park.

All of their personalities really start to shine when you see all the dolphins playing and interacting with each other, and I can’t wait to see dolphin bubbles for myself when I visit in October!

Before I dive into this post, lets get one thing clear…I’m not pregnant. There’s not a flicker of desire to become pregnant. If I were to become pregnant, I would use all 9 months to eat marshmallow fluff and then complain incessantly about how I can’t even fit into the Liz Lang maternity clothes from Target.

That being said, I’m a strong proponent of stem cell research and solutions and am so happy our president is making strides to progress the study of steam cells. Currently, Cryo-cell offers some amazing opportunities to collect and preserve stem cells. From banking your baby’s cord blood, to collecting monthly menstrual blood, there are risk-free and pain-free ways to harvest stem cells which have been used to treat more than 70 diseases, including malignancies, anemia and metabolic and immune system disorders.

Their current offer makes harvesting and storing stem cells a more affordable option for parents looking to protect their children. No doubt, it’s an investment, but an investment that may pay for itself many times over through the course of your child’s life.

The site encourages interested women and expectant parents to “compare us” because they know they offer the most advanced services at the most affordable price that could one day save your child’s life.