A glimpse into my mind

Pinterest is evil

2012-02-12T18:48:00.003-05:00

I recently jumped on the Pinterest bandwagon and I have found myself pinning all kinds of Martha-like recipes, kiddy projects and home decor/organizing ideas. These ideas that I have on my boards are a tease right now for two reasons:

1. I am still trying to figure out time management as a working mother.
2. Our house has exploded with baby toys and equipment while we wait out the process of purchasing our next home.

The picture perfect ideas I want to implement give way to my hectic life lately.

I see a picture on Pinterest that points me to a blog with healthy lunch ideas. I purchase all kinds of produce and healthy goods to make lunches for the hubs and me.

Truth: That stuff has sat in the fridge all week, mostly untouched and definitely not finding its way into neat little sectioned lunches for either of us.

Where do people get the time to be so perfect?!

The Obligatory New Years reflection post

2012-01-01T23:12:00.003-05:00

Hey ya'll. I hope that 2012 is off to a great start for you. Here is my reflection of 2011 and what I am working on for 2012.

I spent all of the year, up until October 2, pregnant. Then I had my little suga booga

I have spent the past 3 months learning how to manage being a new mommy and just recently returning to work. Speaking of work, I changed positions at my job this year back in the Spring.

Looking back, 2011 was one big time of planning and preparation for becoming a mother. That was my main focus, with other small stuff peppered in here and there.

Now that I am getting the hang of things (somewhat), I need to figure out what is important to work on this year. My next area of focus is home. As I have talked about on this little blog before, my family lives in a little condo. I purchased it as a single woman and in the four years since, have seen my blessings grow to include the hubby and bebe. That means that there is not much room for anything. I have had to pack away all of my scrapbooking materials, half of my wardrobe, many of our wedding gifts and so much more. I feel like a big part of my home life is on hold until space allows for it. I want so much to decorate more cutely, display my (currently packed away) books, cook with all of my Crate and Barrel gadgets, and host dinner parties for friends and family. In order to do that, we need SPACE!

So, I am declaring that within the next 6 months we are moving onto bigger and better living arrangements. I started by contacting a real estate agent today. Let's see what happens...

2 months of being a mommy

2011-12-02T16:44:00.002-05:00

My little man is 2 months today. I go back to work in a little over a week and it makes me sad to have to leave him during the day. I have no choice in the matter though. We have to have two incomes to meet our financial obligations, at least for now. Hopefully with some better planning I can stay home for the next child. I guess the first one is the guinea pig?

I got a chance to get my hair done for the first time in forever today but I still feel a bit like a raggamuffin. I need a brow wax bad! My feet could use a pedicure and my back needs a massage. My mom gave me a massage certificate at my baby shower so I will be cashing that in before I go back to work.

Much to my surprise, I am still breastfeeding. I will see how that goes when I return to work. Lil D is sleeping better at night but still has his fussy times. He is smiling and laughing and "talking" to us. I love being his mommy :)

Motherhood- almost 2 weeks in

2011-10-15T17:58:00.002-04:00

My precious lil pumpkin arrived on October 2 at 7:11 pm. I will post my birth story later. For now here are some random thoughts about motherhood so far:

- I had no idea I would sweat so much! It is so gross! I wake up several times during the night to a soaked t-shirt and wet hair. My hormones are all out of wack and I guess the night sweats are part of the regulation process.

- Breastfeeding is hard! It took me and the little one some time to work together well on this one and it is still a struggle sometimes. It hurts so much at first and it just does not come naturally. To tell the complete truth, I really don't enjoy it but I am going to do it for as long as I can tolerate it.

- I am extremely thankful I don't have to do this by myself. I can't imagine being a single mother without any support, trying to take care of a newborn. D is helpful by making sure I am getting my water, changing the baby, burping the baby and driving us around as needed. We also had a week at my parent's house right out of the hospital and that was so helpful.

- I could just kiss my baby's face all day long and eat him with a spoon because he is cute! Even his cry is cute. It sounds like "mmmmm guy!".

A to Z

2011-09-24T17:15:00.002-04:00

I copied this idea from Mama and the Dudes. I thought it was kinda cute.

A. Age: 29

B. Bed size: Queen. Need a King size!

C. Chore that you hate: Scrubbing the tub and folding laundry.

D. Dogs: Andy!

E. Essential start to your day: Hmmmmm, don’t really have one but I am sure when little one gets here it will be coffee!

F. Favorite color: Pink.

G. Gold or Silver: White Gold

H. Height: 5'7”

I. Instruments you play: None. I like to sing though.

J. Job title: Day Treatment Counselor.

K. Kids: Lil Shabado is currently in the oven (no that’s not his name for real! LOL)

L. Live: VA

M. Mother’s name: S.K.

N. Nicknames: Scooter

O. Overnight hospital stays: When I was a baby I crawled out of my crib and busted my head. I had to stay overnight. Now the next overnight stay will be for when I have my baby!

P. Pet peeves: Hashtags on Facebook #wrongwebsite! “CongraDulations”, “I’m sorry for your lost” and other horrible grammar offenses we see on FB.

Q. Quote from a movie: "Right near the beach! Lawdhavemercy!”- Half Baked

R. Right or left handed: Right

S. Siblings: Older Brother S.S- 36

U. Underwear: Ones that fit my big ole preggo butt!

V. Vegetable you hate: Don’t have one really.

W. What makes you run late: The fact that I think it takes me 15 minutes to get anywhere in the metro area and it really doesn’t!

X. X-Rays you’ve had: Shoulder, spine, left hand, dental

Y. Yummy food that you make: Baked goods

Z. Zoo animal: White tiger

Getting Closer!

2011-09-19T14:12:00.002-04:00

I am 38 weeks today. I have literally been pregnant all year and now it's time to make a shift from being preggo to being a mommy (to more than a little spoiled dachshund). Am I really ready? Well, how ready can one be before the actual arrival? As mentioned in the previous post, we have the material things all set up. The nursery decorated and the car seat installed. I think the prep work now is mental. It doesn't help that I hemmed and hawed about taking a childbirth class for quite a while. We took one online and that certainly was helpful but I am wondering if I should have plunked down the fee for the Lamaze class. If this little one stays put in the oven for a few more days, then we have a free childbirth class at the local hospital this Sunday. Hopefully, that will ease our minds and make us that much more knowledgeable. I know that D is getting a little nervous about being a dad but he will be great. I feel pretty confident about myself too!

Random preggo thoughts and happenings

2011-08-20T23:11:00.002-04:00

I know that I am getting closer to being a mommy based on the silly things I find myself doing here lately. Tonite the hubs and I hooked up the baby monitor and took turns crying into it to see how well it works. LOL. I felt silly but at least I knew it worked. I am also putting together all sorts of baby gear: playpen, stroller, you name it. I put the newborn sling on the bathtub and imagined him lying in it while I bathe him. All the NB and 0-3 clothes are washed and a good amount of them are at grandmas house for the first 1-2 weeks that we will be there recovering. Diapers of assorted sizes sit stacked in his room and his book shelf has a few great selections already. I plan to breastfeed but I have months worth of free formula in the pantry just in case. The hospital bag is packed and so is the diaper bag. We are taking an online course about childbirth and have already taken a newborn care and safety class as well as infant CPR and the L&D tour. I feel like time has flown. Only 43 days to go. Yikes!

Hello there...

2011-04-19T21:30:00.003-04:00

I have no idea why I haven't blogged at all in 2011. Well, ok I have a little, tiny, "about the size of an avocado this week" idea. I am 16 weeks pregnant today :) I am not "out" on Facebook yet but I do tweet about my adventures in pregnancy. I hope to maybe use this forum to document my adventure as the hubs and I await our first child. We don't yet know the sex. That comes in about 4 weeks. In the meantime, we are just praying for a happy and healthy baby.

Sometimes I think....

2010-11-25T00:05:00.004-05:00

If something strange is going to happen, it will happen to me. Sooooo, today the hubs and I go to a local park to take in the tour of the house, which is decorated for the holidays. We arrived to the park around 4, parking our car across the park, and went on the tour at 4:30. We finished the tour at 5:15 and knew that the park was closing so we swiftly walked across the park to make our way to our car. We knew that building we had walked through when we first got there would be locked but usually there is a gate on the side of that the building to go through. It too was locked.

Now I am in a panic as we make our way to yet another locked gate that was about a 5 minute walk from the first one. I figure that we need to jump the fence which is about 6 feet tall. Hubs gives me a boost but I, just having had a shoulder surgery, don't feel too steady to jump on over it. I tore my shirt, sweater, and have several scratches on my hand, stomach and arm. He made his way over and then I really start to panic, as I am now in a cold, dark, 100 acre park by myself!

I called 911 and informed them that I was locked in. As I was on the phone with the dispatcher, I decided to check one last gate. I was relieved to see that gate cracked slightly opened and I was just in time because someone was coming to lock it as I went through it.

I swear it felt like I was living through a made for TV movie!

My natural hair essentials

2010-11-19T08:00:00.000-05:00

I have been natural for about a year and a half now and I have been learning how to best handle my hair. I have naturally curly hair but it is very thick. I started getting relaxers when I was 9 years old because my mom did not know how to handle it. In high school and college I would sometime wear my hair in a wash and go style, showcasing my curls and waves. Back then I did not know better and would put mousse in it. Now I have a few thing that help me style and maintain my hair better. Here are the products and tools that are helpful to me.

1. Trader Joes Spa Nourish Conditioner. It is only $2.99 but this is a great product. It is really moisturizing and helps when I detangle my hair in the shower.
2. My wet detangling comb.A good comb is a must!
3. Pantene medium thick leave in condtioner followed by coconut oil to seal the moisture in.
4. John Freda Dream Curls to define and provide a slight hold for my curls.
5. A satin pillow case helps to save my hair.
6. A hair catcher for the shower because I can clog up a shower in 2 shampoos.

The joys of natural hair

2010-11-04T23:32:00.003-04:00

Okay, I love my natural hair most days. But lately with only one good arm to style it with, it often resembles this....

It is hard to put it into protective styles while sleeping, so most night I just put on my satin bonnet and throw caution to the wind. I have to say the one thing I am most looking forward to is being able to style my hair once my shoulder has regained a regular range of motion.

While I heal

2010-11-02T05:52:00.002-04:00

Currently I am out of work, recovering from a shoulder surgery. I had a list of things that I wanted to accomplish during this time. I pictured myself getting my house sparkly clean, finishing up my wedding planner certification, trying new recipes and getting some reading done, all in the first week. Then reality hit. First of all, ouch! If I push myself too hard I feel the pain. I have to move about the house kinda slow in order to get things done. I still have 3 more weeks in the sling and then physical therapy to complete. I also come to the realization (again!) that I oftentimes lack follow through with tasks that I have deemed to be important. I write myself to do lists that go sadly neglected when Ellen or Oprah comes on. So, I will continue to rest and heal, with periodic bursts of semi-productivity. Hopefully this will still bring an outcome of achieved goals.

Ughhhhhh

2010-09-21T06:12:00.002-04:00

I am so frustrated with myself lately. I am a horrible procrastinator. I let things pile up on me and then I frantically rush to get them back to a manageable level. Unlike a lot of people, I do not believe that putting things off until the last minute makes me work better. I just can't seem to get it together though. Let me explain something about my job. Every Tuesday morning we have a staff meeting. This is also the time that our weekly paperwork is due. Without fail, I wait until at least 9:00 pm on Monday night to begin leisurely working on this paperwork. I mostly watch reruns of stuff, look at blogs, play Sorority Life and Farmville, or any other combination of complete time wasting activities. Sometimes I go to sleep for a few hours between 4 and 6 a.m. and then I get back up and finish whatever I have left. I go to my meeting seeing spots before my eyes because I have not had enough sleep or ANY sleep. Today is one of those no sleep days. Here is my synopsis of the random stupid crap I did instead of work on paperwork this evening:
5:00 pm- Make and eat dinner for me
6:00 pm- Random crap
7:00 pm- Make dinner for hubby
8:00 pm- Watch something on TV
9:00 pm- Watch even more something on TV - Living single rerun
10:00 pm- Watch Unsung about Tammi Terrell
11:00 pm- Play games on computer
12:00 am- Do a little work but continue to waste time online
1:00 am- Watch reruns
2:00 am- More reruns
3:00 am- Clean my living room and kitchen
4:00 am- Read random blogs
5:00 am- Continue to read random blogs and shower
6:00 am- Write this blog despite needing to wrap up my work

Any ideas to help me? Please....

Long time no blog

2010-09-13T17:57:00.002-04:00

*waves* Hi ya'll! It has been a while since I have updated this lil bloggy. Ummmm, let's see what has been going in in my lil corner of the world. I had a lovely week in Las Vegas (all except for the minor detail about me dislocating my shoulder). I have been feeling a wee bit burnt out with my job, but I do realize it is just the nature of the whole business. I am working on wrapping up my wedding and event planner certification. I am also planning some baby showers to get event design and coordination under my belt (feel free to send referrals my way!)

I am excited that it is beginning to feel like autumn and I foresee many positive changes and transitions on the horizon as we finish up 2010.

Random late night thoughts

2010-08-09T00:33:00.002-04:00

I really need to snap out of my unhealthy sleeping pattern. Sleep late, stay up late, repeat. Ughhhhh!

I am watching reruns of "Sex and the City" on demand. This is my go to show for when I am bored.

I wish I had the extra money to pay someone to organize my little condo. That or I wish I could be on one of those shows on HGTV where someone does it for you.

I am sooooo excited for our upcoming vacation to Las Vegas! It has been over a year since we have been anywhere for more than a weekend. I plan to unplug from Facebook games and too much internet. I can't lie though, I will probably tweet just a little bit during this time :-)

Looking toward the future

2010-07-28T22:11:00.006-04:00

{Just some random thoughts}

As I was washing piles of dishes tonight, cooking chicken, and baking chocolate cherry muffins, I had a thought: I want to be a stay at home mother (much like these two bloggers I admire Hilary and Jessica). Even back in college I had this feeling. When a good friend of mine was talking about her law school ambitions, I talked about how my career will not come before family. Here is my reasoning behind this. I feel like even with our little 2 bedroom condo I can't keep it clean and organized in the manner I would like to working full time outside of the home. I can't help but think that when we expand our little family I will feel even more overwhelmed. As much as I love D, I know that he can't cook and really seems to be blind to dust, grime, and a 4 foot pile of dishes in the kitchen. As the lady of the manor (ha!), I have to scrub, wash, cook, tend to the dog (two flea baths in the last 4 days!), clip coupons, grocery shop, blah blah blah. He has even said that when I am out on maternity leave for my future, yet-to-be-conceived, but often though of child, he will not get up for 2:00 am feedings. *sigh* Thinking of joining the ranks of all of the countless supermoms out there leaves me a bit nervous. I guess I better start working on a genius plan for us to live off of one salary for awhile, huh?

Saving on household cleaning supplies

2010-07-26T15:54:00.000-04:00

In my continued quest to slash our household budget, I have researched homemade cleaning supplies. Here are my reviews of the ones I have made and tried thus far:

Dishwasher detergent: Combine equal parts washing soda along with Borax. I used this and I am not impressed with how my dishes turned out.

Detergent for clothes: grate up a bar of soap, combine with one cup washing soda and one cup borax. Store in airtight container. I think that this works very well. As a matter of fact, I made a double batch yesterday after we used the first one. I will continue to make this.

General purpose cleaner for surfaces and windows: Combine one part water with one part white vinegar in an empty spray bottle. This works pretty good. The vinegar smell dissipates within a couple of minutes. I use on the bathroom mirror and sink.

Drain cleaner: Pour 1 cup of baking soda down drain, follow with one cup white vinegar. Let sit for 30 minutes and chase with hot water. This works well for minor clogs and preventative measures. Once the drain is really clogged, you will still need some Liquid Plumber.

Look what I got for $2.41

2010-07-10T20:11:00.001-04:00

By combining free product coupons, store and manufacturer coupons, I got all of this stuff from Target for $2.41
I am getting good a this couponing stuff!

Saving money at the grocery store

2010-07-05T19:51:00.004-04:00

Recently I have decided to challenge myself with buying all food and household items for me, my husband and dog for $200 per month. I have read up on how to use coupons better and shop the sales at various places near my house. Today I spent $40 dollars and really racked up. Some highlights of my purchase are:

Organic porkchops for .75 (on sale for 2.99 a lb and had a store coupon for $2 off organic store brand meat)

Minute Rice Ready Yellow rice for .14 (on closeout for $1.14 and had a printed coupon from coupons.com for $1.00 off)

Utz potato chips for .99 (store coupon in ad from Sunday)

Organic diced tomatoes for FREE (on sale for .99 and had a printable coupon for $1.00 off)

Baby carrots and Kraft dressing for FREE (coupons from a new grocery store in town that are good when $15 is spent)

With a little planning, it is actually easy to find great deals and cut your household budget by 30-50%. Even if you don't get the paper on Sunday, there are many printable coupons available online. In addition to coupons.com , there is Redplum and even Target has both manufacturer and store coupons.

Also check out these websites to get info on weekly deals and how to coupon:

BeCentsable

Deal Seeking Mom

Next post:
How to save money on household cleaning supplies!

Birthday freebies

2010-06-26T23:03:00.003-04:00

I will be doing a series of posts of saving money and how to find freebies and great deals. My birthday was on Tuesday and I racked up on free meals and treats. Here are the places that offer birthday freebies.

Many of these require signing up on the company’s website!

Applebee’s – Free dessert and song on your birthday.
Baskin Robbins – Baskin Robbins will send you a coupon for a free 2.5 oz scoop of ice cream on your birthday plus other special promotions when you join the Baskin Robbins Birthday Club.
Ben & Jerry’s – Get a free ice cream treat on your birthday when you become a ChunkSpelunker with Ben & Jerry’s..
Bob Evans – Sign up your child for their birthday club and they’ll get a free kids’ meal on their birthday at Bob Evans.
Buffalo Wild Wings – Get a coupon for a free dessert to celebrate your birthday at Buffalo Wild Wings.
Burger King – Sign up your child to be a member of Club BK so they can get a free kid’s meal on their birthday.
California Pizza Kitchen – Sign up your child (10 and under) for CPKids and they will receive a free CPKids meal during the month of their birthday.
Captain D’s – Kids get a free kids meal and birthday greeting on their birthday at Captain D’s. Adult’s can join the D’s Club and get a coupon for a free birthday meal.
Cold Stone Creamery – Cold Stone Creamery will send you an email with a coupon for a free ice cream creation to enjoy on your birthday. All ages are welcome!
Cracker Barrel – You can come into Cracker Barrel on your birthday and you will get a free dessert and song.
Dairy Queen – Join the Dairy Queen Blizzard Fan Club and get a free ice cream cone on your birthday as well as a coupon for a blizzard when you join.
Dave & Buster’s – Get a free $5 game card credit on your birthday.
Denny’s – Fill in and mail out this form to enroll your child (10 and under) in the Denny’s Kids’ Birthday Club where they will receive a birthday card entitling them to a free kid’s entrée and sundae.
Famous Daves BBQ – Free food coupon via email on your birthday when you join the Famous Dave’s P.I.G. Club (could be free cake, an appetizer, or some ribs!).
Firehouse Subs – Show your ID on your birthday for a free sub.
Friendly’s – Sign up for Friendly’s E-News and get free ice cream for your birthday. This is now for kids and adults!
IHOP – Join the Pancake Revolution on their website for a free meal on your birthday.
Moe’s Southwest Grill – Get a coupon for a free Moe’s entree (excludes fajitas) on your birthday when you choose to “stay in the moe.”
Noodles & Company – Join the Noodleville Noodlegram to get a coupon for a free dish on your birthday.
Outback – Get a free dessert and a song when you go to Outback on your birthday.
P.F. Changs – Come in and get a free dessert on your birthday.
Red Lobster – Join the Overboard Club and they will email you a suprise for your birthday.
Red Robin – Join the Red Robin eClub and get a coupon for a fee burger on your birthday. This is for all ages!
Sephora – Sign up as a Beauty Insider and get a free gift from Sephora on your birthday.
Shoney’s – Get your child (10 and under) a free kid’s meal on their birthday when you sign them up for the the Kids Club.
Sonic – Members of the Wacky Pack Kid’s Birthday Club will receive a coupon for a free Wacky Pack during the week of their birthday.
.Texas Roadhouse – Become a Texas Roadie and you’ll get a coupon for a free dessert or appetizer on your birthday.
TGI Friday’s – Receive a coupon for a free appetizer to use on your birthday when you sign up for Friday’s E-Club. You also get a coupon for a free appetizer just for signing up!
Toys ‘R’ Us – Children ages 2 – 10 will receive a birthday card and surprise gift from Geoffrey when you sign them up for Geoffrey’s Birthday Club.

Remember my list?

2010-06-06T21:44:00.002-04:00

So a while back I made a list of 35 things that I wanted to do in 1001 days. Here is my progress....

1. Pay off a minimum of 75% of my credit card debt. (I am very aggressively paying down debt. I think I have increased my debt repayment each month by about 300%)
2. Loose and keep off 25 lbs. (I am doing Weight Watchers again and on my way to this goal, aiming for September,2010)
3. Sell my condo. (This goal is for later in the 1001 days)
4. Move into a 5 bedroom house. (Ditto above)
5. Participate in a marathon, as a walker. (I just did a 5k today! Woo hoo!)
6. Grow my relaxer out and cut off my hair. (My relaxer is all out and my hair is growing back from last years cut. I recently colored it auburn)
7. Visit DC and see all the cool historical sites that I never take the time to see when I go. (Maybe this summer?)
8. Maintain regular visits with my girls. (I think I am seeing everyone pretty regularly considering all of the distractions)
9. Become an ESL teacher. (I am thinking of revising this goal. As much as I want to do this, I don't know if I will be able to be a traditional teacher because I am just NOT a morning person )
10. Go through all my boxes of random stuff and put them in order. (Once one thing is concurred, another pops up. But that's just life!)
11. Wear makeup more often (I am wearing makeup on the weekends more)
12. Learn to be more of morning person (Don't really know if this will happen till I have a baby)
13. Learn a new craft (Still considering knitting)
14. Be more consistent with keeping my house cleaned everyday (Sucking at this)
15. Take a course on wedding planning (I start June 22nd)
16. Start a habit of walking Andy every morning for my and his exercise (poor Andy I still neglect him)
17. Take pictures more often (I do better now)
18. Learn to have a positive attitude even in the face of difficult times (I think I am doing a lot better at this)
19. Be less quick to anger when it comes to my loved ones (Still beat up on D too frequently)
20. Drink at least 4 glasses of water a day (I am drinking more water now)
21. Complete a detox program (Will NOT be doing this. After research I have determined it not to be safe)
22. Reduce the amount of fast food I consume (I am doing better)
23. Find a community service project to get involved in (I'm thinking volunteering with the SPCA)
24. Take a vacation of some sort each year (Going to Las Vegas in September, so excited!)
25. Speak Spanish more often (I speak some each week)
26. Try 10 new recipes (I tried a new one today. WW Potatoes Au Gratin)
27. Journal once a week (I don't think I will traditionally journal each week but blogging counts)
28. Tell my loved ones how much I love them whenever the mood strikes (I try to)
29. Spend more time at my parent's house in the country. It's good for my soul :-) (Just went yesterday. I go 1-2 times a month)
30. Scrapbook (I just started scrapbooking the wedding stuff in the past two weeks)
31. Read a new book each month ( I may not read it from cover to cover, but I check out new books each month and at least skim them for info)
32. Develop a 3 times a week fitness routine (I just got one started. Cardio dance on Tuesday, Personal Trainer on Wednesday and Wii or some other exercise like Yoga another day of the week)
33. Build up my savings to have a cushion in the lean times (Contributing at least $25 a month which is a start)
34. Develop a plan for my own business (I have started to work on my event/wedding coordination business and am revamping my Etsy.com store)
35. Increase my veggie and fruit consumption (Just had three veggies for dinner tonight)

Coming Soon!

2010-06-01T16:47:00.000-04:00

I am currently in the process of building a new Etsy store. Stay tuned...

Checking in

2010-06-01T16:35:00.003-04:00

I have been doing Weight Watchers for about five weeks now and so far not so good. I had lost about a pound a week and then last week I gained back a bit. It wasn't a huge shock to me but still stung. The piece that I have been missing has been exercise. I don't like to get all hot and sweaty. I have been working on finding what I do like. I started taking a cardio dance class last week and I go back again today. It is fun and although I may look uncoordinated while doing it, I am still burning calories. I also enjoy using the Wii to play sports, Wii fit, or Just Dance. Unfortunately, I do not own a Wii. My parents do and I take advantage of it when I am there but it is not the same as having my own. I am trying to win one on Ebay right now so I will see how that goes. My goal is to lose at least 20 pounds by fall and I have a very special reason for that. I will share more about that later though....:-)

Getting back to what I enjoy

2010-05-07T00:10:00.004-04:00

I love to scrapbook and make cards. I have tons of paper crafting supplies. Ribbon, paper cutters, brads, stickers, stamps,etc. For a while I was Michaels number one customer. But, for the past year or so, I haven't even made a scrapbook or a card. I haven't painted a trinket box or made custom push pins (all things I have made and sold in the past). My Etsy shop has been sadly neglected. Tonight, as I gathered materials to take to a client's house (we are making Mother's Day cards tomorrow), I was reminded of how much I enjoyed crafting and how relaxing it is to me. I used to go in my spare room and get lost in making things. I need to get back to that. I still haven't made a wedding scrapbook or album for my husband and me. I collected materials for months in anticipation of making multiple scrapbooks. We were even given scrapbook supplies by D's cousin as a wedding gift. But yet they all sit in one of those three drawer plastic bins in the spare room. And what have I been doing instead of enjoying my hobby? A whole lot of nothin. So, I am going to make an effort to craft again. Let's see how this goes...

The Weight Watchers saga continues

2010-05-06T00:55:00.003-04:00

I have been on WW for about 6 weeks now. I will do very well for two weeks then have a bad week so I am trying to have the bad weeks not come along quite so frequently. So far I am 4 lbs down. 21 to go...

Like Oprah...

2010-04-19T23:08:00.002-04:00

I too have a list of favorite things to share :-) Here are my favorite things for the moment:

These little flower clips from H&M. They look cute as a brooch or in the hair.

My new earrings from Forever 21. They are so cute!

Another cheapie find at Forever 21. This lip gloss adds just a hint of color. And it smells sweet.

Now since I have fat girl tendencies, here are my food related favorite things:

These are a healthy snack. Yummy!

To satisfy my sweet tooth, these do the trick for a little calories.

Alrighty, that is all for now. Unlike Oprah, I won't be gifting these items to the audience.

Calgon take me away..... wait, my tub is dirty

2010-03-31T18:36:00.003-04:00

I wish my tub looked like this!

I am feeling a lil sickly right now. Allergies are kicking my a$$ but it's not in a "sneezy & watery eye" kinda way. Instead it's in a "feel run down and having off and on stopped up nose" kinda way. When I don't feel well I tend to want to soak in a nice hot bath. It is a magic cure for lots of ailments such as allergies, headaches, tummy aches, and "my hubby is stressing me out" aches.

However, it never fails that as soon as I pull back the shower curtain, I notice that the tub is not something I want to put my bare booty on. So I commence to scrubbing it down with my Green Work shower cleaner and tub brush. Then the problem becomes that I worry how well I have rinsed my eco friendly tub cleaner out because I don't want to put my bare booty on that either.

Then 95% of the time, I just take a shower instead.

Sharing a recipe

2010-03-26T23:43:00.003-04:00

I love bread! This is the easiest biscuit recipe and I make them several times a month. They have a slightly sweet taste to them. Yummmmmy!

Easy Biscuits
SERVES 12

Ingredients

* 2 cups flour
* 3 teaspoons baking powder
* 2 tablespoons sugar
* 1 teaspoon salt
* 1/3 cup oil
* 2/3 cup milk

Directions

Mix dry ingredients.

Put oil in measuring cup and add milk. Do not stir.

Add to dry ingredients.

Mix lightly to moisten ingredients and knead one or two times to form ball.

Drop biscuits onto pan. (I use an ice cream scoop)

Bake on an ungreased pan at 475F for 10-12 minutes, until lightly browned.

Random lunch time thoughts

2010-03-12T12:19:00.002-05:00

As I sit here eating my cranberry walnut chicken salad sandwich on Oat Nut bread (thanks Hilary!)= and waffle fry potato chips, I felt the need to blog. Why? I don't even know. Some random thoughts.

D gave Andy (the dog) some beer the other day and made him drunk. He kept us up half the night howling and whining. He was rolling around on his pillow and was all lost and confused when I let him out to pee. He also peed on my living room floor which is something he never does.

I saw Wicked the other night. It was great. I am a big Wizard of Oz fan and it was cool to see the back story of the witches.

I also saw Rent a few weeks ago. A friend of mine from High School was playing the part of Benny (Taye Diggs played him in the movie).

I am drinking water out of a mug right now. D thinks that is weird that I like to do that.

I am very proud of one of the young ladies that I counsel. I have seen her grow and change. We went to parent/teacher conferences last night and her grades and behavior have improved a lot. I am excited about cheering for her at her awards assembly when she gets honor roll.

Where did February go?!

2010-03-01T12:11:00.002-05:00

Hey ya'll.

I need to get better about updating this thing more often. So, lets see what has been happening lately... Things are going well at my job *knock on wood*. I managed to survive layoffs and I am coming up on my one year anniversary there this month.

I am using my slow cooker to help me with making dinner a little more easily. I got a good cookbook from the library from Sandra Lee with all slow cooker recipes.

I am not doing so well with changing my eating habits. But I have started working with a personal trainer so I am slowly developing a work out routine that works for me.

I guess that's about it for now. TTFN!

Being a wife

2010-01-28T21:26:00.002-05:00

So.... I am 8 months into wifedom and the major thing that I don't like about it is having to answer one question every afternoon from my husband "What's for dinner?" I love to cook but not when I have been working all evening and I am tired. As a single woman, dinner could be a bowl of cereal, cream of wheat, or a kids meal from Chick-fil-A. Now I have a meat-loving hubby who expects something every night. I try to cook 3-4 times a week and then have leftovers or takeout the rest of the week. The funny thing is, when I cook I don't even eat it. It's like knowing what the meat looked like raw just turns me off from the food. Tonight I threw together some chicken stir fry and brown rice and I all I ate of it was some mini corn I picked out the wok.

Happy New Year!

2010-01-02T21:19:00.002-05:00

Here we are 2 days into the new year and I am thinking about my goals for this year. No resolutions. No promises of a whole new me. Truthfully, the only difference between this year and last year is 3 days. The turning of the calendar does not magically make anyone a new person. I have my ongoing goals of self-improvement that I keep in mind. This year my major goal is simple yet difficult: Utilize my time better. I waste gobs of time playing Farmville and Sorority Life on Facebook. I am not a very disciplined person so I play even when I have a deadline looming over my head for work. I am also a person who loves to sleep, therefore I have a difficult time waking up before 11:00 am unless I have something specific to do in the morning. Since I don't work traditional hours in an office setting, this is more often the case than not. So basically, I need to set myself up on a schedule no matter what the day. I don't expect an overnight change but I think it's realistic to develop better time management habits over the course of this year. My goal is not to be that mother who makes her child late to school every day, so while I am still childless I will work on that. Anywho...... Happy 2010!

My first NFL game

2009-12-28T21:37:00.002-05:00

Yesterday my brother-in-law was fortunate enough to get 4 free tickets to the Redskins/Cowboys game. It was a last minute thing but I figured it would be fun to go because I have never been to a professional game. We caught the obligatory interstate 95 traffic jam and got to FedEx field right when the game started. We parked in a really muddy lot and followed some other people through a shortcut in the woods. We literally went over the river and through the (pitch dark) woods then up a hill to get to the main road. I dropped my purse in the mud and my blanket. When we got back out into the light, I noticed quite a bit of mud on my jeans and my shoes were caked in it.

Once in the stadium we had to walk up what seemed like an endless ramp because we were in the nosebleed section. Row 28 of 29 in the tippy top of the stadium. It was about 34 degrees last night with wind of 5-10 mph. But when I hiked to the top of the stairs to my seat, my heart was pounding and I was sweating. I peeled off my hat, scarf, and gloves, along with my coat and panted like a dog for 15 minutes. This is one of those moments when I realize "Damn! I'm outta shape." I put my layers back on and settled in to watch the game. The game itself was kinda uneventful. I am not a big football fan but I do know the Redskins suck! I think my high school squad could beat them.

Halftime comes and I have to visit the ladies room so I make my way down the stairs, terrified that I will fall. A drunken dude on the other side of the stairs rail tumbles down several stairs and lands head down in seat. That didn't help my fear. I return to my seat and wait for the hubby, his line brother and my brother in law to return. They wait in line for almost the entire 3rd quarter for food and he brings me back some overpriced chicken tenders and fries. We leave halfway through the 4th quarter, thinking we will beat the crowd.

Well, we ended up sitting in the parking lot for one hour before getting out and on our way. Overall, a very interesting first NFL game experience.

Must make these cookies

2009-12-05T21:48:00.003-05:00

Merry Maraschino Cherry Cookies. I love maraschino cherries. These go on my Christmas baking agenda.

Update

2009-12-03T14:26:00.002-05:00

It's been a rough couple of weeks. A good friend of mine suddenly passed away and it was really shocking. I am trying to get out of my funk because I know that she was the type of person who worked very hard and she wouldn't want me to be feeling this way. She would want me to get back to work and make her proud. I am giving myself until Friday then I am getting back to the grind. Her life and death were an important reminder not to take anything for granted.

Waiting for the dream to come true

2009-11-10T01:04:00.003-05:00

Today my feelings have been very high and very low. I contacted a Realtor and a broker in order to assess if we could sell our condo and upgrade to a larger home. Things looked good. Our credit was looking great and I was already having visions of more space and room to grow. But then when D got home we talked about what buying a new home would really entail and it hit me like a ton of bricks that we would need more money for the down payment and closing costs. Unfortunately, we do not qualify for the home buyers tax credit due to being current home owners so that can not help us with our situation. I got so depressed when I realized that we have to delay our dream of more space even further. D asked me what is the big hurry and I guess there isn't one. I had just got excited about something new. I pictured a bigger, nicer home to have children in. I wanted to move NOW! All hope is not lost though. We regrouped and came up with a plan to pad our savings and hope to be in the market for something new in 6 months or so. It is just my hope that the market continues to have good bargains so we can get our dream house at a dream price.

Blessings

2009-11-04T19:35:00.003-05:00

In the work that I do I often encounter people and families that lack what I take for granted each day, each moment. Every so often it just hits me how much I am thankful for the big things and the little things. I have an education, I have reasoning skills, I can use a computer, I know how to be professional, I have a family that looks out for my best interests, I have a home, I have a job, I have a car, I have my health, I am of sound mind, I have friends, I have freedom, I have love, I have faith, I have hope, I have the power to make decisions. I am thankful to be blessed!

Yay for productive days

2009-11-02T15:23:00.004-05:00

Today I cleaned out the closet that I intended to clean out during the month of October (better late than never). I deposited some money into my IRA that has been sadly neglected since 2007. I gathered items for the yard sale that my mom is having this weekend. And I weighed in at Weight Watchers (down a total of 1.8 lbs since starting). Now I am about to work on my weekly notes for work. Feels great to cross some items of the to-do list.

Hello

2009-10-20T12:21:00.004-04:00

I have been a little neglectful of my blog. Time to update what has been going on in my corner of the world. I have worked on two of my three goals this month. I joined Weight Watchers and I am being a lot more mindful of the choices that I make at each meal. I did get off track toward the end of my first week due to a mini vacay with my hubby but started right back up on Monday. I feel that this week will be successful for me. I also took the time to study for the exam I need to take in order to apply for the teaching program. I have to move forward with that process soon because the deadline to apply is in January. Time is flying by! I have to admit I feel a little bit anxious about whether or not I will be accepted into the program. I have had a bit of a rocky past with my jobs. I started off really solid, staying at my first job for a little over 2 years. But then ever since, there have been a string of short lived jobs. I made some choices that weren't right for me, was the victim of bad management (I'm talking the kind that doesn't pay!) and got laid off of one position. My patchwork job history could potentially work against me but I am saying a prayer and keeping my fingers crossed that I will be able to have enough experience to be accepted into this program at this time. It is not in God's will for it to be for me right now, then I will regroup and make an adjustment. I just know that it took me awhile to realize that my purpose was not only to help people but to teach and I am excited to get to it sooner than later.

Just call them all Mexican

2009-10-03T03:32:00.002-04:00

Today while working with one of my teenage clients (and her friend), the following conversation took place:

Teen 1: (looks out window of my car) There goes some Mexicans.
Me: I keep telling you that they are not all Mexicans. The proper thing to say is Hispanic.
Teen 2: But that is what they are.
Me: How do you know?
Teen 1: They all look the same.
Me: That is offensive.
Teen 2: (to teen 1) It's no point in arguing with her. She wants to be all proper. She talks like a white girl. We call other people either Mexicans or Chinese.
Me: (having the overwhelming sensation to bang my head on the car window)

This is our future. Be afraid....

Fall goals

2009-10-01T15:05:00.002-04:00

Lately I have been feeling so unfocused. I begin one task and then move to the next without finishing it. I have an issue with follow through. I get so overwhelmed by all that needs to be done so I end up doing one of two things: 1. Nothing 2. Just a little bit of something. Since it is a new month I have been inspired to break my to-do list into bite size pieces and tackle it. So this month here are my top 3 items to do.

1. Join (officially) Weight Watchers and lose at least 8 pounds. I now have a buddy to go to meetings with and that helps a lot. I have promised myself that I would give it at least a two month try since they are running the buy one month get the next free promo.

2. Study more for the exam I need to take to apply to the teaching program and register to take it in December.

3. Organize my living room closet. It is scary in there.

All of these goals feel manageable to me. Today I am going to work on studying since I have a little free time.

I now feel a little more in control.

Blah

2009-09-23T21:22:00.002-04:00

Lately I have been feeling a little bit blah. I work a high stress, high burnout job. I am thankful for many things about my job, most of all just having one! But... that doesn't mean it still doesn't get to me at times. Being a counselor I hear about other people's problems all the time. I am basically a sounding board. When I am done absorbing other people's problems, who do I unload on? Today I called my health insurance company to inquire about my mental health benefits. I found out that each session of outpatient therapy would cost $40 in copayment. Most of the time outpatient therapy requires weekly visits, so that would quickly add up. I told the lady not to even bother with the authorization because I just couldn't afford that. It's a shame that even with heatlh insurance, healthcare is not very affordable for working people. The people that I work with get better service because they are on Medicaid and at no cost to them they can have counseling and whatever else they need. Sigh.....

Really?

2009-08-26T14:22:00.002-04:00

I was just sitting here watching Oxygen (Top Model reruns were the best thing on at the moment) and saw a commercial for The Naughty Kitchen. This show looks a hot mess. It's a reality show that follows an obese chef who makes naughty (rich, fatty but of course delicious) food at her restaurant. Why do we need a show that promotes unhealthy lifestyles? This cancels out their other show, Dance Your Ass Off. Little stuff like this irks me, because all of this crap adds up to make our culture that much more crappier.

Don't take it for granted

2009-08-25T16:58:00.003-04:00

Last week I learned that my former next door neighbor passed away at the very young age of 51. This was a woman who was not only a neighbor but a friend. She was in attendance at both my parents wedding and mine. She gave me advice when I made the decision to go into social work because she was a social worker herself. She had two boys, so she liked to do my hair and encouraged me to pledge the sorority that she tried to join when she was in college (although I didn't). I was so shocked and it was just another reminder of how we must cherish this gift of life that God has given us. I could say so much more about this but the words just won't come out right. I just know that I appreciate her presence in my life and I take with me the lesson to appreciate my loved ones each day and to take better care of myself too.

A little bit of wedding withdrawal

2009-08-20T16:03:00.002-04:00

So my feelings of wedding withdrawal are a little late setting in (2 1/2 months). I was just looking through a facebook friend's bridal shower pictures and I got a little sad that all of that stuff is behind me. There was so much planning and events and good times and it all is behind me with nothing but pictures to show the fun that was had. Usually when someone is in the newlywed phase they are in a new house. But I have owned a house for over a year now so nothing new there. And the baby plan is not in action yet so it is not yet time to throw my energy into thinking about pink or blue. I would be distracted from this feeling if I had a friend who was getting married or having a baby because then I could break out my inner Martha and plan fabu events for them. But I am the first of my group to move into this phase of life. I guess I need a hobby or something now....

Yay!

2009-08-05T22:17:00.000-04:00

Down 3.2 :-)

Cookie monster

2009-07-30T12:57:00.003-04:00

That is what I feel like right now. The one thing I have no business eating right now is calling my name as I sit in Panera. I just finished my chicken noodle soup and salad and I want a big ole chocolate chip cookie! But if I were to eat one it would mean no more food for the rest of the day due to using up all of my points. Must.....resist.....temptation........

Trying to get back to where I was before

2009-07-27T10:45:00.003-04:00

Back in 2005 I joined Weight Watchers. I lost about 30 pounds. I planned my meals, measured my portions, and counted up my points faithfully. I never really felt deprived. I would even still have dessert everyday and eat fast food once a week.

Fast forward to 2009. I have gained back all the weight I lost plus a few more pounds. I have realized that, like many other people, I am an emotional eater. If I have had a hard day I comfort myself with a slice of pizza or some fried chicken. If I am bored, I eat a 100 calorie pack (or 3). If I am having a great day, I top it off with a visit to Chick-fil-a. No matter the situation, I use food to reward, entertain, or comfort myself.

I think that before when I had success, I was more mindful of my emotions. I would get up during each commercial break of watching tv and jog in place. I would clean up each day or cook my own dinner. I gotta get back to these habits. Maybe I should walk Andy whenever I get the urge to snack outta boredom. When I am stressed, I can throw my energy into vacuuming and scrubbing the tub. I gotta do something different because I am sick of having a double chin, backfat, and a gut. It is soooooo not cute!

Random thoughts about stuff that annoys me

2009-07-22T11:28:00.004-04:00

The facebook quiz thing is getting way outta control. I mean is there really a need for a "What black greek organization stereotype are you?" quiz?! Everyone that has shown up on my frontpage that has taken this quiz does not belong to any of these
organizations, so why the hell do they take the quiz? It just irks me for some reason. And I am not even a part of a sorority so I bet it's really annoying to those who are....

Why do people like to complain about always being broke but then stay with the "new-new" every time you see them. It amazes me that even in this sucky economy that people don't have their priorities straight. If you want to stay fresh, that's fine. Just don't complain about your lack of cash. On the same note: if you choose to have children, don't always complain about how they don't give you a moments rest. You signed up for that package when you declined to use birth control.

Planning for the future

2009-07-14T17:29:00.002-04:00

Last night/early this morning (I never went to bed),I had a light bulb moment while I was doing my last minute work. I realized that the plan that D and I have to start having babies clashes directly with my next career move. Here are the factors:

*I am 27. I want to have my first child before 30.
*We want to at least celebrate our one year anniversary before getting pregnant.
*I need to shed about 20 lbs before I start thinking about conceiving.
*The program that I am trying to enroll in to become a teacher would begin in January 2010. I would start teaching in September 2010 on a provisional license while finishing up classes. THEN I would be eligible to get a regular 5 year teaching license. I would be 29 at the conclusion of this program.

My hypothetical future children are already switching up my plans....

Happy New Month!

2009-07-01T13:33:00.004-04:00

June was a month of extreme highs and lows for me. I went to the ER twice, went on my honeymoon but had to do some work while I was there (boooooo!), celebrated my 27th birthday, got into a car accident and totaled my poor lil car, and celebrated one month of marriage. The for worse part of our vows got a little bit of a work out in the first 30 days!

So I am happy to start a fresh new month today. I celebrated by getting to some of the cleaning that I have been putting off. Tomorrow I finally get the prints and the disks of all of our wedding pictures, so my mom can run the announcement in the local paper. D and I both have Friday off so we can get to a lot of things that we have been putting off. I gotta go new car shopping at some point this weekend and we are celebrating the 4th with D's family on Saturday.

Updating my progress

2009-06-28T16:43:00.005-04:00

Here was my list of things to accomplish in 1001 days. It never made it to 101 but I got a solid 35 out. To update a few items:

6. Grow my relaxer out and cut off my hair. I cut most of the relaxer out when I got my hair cut last week and I am not putting another in, ever!

9. Become an ESL teacher. I completed mi clase de espanol with a B+ and I am taking the tests this fall so that I can start the career switcher program in February 2010.

11. Wear makeup more often. Now that my hair is shorter I have begun to put on more makeup.

17. Take pictures more often. I have been taking more pictures and purchased more rechargable batteries so I am always Kodak moment ready!

35. Increase my veggie and fruit consumption. I have been eating more salads and I going to the grocery store today to buy fruits and veggies.

If you are working on some goals, how are you progressing?

Sharing a few more wedding pictures

2009-06-24T16:55:00.002-04:00

For anybody who happens to read my lil blog who hasn't seen them on FB....

To do list- The newlywed edition

2009-06-14T20:48:00.003-04:00

Now that the vows have been exchanged, cake has been cut, and the honeymoon has been enjoyed (check out the view from our suite)....

It is time to get to work on some things. Here is my to do list for the next few weeks:

1. Finish writing all thank you notes and figure out who the heck gave us the Foreman Grill?!
2. Find a home for the gifts that I wrote all the notes for.
3. Cut my hair. I am seriously considering the cut that Tia Mowry has. And I gotta cut out this relaxer. I am going natural!!!

4. Get my oil changed
5. Scrapbook the last 2 years of our relationship so that I can be ready to scrapbook the wedding and honeymoon.
6. Run a wedding announcement in the local paper whenever we get the pro pics back.
7. Plan the next trip :-)

Wedding lessons learned

2009-06-02T14:48:00.003-04:00

I'm back and I'm a Mrs! The ceremony was beautiful. The reception was fun. I learned a few things that I will take into my future work as a wedding coordinator (something I have always wanted to to). I have a few things that I wished we would have done differently. I kinda wish we had hired a different wedding coordinator. She did do her job and she pulled the day together but... I don't feel like we were really heard during the whole planning process. So, my advice to anyone who is still in the planning process:

1. If you hire a coordinator, pick someone who respects your budget no matter what it is.

2. Be really detailed with what your vision is for each element of your wedding. Make sure that the person who is in charge of the day has a thorough understanding of that vision.

3. Things will go wrong. Don't sweat it. The morning of the wedding I woke up to a text from my hair and makeup person saying instead of her arriving at 8:00 she would be there at 12:00. I didn't freak out. I just called the necessary people and readjusted the day.

4. If you make a bridal survival kit, like I did, (it contained tissue, stain wipes, chapstick,band-aids, mints, etc), make sure someone actually brings it along. I had four bridesmaids who each had a kit and no one actually brought it to the wedding. And we needed it, several times.

5. Dance all night, don't let you new hubby get pulled away too much, and try to eat more than just the one bite of cake.

I feel a little strange now that this big event is behind me. What's next? Back to work for this week, then off to our one week honeymoon, my 27th birthday, moving to a bigger house soon (within one year hopefully), and just enjoying being married.

Uhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

2009-05-26T13:49:00.003-04:00

Here we are a few days out from our wedding and I am getting so frustrated with our wedding coordinator. I have sent her 5 emails that have gone unanswered since last week. I just called and she hit the ignore button. I am trying so hard to not be negative about this whole situation. All I am trying to do is finalize a few last minute things and let it go! I really don't want to be concerned about this stuff this close to the wedding. That is why we hired her in the first place. We paid too much money for her services for her to be blowing us off like this.

Ok, I gotta take a deep breath and try to stay positive. I know that when it's all said and done it will all come together. I have been pretty laid back about it this whole time. I just need the last few days of this process to go smoother.

6 days away

2009-05-24T17:36:00.005-04:00

I have a few more things to get done before I can shift into full-on wedding mode. Right now I am procrastinating doing my notes for work but once that is behind me I don't have too much work to do this week. Here is a little preview of some of the elements of our wedding:

Our centerpieces

Our "logo". It was on the invites and will be on various signs used at the wedding and on the cake. Speaking of cake....

This is our cake design inspiration. Our cake is loosly based off of this cake.

I am so excited to see how everything comes together. I'll be back after the wedding. (or maybe before if I need feel the need to blog away jitters :-)

Where does the time go?

2009-05-14T22:24:00.002-04:00

16 days until I make the change from Ms. to Mrs. I feel like I am not yet getting the chance to soak it in. I am still trying to adjust to the new job and keep up with my normal household tasks. I guess I will fully realize it when I put on the dress.

UPS mess

2009-05-07T11:08:00.002-04:00

I hate UPS! The first thing that they did to get on my s#*t list was to loose D's wedding band. It took a month to get another one shipped to us. I was so glad I ordered it way in advance of May. Now they are giving me the run around on a lovely wedding gift that my moms co-worker purchased for us. Here is the saga:

I wasn't home for the first delivery attempt, so they left a slip. Since it required a signature to authorize me to leave it with a neighbor, that is what I did.

Yesterday I was home for 75% of the day. I left for a while and taped the slip to the door in case I missed the UPS man. He had checked the boxes that he would be at my house anywhere between 10-5 (what a ridiculous time range!). I got home after 5 and the slip was still on the door! I took the slip off and figured he would just come the next day. I did a few things around the house and then I ran out to Target to get an ink cartridge (had to print my Oprah KFC coupon, LOL). I got back home around 7:30 and lo and behold, there is another slip on my door!

Next, I go online to let UPS know that I will just pick the darn package up myself. The automated computer thingy says I can get it today.

Do you think it was there when I drove all the way to BFE to get it? Of course not, that would be too much like the right thing to do.

UPS tried to blame that on me. They said I changed the directions too late and it had to be done before 7:00 pm. My package was back on the truck. How in the HELL could I have changed it earlier than 7:00 when the man didn't attempt to deliver it until after 7:00. I will never send nothing by UPS. EVER.

Ok, my rant is over :-) Back to your regularly scheduled programing.

Having an unmotivated week

2009-05-06T13:23:00.003-04:00

I need to find some energy from somewhere because all of this rain is making me so laaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaazy. I have two reports to turn in and several more visits with my clients but I don't feel like doing any of it. That is the downside to making your own schedule. It can be incredibly easy to mismanage your time and not get everything accomplished. It doesn't help that there is twitter, facebook, and pogo. All of these distrations, along with my google reader and e-mail get me caught up. Ok, time to step away from the computer.

I am dangerous when buying in bulk

2009-05-05T09:00:00.003-04:00

On Saturday I went to BJ's with my BFF with the intention to only buy laundry detergent and fabric softner. Somehow I come out with way more. Check out my linen closet:

I have one million rolls of TP and there are only 2 people in our house. 4 tubes of toothpaste, 3 sticks of my deoderant, and lotion to last for the next 4 months. I gotta stay away from BJ's! LOL

The countdown is on

2009-05-04T11:32:00.002-04:00

Only 26 days until my single life is over! I am quite overwhelmed with all the last minute things on my to do list. We keep reworking the budget, shifting money from one category to the other in order to make everything as nice as possible while keeping in mind that there is life after May 30! Now that we are so close and everything is in motion, I wish I would have just stuck to a smaller wedding. But it is hard to do that because that means really limiting the guest list. It means possibly hurting some folks feelings because there isn't room on the guest list for them. So many times D and I talked about revamping the plans for the wedding. We talked about just getting married in my church and having a cake and punch reception. But that did not feel like us. We wanted dancing. We talked about having a dry reception but that too did not feel like us. We drink and so do our friends. Let's be real, if you have ever went to a reception that was dry, people eat then bounce. Not much dancing happens and people don't hang around.

So after all of the debating about what style of reception to have, we came up with a compromise. We are having a cocktail reception. I know that this is not that popular around where we live but we thought it would be fun and semi-affordable. I just hope that our guests are not too confused when the enter the reception site and don't see tables for each guest. Our wedding coordinator said that we should provide seating for only 3/4 of the guests to encourage mingling. It should be interesting...

Hello my name is....

2009-05-03T21:29:00.002-04:00

Andydawg's mom and I am a procrastinator.

(Hi Andydawg's mom)

This procrastination of mine has been my companion for most of my life now. It all began in first grade. I started going to school on the regular schedule after a whole year of p.m. Kindergarten (11:00-3:00 ish). I did not want to wake up on the earlier schedule, so I would sleep up until the last possible moment. I was starting of my day with procrastination. This still is pretty much what I do to this day. As I type, I am perfecting the art of procrastination. I have a ton of notes to type for work that are due on Tuesday in addition to 3 reports due this week. I told myself that I would work on it this weekend. Instead I helped my BFF pack up her apartment, cleaned my house, ate dinner at BFF's new apartment, and generally goofed around. Even now with it being Sunday night I still can't quite motivate to really get into working. I am always setting myself up for that last minute crunch. Burning the midnight oil while my bleary eyes stare at my laptop. Will I ever change? I hope so. But for now it's back to my last minute hustle.

Why I Blog

2009-04-27T18:15:00.007-04:00

Sometimes I wonder... why is blogging so popular? What makes us tell intimate details of our life to complete strangers? Well... I think that for me it is all about the shared human experience. Whether we admit it or not, we all look for validation from others. If we have a job that sucks, we want to know that others are going through the same thing. Since I am currently planning a wedding (for another 33 days at least!), I have a ton of wedding blogs on my google reader. Some of the blogs I read are for entertainment such as YKYDAW. And still others I read because they help me keep up with friends who I have known forever and meet new ones. When someone writes about something that I can identify with I think it's cool. Sometimes we spend so much time in our little bubble we forget that others have already traveled the path we are on and may have a few wise words to share.

D doesn't get the whole blogging thing but I really like it. I know that part of the reason he doesn't like it is I put him on blast in some of my entries ☺

So I blog to express myself, I blog to meet people, I blog because it's entertaining. Why do you blog?

What a weekend!

2009-04-26T17:14:00.006-04:00

Right now I am sitting on the couch, watching Napoleon Dynamite, next to a sleeping dog and fiance. I feel like sleeping too but I am trying to motivate to get some things done around the house and work on notes for my job. So... here's the weekend in review. I went to class yesterday morning from 8:00-10:30 then I jetted over to my bridal shower.

It was very nice. My mom and bridesmaids did a great job decorating and the food was yummy. I got a lot of nice gifts. I loved the dress that I was wearing.

I wanted to keep it on for the rest of the day but it was so HOT yesterday that a shower was in order before moving onto the next activity. So after helping clean up the bridal shower I came home and freshened up. I changed into my lovely BR zebra dress (well I wasn't going to wear this one at first but D didn't like my first choice) and we off we went to the wedding of D's frat brother.

It was a very nice wedding. It gave me a few ideas for what we want to do with ours (35 days away!!!!) and somethings we don't want to do. It made us worry a little bit because this wedding was inside a church and it was still warm for everyone inside. Ours is going to be outdoors so hopefully our guests don't pass out from the heat (or worse D!)

Ok, time to stop procrastinating and do something productive with my life. It was fun but I gotta get back to business.

Ordinary teens with extraordinary homes?

2009-04-16T18:31:00.002-04:00

Ok, so I am flipping the channels, trying to find something to watch and I come across a show on MTV called "Teen Cribs". Under the program description it says "Ordinary teens with extraordinary homes." So I put down the remote to see what it's all about. I remember watching the original "Cribs" back when I actually cared about MTV (7 or so years ago) and it was all about celebrities and their extravagant lifestyles. Fast forward to 2009 and we see kids who are not famous and who do not come from famous families showing off "their" wealth. What really pissed me off how the people at MTV are trying to pass this off as "normal". These kids have water parks in the back yard, their own skate parks, recording studios, luxury cars, and on and on. Being that I work with youth who are from the most poor sections of the city, I hate seeing crap like this on tv. It gives an unrealistic lifestyle to live up to. It shows that we should value material things way too much and that showing them off makes us better people. The families I work with see this. So they get money and end up buying material goods over paying for concrete needs. The flaw here is they do not realize that what they see on tv is not what it seems. Sometimes people don't really have the money and things they flaunt. The ones that do have had generations of WEALTH. They never were "everyday" people.

I know that people of all income levels try to attain a lifestyle that is not realistic. I mean I have been guilty at times of being that person who whips out the credit card to buy an outfit that I don't need just to fit in with a situation. It just hurts so much more when people who have the lowest income bracket and the least amount of resources try to grasp for a better life through spending money on all the wrong things. Ok, I'm stepping down from my soap box now.....

My Easter Sunday

2009-04-12T23:42:00.002-04:00

Got up, went to 9:00 am service, went to my Nana's, waited for food, no food, drove out to a mall after D insisted that stores would be open (told him they wouldn't be but he wouldn't believe me), went back to my Nana's, ate some food, came home, walked Andy, drove out to my client's home to deliver an Easter basket, found out that she already had 2 other baskets, decided I won't be getting her stuff again since she already has people to get her stuff, came back home, changed outta church clothes, took a nap for about 3 hours, woke up @ 9:45, watched stupid stuff on tv, talked to one of my besties on the phone, put off doing notes for work by writing this blog!

Busy

2009-04-08T22:26:00.003-04:00

Right now I have quite a few things to juggle. I am in the last few weeks of mi clase de espanol. I am in the last few weeks of wedding planning and I am in the first few weeks of a new job. Whew! That is a lot. I never got around to loosing all the weight I thought I would lose for the wedding. I know I am only making excuses but it is tough to eat right when I am on the run a lot of the time. I do have sporadic pockets of down time and depending on my proximity to home, I can go chill and eat a healthy snack or meal. Realistically speaking, I do think I can shed a few lbs. in the next 6 weeks. If I push myself I can get about 8-10 lbs off of my frame. Of course that won't make me lose a size nor will it really make me look that much different but it will be a good start. I have vowed that I will get to a healthy weight before I start having children. Since babies are in the 2 year plan, I have to be developing the right habits now.

Anyhoo, here is my self designed "plan": Slim fast for breakfast, a lunch of my choice whether it be out at fast food or @ home, and then a small dinner. I have decided that lunch should be the largest meal because "they" say that people should not eat a lot in the evening. So for example, today I had my slim fast, then I had a chick-fil-a grilled sandwich combo and for dinner I just snacked on a few kashi crackers. Tomorrow I plan on having lunch at home so it won't be quite as heavy as chick-fil-a. I will probably have a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and some goldfish. Yummy :-)

Bean counting

2009-04-06T19:50:00.005-04:00

So.... weddings will make a person do some crazy stuff. Today I purchased 10.5 lbs of Jolly Rancher smoothie flavored jelly beans and proceeded to sort them into 3 bags. I ended up with a bag of orange, light purple, and pink. This was quite tedious. These jelly beans are going to go in a jar layered, orange then purple. Pink is not a wedding color but I refuse to waste several lbs of jellybeans so they will refill the jars when the pretty designer ones are emptied. So here is my idea:

I still have to make cookies with a cookie press, make candy and oreo truffles.

I want....

2009-04-05T12:00:00.002-04:00

To lose 15 lbs

To go shopping for new jeans, dresses, shoes!

A brownie sundae

Someone to clean my house for me

Quick geography lesson

2009-04-04T21:21:00.003-04:00

Hawaii is really not next to Alaska. It just looks that way on some maps.

(Someone recently was confused about this)

LOL!

Time is just flying

2009-04-02T21:16:00.002-04:00

58 days......!!!!!

That's how long it will be until I am a married woman. OMG! I still haven't lost those 15 lbs I wanted to get off my frame. I haven't tested out the cookie recipes for the dessert buffet. I haven't done a lot of things that I thought I would have done with a little under two months to go. But then again I just started a new job and I am taking a class (that I have five more weeks left to complete), so sometimes I forget I am getting married so soon.

My new goal is to do something wedding related every day. Today I printed about 8 treat bags for the dessert buffet. That is kinda slow going because it's hard to feed a lunch bag through a printer. So at this pace I will have them done before the end of the month. I also have to work in physical activity each day, no excuses!

Right on time

2009-03-28T01:40:00.002-04:00

Today I worked my last day at a job that was a bittersweet experience. The timing was perfect that I was able to leave now. I worked in two programs and one of them is being cut. Also, everyone in the agency is getting 10% pay decreases. The harsh realities of the economy have hit my now former job. What a blessing that I am able to move on and not be affected by these changes. I do feel bad for the staff and the clients who will be affected by what has happened. I hope that things start to look up soon.

Now my resume looks pretty shaky. I have a string of jobs that did not work out. I started off well. I worked my first post-college job for 2.3 years. I even managed a promotion while I was there. Then things started to get complicated. I met some guys who were interested in hiring me and a friend to help them launch a human services agency. We rode the waves of a new business; bad office space, ever changing policies, and high turnover. The reason I parted ways with the company were two-fold: they were behind on my wages and they had a habit of yelling at their employees. This job lasted 5 months.

That led to my next job. It had the makings of a dream career for a 25 year old. I was a manager, in charge of my own office and staff. I made my own schedule, worked in a great office downtown and made decent money. Then the recession got into full swing and I was laid off on my day off! This job lasted 8 months.

And now I close the chapter on yet another job choice that didn't work out. Another short (8 month) stint on my resume. This time I am staying at my new job for a good long while. I have to feel stable again.

Projects for the wedding

2009-03-24T13:13:00.005-04:00

In a quest to make my wedding more affordable and more personal, I am embarking on many DIY projects. I made my own invites, I am going to be making my own programs, and other things.

Like a "cake" card box. This is an example but mine will be more cute and modern:

I am also taking plain brown lunch bags and making custom labels for them. They will be what guests put goodies in from the dessert bar:

I will also be making bar menus:

I'm sure there will be more stuff that I think of later....

Wait....those are marshmallows?

2009-03-19T20:57:00.003-04:00

D is eating a bowl of Lucky Charms...

Me: Let me get a marshmallow.
D: There's no marshmallows in here.
Me: What did you think those colorful things were?
D: I don't know. They are hard, how can they be marshmallows?
Me: They are like the marshmallows that come in hot cocoa.
D: Those are not hard. They are always soft when I drink hot cocoa.
Me: Well they are dehydrated then then hydrate when they hit the cocoa.

Yeah.... a sample of what we talk about on a Thursday night at 7:45.

The first step

2009-03-14T21:59:00.004-04:00

In my quest to loose a few pounds, I find myself once again starting over. I just went to the grocery store and spent $60 bucks on.... IDK? I am gonna make make at least two meals a day for the next 7 days outta this food though and hopefully stretch it out even further. So here are some items in my starter kit:

Green Leaf Lettuce
Organic Carrots
Organic Gala Apples
Organic Navel Oranges
Red Grapes

Organic wheat crackers
Sweet corn soup
Organic cream of tomato soup
Amy's Cheese enchilada Whole Meal
Amy's shepherd pie
Laughing cow light cheese

I am trying to work up the courage to start an herbal cleanse but I am scared. I already spent the money on it and can't take it back but I am a little weary of herbs and I can't find information about the particular ones in this kit.

So maybe not so much 101

2009-03-13T17:05:00.003-04:00

So I decided that 101 is a bit much so I am going to cap it at 35. With so many other things going on in my life I gotta keep it real and obtainable. (Ms. M feel free to pare yours down too, LOL) Ok so to recap and update......

1. Pay off a minimum of 75% of my credit card debt. (Already paid off one credit card and working steadily on the others)
2. Loose and keep off 25 lbs. (Uhhhhh, yeah. I'm back on this starting tomorrow. LOL)
3. Sell my condo. (This goal is for later in the 1001 days)
4. Move into a 5 bedroom house. (Ditto above)
5. Participate in a marathon, as a walker. (Next year, for sure)
6. Grow my relaxer out and cut off my hair. (Right after the wedding I am going to start cutting. Actually before we go on the honeymoon)
7. Visit DC and see all the cool historical sites. (This would be cool to do later on this summer)
8. Maintain regular visits with my girls. (I have seen my girls a little more lately)
9. Become an ESL teacher. (I'm taking a class now that moves me closer)
10. Go through all my boxes of random stuff and put them in order. (Made some progress but moving slowly)
11. Wear makeup more often (Yeah, not so much yet)
12. Learn to be more of morning person (Still working towards it)
13. Learn a new craft (I think I will take up knitting)
14. Be more consistent with keeping my house cleaned everyday (Doing ok with some rooms)
15. Take a course on wedding planning (In the fall)
16. Start a habit of walking Andy every morning for my and his exercise (poor Andy I still neglect him)
17. Take pictures more often (my camera batteries need to stay charged)
18. Learn to have a positive attitude even in the face of difficult times (I think I am doing a lot better at this)
19. Be less quick to anger when it comes to my loved ones (Kinda doing better)
20. Drink at least 4 glasses of water a day (working my way up to 8)
21. Complete a detox program (I'm starting tomorrow)
22. Reduce the amount of fast food I consume (Uhhhh, no comment)
23. Find a community service project to get involved in (I'm thinking volunteering with the SPCA)
24. Take a vacation of some sort each year (Going to Miami this year and also a couple other small trips are planned)
25. Speak Spanish more often (Was just speaking Espanol today)
26. Try 10 new recipes (I have them picked out)
27. Journal once a week (I need to dig it out of my closet)
28. Tell my loved ones how much I love them whenever the mood strikes (I told my girl that I loved her today)
29. Spend more time at my parent's house in the country. It's good for my soul :-)
30. Scrapbook (it helps relieve the stress)

And to finish it off

31. Read a new book each month
32. Develop a 3 times a week fitness routine
33. Build up my savings to have a cushion in the lean times
34. Develop a plan for my own business
35. Increase my veggie and fruit consumption

Whew!!! I am finished!

How it is vs. How it should be

2009-03-10T18:44:00.002-04:00

How it is:

I wake up at the last possible moment. I have to be at work at 10:00 so I usually get up at 9:20. I take a 10 minute shower. I put on whatever is not wrinkled and try to grab something to eat for lunch and run out the door at 9:45. I walk in the front door of my job at 10:05. I go upstairs and sign into my computer. I check all 3 of my Yahoo accounts, my Google Reader and my work e-mail account. I go about my day of various client appointments with bursts of goofing off in between. I talk with my co-workers, do some paperwork that is always behind, and make phone calls. Lunch time rolls around at 1:45. I pack up all my items and go to my second office (within the same company). I grab lunch at my desk because by this time no one else is in the break room to break bread with. While eating I check in on Facebook and more Google Reader. I give D a call and see how his day is going at work and usually get calls sent up from the receptionist who forgets that I am on my lunch break. At about 2:15 I change hats and start to put a plan into place for the kids in the after-school program. I get snack ready while they are being picked up from school. When they arrive I serve snack and we proceed with whatever activity is planned for the day. The kids pluck on my nerves in various ways for 2.5 hours and then go home. I recap with my co-worker, go upstairs and check various things on the computer, do a little paperwork and go home. I get home and walk Andy then feed him (D does the feeding in the morning and lets him out to pee). I piddle on the computer, watch TV, and maybe cook dinner. I eat various junk. I pretty much laze about the house all evening playing my DS, playing on the computer, and watching re-runs of TV shows. I lay down to sleep around 11:30-12:00 and the next day it starts all over again.

How it should be:

I wake up at 8:00 am. I feed Andy and then we go for a walk. I get back into the house and check my accounts while I eat a healthy breakfast. I pack my balanced lunch after breakfast and then I hop in the shower around 9:00. After my shower I put on my already picked out and wrinkle free outfit (ironed the night before) and apply a little makeup. It is now 9:30 and I am ready to go out the door. I arrive at work at 9:50. I get settled in and then dive into my work without as much goofing off in between. I enjoy what I do and I get to take lunch with other people. I only have one position so I can better concentrate on doing a great job. When I get home I walk Andy and feed him. I then go back out for my own walk for another 20 minutes. I get back in the house and cook a healthy delicious dinner. I have one sensible snack while watching just an hours worth of TV. I spend the rest of the evening working on my homework and talking with D. I do a little cleaning to keep my house tidy and I go to bed at 11:00.

Venting

2009-03-10T14:51:00.002-04:00

So I was just on Facebook checking in on the lives of my "friends" ( really only 10 or so of the 100+ are actual friends) and I , as usual, came across so many spelling errors and talking in "txt" language. I need for people to get it together and stop with the following items:

1. The use of "to" when "too" is meant
2. Spelling words that end with a "y" with an "i" instead. Realli? Why????
3. Congrads on the ....... What the heck is a congrads????!!!! It's congrats since it's short for congratulations.
4. The use of "dat" in place of "that"
5. The dramatic status updates re: you personal life. Examples: Why God Why did he break up with me? My baby daddy don't love me no more!...... I mean really why put yourself out there like that?

Ok that is all. Back to your regularly scheduled program.

Hmmmmmm

2009-03-09T23:04:00.002-04:00

I'm still trying to to work on the whole appreciate where I am right now thing. I have improved my appreciation of my house, having taken the time to rearrange my living room and cleaning my house. It is still not perfect but I feel better about my environment. I am also getting more enjoyment out of the wedding planning process. This weekend my bridesmaids came over and we had an invitation party (to be continued this weekend with Ms. M). Although it was tedious it was a rare opportunity that the four of us got together to just talk and enjoy each others company.

The one area that I am still trying to enjoy is work. I have had a string of some pretty rough days lately. Through it all I am still trying to maintain a positive attitude. Just keep swimming.....

Reflecting on some things

2009-02-24T14:41:00.003-05:00

Here lately I have been wanting more and better things that what I currently have. I complain that my condo is too small and I can't wait for D and I to buy our dream 5 bedroom,, 3.5 bath suburban home. I complain about the work I do now and how I can't wait to get my teacher certification and license so I can switch careers. I complain about the wedding planning process and how I just can't wait to be married. There is a big problem with this mind set: I will never be happy with what I currently have for wanting the next big thing. I just realized this today. I need to be more mindful of the moment. I can be a much happier person if I choose to be. I can enjoy my current home. I can have fun and memorable experiences from the wedding planning process. I can grow my professional skills and make connections at my current job. Sure, every day will not be a happy one but there can still be happy moments in each day. I can take the lemons that I think life is handing me and make lemonade. I am blessed beyond measure. I have a warm home that I am able to pay the mortgage on. I have a job that, for the time being, is secure. I have wonderful parents and fabulous friends. I have a man that knows I am a crazy but yet still wants to marry me :-) So, I challenge anyone else who happens to read my humble little blog to live in the moment, no matter what that moment is.

Even more 101

2009-02-19T20:53:00.003-05:00

To recap my current list...

1. Pay off a minimum of 75% of my credit card debt.
2. Loose and keep off 25 lbs.
3. Sell my condo.
4. Move into a 5 bedroom house.
5. Participate in a marathon, as a walker.
6. Grow my relaxer out and cut off my hair.
7. Visit DC and see all the cool historical sites.
8. Maintain regular visits with my girls.
9. Become an ESL teacher.
10. Go through all my boxes of random stuff and put them in order.
11. Wear makeup more often
12. Learn to be more of morning person
13. Learn a new craft
14. Be more consistent with keeping my house cleaned everyday
15. Take a course on wedding planning
16. Start a habit of walking Andy every morning for my and his exercise
17. Take pictures more often
18. Learn to have a positive attitude even in the face of difficult times
19. Be less quick to anger when it comes to my loved ones
20. Drink at least 4 glasses of water a day (working my way up to 8)
21. Complete a detox program
22. Reduce the amount of fast food I consume
23. Find a community service project to get involved in
24. Take a vacation of some sort each year
25. Speak Spanish more often

And now.....

26. Try 10 new recipes
27. Journal once a week
28. Tell my loved ones how much I love them whenever the mood strikes
29. Spend more time at my parent's house in the country. It's good for my soul :-)
30. Scrapbook (it helps relieve the stress)

Wow, it can be difficult to come up with 101 things! Good luck BFF :-)

Trying something new

2009-02-16T19:14:00.002-05:00

So a friend of mine is doing an herbal cleansing plan. Today I went out and purchased a 14 day cleanse to start on Wednesday. Hopefully it helps to move things along in the weight loss department. I have been holding steady and I know it's because I have been going out to eat a few days a week. This 14 day plan will help me focus.

On another note, I have contacted two companies about helping me get organized. I feel like the "stuff" is taking over our home and until we get the upgrade (1-2 years away), we need to make the best of the situation that we currently have. Although I really don't have the money to pay someone to do something that I should be able to do myself. It just has got to the point now where I am overwhelmed by the amount of things that have piled up. I am going to take it under consideration for a little while. In the meantime I will attempt to get a handle on the clutter situation.

My blogs wordle

2009-02-13T00:21:00.005-05:00

Very interesting...

More 101

2009-02-12T19:05:00.003-05:00

To recap here is where I was last month with my list....

1. Pay off a minimum of 75% of my credit card debt.
2. Loose and keep off 25 lbs.
3. Sell my condo.
4. Move into a 5 bedroom house.
5. Participate in a marathon, as a walker.
6. Grow my relaxer out and cut off my hair.
7. Visit DC and see all the cool historical sites.
8. Maintain regular meetings with my girls.
9. Become an ESL teacher.
10. Go through all my boxes of random stuff and put them in order.

11. Wear makeup more often
12. Learn to be more of morning person
13. Learn a new craft
14. Be more consistent with keeping my house cleaned everyday
15. Take a course on wedding planning

And now some more:

16. Start a habit of walking Andy every morning for my and his exercise
17. Take pictures more often (I am treating myself to a new camera for Valentine's Day)
18. Learn to have a positive attitude even in the face of difficult times
19. Be less quick to anger when it comes to my loved ones
20. Drink at least 4 glasses of water a day (working my way up to 8)
21. Complete a detox program
22. Reduce the amount of fast food I consume
23. Find a community service project to get involved in
24. Take a vacation of some sort each year
25. Speak Spanish more often

The dog ate my homework

2009-02-12T19:02:00.001-05:00

Well actually he ate my medical bills, UPS slip, napkins, and other assorted paper products. I know that the first step is to keep all paper out of reach since he is weiner and can't get to stuff that's up high but (refer back to last post) that's probably not happening anytime soon.

Confessions of a lazy girl

2009-02-05T17:57:00.002-05:00

I have a fitness center located in my condo complex and that still doesn't motivate me to use it.

I have spanish homework that I should be working on right now.

My whole house is messy.

My bedroom closet is a disaster area.

Sometimes I don't walk Andy. I just let him out back. I'm a bad mommy because I know that our walk is the only exercise he really gets.

I take off my shoes downstairs and leave many pairs laying in the floor in various places.

Yep.... pretty lazy.

Woooooo Hoooooooo

2009-02-02T21:27:00.003-05:00

I weighed myself this morning and I lost............. 6 lbs!!! I logged my starting weight wrong in the last post. I actually weighed 193. Today I stepped on the scale and I weighed 187. Three of my co-workers said I looked skinnier today. This is only the beginning. Now, I must confess that I did not eat that good this weekend (chocolate birthday cake at my parent's house) and today I did really good during the day but this evening not so much. But tomorrow is a new day and I will continue on with my plan. My plan is a combo of Slim Fast, Weight Watchers, and detox tea. Let's see how this week goes. I am aiming for another 2 pounds.

So far, so good

2009-01-29T14:07:00.001-05:00

I have been on my "eat better but don't be stupid about it" plan for the past 3 days and it hasn't been that bad. Yesterday I did have a bit of a splurge. My job took the kids to McDonald's for a field trip (?) and I got a hot fudge sundae and small fries. However, I counted the calories and had a pretty light supper to compensate for it. I am kinda doing my own plan, having a slim fast meal bar for breakfast, a lean cuisine or soup or something light for lunch ( I recommend the Healthy Choice Zesty Marinara Mixer), a slim fast shake for a mid afternoon snack and then a bowl or two of cream of wheat for dinner. This comes out to about 1200-1500 calories depending on the day. I am still fighting off the remnants of my ear infection so I have not worked exercise back into my routine however I have a pretty active job so I feel good about burning a decent amount of calories. Next week I will get back into going to the fitness center at least 3 times per week for one mile of cardio. I also have not been good about fresh fruit and veggies but that is a budgetary thing since we did not have money to get groceries. So (deep breath) I am going to share my weight to the blogosphere..... I am 5'7 and (as of now) 192 lbs. My goal is to be 172 by mid April. Wish me luck!

Wedding planning sucks

2009-01-25T20:14:00.003-05:00

So I tried on my dress for the first time in several months yesterday while I was at my parent's house and uhhhhhh.... my boobs are too big for it. So now I have made up my mind to work very hard at shedding 15-20 lbs in the next 10 weeks. That will put me about 8 weeks from the wedding so if I fail ( I sure hope I don't!!!) I can go out and get a dress my chest can fit in.

I'm also having a few issues with my invitations. I printed my first draft after I received my paper and showed it to my mom. She said it was too plain and really it is not what I pictured. So now I have to work on that some more.

Overcoming a few minor setbacks

2009-01-21T15:08:00.002-05:00

I currently am under the weather a bit with an ear infection. I am going to attempt to return to work tomorrow after being out all week. While I was out, there were yet again more changes in personnel. Things happen so quick around there it is making my head spin! I have not been to the gym in about two weeks. At first (and still) it was because my code is not working to let me in the door. I notified the correct people about this and it is being worked on. Now even if I had the ability to get into the door, I would not feel like doing anything. I gotta get back on track soon!

On the eve of the Inaguration

2009-01-19T17:38:00.003-05:00

First of all, Happy MLK day. Let us not forget how the hard work of this great man and others in his generation who paved the path for President Barack Obama. Today I was thinking of many wonderful changes this country is going to be experiencing in the near future. I know it's been hard for so many people during the last year. My wish is that we all take the time to reflect on what we can do to be better citizens and people. The financial market meltdown has (hopefully) shown us that material things are not what makes us good people. As part of my job, I work with middle school aged children in a after-school program. It saddens me to hear them say they don't care that much about what is going on in politics right now. I get angry when they say a peer is less of person because they are not wearing Baby Phat or Derreon. I want them to realize that there is more to life than things. Yes, I know that they are only children but then again it's different for them than it was for me. The world is so much more a different place and I think that the youth of America should rise up to meet the challenges that are before them. The Obama family will be a good place to start for them to look for inspiration.

Things that make me happy

2009-01-18T16:44:00.002-05:00

Cinnamon raisin toast- Yum!
Watching Living Single re-runs. My fav show!
Crossing items off my to-do list
When the kids I work with really appreciate what I do for them
Having a clean car- inside and out
Polka dots
Finding great coupons in the paper that I can actually use when I go grocery shopping
Goofing off with my friends

More of my 101

2009-01-16T22:42:00.002-05:00

11. Wear makeup more often
12. Learn to be more of morning person
13. Learn a new craft
14. Be more consistent with keeping my house cleaned everyday
15. Take a course on wedding planning

Stress!!!

2009-01-15T22:22:00.002-05:00

Today was a rough day. Work was hectic, as usual. I was concerned about my friends slipping away (got that ironed out). And then I called my mom to discuss a mundane little wedding detail and it ended in me sobbing on the phone. I was telling my mom how I wanted to cancel my current hotel reservations to switch to hotel that is further away from the wedding site. I made this decision to save a couple hundred bucks. My mom was concerned because she didn't want me to have to drive 10 miles from the hotel to the wedding. Really, it's not a big deal. I told her that 200 bucks is a lot of money to me right now and we could put it to better use with another wedding expense. I started to booo hooo because as much as I am trying to trim the expenses the wedding costs money that we don't really have. We don't want to go in debt but we are in between a rock and a hard place. My parents originally offered a sum that I recently figured would be hard for them to come through on, with the state of the economy and how it's affecting them. I don't want to be a burden. My mom then was upset because she hates to hear me crying and upset. It was a huge mess. Later my mom called back to check on me, as I was putting the leash on Andy and heading out for a chilly walk. She put my dad on the phone and he told me whatever it was I needed to just tell him and they would take care of it. He said that if it really was taxing on them they would tell me but in the past they always found a way to do what they wanted to do and this was no exception. It again brought tears to my eyes because I am so grateful for such wonderful parents. I just gotta stop worrying about about this and take the support I am being offered. It's the Social Worker in me that wants to take on others problems but that has got to stop.

101 in 1001

2009-01-14T14:26:00.002-05:00

A lot of people have created a list of 101 things they’d like to accomplish in 1001 days. (about 2.75 years, or 2 years and 9 months.)I think I would like to jump on that bandwagon myself. Here are my first few items. I will keep you all posted on when I accomplish goals.

1. Pay off a minimum of 75% of my credit card debt.
2. Loose and keep off 25 lbs.
3. Sell my condo.
4. Move into a 5 bedroom house.
5. Participate in a marathon, as a walker.
6. Grow my relaxer out and cut off my hair.
7. Visit DC and see all the cool historical sites.
8. Maintain regular meetings with my girls.
9. Become an ESL teacher.
10. Go through all my boxes of random stuff and put them in order.

Ok, I think that's a good start to my list. More to come later.....

How do I do what I do when I do what I do...?

2009-01-14T00:14:00.003-05:00

So as 2009 is settling in I am taking stock of how I am progressing on my goals for myself. As stated in my previous post, I am doing pretty well working out. My diet was great last weekend but this week not good at all. My house got clean and semi-organized for 2.2 seconds and I have been 5-10 minutes late to work more times than I care to admit in the last two weeks. I think one of my dilemmas is my desire to change everything at once and getting frustrated when it all doesn't happen right away. So, I think that I have to change my approach and focus on one thing at a time( ok, two, I have to multi-task). So the first item is.... get up earlier so I can be at work on time. The snooze button and I have an unhealthy relationship and I need to break up with this 15 year boyfriend. The second thing that I will be mindful of for the rest of the week is making better food choices. This will be easier for me when I go grocery shopping and actually have some decent food to eat. Hopefully these two tasks will not overwhelm me too much. I think what trips us all up as we try to reach our goals is that it is not something that we work on in a bubble. Life as usual goes on and it distracts us from what is important to us. Your coworker is a dumb ass and messes up your project at work so you go out to lunch and have a cheese steak and fries to eat away the stress. That same day you work extra hard so when you get home you plop down on the couch and veg out instead of lacing up your sneaks and hitting the gym. A good rerun of Sex and the City comes on and you stay up past a decent bedtime, causing you to be tired in the morning. I think the key to really realizing our goals is focus and an ability to ignore or minimize the distractions.

Progress

2009-01-10T14:10:00.005-05:00

Yay for progress! So far this week I have lost 4 lbs. I feel really good about that. I am about to go work out for the third time this week. I currently walk a mile in about 18 minutes which is an improvement over my 21 minute mile a few weeks ago.

I am also making progress in planning the wedding. I have came up with a vision of the wedding that blends practicality with fun and class. D and I def. don't have the money to have the biggest, baddest wedding ever. But what we do have planned is sure to be charming, cute, heartfelt, and a good time to be had by all. Really, I think the wedding will be amazing because we expect somewhere in the neighborhood of 120 guests and our budget is way under average and that includes EVERYTHING. Most people don't count the wedding bands and the honeymoon and the hotel rooms. But our budget includes these things. I don't take "it can't be done" for an answer. I am creative enough to find a way. But I think what makes me unique is I don't denounce the "wedding industrial complex" like a lot of other brides do. I do have a professional coordinator, photographer, caterer, etc. I did not want to burden my friends and family with doing all of the wedding related tasks. After reading other blogs of budget brides I think I can do it too, in my own style.

Here are a few that I have checked out:
http://tenthousandonly.blogspot.com
http://2000dollarwedding.com
http://www.12kwedding.com

2008- The year in review

2008-12-31T11:49:00.004-05:00

How was 2008 for you? Here is what happened in my world:

January- I purchased my first home. I am pretty happy in my little condo most of the time. I've had the first time homeowner headaches, such as mice and little repairs to take care of. It's been a good experience though.

February- I got engaged after 5 looonnngggggg years

March- Began planning the wedding and also started getting depressed about the cost of it all!

April- I think that this is when I started to get in a funk. Why? I don't know.

May- Got laid off unexpectedly from my job. It hit me hard. I was unemployed and my fiance started living with me right after he graduated from grad school. So, two broke jobless people were sitting around the house.

June- I turned 26, starting the slope toward 30! I also landed my current job.

July- I can't really remember anything spectacular happening this month.

August- We were in the thick of a big relationship struggle. D was having a hard time getting a job and it was weighing on us.

September- D got a wonderful job!

October- I began experiencing dissatisfaction with my job. Splitting two departments continues to be a struggle for me to grasp.

November- I hosted my parents and a family friend for my first Thanksgiving in my house. And the D got appendicitis Thanksgiving weekend. Our first medical challenge as an engaged couple.

December- Wrapping up the year on a positive note. Me and my girls have formed a self-help group to work on our areas of improvement. I am looking forward to learning what motivates me and how I can really be the woman God intended me to be.

2009 is sure to a great year. I welcome it with open arms. HAPPY NEW YEAR!

A day off?

2008-12-29T21:30:00.005-05:00

To finish 2008 and start 2009 on a positive note, I took off the rest of the week. However, my to do list is keeping me from relaxing the whole time. Being a real grown up means there are no days off..... so so sad. Here is what I have to do:

Tuesday:
1. Clean up my whole entire house.-- I have a confession to make. I am a messy person who is longing to be organized. I love containers and I look lovingly at magazine features about organization. The translation to my little 844 sqft condo does not work. I tend to take all those containers and put a hodge podge of items in them and throw them in the corner or my closet. So, tomorrow I begin the real work of actually categorizing those containers so I won't spend 20 minutes tearing up the house looking for something that I need.

2. Go with my girls to the bridal shop to order bridesmaids dresses. This is the one we all picked out:
Just ignore the hangy piece and the confused look on the models face.

3. Cook stir fried noodles with shrimp and peas. Yummm!

Wednesday:

1. Clean some more. Oh, joy!

2. Bring in 2009.

Thursday:

1. Cook brunch. On the menu: Omelets, cinnamon rolls, bacon, and sausage

2. A little shopping perhaps :-)

Friday:

1. Clean some more!

2. Maybe relax for just a little bit.