The Un-Wife Housewife Life

It's a cowBOY!

2011-10-27T10:46:00.003-04:00

It's been entirely too long since I shared something interesting with ya'll...but I was inspired today by

to share something creative with you! Just so you know, my OCD is going crazy right now because I am about to go completely out of chronological order and share with you something that I did during my 8 weeks off this summer, but it was NOT the first thing I did during my eight weeks off.

Anywho! Deep breath....

My bestest of friends, Melissa Ann, is having a BABY BOY! So I threw her a super adorable CowBOY baby shower over the Summer while she was home on leave (she's a Marine), to celebrate in her joy with her hometown friends! I was so excited that I was off from school because it gave me the time I wanted to be creative and add special little caring details. I even actually made things from Pinterest! My mom and I love this kind of stuff, and she was a huge help! First things first, my amazing cousin Ashley, Sister to my cousin Paige, who you might know from Live, Laugh, Love ,designed the most adorable invitations for me, thanks again Ash, they were perfect!!!

(This is actually the first draft she made for me... not the final product, but ya'll don't need all my bizzzzz, no stalkers allowed! Anyway, you get the picture, super cute!!!)

My theme of course was Denim, Bandannas, and Farm Animals. One of my very first ideas for this shower was to make a diaper cake with those cute little denim diapers that Huggies has out, and everything just built from there. At first Melissa wasn't sure if she wanted to announce the gender to everyone, and when I started the planning she didn't even know yet! I wanted something that could be gender neutral, but could also be tweaked to favor a boy or girl if I wanted. If it had turned out to be a girl I was originally thinking I would add some pink, but then just decided to stick to Red Bandannas regardless...

The main attraction - a denim diaper cake (made by me, with some help from Mom) with Cowboy Booties, and that super cute horse on the left over there was crocheted by my Mom! Isn't it AWESOME?!?!?! There is also a matching little one on the cake but it's on the left side, not clearly pictured. Melissa went nuts over that thing, as I suspected she would, because she always appreciates homemade/crafty things, AND she is also learning to crochet.

As seen on Pinterest.... Cowboy Cookies as game prizes! (I was so excited to find bags of colored M&M's at Party City that I overlooked the dark blue ones - I was so mad when I saw them later!!) The denim on top came from an old pair of my stepdad's jeans that mom said were beyond mending. Thanks Steve! :-) And don't worry Lissa, they were washed first!

"Take one and clip it on, but don't say BABY, or you'll have to pass it on!" using the cutest farm animal ribbon I have ever seen (found at JoAnn Fabrics)... and another one via Pinterest... Wishes for Baby - made into a little book for Mommy to keep, made with scrapbook paper and tied with suede strings.

Mom and I picked out some outfits we couldn't resist in various sizes and snatched an idea from a shower my SIL threw to hang them on "clotheslines". The tables were decorated with little farm animal rattles/toys and daisies in ball jars (got a huge case at WalMart on the cheap), tied with bandanna ribbon and accompanied by trail mix. The little red baskets were a 3 pack from the dollar bin at Target, and the red bowls were a 3 pack from the dollar store. Bahhhgain!

Oh the food, so yummy! Fried chicken in bandanna lined baskets from the Dollar Tree. Utensils in soup cans, Mom lined the edges with another (washed) old pair of jeans and we wrapped bandanna ribbon around them too. The plates are in a bucket from the dollar bin at Target.

Dessert! The adorable little farm animal plates are from WalMart. My cousin Ashley, who made the invites actually found them at her Dollar General in KY, sent me a picture and said I should really have them for the party. I agreed and was so excited that WalMart had some! They are made by Hefty I think... The little lunch box is from Party City, along with the napkins, and the cupcakes were handmade by me! Another idea from Pinterest. The chocolate cows have spots made of Tootsie Rolls, the chocolate sheep are marshmallows, the chicks are yellow cake with yellow colored coconut and starburst noses, the pink piggies are just dyed yellow cake, they have starburst noses, the eyes are all made with mini m&m's and the frosting is just colored with frosting food coloring. As tedious as it looks, I promise it wasn't. I think it probably took me about a half hour to decorate them after they were made, honest. We served sweet tea and lemonade, and I took another idea from Pinterest that I strongly recommend... I froze sliced lemons in a muffin tin in lemonade so they served as ice that wouldn't water down the drink, and a pretty decoration all in one!

Mommy's spot :-) I rushed to take this picture before I would let her in the door, but I was still waiting on the cow print balloons that I got on Amazon and had filled at Party City, that were put behind her chair and all over the house using bundles of leftover denim diapers as weights. I found that "Cowboy's Welcome" sign at Ross, and I couldn't resist. My mom and the Boy thought I was crazy when I asked them to help me take a picture off the wall to hang it. Whatever, my beach scene clashed with the decor.

She actually spent most of her time on the floor opening her gifts and playing with her fur baby, Gracie. (good thing I swept before she came!)

Almost everything I bought, got sent home with Mommy. She had hinted to me weeks prior which bedding sets she had been admiring, so my gift to her was to help her decorate the nursery with the decorations from the shower. The baskets, the sign, the bandannas, table decor, etc.... it all went to Mommy. And my other little gift to her? That pony on the ground in the above photo with the bandanna around it's neck. Everyone needs a Rocky Horse in their childhood, and this one sings while you rock on it!!! (p.s. he's from WalMart too if you are in need of one)

Ta-da!!! Me and the Mommy to Be!!!

(now you can see the balloons too!)

I was so pleased with how everything turned out, and I think Lissa was too. I can't wait to meet her perfect little Christmas Present, and I'll be sure to keep ya'll updated too!

25 Again.

2011-10-13T23:21:00.001-04:00

I thought I should probably finish this post and hit publish so ya'll don't think I'm crazy when I turn 24 again in just a few months... Ya know, especially since its been sitting in my queue since February, and it was late even back then. On January 12, 2011 I turned 25 again. Yup, that's right, again. Because, really, who wants to turn 26? It's so lame, and un-eventful. The way I figure it, if I start counting back now, by the time I'm turning 30 I can re-celebrate my 21st Birthday! Wouldn't that be awesome? I think so....

So anyway. My 25th birthday this year... It was awesome!!!! My mom and step-dad took the boy and I out to dinner at J.Alexanders. That place is awesome, probably my favorite "fancy" restaurant. It's not fancy really, but it's not Chili's either. Then we went back to their house and I got super spoiled with some amazing presents. Way more than I ever expected or could have imagined I was getting!!!! Included in all that was this way cool coupon organizer that my mom hand-made for me!!! And... a super cute Coach purse!!! My mom rocks.

Yup, I'm totally wearing a princess crown - I'm the birthday princess, duh!

That boy of mine is pretty awesome too... he finally got tired of hearing me whine about not being able to listen to CD's in my car anymore after my factory stereo decided to eat 5 of them and not give them back, so he got me a new radio!!!! And it even came with free installation provided by that handsome man himself! Which is good, because it came with all these pretty colored wires that I had no frickin' clue what to do with. All is good now though, it's hooked up, and pretty, and it even connects to my ipod!!! My poor little 2002 Accord is so high tech now!

Love him!

And... Because my friends and I are all January babies, we celebrated our birthday together with a joint party at my house. Jenn and Jess were turning 25 for the first time this year, so it was a 1/4 century blast!

Completely equipped with party hats.

You know how I know my Mom's cool?

2011-10-07T10:00:00.000-04:00

She "Gave Cancer the Boot" with early detection...

and takes photos of herself in the bathroom mirror, on her iPhone, to show off her new hot pink hair extensions on Facebook!

Stylish? Who me?

2011-10-06T16:18:00.001-04:00

I feel so cute and stylish today in my comfy fall-ish outfit I wore to meet up with my study group. Looks kind of like something you might see on Pinterest, no? So what if it's 86 degrees outside.... My brain says its fall, and I'm wearing $10 Converse. :-)

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Keepin' it clean...

2011-09-25T14:41:00.000-04:00

I'm not gonna lie... I'm really not very good at this "housewife" stuff. I'm hoping one day I will be, and I think I'm getting better all the time, but I am a work in progress. My house is not always clean. My bed usually isn't made, I don't recommend the 5 second rule around here, and my dog does a lot of artwork on my sliding glass doors...

Source: carrotsncake.com via Amy on Pinterest

BUT - there are a few things I have to keep clean. I like a clean kitchen, and clean bathrooms. The rest I can tolerate. We empty the sink every night after dinner so dirty dishes don't pile up, I wipe down the kitchen counters all the time and I get really frustrated when the boy empties out his pockets on the bar and spreads everything out, so I try and pile it all up

and put it in "his basket". Seriously, when you open my front door this is what you see.

(note overflowing green "basket" that needs to be cleaned out...sigh...at least it's in a basket!)

It's the main focal point of our little house. If the kitchen was grody anyone that comes to the door would see it, and I certainly don't want my UPS man thinking we are the dirty people in the neighborhood. That's not cool. I also insist on keeping my guest bathroom tidy. Mostly because I don't like gross bathroom germs, but also because honestly, you just never know when someone is gonna ask you if they can "take a leak" and I don't want them seein' our pee dribbles, that's kind of embarrassing. Since I'm really not good at this cleaning stuff one of my little "tricks" is to keep some of these in both bathrooms.

They work great for a quick cleanup whenever it needs it, or when you know someone is on their way. You can use them on almost every surface in there to spruce it up at the last minute. (and I may have actually used them to clean the entire bathroom today) Keeping one in each bathroom has definitely made a difference. I used to just say "oh, the counter is getting grungy, next time I walk to the other bathroom I'll grab the cleaner and wipe it", but now I just pull out a wipe and do it. The other thing I keep in both bathrooms is toilet bowl cleaner and a brush. To some it might seem silly to have two of all this stuff, but to me, it helps me keep up on the little things that make a big difference. Countertops and toilets are where are the nasty stuff lives, and nobody wants to get someone elses nasties on them when they visit. That's just gross.

Do you have any daily cleanup tips that can help out this un-wife housewife with a busy life from putting off the little things? I would surely appreciate them. And please, if you are gonna stop by, gimme a 5 min warning so I can wipe everything down and we can pretend that I keep a clean house :)

**I wasn't asked by Clorox to write this post... I was just giving ya'll my advice on semi housekeeping and asking for yours! :) **

Does anyone else ever have this problem?

2011-09-18T23:35:00.001-04:00

What you can't see in this photo is that she is actually pushing her head down on my arm so that I can't move it... My silly Zoey Monster. Forever the attention whore...

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Sulfonamona-wha?!?!?!

2011-09-16T19:25:00.000-04:00

So I started getting grey hair a little prematurely in life - it's not bad, but it bothers me. It bothered me enough that a few years ago I started dying my hair with that drug store box wash out crap that doesn't actually ever wash out. Eventually I had to start going darker and darker to get rid of the red/orange/brassy color and I began to realize that I no longer knew what my natural color was, but it wasn't this dark brown/orange color that I had acquired.

(brassy/reddish/orangy color - so not natural!)

So this week, for the first time in my life, I had my hair professionally colored. I got highlights. It's so much lighter than my hair has been for the past 5 years that It's taking some adjusting to, but I think I like it. What do you think? Be honest...

(indoor lighting...)

(hello sunshine!)

In an effort to maintain these chemically processed locks properly, I've started looking into sulfate and paraben free shampoos, but I am so confused. There are so many, and so many have ingredients with similar names to sulfates, but are supposedly okay. I don't get it. I also don't want to spend a whole bunch of $ on something that doesn't work well, or smells nasty. I'm a nursing student - I'm broke! The boy loves me, but not enough to spend $50 on shampoo. Have any of you picked up on this SLS free craze? What kind of 'poo do you use for your 'do?

Oh how I have missed thee...

2011-08-27T12:42:00.000-04:00

Did you miss me too!?!?!?

I took an un-announced and un-planned blogging hiatus. I have come to the realization though that I don't know why! My brain is obviously still in blogger mode because I do things, or I think of things, and in my head I say - I need to blog about that. I think I felt like I didn't have the time, and then I had 8 weeks off from school and I still didn't make the time so that probably wasn't true. In any case... I think this is about to change, but don't hold it against me if I don't live up to my own expectations.

I have learned that not every post needs to be thoroughly thought out, and not every post needs to be long... I'm hoping that these new realizations will help keep me motivated. I usually study for about an hour, and then I take a 15-20 minute break before getting back at it. My new goal is that when I break, I do something productive, like write a blog post!

Thanks to all of you that have stuck around! Be back soon!

While you were freezing...

2011-02-02T18:02:00.000-05:00

While most of you were probably freezing your behind's off this past weekend... the high was about 75 degrees around these parts, and we spent a gorgeous afternoon out on the water! The day started out pretty chilly and boring...

but things picked up a bit in the afternoon and we brought in a 150-200 pound MARLIN!

Most amazing fish I have even witnessed being caught...

We put our underwater camera to use and got this spectacular (and HILARIOUS!) shot of our friend PJ who was REALLY excited about reeling this monster in!!!!

There was even an article published in the local paper about it all!!!!! Apparently it's very rare to catch one of these babies... especially where we were, with the bait we were using, and more importantly, by not even trying!?!?!? We were definitely not set up for such a big catch, but it was SO AWESOME!!!!

Stay warm ya'll!!!!!

The bang disaster of 2011...

2011-02-01T17:48:00.000-05:00

So today I went and got my hair cut by the same lady that has been cutting my hair since I was five. Now, I have to tell you, I've been debating cutting ties with her for a while. For one, sometimes she has her off days... and two, the snotty salon she is at these days keeps jacking their prices like we AREN'T in a recession or something! Well today was the icing on the top of the "off day" because she completely and totally messed up my bangs beyond repair, AND charged me $11 more than normal! What the heck dude!?!?!?!

I tried to have her fix them, and it just came out worse, so I gave up. I came home and washed my hair only to discovered that she angled them the opposite direction of how they lay when parted!

(can you tell I'm un-happy!!!??!!?!?!?!) Who does that!!!!

So desperate to get a fix to this mess, I stopped at the only Hair Cuttery I know of around here that has employees that speak English. Insert: emo hair 2011.

What's a girl to do at this point except wear clips and headbands, use lots of hairspray and gel, and wait for it to grow out...

::sigh::

I hate wholesale warehouse shopping.

2011-01-31T11:43:00.000-05:00

But I sure do love the deals!!!! We have a membership at BJ's Wholesale, but I despise going there. We usually go (together!) about once or twice a year and stock up on paper goods and stuff, but it really is one of my least favorite things to do, no matter how good the deals are. Seriously, it's gross, and inconvenient. It smells, smelly people go there, it's kindda dirty, everything is HUGE (and I'm so little, hence why we go together), it just all pretty much sucks. But - I've finally found a solution! Amazon.com Subscribe and Save. Have you heard of it? It's amazing. Wholesale prices from the comfort of my home, and they deliver to my doorstep in just a few days, for free! Seriously, how can you go wrong?!?!?!?! No crowds, no smelly warehouse, no smelly people... it's fantastic! They have all kinds of stuff too, not just paper goods. They even have food products! So far I've only ordered paper goods and stuff, but check out these prices!

Charmin Ultra Strong - 18 MEGA rolls - $20.96

All Small and Mighty Laundry Detergent - Case of 4, 96 oz. bottles - $53.44

Bounty Huge Roll Select-A-Size - 12 count - $32.24

Yeah... I'm sold... with it just being the 2 of us, this stuff lasts us FOREVER.

The way it works is - you sign up here, and search for the items you are looking for. If they qualify, it will say so... then you pick the quantity and select how often you would like this item delivered. You get an email before the item ships, and you can change the frequency at any time. So basically, there is no "contract." Just because you set it to ship every 6 months doesn't mean it actually has to. In 6 months, you'll get an email, and if you aren't ready for it yet, you go in and change it not to ship for another 1,2,3, or 6 months. Sound like an awesome deal yet??!?!?!? Just wait, it gets better... When you subscribe, you save 15% off the price, and they ship for free with Amazon Prime membership. Whats that? You don't have Amazon Prime? That's okay... anyone with a .edu email can get Amazon Prime membership free, for a year! Which means fast shipping, for free, on TONS of stuff! Not just Subscribe and Save items. Seriously, it's amazing. I take advantage of it all the time. Then you just sit back and wait for the awesome UPS guy to come, and if he's cool like mine, he'll even bring the heavy stuff inside for ya ;-)

Now, I know these prices aren't really any better than wholesale stores... but the convenience was the selling point for me! Especially since our BJ's is shutting down anyway. Amazon didn't offer me anything at all for writing this... it's just one blogger sharing a good deal with another blogger. But hey, Amazon, if you're out there, feel free... because I love me some Amazon!!!!

Five Favorite Friday

2011-01-28T23:04:00.000-05:00

In following with the theme of my blog, and my life... I'm going to give you a post that is over a month late. Yup, that's right, I'm about to write about Christmas. Don't judge. I'm a nursing student. I have no life. Plus, I just can't seem to document things out of chronological order, which means I can't tell you about my birthday, or school, or anything else until I get Christmas out of my bloggy mind. I'm just crazy like that.

Soooo, in an effort to get this out of the way so I can continue.... I've narrowed my Christmas post down to my Five Favorite things about Christmas this year. In no particular order....

1. Friend time! and cookies! Yum!!!!

My friends and I got together for a girls night were we ate entirely too many cookies, drank some wine, played some fun board games, and exchanged recipes! Good times :)

2. Evenly dispersed family time. Instead of having to cram time with all of the family into one day, we were able to kind of break it up a little bit this year. The boy got lucky and was off on Christmas Eve, and day! So we did dinner at my parents house on Christmas Eve, and dinner at his parents house Christmas day! Now don't get me wrong, we were still running around all over the place and crazy stressed for 2 days, but at least it was 2 days, and not one!!!

(my little family..)

3. Cheesiness. In the form of matching jammies and goofy family shots :)

4. Presents!!!! (My parents got us an AWESOME waterproof camera!!!! We will be putting this to LOTS of use!!!) and I'm still lovin' my early present from the boy... my Evo :)

5. Decorations. And my mom.

My mom didn't have just one tree this year, she had at least 7... and they were GORGEOUS! She had so much going on at the end of the year, including 2 surgeries, and a holiday party.... but she just couldn't resist putting up all of her decorations.

Love you Mommy!

What's your flavor?

2010-12-18T00:40:00.000-05:00

I may, or may not have stayed up until 12:3o the other night re-arranging ornaments on my tree. Am I the only one who does that? You get something new, and then you have to find a new place for it, and then you need a thick branch so you move some more stuff around, and the tree starts to droop so now some things are hidden, so you move some stuff around again...it just never ends. But I love it!

I was told I should open a Christmas present early Friday night, and rightfully so, because in it were 2 new beautiful ornaments from my Aunt Lisa :)

That's what started the ornament shuffling ordeal when I got home. There was no way I was going to wait until the next to put them up, I might be too busy! But while re-arranging/admiring all the ornaments on my tree, it got me thinking about my Tree Trimming Style. You know, everyone has their own "flavor" of tree trimming... There's the Christmas shop display tree type, the "my kid made everything on my tree" type, the "theme" tree, and so on, and so forth....

MY style of course is unique to me, and the boy, and the things we enjoy. I think you can tell a lot about a person by their tree..... Personally, my tree tells the story of our lives together. I don't have any of the ornaments I had growing up (long story), so when we moved into our house 3 Christmases ago I had to start fresh. I bought some plain ol' colored balls (which we NEVER had on our tree when I was little), and a few cute ornaments and went from there. That Christmas my mom made me some Macrame candy canes like the ones we had on our tree when I was growing up.

My little brother made me some reindeer and penguin bell/pom pom ball ornaments

and my mom also crocheted me some BEAUTIFUL snowflakes

which I adore! I got a little creative as well and made some bead snowflakes.

Each year I've added a few ornaments here and there and so our "theme", so to say, developed. Every ornament on my tree has either been hand made by me or someone in my family, a snowman (I love snowmans!!!), career or hobbie related to us, or my favorite - beachy Christmasy.... It's even MORE awesome if I can find a snowman that represents any of those things. Those are usually my favorite! Like my sandy-men and my nurse and firefighter snowmen that I shared with you when I revealed my tree here.

And I can't forget about our Christmas tradition of adding a dated photo ornament with a picture of us in it. I can't wait until our tree is FULL of these!

My tree was pretty sparse the first year, and mostly full of the glass balls. As the years have gone by, my collection has grown, and my tree is borderline "cluttered." The pretty kind of cluttered, but it's certainly full! I like it though, it suits me. It's how I remember my tree looking when I was growing up, but with MY ornaments that are special to ME. The showroom tree is just NOT my style. At all.

So, I guess that's my "flavor"... homemade/beachy/fishy/career representing/snowmen.

What's yours?

Ho, Ho, Ho-lloween?????

2010-12-17T11:13:00.000-05:00

Yeah, so.... I should have posted this a few months ago. And some might say it's been so long, I should just forget about it. But, who doesn't like a break from all the Christmas posts anyway. Not to mention, my mom is so super awesome and talented I just couldn't resist sharing with you the fantastic costume she made me for Halloween!!!! (and Blair may have requested about a month ago that I share it with you and I couldn't disappoint her!)

Of course, starting from the beginning - no Halloween is complete without a trip to the Punkin' Patch!!!!

And some intense carving!

The finished products! Mines the smiling one on the right... I accidentally put his mouth on upside down so he looks a little goofy instead of scared. Whoops!

And... the big reveal! My awesome cave-woman costume my Mommy made!

I even got the boy to semi-dress up. He was himself, in 20 years, retired.... (He said he would just always be in board shorts and a fishing shirt because he'll just fish every day.) LOL

And me, with some of my favorite girls in the whole wide world!

My Grinch, in disguise...

2010-12-11T21:54:00.001-05:00

So, aside from my new background, and un-centered header (grrr)... Did you notice that I added a new pic of the boy with his big catch I told you about? You know, the one that he got during our Thanksgiving Weekend in the Keys? Over there on the side... teeny tiny... under that header that says "My Handsome Boyfriend." No? Well here it is in biggie-size.

How awesome is that?!?!?!?! He was such a good sport for my Godparents, allowing them to have a photo-op with the santa hat :-) You'd never know he's really the Grinch in disguise!

Thankful.

2010-12-09T13:31:00.001-05:00

So what if Thanksgiving is over... We should be thankful all year long!

Right now, I'm thankful because...

We got some bad news last week that her pathology report showed that her cells had become invasive and she would have to have surgery again to make sure the cancer had not spread. She went in on Tuesday for round two of surgery, and she kicked ass!!! Three lymph nodes were removed, and all came back NEGATIVE! My mom is cancer free and will begin radiation in January!!!

Thank you everyone for your prayers and support.

I am thankful for you too!

The hall's are decked!

2010-12-08T20:28:00.000-05:00

With my trusty companion by my side....

(though, she preferred not to be...)

I finished decorating the inside of the house over the weekend!

Not too much... just a few touches here and there....

and most importantly, the tree!!!

With it's new topper!!!

I haven't decided yet how I feel about the sprays of sea-life around it. Too much?

Some of my favorite ornaments this year...

See our new photo ornament? It's so cute!

The outside got some holiday cheer too... but it's not done yet. I haven't gotten out there to hook up my snowmen! Gotta have some snowman's!!!!

Zoey's "Tucker Max incident"

2010-11-30T12:12:00.000-05:00

If you've ever read, or seen, "I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell", you already know where I'm going with this. If not, just keep reading....

Since I was gone for a week, and the Boy had to work some 24 hour shifts during that time, my sweet Zoey went to Grandpa camp for a week. Thankfully, Grandpa takes good care of her, but he spoils the crap out of her, literally. Someone got a few too many cheap treats and thanksgiving leftovers (neither of which she is ever given at our house), and came home with what I can only describe as a puppy stomach bug. Poor thing was apparently up all night leaking out both ends while the Boy and I were passed out sick in bed. He woke up to her banging against the wall, and I woke up to him saying "Honey, I hate to wake you up with this and leave, but we've got a "stinky" situation." Not even kidding, that's what he said.... That Boy's got jokes I tell ya.

So, I did a little "Fall Cleaning" yesterday. I moved furniture, mopped twice, Swiffered until there was nothing left to Swiffer, washed rugs and puppy beds, and scrubbed the puppy down too. Way more than any sick person should, but I was on a roll and was determined to get rid of the stench that was making me gag more than my usual snotty self. Apparently I over-did it a little with the Swiffer though because my gas detector detected a chemical smell, and the next thing I knew, my house alarm was going off. Whoopsy. I missed the call from the alarm company, called them back, got disconnected, called back again, and I'm pretty sure I finally got the message to the guy that "NO, I do NOT need the Fire Department" just in time.

See? I told you yesterday was eventful! Not much fun, but eventful! I'm happy to report that my sweet Zoey Monster is feeling much better today. She has actually picked up her toys a few times, and continues to try and recruit me to play with her. Unfortunately, I think I over-did it yesterday and I'm feeling pretty crappy.... I'm keeping up on the Emergen-C and fluids though, because I'm ready to kick this cold out and get on with the decorating! Tomorrow is December for crying out loud and the only thing I have done so far is put away my fall decorations!!!

With my little helper by my side... hopefully we can get some Holiday Cheer around here by the end of the week!

Honey, I'm HOME!

2010-11-29T21:07:00.001-05:00

So much for posting from my way cool new phone. Whoops... I was a little bit too busy for all that!

I had a great time on my road trip with Lissa. She only almost killed us once, and only almost blew up the truck twice. KIDDING! Mostly.... I may have failed to mention that her new truck is a stick-shift, and she hasn't ever owned one of them things before! It was interesting to say the least. I'll spare you the random pictures of clouds and Welcome signs I took along the way, but I have to share at least ONE picture in this post! It's pretty exciting too, well, I was excited. The whole way through South Carolina I kept seeing all these billboards for this place called "South of the Border". I figured it must be an awesome restaurant or something. Nope. It's an amusement park. And it wasn't even in South Carolina. It was in North Carolina.

I was amused....

The rest of my trip was fairly un-eventful, but really awesome! I got to spend 3 days with my amazing family in Kentucky! I hadn't seen most of them in over a year, and it was great! We didn't really take any pictures, because we didn't really do anything exciting enough to take pictures of, but that was just fine with me! There is literally only one picture to prove that I was even there. I was watching Dora the Explorer with my 2 year old cousin. Okay, okay, you really want to see more than one picture in this post? Here you go.

See, exciting, right?

I came home with a nasty cold and felt pretty crappy on Thanksgiving. So much so that I missed out on most of the yummy food :( Thank goodness my mom promised to make me some of my favorites for Christmas dinner since she stayed in Kentucky and I had Thanksgiving with the Boy's family. His Momma is a great cook too, but I sure do miss some of the traditional stuff my Mommy makes! I better not get sick for Christmas!

The next day, we headed down to the Keys. But.... I spent the weekend in our hotel room while the Boy went fishing with my Godparents. I tried to go out on Saturday, but wound up having them bring me in because I was so sick. Grrrr.... There are some GREAT pictures of the awesome catch the Boy got, but.... not on my camera, so I don't have any.

This post is turning out to be rather lame, huh? I blame my sickies.

Today was rather eventful. Not exactly in a good way... but, eventful none the less....

You'll have to check back tomorrow to hear all about it though. Right now, I'm gonna go take some cough syrup for the first time in about 10 years and try to sleep away the sickies.

99 bottles of beer on the wall....

2010-11-17T13:22:00.000-05:00

Take one down... pass it around.... 98 bottles of beer on the wall!

I'm not talkin' about beer though, I'm actually talkin' about followers. They're dropping like flies! I made it to 100, then down to 99, then 100, then 98. I can't blame them really. I haven't blogged in FOR-EV-ER. But, I'm gonna whine about it anyway. Though, I'm back to 100 today. Maybe I can actually keep them this time?

Lots has been going on since I blogged last. Wait, what the heck was the last thing I even posted???? Oh yeah, Pink firetrucks. Anyway....

I plan on getting back into the swing of things, especially since I should have lots to talk about over the holidays. Actually, I've HAD lots to talk about, just not enough time to talk about it. Here's the quick re-cap. It'll probably go faster in list version...

I didn't get a high enough grade in my class to proceed to the next, and therefore, I'm out of school until January. Don't get me started, I'm still pissed. I didn't actually "fail", because I didn't get an F, but nursing school has high standards. Apparently you are supposed to be really freakishly smart to save lives and junk. Who knew?!?!?! (kidding!)
Halloween came and went. My mommy made me an AWESOME costume. Maybe I'll do a re-cap soon to share some pictures :)
My friend Priscilla who recently moved out of town came home for a whole week and I got to spend tons of time with her!
I went wedding dress shopping with my friend Jenn - she found her dream dress, and she's pretty sure she picked our bridesmaid dresses. So exciting!
My little brother turned 15! I know, I can't believe it either.
I realized everything happens for a reason. And my reason for being out of school was to be able to be with my mom over the next few weeks. She was diagnosed with breast cancer.
Mom had surgery, all is well so far. Pathology results should be in soon to confirm that it's all gone, and radiation should start in 5 wks. Prayers are appreciated.
Melissa came home from Afghanistan. This happened prior to the others, but right now, she's down in FL with me :-) Another "reason" for being out of school - more time with Lissa Ann!
I decided to be spontaneous. I'm driving back up North with Melissa this week, and then flying into Kentucky to see my family who I haven't seen in over a year! Another opportunity I would have missed had I been in school.

WHEW! I think I got it all down. See, told ya I've had a lot going on! And I thought I was gonna be bored while I was out of school. HA!

Oh, oh, another exciting thing happened.... last night the boy took me to Best Buy to pick up my early Christmas present - a brand spankin' new HTC Evo! *woot woot* so excited. You know what's even MORE exciting????? It has a blogger app!!! I can actually write blogs and post pictures DIRECTLY from my phone! Now I have NO excuse for not blogging. Unless of course I'm still lacking in time... but there's always bathroom breaks, right?

Anyway, I'm out for now. Time to go pick up 'Lissa and go whip some car salesman booty. She's had some serious issues this week. But that's just WAY too complicated to even attempt to blog about. Even from my way cool new phone :)

P.S. In case anyone was wondering... I haven't completely fallen off the face of the bloggy world. I've still been reading blogs daily. I promise.

Did I mention I have a really cool phone now??

Pink Fire trucks!?!?!?!

2010-09-22T11:56:00.000-04:00

Do you care enough to wear pink!?!!?!?

It's that time of year again.... Although it should be on your mind all year long, it's almost October, and that means - Breast Cancer Awareness!!!

Earlier this week, I had the opportunity to see the Pink Heals Tour in action. If you haven't heard about them before... click on that link and check 'em out!! I had heard about these pink fire trucks before, but never figured I'd ever get a chance to see them in person. Turns out, I was wrong! The tour came to town and a local Fire Department hosted the event down on the beach. Breast Cancer awareness is important to us, and we love us some firemen, so the boy and I went down to check it all out and support both! Unfortunately, it was dark by the time we made it down there, and we didn't get very good pictures...

(it was IMPOSSIBLE to get a picture without a bunch of people in it...)

There are 4 pink trucks that travel all over the U.S. promoting Breast Cancer awareness. They pull this trailer with a HUGE diamond-plate ribbon, and the trucks are covered in tributes that people have written on them in marker. It was very touching, and so cool!!!

The local fire fighters even wore pink uniform shirts for 2 weeks prior to the event to promote it. They had a Mammo-bus available to the public for screening information, and other health promoting booths as well.

The boy convinced me that my Aunt Lisa would like to see me with a fireman in pink gear, so I just had to take a picture with this guy.

Promoting Breast Cancer is always important to me.... For many reasons! First of all, I lost my great-grandmother to breast cancer many years ago. My Aunt Lisa is a survivor, and so is my Great Aunt Brenda. Oh, and I'm a nurse. It's my job to promote health!!! I am a firm believer that everyone should take Breast Cancer seriously. It's important to get checked regularly, and don't brush off any sort of abnormality. Nobody ever wants to be the one to be affected, but almost everyone will be affected by Breast Cancer at some point in their life. If it's not you, it's someone you know. Be aware, and be supportive.

Making the best of things...

2010-09-12T22:39:00.000-04:00

This weekend could have been bad. In fact, it could have been horrible. It didn't start off too great, but it sure did turn out pretty darn good!

I had my very first test for this semester on Friday, and when I left I sure didn't feel good about it at all! I was exhausted, and bummed, and just in a really foul mood about the whole thing. I kept myself busy until I couldn't keep my eyes open any longer and I went to bed.

The next morning, the Boy came home from work and woke me up so we could head down to the Keys for the day. If you've been following my blog for any length of time, you should not find it unusual that we would just up and run down there for the day... And if you do, you haven't been paying very much attention!

Anyway, I was still not quite awake and ready to take on the day, but I just hoped it would get better... and it did. Halfway down I was able to get on the Boy's spiffy new Evo and check my grade - I passed! Finally, my day could go on! We had a fantastic day on the water with my Godparents. We caught 15 Blackfin tuna, and quite a few junk fish that we threw back.

Unfortunately it takes FOREVER to clean so many fish and we got a late start heading back home. I drove, and let the Boy sleep... It was pretty brutal, but had to be done. He was back on shift again today! He's been working tons of hours lately between overtime, his second job, and working shifts for friends so that they will work for him down the road. Between my school/study schedule, and his work schedule, I feel like I haven't hardly seen him in weeks! Sure was nice to spend a whole day with him out on the water....

Being that I passed my test and all... I felt that I could afford to spend most of the day today slacking off on my studying and spending some much needed time with friends, so I headed off to Ft.Lauderdale Beach.

We soaked up some sun, downed some yummy frozen drinks, and had lunch at Hooters.

I got home just in time for the afternoon rain to start comin' down hard... and I'm back to the books for the rest of the week!

September 11th is a sad day, and I sure am glad that I was able to make the best of it. I do know one thing though... I'll never forget...

My prayers are always with the heroes of our country, as well as their family and friends. I pray for my Boy, that he will always be safe when he leaves me for his 24 hour shifts to serve our community. I pray for my best friend Melissa, that she will stay safe while serving our Country and come home soon and safe. And I'll always remember my friend Chris...

The Wine Rack...

2010-08-26T12:49:00.000-04:00

Oh my gosh... the things they come up with these days!!!

Perfect for bringing your beverage with you "on the run", literally...

The Wine Rack

And for the men?

The Beer Belly

I couldn't make these things up if I tried.

And.... we're back!

2010-08-17T14:48:00.000-04:00

We are back from our third, and final, trip to the Keys this summer. This time we stayed with Ed's sister and brother in law at a friend's condo. We fished... we lobstered... we snorkeled... fished some more, and had a fantastic time!

The first day of fishing was productive... At first, all we caught were these teeny tiny tuna...

But we progressed to some big ones after that and came in with 3 nice Black Fin for dinner. YUM!

The next day we went lobstering.

Then snorkeling at a reef.

These fish just come RIGHT up to you! It's the coolest thing!!!!

We fished for a bit after that but didn't catch anything dinner worthy. Just some big low quality tuna that we kept for bait.

On our last day we parted with the siblings and my Godparents joined us for the day. We went almost 30 miles offshore and had a fantastic day of fishing!

The weather was pretty gorgeous for most of the day. The water was smooth as glass, and we brought home a Wahoo, and 7 Black Fin!!! Unfortunately, a big huge storm blew in while we were out there so we got wet on the ride in and didn't take any pictures.

We loaded up the boat in the rain, drove home in the rain, lost the tread off our trailer tire in Miami and had to change it on the side of the road, got home at like midnight, and cleaned fish and unloaded until about 2 am. Thank goodness I got to sleep in the next day! The boy on the other hand had to get up early and go on shift at the fire department. I'm pretty sure he's still trying to recover....

Sadly, I'm back to school on Monday... and my summer adventures are over. But we are looking into going back down within the next few months and staying at Hawks Cay because they are discounting their rooms for "local heroes". I can't wait!!!!!

Did ya miss me?

2010-08-11T20:02:00.000-04:00

Did you even notice I was gone?!?!?!

Maybe not... but in my absence, I've been a busy little girl!

I started my first semester of RN school.

I took a crazy busy trip to the Keys for Mini Lobster Season in the middle of my semester.

And I PASSED my first semester of RN school. YAY me!

I'm sure you're much more interested in seeing pics from the Keys though, right?!?!?!

Yeah, I thought so...

We travel in style - can't have just one boat!

Nope... we brought two!

One for offshore, and one for the flats - DUH!

Spent some time at the private beach watching the sunset where the Margaritaville Frozen Concoction Maker made an appearance and Mango Margaritas were had by all!

The catch! Day 2 of Mini Season

(I actually traveled back home mid-week for school, hence why it was "crazy busy", and missed the first part of Day 1, so I have no pictures. Sadness!)

Saw a gorgeous sunset while coming in from fishing 30 miles offshore!

(we came in with empty fish boxes, but at least we saw a cool sunset!)

Sooooo pretty!!!

And then we came down the canal to the house right as it was disappearing....

It was a gorgeous end to a wonderful trip!

Good news is, I'm out of school for 2 weeks, and I'm going back again this weekend! Ha!

It's just so sweet!

2010-07-22T11:55:00.000-04:00

So ya'll know about my IRL friend Jess by now... and if not, you should!

Go check out her blog Livin' on Sweet Tea right now! She's doing a super awesome giveaway - With lots of great stuff, like this!

AND as an added bonus, if you follow her other blog, Sunrise Sweets, (her new bakery that I wrote about in my last post), you get an extra entry!

Get to it! You only have until July 26th!

Be still my chocoholic heart!

2010-07-12T16:44:00.001-04:00

My IRL/Bloggy friend, Jess, has recently started her own bakery.

Lucky for me, we are also neighbors!

A few weeks ago she stopped by to drop off a tray of her yummy new creations for us to try... Last night I got to "taste test" some awesome Strawberry Cupcakes, and on top of all that she sent me home with some delicious Oatmeal Cookies. I only got to eat one half of one before the boy finished off the rest! It's all been great!!! Although, I'm pretty sure my favorite thing so far is the truffles, and I definitely can't wait to try the Samoa ones. I LOVE SAMOAS!

(Jess, let me know if you need some taste tested!!!)

Check out all of her creations at Sunrise Sweets, but make sure you have a napkin ready so you don't drool all over the keyboard. ;-)

VACATION!

2010-06-23T21:58:00.000-04:00

All I ever wanted... Vacation.... Had to get away!!!!!

That was our theme song this past weekend as we took off to the Florida Keys with 2 other couples for a short getaway :) The perks of living 2 hours from Islamorada is that we don't have to plan these trips forever in advance and can be there in a heartbeat. Love it!

We stayed at a GORGEOUS townhouse...

The boy wasted NO time and got right to makin' some Bahama Mama's with his new Frozen Concoction Maker!

Very soon after our arrival, we packed up the blender and took off to the beach in our new boat!

We spent some time floating around with our Frozen Concoctions!

The girls had way too much fun playing with a noodle...

We watched for manatees in the canals.

We swam with the fishes and even saw a stingray and a turtle!

We caught some fishes... (but I spent more time un-hooking Jenn's fishes than catching my own!)

We dressed up pretty to watch the sunset and have dinner... and we visited the Tiki Bar after!

And then on our last day we did a bit more fishing, Kimmy caught some reef, and we said goodbye and headed back home.

With as much time as I spend in the Keys, I have NEVER stayed in a hotel down there. (I'm lucky enough to have grandparents with a vacation house down there that we usually stay at, or we rent a house with my godparents during lobster season) I have to say, I was pleased with the experience, and I would definitely recommend the Lime Tree Bay Resort to you if you are ever looking for a place to stay. It's a little bit south of Islamorada, but close enough to not be inconvenient. We stayed in the Zane Grey Townhouses (which was VERY nice), but they have lots of different kinds of rooms of various sizes and they offer great amenities such as free Wi-fi, Kayak use, Pools, boat dockage, etc. The rooms were very clean, and fairly priced. The only problem was that parking was a little bit tight for us at the townhouse because we had a truck, car, and SUV... but it wasn't anything we couldn't work out. Overall, it was a nice experience, and good times were had with great friends.

(and the bahama mama's were nice too!!!)

Big Boy Toys

2010-06-21T11:50:00.001-04:00

Last week when I informed the boy that we were going to celebrate his birthday early, I was met with slight protest. See, his actual birthday is July 3rd, so celebrating on June 15th is a tiny bit ridiculous... but I had a good reason! I told him that my mom was going to be out of town so much in the next few weeks, it was the only way it was going to work and he would just have to deal with it! Little did he know... we actually pushed it up so that he could have his gifts before we went on vacation this past weekend.

Fishing shirts are definitely a necessity in the Keys!

But this next gift is even MORE of a necessity.... can you see the excitement on his face?

He definitely started making the Tim Allen "argh argh argh" noise at this point.

My handsome boy and his new power tool. lol..... The Margaritaville Frozen Concoction Maker Explorer. (aka a battery powered frozen drink maker!!!!!)

Stay tuned for a vacation re-cap, equipped with concoction pictures!

Yay for Swap Packages!!!

2010-06-16T16:42:00.000-04:00

My Flip Flop Summer Swap package came in today, and it's awesome!!!! Look at all the great stuff that Steph at Flip Flop Chic picked out for me! She did darn good. In fact, I'm pretty sure she did better for me than I did for her.... It's kindda embarassing actually! :(

But anyway... here it is!

Can you see all that goodness? A cute tote bag (covered in flip flops of course!), flippy floppies, a doggy flip flop toy for the Zoey Monster, a cute beachy magnetic note pad, a re-usable water bottle (also covered in flip flops!), some Ulta pink polish, Avon hand and foot cream, chap stick, and a cute little Key Chain from her store!

Time for a close up...See, isn't it cute?

It's already attached to my keys :)

Thanks for all the great stuff Steph! And thank you Jess for hosting such a fun swap!!!!

The Fur Battle

2010-06-11T22:13:00.000-04:00

I love my fur baby, I really, really, do. I mean, how could you not love this face!?!??!

But she's so... FURRY! I am in a constant battle with the hair she sheds all over. I have microfiber furniture and even though it's very comfy, everything sticks to it! Especially Zoey fur! I've tried a regular vac, the shop vac, and even lint rollers... but it's really hard to get it ALL off. I had been seeing the commercials for the Scotch Fur Fighter lately, and thought I should give it a try. My mommy graciously bought it for me today and I tried it out tonight... AND IT WORKS!

From one dog owner to another, if you are battling the fur in your house too, you should give them a try!

Just... Chillin'!

2010-06-05T19:25:00.000-04:00

That's what I'll be doin' in just a few short weeks! I just booked a three bedroom townhouse at a resort in the Keys for me, the boy, and 2 other couples and I'm super excited! It's gonna be my last shabang before headin' back to the books for the next year in RN school. We're taking the boat, and just CHILLIN' for three whole days!

I'm pretty sure you'll be able to find me on one of these at some point, but I can't promise that I'll get up if you need me!

Speaking of wine...

2010-06-02T14:15:00.000-04:00

My sister in law turned 21 last week, and I can finally share with you what I got her!

I thought and thought and searched searched, and I finally decided on a custom painted wine glass from Cherry's Art Room on Etsy! I've been dying to share this with you because it came out soooooo good! I was more than thrilled with the preciseness of her handiwork!

My idea stemmed from this glass...

Because Pink and Black is totally Kimmy's "colors", but Cherry changed it around a bit for our birthday girl :) Obviously there was a K , instead of an M....

And then... On the base... One side said "Happy 21st Birthday", and the other side had the date.

Cherry is super friendly, super creative, and does amazing work! Seriously. She also made a shot glass for my Step-brother's 21st Birthday without hardly any ideas from me, and it was PERFECT! (I don't have pictures of that either... I know, I suck :-/ )

Kimmy was SO thrilled with her present, and that made me very happy! I also got her this cute insulated wine tote with it's very own corkscrew, in it's very own pocket, so she never has to use a screw and a pair of pliers again! (no kidding, it's been done, many times - I mean, not that she would EVER drink before she was 21! haha)

In addition to some awesome presents... she also had a kick ass birthday party. Equipped with her very own mechanical bull!

(Yup, that's our birthday girl!)

She had a beautiful cake!

Her own fireworks display...

And some way cool friends who took one for the team and hopped up on that bull too!

(the one in the gray, may, or may not... be me...)

Kindda makes you wanna turn 21 again, huh?!?!?! I know I do! lol...

Happy Birthday Kimmy Ann!!!

Giveaway!

2010-06-02T11:49:00.000-04:00

The Undomestic Momma is having another giveaway!!!

This week she is giving away a free HuePhoria wine glass! I've never heard of HuePhoria before, but I do like wine... so I went on over to their site and checked it out! They have some super cute glasses, and other stuff too! Like ornaments and salt and pepper shakers in lots of cute hand painted designs like polka dots, zebra stripes, and my favorite - coastal creatures!!!

My Aunt Lisa would flip over these Flo the Flamingo shakers!

Go check it out!!!

2010-05-31T13:08:00.000-04:00

The other day we received our local paper in the mail, and I opened it up just like any other day right to the coupon insert. Just by chance, before I threw it away, I glanced at the page next to it where they had a tribute to our local heroes who had lost their lives overseas. Right smack dab in the middle of that page was this picture....

That's my high school friend Chris who lost his life back in 2006. It was a sad moment to see his face in the middle of that page, but as tears came to my eyes, I realized that Chris wouldn't want me to cry. He would want me to think of the happy times we had together. So I did. I pulled out my photo album from high school, and looked through pictures of all the crazy things we did together and all the fun we had. And then I said a prayer for Melissa. I prayed that I would never open up my local paper and see this face there across from the coupon insert.

So on this day, I'm thinking of Chris, and remembering our good times. And thinking of Melissa, and saying a prayer that she will return safely.

As you spend time with your friends today, out by the pool, with burgers on the grill.... Please take a moment and pray for those who are missing someone special at their bbq.

Happy Memorial Day Everyone!

Giveaway!

2010-05-21T15:53:00.000-04:00

One of my favorite blogs these days is 29 and Holding. She's a nurse, and a mommy of two, and she cracks me up!!! Ya'll need to head on over and check her out. Not just because she's awesome, and hilarious, but because she's having a giveaway!!!! She'll be giving away a t-shirt for you from Cafe Press, and one for your child! (or niece, or nephew, or whatever) If you haven't been on this site before, you need to check it out. They have shirts for EVERYTHING! I've never ordered from them before, but I've spent lots of time browsing through their Nurse shirts. They have the funniest Nursing Student shirts! But... I'm not a student anymore, remember?!?!? At least not for now... so I think my most recent favorite is this one, isn't it cute?

There are lots of opportunities to win, so head on over and check it out!

And while you are checking out cool giveaways, check out another one of my favorites, The Undomestic Momma, who is giving away a cute little lunch tote from 31 Gifts for this weeks Giveaway Friday!

It's like pulling teeth!

2010-05-21T14:08:00.000-04:00

Within the past few years I got put on the boyfriends health insurance and against my will was forced to switch dentists. I loved my dentist, but he refused to accept my new insurance. While I dislike this insurance company - because they hardly want to cover ANYTHING, and I have a ridiculous deductible, some insurance is better than no insurance. I have had the pleasure of seeing an orthodontist and a periodontist in my short life (lucky me). They were both wonderful though, and my ortho is who recommended my dentist that I loved, so I went to that office to ask them for a new recommendation. Their office is very well known in the area, and I come across people all the time that have been referred to him so I figured he would have a good idea of who doesn't suck. They came up with nothin'! The best they could do was point out a name that they recognized.

I took the chance and we have been seeing this guy for a while, but we HATE him. Not just because he's a dentist, but because he sucks! The office staff is horrible. They can never keep our appointments straight. Ed recently had an argument with them because according to them, his appt was on a day that he was on shift with the Fire Dept., not on the day they wrote on his appt card. Really people!?!?! And then I purposely didn't schedule an appt with them, so they took it upon themselves to schedule one for me, and then sent me a postcard in the mail. But, a few months later I got a card that said "please call to schedule your appt." Although, when I called to cancel ALL appointments, phantom or not, they said I had one scheduled. They always call us last minute to reschedule (sometimes on the day of our appt), but if we don't give 48 hours notice to cancel our appointment, we get charged. They offer "bilingual services", which is fine, but I only speak English, so please do not address me in espanol. I hate that they do that. Or better yet... while I'm sitting in the chair, with my spit bib on, they walk around behind me chatting in spanish. Ed's favorite reason for hating them is that his hygienist insists on watching Ellen while she cleans his teeth and she has jabbed him before because she is watching tv, instead of watching where the sharp object in her hand is going inside his mouth!

Needless to say, we have ended our relationship with them and their bad manners! But now, how the heck do I pick a new one!?!?!? That was really why we endured the torture in the first place. How the heck do you pick from a list and know that they aren't gonna be horrendous? Obviously I would prefer to go with a recommendation from friends or family, but nobody that they use is in my book. It's slim pickin's I tell ya!

So far, my criteria is as follows:

If I can't pronounce your name, you are not a candidate.
If I google your name and a bad review comes up, I ain't callin'
If you are not in route of home, you're out. The boy is pushin' it trying to get there from work as is, he can't go out of his way. (he told me so)

And then if they have passed that part of the test, I ask the following questions:

Are you currently accepting new patients?
What are your office hours? (The boy needs them to accept appointment at least until 5ish)
How far in advance do appointments need to be scheduled? (I have called places before that are booked a whole month in advance!!!)

But really, then what? How do you narrow it down from there? Does anyone have any suggestions of other important questions to ask!?! Help, please?

TMI? yeah, maybe...

2010-05-15T13:43:00.000-04:00

I've been debating on writing this, but it's just too good not to share. We're all mostly girls in this bloggy world, so it's time for some "girl talk." If you are grossed out by girly stuff, like... Aunt Flo.... stop reading, now.

So anyway, my SIL (maybe one day? but I call her that anyway) introduced me to these great things called InStead.

At first, I was like "um, that's weird." And you may say the same thing, but hear me out, and give them a shot anyway. It's an alternative to a tampon, and it's GREAT. It's this "cup" you insert "instead," and it catches all the gross stuff. There is no risk for Toxic Shock Syndrome with them, so you can wear them for up to 12 hours, and I have, in white pants no less. Throughout nursing school we had to wear WHITE scrub pants and work long clinical days in the hospital. There isn't much time to take bathroom breaks and do tampon checks. I tried them out at home first of course, but once I realized how awesome they were, it was on! You put it in and forget about it, for real. Perfect for long days out especially if you are going on a boat, a long car ride, or to a concert, I would especially use them someplace where there are porta pottys - gross. Especially awesome on light days when a tampon is too much, and you don't want to wear a liner. And equally as great on heavy days when you just don't want to deal with worrying about whether or not it's time for a tampon change. If you aren't totally grossed out yet and you are still reading, you can find these things in your local drug store, but you have to look hard. They are usually on the bottom shelf at the end. A box of 14 is comparable in price to a box of tampons at about $7.99, but remember, you can wear them twice as long if not more, so it evens out if you pay a little bit more.

Let me know if you've tried them, or try them, and what you think!

Make's me tear up every time...

2010-05-13T12:34:00.000-04:00

Semi-Slacker Mom posted this video earlier, and spoke about a very important point. This tragedy isn't being televised, and it isn't getting the attention it deserves. So, I thought that as sad at it is, I would take a moment to post about it too. I only hope that they get the HELP that they deserve.

Nashville and the surrounding area is in my prayers every day, I hope it's in yours as well.

Honey Do's

2010-05-12T00:29:00.000-04:00

Now that I am done with my boards, I have a lot of free time on my hands. Since the boy does so much for me, and I finally have some time to do things for him, I've asked him what little projects he has to get done that I could easily do without his help. And so started the "Honey Do" List.

He has been trying so hard to get our new boat "water ready" and with working 2 jobs, it has taken quite some time. Since I get to enjoy the boat too, I was actually really excited that he had some jobs for me to do that would help us get out on the water sooner!

My first job - Our boat has this wood trim on it called teak. If you are not familiar with teak it's a very beautiful wood, but it needs to be maintained. The previous owner did NOT maintain it. At all. His idea of maintenance was to put a varnish over it, which actually made a mess of it! It was peeling off and looked AWFUL! So my job was to sand it, then wet sand it, then oil it - twice. And I did, and now it looks AWESOME!!! Before I did all that, his dad had pressure washed it really good and used varnish stripper on it. I wish I had taken before and after pictures. But... since this was the boys project initially, and not mine, no pictures have been taken of the boat except that one I posted last week or so from when he towed it home. Here is a similar before and after picture of some teak patio furniture that was re-done.

Not exactly the same thing, but you get the picture. Big difference, huh?

My next project was to wash the boat. See, when it first came home the boy took a whole entire day (while I was studying) scrubbing it from front to back with soft scrub and hull cleaner and it looked great! But... then the tree that it is parked under started dropping leaves and goop and stainined it all up. Frankly, I think the boy was feeling a little discouraged with the progress he was making when he went out one day and it was a HUGE mess. So yesterday I went out there with some bleach water and a pressure cleaner and cleaned it all up again and made it shine :) I tell you what... I have never seen a more appreciative boy in my life when he came home and saw that his boat was clean again. Nevermind that I had cleaned the house, his boat was pretty again! lol... Now that it was clean, he felt better about putting it together and couldn't wait for dinner to be over so he could go out and work on it. He put the teak back on, and we put the cover on it, and he was happier than a pig in you know what!

It really wasn't hard work at all. It was little time consuming things that he just didn't have the time to consume it with. I am thrilled that I could make him so happy, and happy to have part in getting the boat ready. I'm pretty proud of my work! It's great having the time to do little things that make a big difference. I know that it is short lived, and that makes me kind of sad. According to a girl that works in the Nursing Admission Office at the local college I plan on attending for RN School, I have a spot in a program starting on June 24th. I have nothing in writing yet, but that's the rumor... So, until then, I'm gonna try and not waste my days away in bed, on the internet, or watching junk on tv... I'd much rather do some more Honey Do's, or cross some things off my lists, and do what I can to make that boys life a little bit easier since he does so much for me when I don't have the time. He is of course working two jobs and having little to no free time so that I can concentrate on being a nurse! It's the least that I can do :)

Summer Swap!

2010-05-11T13:45:00.000-04:00

All American Jess is hosting a great Summer Swap! If you've been following me for any length time you know I love all things summer and I am a flip flop addict so this swap is right up my alley! I can't wait!!!!!

Head on over here and sign up!

Happy Dance!!

2010-05-07T11:07:00.000-04:00

I'm doin' a little happy dance today! It's official, I got my results. I am a State of Florida Board Certified Licensed Practical Nurse!!!! WOOOOOO!!!!!

(maybe I won't tell my crazy neighbor that I'm a student anymore)

Good Omen?

2010-05-06T22:24:00.000-04:00

Today was the big day guys! I put on some comfy clothes, took a few deep breaths, loaded up in the truck that the boy so graciously left me to drive (since the a/c is broken in my car), and headed out to take the big ol' nasty test that would determine if I would be a Licensed Practical Nurse sooner, rather than later. I think I did okay. I won't know for sure until tomorrow.... and it's kindda hard to explain, but basically...I either did really well, or I really suck. And I don't think I suck. I hope. Besides, my mom said I tested on a good day. I didn't know it when I picked the day.. I just picked it because it had a time available that wasn't at the butt crack of dawn.... but, today is Nurse's Appreciation Day and the first day of National Nurses Appreciation Week! I know the day is almost over and it's probably a little bit late to run on out and hug a nurse, but you could at least keep all us nurses in your thoughts this evening and remember that we all worked really hard to be the best that we can be - FOR YOU!

It has NOT sunk in!

2010-04-28T01:43:00.001-04:00

I just realized that it has NOT sunk in yet that I *am* a nurse. My new neighbor (who btw has lived across the street from me for 5 months and never said a word to me) just came over at 12 a.m. because she just saw me come home, to introduce herself. Weird? Yeah, a little... but I'm still glad she did. Although, I was cursing at her from behind my door the other day due to her obnoxious cats that I can't stand (which may be another post... although I'm re-thinking it now). Anyway, she has the cutest little 10 year old Australian Shepard and I'm pretty sure her and Zoey will be BFF's now. I have never seen Zoey get along with any dog as well as she did with this one. She has MET her match in energy. They ran circles around my car until they dropped! It was great! But... that's not the point of this post. The point of this post is that I graduated from LPN school a month ago and tonight in conversation I told this lady that I was in Nursing School! What the heck!??!?! I must have sounded like an idiot when I then said "Well, actually, I'm kindda not... " And startled babbling something to the fact of "I was, but I graduated, but I am going back.... So... Uhhhhh." Durf. What's wrong with me?!?!?!?! Maybe after I take my state boards and I have my license in hand it'll finally sink in that I am, in fact, a real live nurse! Or maybe it won't. Maybe I'll just sound like an idiot until I have a job working as a nurse. Maybe I just need to snap out of it and realize that even though I'm not an RN, and I'm not working as a nurse yet, I did put in my time as a student, and I am a graduate, and LPN stands for Licensed Practical Nurse, dangit! Oh wait, I'm not licensed yet. So I'm a GPN? WHATEVER!! The N still stands for NURSE! And now, this little nurse is going to bed because it's 2 a.m. and maybe my lack of a coherent truthful conversation was due to the fact that it was past my bedtime when this lady knocked on my door!

Goodnight!

Top 2 Tuesday

2010-04-27T13:25:00.000-04:00

Rumor has it, I don't post enough on my blog. I have to agree, but I've been trying not to procrastinate while studying for my state boards. Although.... I procrastinate anyway, so I might as well do some productive procrastination (is there such a thing? there is now!) and participate in Top 2 Tuesday this week!

My Top 2 Favorite Things About Summer

1. Going lobstering in the Florida Keys the last week of July, like I have every year for as long as I can remember....

2. Spending time on the boat - but not just any boat... this year we will be spending time on our NEW boat!!!!

This picture was taken on it's way to it's new home :) I can't wait until the boy is done working on it and making sure it's in tip top shape so we can take her out on her maiden voyage!!!

Bring them home safe...

2010-04-26T12:29:00.001-04:00

One of my bestest friends is on her way to serve our country overseas...I would love it if you could all join me today in keeping her in your thoughts, and praying for her safe travels.

From bikinis...

To Cammies...

Or Dress Blues...

This girl is one tough cookie and I couldn't be prouder of my Lissa!

Come home safe Melissa Ann!

Getting to know you Sunday!

2010-04-11T13:59:00.001-04:00

It's that time of the week again... Head on over here if you wanna play too!

The questions..

1. What color do you wear the most? I'm not really sure. I have a very wide and colorful variety of clothes... I guess blue though, because I'm ALWAYS in blue jeans!

2. Would you rather have $10,000 dollars or a dream vacation? $10,000. I'd spend it on a reasonable vacation, and then put the rest in a high interest saving's account so I could go on another awesome vacation one day!

3. Do you have a weird, quirky or unusual habit? Probably, but apparently I don't think it's weird, quirky, or unusual :)

4. I really need to start..........? Working out again! I feel so blah... Starting this week I have a daily date with Jillian Michaels and we're gonna shred it up!

5. What was the first blog you ever read? Project: 10K Wedding by my friend Jessica!

6. Do you collect anything? Pictures.... I used to collect stamps, back in the day. lol.

7. How old were you when you had your first kiss? 14 or 15 - I know, I'm a big loser.

8. Do you text/twitter while driving? I would never... admit it! My mom reads this blog, sheesh!

Attn: Twilight Fans!

2010-04-08T11:30:00.001-04:00

I'm sure all of you diehard Twilight fans have heard by now about the new Stephenie Meyer book - The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner: An Eclipse Novella.

But... did you know that you can pre-order it from Barnes and Noble right now for only $7.69? It won't be available until June 5th, but I thought you might like to know that..... If we have to wait for Midnight Sun, we can at least get a good deal on this book in the mean time! lol.

Since Graduation....

2010-04-07T17:28:00.000-04:00

I haven't been doing all that much. Getting some things scratched off my "to-do" list around the house, relaxing, working on my tan, oh yeah... and studying :) I've also made time for some fun though...You may remember, one of the things I was looking forward to was my friend Melissa coming home for a week on leave from the Marines the same week that I was graduating - and she did! And we got to spend some good quality best friend time together!

We had a puppy play date, watched New Moon, and hit the beach! That all qualifies as good quality time to me, how about you?

Isn't her puppy, Miss Gracie, the cutest little thing? She's a Jack/Rat Terrior mix, just a few weeks old, and adorable! (She got put in puppy jail - aka Zoey's big crate - in this picture for piddlin' on the floor)

Zoey was so sweet and gentle with her. And tolerant too!

When we took our trip to Ft.Lauderdale Beach we just couldn't resist hitting some tourist shops and buying these cute floppy hats!!! Aren't they great?

I sure do love me some Lissa time and I can't wait until she comes back from Afghanistan so we can play again!

FREE to a good home

2010-04-03T13:45:00.000-04:00

Do any of you have an HP printer that uses 02 ink?

I had to replace my printer, and sadly, they don't even make printers that use that ink anymore so I couldn't get one that took the same kind. I recently put new cartridges in, and I have a yellow one that is still in the package!

I hate to just throw it away... so if anyone has a use for it, please send me an email and I'll ship it out to you.

Prettiness!

2010-03-31T14:45:00.001-04:00

Guess what guys!!!! I'm blogging from my brand new laptop! **jumps up and down**

Isn't it pretty!?!?!?!?

I could have hugged the FedEx guy when he knocked on the door this morning, if I wasn't a UPS girl of course. My Uncle Clyde would dis-own me!

Anyway, can't chat long, got stuff to do! You know... like play with my new shiny computer and put all my junk on it. And maybe if I have some free time I'll go grocery shopping and study, maybe. BUT...When I'm done with all that, I will have some new things to share, and more often (I hope), now that I have my very own laptop to blog from that works!

Did I mention it's shiny, and pretty?

I'm a Nurse!

2010-03-28T14:21:00.000-04:00

You may have noticed that I've mentioned a few times in my previous posts that I've graduated!!!! What's that? You didn't? Then PAY MORE ATTENTION PEOPLE! This is a BIG deal! lol... Just kidding, I'm sure ya'll are quite observant bloggers. And I'm also sure you're ready to see some pictures of the event, aren'tcha? Well, here ya go!

Here I am all decked out in my cheesy dress and pantyhose!

Like my hat? lol...

I love this picture of me and my baby brother :)

My Aunt Lisa and Uncle Clyde surprised me and came in from Kentucky just to see me graduate! They rock!!!

My Family :)

Lined up waiting to get my certificate.

My turn! I used to hate this lady, she just about made me cry in clinicals. Looking back, she was one of the best teachers I had. Once I proved to her, and myself, that I was intelligent and confident, life got A LOT better.

Lighting our Florence Nightingale Lamps and saying our Pledge.

All done! I'm a nurse!

Mommy gives it 2 thumbs up! Derek says "thank goodness it's over, let's go eat!"

Sportin' my graduation gift from my Mommy. A new HOT PINK and personalized stethoscope.

Trying it out on my brother....

Yup, It's official, no heart. LOL.

My after graduation lunch party :)

Now I'm just spending my days relaxing, and studying for my state boards. I'm hoping to get approval to test sometime soon, and then I can work on getting into RN school, and possibly working.

Getting to Know You Sunday!

2010-03-28T12:51:00.000-04:00

So I've never participated in Mannland's Getting to Know You Sunday before, even though I've been reading everyone else's posts about it for a while now... but what better day to start than today!?!?! We're starting things out with a twist - She has a guest blogger this week, and the questions are written by a man!

1 - Why did you start blogging? My friend Jess had started a wedding blog that I was following religiously, and then my cousin started one, and I just followed suit because it seemed like a fun way to pass time :)

2 - Who's the one blog friend that you would want to meet most in "real life"? Hmmm, that's a tough one. Probably my very first swap partner ever, Jordan. Sadly, she has stopped blogging... but we were like the same person, just in different states.

3 - Why are you always concerned with losing that "extra 10 pounds" when chances are your husband/boyfriend/friends tell you that you look just fine the way you are? Because it would make ME feel better and more confident in a bathing suit. I live in Florida people! We spend a lot of time in bathing suits!!!!

4 - What's the one thing you wish guys could understand about you? The importance of communication!!

5 - Tattoos. How many do you have and how many are visible when you wear your "everyday" clothes? Zip, zero, zilch. Not a single one.... boring... I know.

6 - What was the best year of your life and why? 2008. We purchased our very first house, all on our own. It was a HUGE accomplishment. Especially since I was only 23 at the time. We remodeled the entire thing. I quit my very first job. I entered nursing school. And I moved in with the love of my life. Oh! And we got my Monster Baby :)

7 - Name three things you would do if you were a man for one day. Pee standing up, outside, just because I could. Walk around with my shirt off. Go a day without shaving my legs!

8 - What's your alcoholic drink of choice that usually raises a few eyebrows? My typical drink of choice isn't very unusual, but the one I enjoy that usually raises some eyebrows is Jim Beam and Mt. Dew.

Super Duper Coupon Clipper!

2010-03-27T23:25:00.000-04:00

Yup, I'm the girl with the STACK of coupons at the register.

Don't hate.

Just for you Jess- since you called me a dork for making a trip to Walgreens tonight before my coupons expired. Let me show ya'll what I got for less than 50 bucks!

Walgreens brand spray sunscreen - buy one get one = 2 for $7.99
Gillette Fusion Shave Cream - 2 for $5 plus a manufacturer coupon for $1 off = 2 for $4
Walgreens Isopropyl Alcohol - Walgreens coupon for 99 cents
Trident Gum - 2 packs on sale for 79 cents each
The Blind Side on dvd - Walgreens coupon for $16.99 (My Grandma's bday gift - she loves Sandra Bullock!)
Chex Mix - buy one get one, plus a manufacturer coupon for $1 off! = 2 for $1.99!!!!
Folgers Coffee - on sale for $5.99, plus a manufacturer coupon for 55 cents off
Kiss press on nails for my Mommy to try - Manufacturer coupon for $2.00 off = $3.79

Grand Total = 12 items for $47.03

That's like $3.92 per item!

I'm usually pretty good about keeping a steady stash of coupons, but I've decided recently that I'm going to try and be a little bit better about not letting them expire. I've started following more bargain blogs and I'm going to try and plan my shopping trips in advance so I can utilize most of my coupons. It takes a little bit of extra time, but it's worth it. Today I was on Walgreens.com and happened to browse through their weekly ad. They have a nifty button that allows you to click on the items you would buy, and add them to your "weekly shopping list". I did this, and then printed it out. Before I left, I went through my stack of coupons and grabbed all of the manufacturer coupons I had for the items on my list, and off I went. I saved $28.70 by planning ahead! Definitely worth it, don't you think???

Nail Polish... and MORE!

2010-03-27T12:12:00.000-04:00

Better late than never, right?

No... I still didn't get my computer back. Actually, it officially took a crap so I'm NOT getting it back. What I am getting though, is a brand new Sony VAIO. WOO! Yay for graduation money to help me afford such an expensive electronic that I simply cannot live without!!!

Isn't it purty? And it shipped out yesterday!!!! It should be here on the 31st! Time for another WOOO!!!! lol...

Anyway, back to the point. I'm still using the boys laptop, but I took the time to upload pics to my "Amy Temp" folder so that I could share with you all the goodies I got in my swap package!

My super awesome swap partner Lori sent me some great stuff! I was really surprised when I came home to BIG box on my front porch - I couldn't wait to open it up and see why on earth it was so big.

This great nail care kit was the reason! It's full of all kinds of goodies, including a nail dryer! I think that's my favorite part. I simply HATE waiting on nail polish to dry, it's the worst. And a bonus, the company that makes it supports the National Breast Cancer Foundation. I always love products that help me, and others, all at the same time :) She also sent a great little pouch and a few bottles of nail polish.

Unfortunately, there was a dead soldier in the mix. A super cute pink from Ulta just didn't make the journey from Tennessee safely. But it's okay, because three other awesome colors did.

Thanks Lori! Hope you enjoyed your package from me just as much! And thanks Gwen for hosting such an awesome swap!!!!

I would also like to thank Gwen's swap partner for introducing us all to Seche Vite Top Coat. After seeing this post about it, I picked some up, and it's AMAZING! Seriously. It gives you that "just came from the salon" shine, with super fast drying power, just like at the salon!!!!

Public Service Announcement

2010-03-24T12:34:00.000-04:00

I just heard on the news that Tequila may help you strengthen your bones!

No really, I looked it up... check it out!

SAAAWWWEEEETTTTT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

As a newly graduated nurse, I thought it was pretty important to share this news with you.

Step aside milk, tequila is where it's at! Plus, when you add a little lime, you've covered your fruit for the day too! :)

Bittersweet...

2010-03-18T14:35:00.000-04:00

Today was my very last clinical day as an LPN student!

As much as I am excited to graduate, and begin my career as a nurse, I was so sad leaving the floor! For the past 8 weeks I have spent every Monday, Thursday, and Friday on the 5th floor of the most amazing facility I have ever had clinicals at. The staff was composed of the kind of people I want to surround myself with every day when I go in to work. They always treated us with respect. Unfortunately, as student nurses, we don't often see this. Most of the time we are considered "the worker ants". We are expected to do the dirty work that the employees simply don't want to do. Many times, they will stop what they are doing, and waste their time, to seek out a student just so that they don't have to do it themselves. Acts like that were hardly ever seen here. The staff was more likely to offer to help YOU, than ask YOU to help THEM. It didn't matter what level of training they had. The treated us like we belonged there. They would offer to let us do procedures with our instructor which often held them back so that we could get as much experience as possible. If they asked us to do something, it wasn't to make their life easier, it was to help us learn. They always took the time to answer our questions, as silly as they might be... and never laughed if they asked us to grab something and we grabbed the wrong "something". They would just offer to come with us and show it where it was so that we could find it next time.

Sadly, this facility doesn't hire LPN's. I can only hope that I will find some place just as special to work at until the time comes when I am an RN and I can go work there too. They were inspiring to me. It's a great feeling to have smiling patients who have amazing things to say about their nurses and the hospital that they are in. Being in a hospital is never fun, and nobody really enjoys it, but the patients in this hospital always had great things to say about their experience. I hope that I can always give that feeling to my patients. I want to be the kind of nurse that can brighten the gloomiest room, and put a smile on the most irritated patient. I think I'm headed in the right direction, and the staff that I was exposed to at this facility made me realize that I can be that person.

Farewell 5 Atrium.... Until we meet again... You will be missed!

A little behind...

2010-03-17T12:48:00.001-04:00

On my blogging these days!

Last week I received my fantastic Nail Polish and More Swap package, and I can't wait to blog about it! But sadly, my laptop has been out of commission in the internet world for a few weeks now so I'm sneaking in some Facebook and Blogging time on the boy's computer while he is at work. Lord knows as soon as he gets home his face is glued to it until we eat dinner and start watching Lost. (Yes, I've exposed myself to the addictive world of Lost. We started watching Season 1 on dvd a few weeks ago and we are SO hooked!!!) Blogging anything with pictures is a royal pain because I don't want to keep uploading and deleting pictures on his laptop, and then I have to make sure I don't delete any from my camera that I don't have uploaded on my own laptop yet. Actually, who am I kidding, I'm lazy. It's just not convenient. BUT, I'll get to it soon, I promise.

I haven't had too much going on these past few weeks... just school, and clinicals, and we went to the Keys for the weekend in between. I don't think you've missed too much in my life. The good stuff comes next week.... One of my bestest friend's, Melissa, is coming home on leave from the Marines to visit for a week, and I graduate from LPN school on Tuesday!!!!!!!!! WOOOOOOOOO!!!! Hopefully I'll have working internet by then and I can conveniently tell you all about it! With pictures of course, because my personal paparazzi will be there for sure. (aka - Mom, Step-dad, One Day Mom in Law, and Grandpa)

Stay tuned...

Giveaway!

2010-03-17T12:37:00.000-04:00

My friend Jess over at Living on Sweet Tea is doing a giveaway!

Our friend's Mom is starting her own product line of soaps, shower gels, lotions and other pamper products. She'd like to get the word out about her handmade products and wants one of you to try them! To help her out,Jess is giving away a gift set in your choice of fragrance!!!!

Head on over, and sign up!

I crack myself up...

2010-02-26T19:10:00.000-05:00

I just remembered that I had... and found... the other spare key to my car!

hahaha.... whoops...

I sure hope the boy thinks I'm as funny as I think I am!

I smell like a boy.

2010-02-26T15:53:00.000-05:00

More specifically, MY boy.

Why? Because I had to drive his car to school today.

Now.. this really doesn't seem like a big deal, but it was really quite dramatic. You see.... I carelessly left my car keys in his truck last night when we went to the gym. I had used them to get my book out of my car before we left and then just left them in his cupholder. So this morning... he took them for a ride to the fire station today where they will remain for 24 hours. You might think that since we all know that I never used to have a spare house key until it became a problem, I might not have a spare car key. But you're wrong. I do have a spare. And I keep it in Ed's truck. I know, I'm a genious.

When I realized this, I called him in a panic to verify that I had, indeed, left my keys where I feared I had. He says "okay, so just take the Camaro to school". I laughed. And then thought about crying. And then thought about calling out sick. And then laughed some more. The Camaro is his race car. It's all decked out with a roll cage, nitrous, harnesses instead of seatbelts, and the big dilemma- a racing seat. A bolted down to the height of a 6'3" driver, racing seat. I'm 5 foot. So he tells me it's okay. He says "Go get this tool thing, and put it in this bolt thing, and move the seat thing, and you'll be fine" (or something like that). Needless to say, I couldn't find the thing that you put the thing into, and started freaking out and getting mad... So we just decided that I would drive on the edge of the seat. IF I could manage to get it out of the driveway since it was blocked in by MY car, and if I could figure out how to drive it.

After a 10 minute over the phone driving course on how to drive this contraption equipped with it's racing transmission that isn't stick, and isn't exactly automatic - I drove around the block (with him on the phone) and decided to pray, and head on out. I stalled 3 times backing out of the driveway, managed to get stuck in a rut of only being able to get into reverse and first gear, called him back in a panic, figured it out, and got to school 30 minutes late. But dangit! I made it! I had some grease on my sleeve, got a lot of weird looks, and I smelled like race car exhaust... but I made it! I also came to clinicals equipped with nothing but a pen because my bag with all of my supplies was in the trunk of my car... but I don't have an absent mark next to my name today!

Obviously I survived the ride home as well because I'm sitting here telling you my story, but the whole day certainly was an interesting experience! I'm quite proud of myself actually. I didn't do too bad, and I'm no longer intimidated by the idea of driving it... It's definitely not comfortable, and if I ever have to do that again, I'm bringing some pillows to fill the gap between my back and the actual back of the seat!!!!

Oh, and I think I'll be making another spare car key too!

Fashion Dilemma!

2010-02-18T22:36:00.000-05:00

Exciting news!!! In about 1 month (March 23rd to be exact), I will be graduating from LPN school! (pending I pass 2 more tests, but of course I'll pass... right? I hope... pray for me...) Anyway...

I'll be lighting my little candle..

Sportin' one of these goofy things on my head...

With this little number...

Some tacky white stockings... and....

Here's where we come to my dilemma!

I bought these shoes a few months ago on sale, but they only had them in a 6.5.

Turns out, I needed a 6. With thick socks, they would be okay... with tacky white stockings, they are floppy and goofy. SO, I'm on the hunt for them in a 6, which I've found.

BUT they are not even CLOSE to being on sale.

In the process, I also came across these....Which are MUCH cheaper.

But I can't decide which ones I want! Now, neither of them are all that comfy really. And I don't really love either of them... but they are the cutest nursing shoes I've seen yet. So, I need YOU to help me make the decision!

It may not be the cutest ensemble in the world, but I DO have to be seen in public in it! And I'm pretty sure my mom ALREADY has her camera ready....

Springtime Fun Swap!

2010-02-15T10:59:00.000-05:00

Even though we aren't buried in snow down here in SoFla, we are still ready for some great springtime weather! Gwen over at Confessions of a Control Freak has set up a swap to get everyone in the springtime spirit with a Nail Polish and More Swap!

Sounds like tons of fun to me! Especially since my limited Nursing Student budget doesn't include regular pedicures anymore :( I'm always looking for some new hues to put on my toesies! We aren't allowed to have painted nails, but nobody knows about my wild toes!

ANYWAY, head on over and sign up!

Proud Momma

2010-02-12T13:30:00.001-05:00

I was gonna wait and do a "Mutt Monday" since I haven't done one in a while... but I couldn't resist. I'm just so proud of my smart girl. She learned a new trick!!!!

I just Simply Love it!

2010-02-10T17:06:00.000-05:00

Remember back when I told you about the Simply Love Swap? Well, I got my box from my swap partner in the mail yesterday - and I Simply LOVE everything!!!!!

Evelyn at "Oh my word" sent me a really cute card, some P.S. I love you hand lotion from Bath and Body Works that smells SO good, some shimmery lip gloss, a super cute necklace, some lolli's, home-made heart shaped brownies that I bit right into immediately after snapping this photo, and some way cool buckeye peanut butter and chocolate candies.

Quite appropriate since Evelyn is from Ohio... ya know, the Buckeye state?

Aren't they cool? They look like buckeyes AND they are yummy!

Thanks for everything Evelyn! I LOVE it all!!!!!

And thanks for hosting such a great swap Katie!

::Caution::

2010-02-10T16:54:00.001-05:00

Ain't that the truth!!!! lol... DSW is just soooo funny.

This box was on my porch when I came home from school today. And inside... was these!

Aren't they cute? I got them on sale of course. Ya'll know I can't resist a good bargain. Not to mention, I've had my eye on them all winter waiting for the price to go down and for my birthday coupon to come from DSW. I figured I would finally get them, and it wouldn't be cold enough to wear them until next year, but whaddyaknow - temps are a droppin' here in SoFla and they might get to make their grand debut this weekend!

Who wants to take me out?

Giveaway for a good cause..

2010-02-08T20:09:00.000-05:00

Giveaways are fabulous... but they are even better when they support a good cause!

Head on over to All American Jess's blog and check out her latest giveaway!!!

Oops!

2010-02-04T18:45:00.000-05:00

Happy Birthday Jess-ka!!

Ok, so THIS post is actually late.. It's not Jess's Birthday month anymore, but she still shouldn't be left out! Just like my birthday, we celebrated Jessica's birthday a little after the actual day too, but who cares! Because, remember - around here, we celebrate BirthMONTHS! :)

We spent most of the evening playin' a mean game of Ring of Fire.

Sharin' seats...

Jess gettin' her RockStar on!

Cheesin' with Kimmy!

The game ended with the boy's splitting the King Cup and naming it "The Jessica!" lol.. (nobody else would drink that crap! nasty!!!)

Then it was time for some beer pong.

And the night ended with some indecent exposure.

And Jessica's lovely husband strikin' some ridiculous poses!

Fun times!!!! Happy Birthday Jess!!!!

As promised - Birthday Re-cap!

2010-01-30T13:47:00.000-05:00

**** Caution: PHOTO OVERLOAD! lol******

It's still my birthday month for 2 days, so I'm not late at getting this post out just yet... lol

On my actual birthday my mom and step-dad came over... they brought lots of fun presents, and took me out to dinner at Bonefish Grille. YUM!

(my puppy is always in the middle of EVERYTHING!)

Thanks Mommy! Love you!

Then... we celebrated on Saturday. First things first... we talked my mom into losing her Jello Shot virginity! Go mom!

First we had a little teaching...

She didn't like it very much...

But we washed it down with the best cake I have ever had! Home-made by MOMMY!

Chocolate and Vanilla with vanilla frosting and vanilla pudding in the middle - yum yum YUM!

The boys played some Wii

We had some drinks...

Beer pong was played...

I got some more presents...

Jenn got me an AWESOME birthday present. I think I'll need some more wine for that glass though, don't you think?

Jess got me a cute Koozie

Kimmy reminded me that I was 100 years old - divided by 4

Some people partied til they dropped...

And our one little partier, partied a little too hard... but we couldn't resist a group shot!

Love me some Capricorns!

2010-01-21T22:10:00.000-05:00

Coincidentally, most of my best friends and I are ALL Capricorns. Cool, huh?

Lots of Capricorns makes for a busy January though!

Cilla's birthday comes first... back in December.

(Priscilla and I at Jenn's)

Then comes mine, which was last Tuesday. Unfortunately, Ed was on shift, and I not only had a test ON my birthday this year, I had the week from hell at school with 3 tests and a report due within 4 days. Yay me... (no worries, I passed...) So needless to say, I didn't celebrate until Saturday. I had a GREAT birthday though! My mom and step-dad took me out to dinner on my actual birthday... and then on Saturday, we had a little party at the house.

(mini photo recap to come - stay tuned!)

Sunday was Jenn's birthday, so we went out to HER house for a party....

Birthday girl!

Jenn and Jess playin' some Beer pong :)

The boy and I

And then yesterday was Jess's Birthday.

WHEW!

Since Jess's birthday fell in the middle of the week also, we are celebrating her birthday Tomorrow night!!

Pictures to follow, I'm sure....

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CAPRICORNS!!!!

Happy Birthday, Mia!!!

2010-01-17T12:57:00.000-05:00

We're a tiny bit late because we've been busy celebrating MY birthday, but Miss Zoey wanted to wish Miss Mia a HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

HAPPY FIRST BIRTHDAY MIA!!!

Girly Giveaway!

2010-01-15T12:18:00.000-05:00

xoxoyvonne is having a Girl-tastic fabulous giveaway! Head on over to her blog to sign up!!!

Check out all this fabulous stuff!!!! Who doesn't love some girly goods!?!?!?!

Simply Love Swap

2010-01-11T19:12:00.000-05:00

Katie at Loves of Life is hosting a Valentines day swap. I signed up, and you should too! The boy doesn't like to celebrate Valentine's day very much, but I do! This is a great way to get to know some new bloggers, and get some stuff you "Simply Love" to make you feel special on that special day. Enjoy!

I love the cold...

2010-01-11T18:13:00.000-05:00

Really... I do... It's a nice change of pace and it's refreshing and whatever. But there are a few things I just CANNOT STAND about cold weather!

In order of importance....

cold toilet seats
getting shocked by anything and everything, all day, every day
static in the hair...
freezing cold tap water
stuffy heater air
ice cold cars in the morning
ice on the windshield ( I really do think it's kindda cool, and it's as close as we get to snow, but it's a PAIN to get off the windshield when you are in a hurry! We don't carry around ice scrapers down here!)

I think that's pretty much all that I despise. At the moment anyway....

Food Network Junkies!

2010-01-09T15:08:00.001-05:00

Last night my friends and I had a girls night in. We went and got some groceries, cooked up some quesadilla's, drank some wine, and watched Julie and Julia. The movie was cute, but it didn't really seem to gather our complete and total attention because we all kept bustin' out with random comments which prompted mini conversations, lol. In one of them, we all started talkin' about our favorite Food Network personalities, and I realized - I'm not the only Food Network Junkie!!! My tv is probably on Food Network more than any of the 800 other channels. REALLY. I put it on when I'm doing homework, or laundry, or cooking, or whatever! It's also my fall back channel. If there are no shows on that I really and truly wanna watch, I'll just flip on some Food Network for entertainment. It doesn't even matter if I've seen it before.

My fav's...

And for the record, I can't STAND....

So, who are your fav's? And who can't you stand?

Birthday Bargains!

2010-01-06T21:41:00.000-05:00

Getting old sure does have it's perks sometimes! My car insurance is only going down by a dollar... but at least I got coupons from some of my favorite places!!! hehehe. Victoria Secret sent me a $10 off any in store purchase coupon, and American Eagle sent me a 15% off any in store purchase coupon. I just couldn't let them go to waste now could I? Coincidentally VS is having their Semi-annual so I went shoppin' the other day.

My buys...

VS Pink bra - reg. $44.50, marked down to $22 for the sale... my total - $13

American Eagle Sweater - reg. $40, marked down to $19.50... my total - $17.98

Non-birthday related bargains:

2 Aeropostale tank tops - reg. $19.50 each, marked down to 2 for $15... my total - $15.90

AND I had a coupon for Staples. $20 off any purchase of $50 and I needed printer ink. So... Ink plus new headphones for Ed = $31.78

Not bad, right?

And then, the other day, I got an e-mail from PacSun advertising a new sale... so I was browsing through the website, and came across a jacket I've had my eye on. It was regularly $40 which is just WAY too much for a dang zip up hoodie, but with the sale, it came down to $20, not bad... I put it in my shopping cart to see what the final price was with shipping and stuff, but decided to wait. The next day, I got an email from them telling me to "come back"and they offered me another 10% off! I couldn't resist. Shipping sucked, but I still got a great deal on a name brand jacket! Plus, with this freezing weather we've been having, I'll be putting it to use for sure!

Yay for Birthdays and BARGAINS! I love me some bargains!

Brr...

2010-01-05T18:44:00.000-05:00

Just in case anyone was freezing their butt off, wishing they were in South Florida right now.... You can go ahead and stop wishing. It's pretty darn cold down here right now too! Snowing? Not likely... though it has happened before! We are, however, on freeze watch tonight and temps are gonna be dipping into the 30's. I don't care who you are, or where you live, 30 degrees is COLD! Especially when you are used to 80's in December!!

BRR!

(I'm not exactly complaining, I enjoy a nice cold snap every now and then... I'm just sayin'!)

Top 10 in 2010!

2010-01-01T20:40:00.001-05:00

I can't believe another decade in my life has come and gone. My Christmas decorations are down and put away and 2009 is GONE! So many major milestones in my life have taken place over the last ten years. Lots of good and bad... too much to bore you with, and lots that I'm ready to put behind me. Lets just say that my life has come a long way over the last 10 years and I couldn't be happier with where I am in life right now. I'm healthy, I live with the love of my life in OUR house with OUR dog, and I'm in school full time focusing on my career. Instead of listing all the things that have happened over the past 10 years that have brought me to where I am today, I'd rather list the top 10 things that I'm looking forward to in 2010 as we start a new decade, and a new chapter in my life.

1. Turning a quarter of a century old. - I'm not excited about getting older, but birthdays are always fun and it sounds cool to say it like that, instead of twenty-five... BLUCK.

2. Graduating from LPN school. No more ugly teal uniforms!

3. Passing state boards.

4. Starting my life as a nurse.

5. Getting back into a more relaxed routine that doesn't include studying.

6. Watching my brother start high school, turn 15, and start driving - SCARY!

7. Reading books for fun.

8. Going to the Keys over the Summer for Mini Lobster Season.

9. Getting a new vehicle! (hopefully)

10. Celebrating Christmas ON Christmas Day.

Happy New Year Everyone!

Make the best of every moment of every day...

the years fly by way too fast!

My little trouble-maker

2009-12-31T22:00:00.000-05:00

My Zoey monster is causing trouble in the neighborhood these days with her hot little booty. She walks out front, and all the neighborhood boys start barking, she walks out back and all the boys come runnin' so fast that they cause bicycle accidents! Yup, that's right, my little girl caused a bike accident right behind our house! You see... our back yard backs up to a street in a neighborhood behind us. People frequently walk/ride bikes/rollerblade/etc down this road and lots of people bring their dogs on these journeys. Well, being that the weather has been so nice, I've had my sliding glass door open and I let Miss Zoey come and go as she pleases. I almost witnessed a catastrophy the other night when someone was bicycling with a dog and the dog almost trotted in front of the bike because it was staring so hard at Miss Zoey. That was an almost... but yesterday... yesterday WASN'T an almost. It WAS a catastrophy. This lady and an older lady were biking down the road, and apparently a neighborhood dog had decided to join them. It wasn't theirs, and it wasn't on a leash.... So when they went past our house, Zoey ran out to see what was up and strut her stuff and the dog darted in front of the older lady and she fell over!!!! I felt SO bad. They didn't speak good english, but I asked if she was okay, and if there was anything I could do... I told them I would walk a bike back for them... or let them leave them in back and come back and get them or something... but eventually she pulled herself together and decided to give it a shot and they rode away. In a way, I felt bad, but at the same time, it's my yard, and I can let my dog run free in my fenced yard if I want. She wasn't doing anything.. she can't help that the boys can't keep their eyes off her cute little booty!

Is my puppy really growing?

2009-12-31T09:00:00.000-05:00

My IRL and bloggy friend Jess stopped by yesterday to show me her new truck... and we got to talkin' about my puppy dog and how much better behaved she is getting. Jess also commented that she looks bigger. Now, I see my dog every day, so she doesn't really seem like she's gotten bigger to me, but looking back on pictures sometimes I notice that she has grown a tad. I told Jess that when I was comparing our Family Christmas Picture from last year, to this years, I thought Zoey's head looked bigger. We got her a few weeks before Christmas last year, and she was just a few months old and only about 24 pounds. Now she is over a year old, and 40 pounds. So, here is your requested photo Jess.... What do ya'll think?

Christmas 2008

Christmas 2009

Now I know this years is a closer shot, but don't you think her head is a little bigger?

(yes, we have to practically choke her to get her to look at the camera and sit still....lol)

Ta-Da!

2009-12-30T17:41:00.000-05:00

After many attempts...

I picked a picture for our ornament :)

Christmas...

2009-12-30T11:00:00.000-05:00

Our Christmas was simply WONDERFUL this year! My Christmas day was spent with my Mom, Step-dad and Step-brother. We opened just a few presents, played some Wii, had a big breakfast, and went to see Sherlock Holmes. Which was pretty good I might add, but a little too long for my taste. After the movie I headed up to the Fire Station to have Christmas dinner with the boy and our department family :) Yum yum! We had our actual Christmas on the 26th because by then Ed was off shift, and my little brother had joined us :) We opened lots of presents

(being on a budget I got Ed a few things including a hand made by me apron!)

(Not being on as much of a budget, the boy got me a Wii!)

We had a HUGE breakfast, and spent the whole day at my parents house hanging out and not doing much of anything except relaxing! We played a lot of Wii with the family, while being entertained by my brother playing with his new guitar

and then had a great big dinner

and lots of yummy dessert. Including my yummy cheesecake, and mom's Twinkie cake (it's just what it's called... a big cake that tastes just like a Twinkie!) and Pecan pie.

For the first time since we've been together, we only had to go to 1 house! We went and visited my dad's side of the family on Christmas Eve, and Ed's family was in Georgia for the holidays. While we missed them, we sure didn't miss having to hop around and eat a million times. Our Christmas day was everything that Christmas should be. A nice and relaxing day with loved ones. And of course some pictures in front of the tree! With my mom and step-dad modeling all their new Dolphin stuff of course!

(isn't the snowman Dol-fan the cutest?!?!?! I got it for them, hehehe!)

I hope yours was just as nice :)

Christmas Yummies!!!

2009-12-23T13:51:00.000-05:00

I just realized... I've never posted our family Cheesecake recipe! It's so yummy, and I made 2 of them for Christmas... I even thought ahead and took pictures while baking so I could blog and share the recipe with you! Too bad it took me over a week to post it. Whoops....

Ingredients:

2 large packages of Philadelphia Cream Cheese (use the Philly, it's worth it)
3/4 cup of sugar
3 eggs, beaten whole
1 Tbsp of lemon juice
1 1/2 cups Sour Cream
1 Large (w/2 extra servings) Graham Cracker crust

Directions:

Bring cream cheese to room temperature
Cream in 3/4 cup of sugar
Add 3 eggs beaten whole

(Action shot!!! I love my mixer!!!!!)

Stir in 1 Tbsp lemon juice
Fold in 1 1/2 cups of Sour cream
Add a dash of Nutmeg if desired...

Pour into Crust and bake at 350 degrees for approximately 40 mins.... sometimes up to an hour. Make sure you check it periodically. It's done when you wiggle it and the middle is mostly firm.

Remove from oven and let sit until room temperature

Refrigerate until completely chilled and ENJOY!!!

Snowman's!

2009-12-19T18:47:00.000-05:00

Aren't these Snowman ornament's the cutest? I picked up a pack of 6 today at Pier 1, and I love them!

The frugal side of me says I might have paid a few dollars more than I should have... but the frivolous side of me says who the heck cares, they are so friggin' adorable!

In case you haven't noticed... snowmen are kindda my "thing"!

Ornament Swap Part 2!

2009-12-17T16:37:00.000-05:00

I got my Ornament today from the second swap I signed up for! (I love mail! And bloggers. And Christmas. And Swaps! I was so excited!!!)

This swap was especially exciting, it was a DIY Ornament Swap and Lauren from The Lo Down made me the cutest Snowman ornament!!!

Here is my package from Lauren. She also included a note and a State of Florida cookie cutter!!!

And here is my new little snowman hanging on my tree :)

Thanks Lauren! I love it! You are so talented!!!!!!

Mutt Monday!

2009-12-14T11:00:00.000-05:00

The results are in!!!

Well, actually, they've been in... but I've been a slacker lately, remember?

You won't believe it anyway. We didn't. We don't. Ed wants a re-do.

Apparently... My Zoey Monster is a Rottweiler/Chow chow/Borzoi. See? told ya you wouldn't believe it. In fact, they tell me that she is MOSTLY Rottweiler. Does this look like a Rottweiler to you!?!?!?!

I mean, I've heard from the vet and from sites online that you could be completely shocked with results, and that your dog might not resemble what they are mixed with at all... but these results are nuts! I do have to admit that some of the descriptions of SOME of the breeds do somewhat resemble her behavior. But that's about it...

The test rates each breed on a level 1-5.

Level 1 - over 75% of the DNA is from that breed

Level 2 - 37-74%

Level 3 - 20-36%

Level 4 - 10-19%

Level 5 - less than 10%

Zoey came back as being..

Level 2 - Rottweiler

(Calm and reliable, devoted to their family, extremely protective. Must be firmly trained or may become aggressive. Natural guard dogs. Highly intelligent and hard working. Can be aggressive toward other dogs) fyi... Zoey has NEVER shown aggression towards anything.

Level 3 - Chow chow

(Innate sense of dignity, may seem aloof and detached. May be restrained with their affections and are very independent. Usually well mannered but can be protective and suspicious of strangers. Can learn, but do not have a desire to please their owners, and must see the point of commands given. May be self-willed to the point of obstinate.) She sure can be a GOOF, and obstinate, but she is totally attached.

Level 4 - Borzoi

(Sweet and intelligent, extremely loyal. Affectionate to people that they know well, but free thinking and less willing to please their owners than other breeds. Quiet, rarely bark. Very quick, have no territorial instinct, should not be trusted off leash. Will chase small animals.) She's the fastest dog I've ever seen, she hardly ever barks, she has ADHD and will chase anything that moves, doesn't seem to care what I think, and is sweet as sugar. Maybe our results came in backwards?????

Ornaments!

2009-12-13T12:00:00.000-05:00

So we all know I've been a little behind on my blogging lately... but I certainly did not forget that I need to share with you the LOVELY ornaments that my swap partner Leanne sent me! I even have lovely pictures of them hanging on my tree now :)

This is my very first Hallmark ornament of my own, for my very own tree :)

And this pretty ornament was hand made by Leanne herself!!!

Thanks again Leanne! It was so great getting to know you, and I LOVE my ornaments!

While Leanne and I were exchanging emails trying to get to know each other a little bit, we got on the subject of traditions and such. I think it's great to have something that you do with your loved ones every year. When I was growing up we used to collect series of Hallmark ornaments, and my parents bought a dated Christmas ball every year that they were married and they hung them on garland in the living room instead of putting them on the tree. All this talk got me thinking that I should share with you a tradition that Ed and I have started. For our first Christmas in our house, I picked up a picture frame ornament on a whim while I was at CVS just because I thought it was cute. Later on, I got to thinking that I really liked the idea of documenting our years together with a dated photo ornament every year! And so, "our" tradition began :)

Last years ornament...

This years... waiting on a picture!

Do you have any traditions?

Ready for Christmas!

2009-12-12T20:15:00.000-05:00

I can't believe it, all the "work" of Christmas is DONE! I'm ready to sit back, relax, and enjoy the holidays with friends and family.

The tree is up and decorated...

The house decorations are up...

(aren't my snowman's cute?!?!?! they are my new addition this year!)

The shopping is done...The presents are wrapped....

(yup, that's camo paper... we're cool like that.)

Ornament swaps are done (well one is wrapped and ready to go, but the other went out a few weeks ago)... and I just finished writing out all of our Christmas cards!

Whew! I'm DONE! I can hardly believe it!

Anti-Christmas?

2009-12-03T23:06:00.000-05:00

We have a year-round Christmas store down here that my Aunt used to take me to when I was younger. She is a bit of a nut about Christmas and decorations, so whenever we/she was having a bad day, we would go Christmas shopping and she would give me a price limit and let me pick out whatever ornament I wanted. Sadly, I haven't been there in YEARS, and that Aunt moved away to Tennessee. :( Fast forward to present day.... A few weeks ago I was on the hunt for a perfect ornament for my swap partner and I hit the Christmas Place. They have ALWAYS had an upside down Christmas tree in the store somewhere decorated gorgeously, it's just what they do. So I was standing near this tree, and this lady walks into the room and says to her friend "Why on earth do they have an upside-down Christmas tree!?!?!?!? That's like anti-Christmas or something! It's like.... the equivalent of hanging a flag upside down!!!!" This lady's friend replied that it was just probably artistic and quickly moved on to the next room...

So... my question to you: Is an upside down Christmas tree the equivalent of hanging a flag upside down!?!?!? And possibly a symbol of Anti-Christmas!?!??! I don't think so... but I just thought it was an interesting opinion that this lady had, and I'm curious as to what your opinions are.

Farewell Sweet November...

2009-12-02T13:00:00.000-05:00

I can't believe November has come and gone so fast! I must have been really busy, I only blogged twice in the WHOLE month!!!!!

We started the month off with a bang celebrating my "not-so-little" brother's 14th Birthday.The boy and I took him to his very first concert without parents! We were rockin' out to Chicken Fried and Toes while laying on a blanket under the stars at a Zac Brown Band Concert!!!!

The rest of my days were filled with some of my favorite things, and I'm sad that I didn't take the time to share them with you throughout the month. Things such as Pumpkin Spice candles, fall leaf decorations (since we don't get real fall leaves in S. Florida), Turkey-lurkey dinner, Wii time with the family, and PIE!!!! Mommy makes some AWESOME pie. And I think I've eaten about 2 loaves of Pumpkin bread this month for breakfast too...

(btw. this is an actual picture of the pies my mom made for Thanksgiving)

Right after Thanksgiving dinner we loaded up the truck and headed to the Keys for the weekend where we froze our booty's off fishing offshore when it was 50 degrees out!!! It's hardly ever cold down here, but it was just our luck! :(We were troopers though. We bundled up and stuck it out!

We still had a good time, and brought home a big ol' Kingfish that we smoked and I'm about ready to whip it up into some Smoked Fish Dip. Yum yum!

So.... even though it flew by in the blink of an eye, November was filled with good things, and I'm thankful for each and every one of them. Especially all the wonderful days spent with family.

If you'll excuse me now, I need to go make my dip and bust out some Christmas decorations!!! See ya later Pumpkin Spice! It's time for some Christmas cheer!

Another Ornament Swap!

2009-11-03T13:27:00.000-05:00

Yup, another one. Told ya I love Christmas!!!!

This one is hosted by

Deals, Steals and Heels and Mrs. Southern Belle.

They have 2 categories that you can sign up for, a Shopaholic category, and a Crafty category! Since this is my second swap, and I am already purchasing an ornament for a great bloggy partner, I signed up for the Crafty swap. I'm gonna be paired with another crafter and we get to make each other ornaments.

How fun is that!?!?!? I'm so excited.

Head on over to either of their pages and sign up.

You have until November 15th.

A smooch a day keeps the doctor away!

2009-11-03T13:08:00.000-05:00

So I was watching the news this afternoon and they were discussing all the ways we can ward off the flu. Things such as eating fruits and veggies, oysters, taking vitamins, etc etc etc.... You know, all those things that don't taste good. And then... my ears perked up. They said that people who kiss the same partner for 6 consecutive months have a less likely chance of acquiring the flu. (Probably because they aren't swapping spit with strangers who have who knows what! But that's beside the point..) So, my lesson for you all today? Grab that cute boy of yours and tell him to pucker up! Nobody wants to get the Swine Flu do they!?!?!?!?

Giveaway!

2009-10-30T14:53:00.001-04:00

How cute is this necklace!??!?!

Most of you know, I'm a flip flop-holic and so this is just PERFECT for me!

Lauren Nicole Gifts is hosting this giveaway, check it out!

Mutt Monday!

2009-10-26T11:30:00.000-04:00

Who's your daddy!?!?!?!?

We all know who Zoey's Mommy is.... I mean, don't you see the resemblance of the overwhelming cuteness!?!?!?

But we've been wondering for some time who that baby daddy is. So, we broke down and got us a DNA kit. Any guesses????? What do you all think Miss Zoey monster is a mix of?

The shelter said they thought she was a Australian Shepherd/Collie... but my first guess was a German Shepherd/Border Collie, and lately I've been adding some sort of hound to that mix. But truly, we have no idea. Is it important? Well, no, not REALLY. It's more of a curiosity thing, but at the same time, it is important. It'll give us a little bit of insight as to what potential health problems we need to be on the lookout for, and maybe knowing a little bit more about her characteristic behavior traits might help us find some specific training techniques for her breed. So there are a few reasons other than just curiosity. But mostly, we'd like to solve the mystery :) We sent out the sample (just a swab of the inside of her cheek) on Saturday. It says the results take about 2 weeks... In the mean time, tell me what your guesses are!!!!

Christmas Ornament Swap!

2009-10-25T10:52:00.000-04:00

Oh my goodness, such excitement. I logged on my computer specifically to post this! When I saw this title TWICE in my Google reader on my blackberry I just had to log on to check it out on the big screen. Justine at Almost There is hosting a Christmas Ornament Swap! I just LOVE Christmas!!!! If you love Christmas too and wanna participate hurry up and head on over to her page to sign up, you only have until tomorrow!!!

I can sew!!!!

2009-10-23T23:45:00.001-04:00

I'm so excited! My mommy took some time this week and taught me how to sew! I didn't want to get Jess just a bunch of stuff off of her registry, so as part of my wedding gift to her, I made my very first apron :) I also got her some baking stuff from her registry that I thought went together nicely. She got the apron part of it a little bit late, but it was handmade by me with love, so it was worth it, hehehe.

It all started with a trip to Joann's to pick out a pattern and fabric. I fell in love with this pattern,

but of course, they were out of it. So instead, Mom helped me improvise using pieces from two different patterns. We even found similar fabric, but in colors that were a little bit more "Jess". I cut it all out, and sewed it together using the sewing machine for the very first time!!!! I dont think it came out too bad for my first time... what do you think?

And here is Mrs. P modeling her new present :)

(I expect lots of baked goods Jessica!!!)

I would say I had a really good teacher. Mom says it's in the genes ;-)

While I'm on the shoe subject....

2009-10-23T15:18:00.000-04:00

I've gotta share with you my other great Overstock.com bargain!!!!

Now that the wedding is over, I have things I can share!!! Yay! and when Jess gets back from her honeymoon, I have one more thing wedding related to share with you. I can't wait!!!!

In the meantime... I gotta show you the cute shoes I got for $28 to wear to the wedding!!!

They didn't have a 6 1/2 so I settled for a size 6 which was pretty darn close to perfect, but a little snug around the toes. I talked to my mom about it, an she suggested sticking wooden mixing spoons in the front to stretch them. At first I laughed, but then I tried it. Let me tell you, as silly as it looked, IT WORKED!!!! They fit just fine after a week of stretching and didn't bother my toes one bit! And of course, they looked awesome with the dress my oh so talented Mommy made for me to wear :)

Isn't it great??? My mom has been SO busy and SO wonderful. Not only did she hand-make my dress, she also did some tailoring on Ed's dress shirt, AND did all of the alterations on the bridesmaid dresses!

She rocks!!!

Oh boy, I've become a hypocrite!

2009-10-23T15:11:00.000-04:00

For years I have made fun of Uggs (or anything of the sort) but this year, I do believe I have somewhat changed my mind. *gasp* Evidence? I just purchased THESE!

So what if it doesn't really get cold down here. We still get like 2 days out of the year when it's about 30 degrees. One day I can wear my brown cowboy boots and the other day I can wear these!!! They keep catching my eye everywhere! I couldn't resist! They were only $30 on Overstock.com!!! That's my rationale. They are warm, comfy, and cheap. Sounds good, right?

I do vow to never wear them with hoochie shorts like the rest of the bimbos here in South Florida though. I promise.

Jessica got married!!!

2009-10-18T21:17:00.001-04:00

Congratulations Mr. and Mrs. P!!!!! The wedding was BEAUTIFUL and we all had a blast!

Have a great time on your Honeymoon!!!!

Our last wedding of 5 this year.... and I still NEVER caught the bouquet! lol...

Guess there's always next year! I already know of two!!!!

5 Years...

2009-10-18T20:50:00.000-04:00

This past Thursday, the 15th, was the Boy and I's 5 year dating anniversary! I can't believe 5 years have flown by so fast!!! We have come so far and done so much together... Sometimes it feels like a short time, and other times it feels like forever. I had intended to post this on Thursday but things have been crazy around here. My friend Jess got married yesterday and we had some out of town guests stay at our house for the wedding. I had 2 tests this week, a project due on Thursday, the rehearsal dinner was Thursday night, and the guests came in on Thursday as well. Needless to say, Ed and I did nothing for our anniversary. Ed says I owe him a night so we can go out to dinner somewhere nice, just the 2 of us. I can't wait!!!

Anyway, Loves of Life posted this survey the other day, and I thought it would be fitting to share it with you in honor of our anniversary so you could learn a little bit about us :)

♥What are your middle names?

Lynn and James

♥How long have you been together?
5 years

♥ How long did you know each other before you started dating?
about 5 years!!!

♥ Who asked who out?
It was never really an official “asking out”. We had been friends for so long… and finally we were both grown and single, and we decided to go see a movie together. That was our first “official date” and then we just sorta became a couple.

♥ Who made the first move?
Oh boy… I have no idea.

♥ How old are each of you?
He’s 25 and I’m 24. We’re 6 months apart though so for ½ of the year we are the same age.

♥ Did you go to the same school?
Nope. We lived across the county from each other and he was home schooled and I went to public high school.

♥ Are you from the same home town?
Sorta. Same county….

♥ Who is the smartest?
Ummm, we’re both intelligent in different things so that’s a tough call. I wouldn’t say one of us was smarter than the other…

♥ Who majored in what?
He’s a Firefighter/Paramedic, and I’m a nursing student.

♥ Who is the most sensitive?
TOTALLY me, hands down..

♥ Where do you eat out most as a couple?
We usually cook at home for the most part, but we probably eat out at Chili’s the most.

♥ Where is the furthest you two have traveled together as a couple?
Hmmm, I guess Kentucky

♥ Who has the worst temper?
Oh, I dunno… I guess me. He’s pretty quiet and tries to keep his cool.

♥ How many children do you want?
ZERO, don’t criticize, we have our reasons.

♥ Who does the cooking?
We take turns. No lie. He’s a REALLY good cook, but usually I have more time.

♥ Who is more social?
Me, me, me!!!!! I can make friends almost anywhere and he’s super quiet and would rather stay at home.

♥ Who is the neat-freak?
Neither of us is a neat freak, but neither of us are super messy either. It definitely bothers me more when the house is a mess.

♥ Who is the most stubborn?
HIM! He can stand firm with almost everything, just to be a butt.

♥ Who wakes up earlier?
Naturally, he does… I’m NOT a morning person. But for the most part I wake up earlier because of school. Sometimes he has to be to work earlier, but usually I leave first.

♥ Where was your first date?
The movies to see Ladder 49 on October 15, 2004

♥ Who has the bigger family?
Hmmm, he has a bigger immediate family (he’s one of 5) but I have a much bigger extended family.

♥ Do you get flowers often?
Never. He doesn’t believe in buying me flowers. He thinks they are stupid because they die. I have gotten 1 rose, 1 time, for Valentines Day.

♥ How do you spend the holidays?
With family… Nothing special.

♥ Who is more jealous?
Neither… we have never had issues with jealousy

♥ How long did it take to get serious?
hahaha, about 5 years? It was pretty serious from the moment we met, we always knew there was something between us… we just didn’t actually start to express our feeling until 5 years later.

♥ Who eats more?
Definitely him. I eat about ½ of what he can put down.

♥ What do you do for a living?
I’m a full time student/ un-wife housewife!!

♥ Who does the laundry?
Well….. Lets just say that when I do laundry, I do OUR laundry. When he does laundry, he does HIS laundry. BUT we both do laundry….

♥ Who’s better with the computer?
It goes back and forth. I am better with some things, and he’s better with others….

♥ Who drives when you are together?
We take turns… Usually him, but sometimes me. Neither of us have a problem with the other one driving, no matter whose car it is. Unless it’s the Camaro. I don’t drive the Camaro anymore because there is a bolted down race seat in it and I can’t reach.

♥ What is "your" song?

This is a funny story… we met at a camp as CIT’s and we had a dance on the last night of camp every week. Both weeks we were there we danced together to the SAME song. I can’t remember for SURE what it was, but I’m pretty sure it was “Keeper of the Stars” by Tracy Byrd and when I asked him, even without telling him what I thought it was, he said the same thing, so we have decided that it must be it, and it’s now “our song”.

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