Remember 2010

I saw this on another blog and thought it was a neat idea!

Imagine you will completely lose your memory of 2010 in five minutes.  Set an alarm for five minutes and capture the things you most want to remember about 2010

I want to remember my trip to Panama City Beach, Florida with one of my good friends.  We were chaperone's for her step-daughter and a friend for Spring Break.  It might have been the first time I was truly willing to admit that I "am getting older".  But the time I spent with my girlfriend was unforgettable.

I want to remember the excitement I felt when one of my lifelong best friends told me she and her husband were finally pregnant after 4 long years of infertility issues.

I want to remember how proud I was of my oldest nephew when he was chosen to participate in the Youth National Leadership Conference in Washington, DC. The joy of knowing he is going to grow up to "be somebody and make a difference" is unbearable.  My cheeks hurt from smiling just thinking about it.

I want to remember my bridal shower, bachelorette party and most of all my wedding day.  These events were truly magical.  The laughing hysterically and being surrounded by the people I love most in the world...oh, what a feeling.

I want to remember the hard work and dedication that my sister has put into her weight loss journey.  The smile on her face and excitement in her voice when she hits a new milestone is unforgettable.

I want to remember being alone and crying after enduring the worst thing that has ever happened to me.  And knowing that I can come back out on top.

I want to remember the phone call I received from my step-daughter asking if she could be a part of our lives again (she did not speak to her dad for over 3 years).  Watching my husbands face light up as I told him about this phone call was priceless.

I want to remember watching my hometown high school football team win the State Championship. 

I want to remember Thanksgiving spent at my sisters house and how a last minute change in plans ended up being a memory of a lifetime.

I want to remember time spent with my girlfriends and family dinners on the weekends.  I want to remember the love I have for my husband, family and friends.  I want to remember the joy, the sorrow, the laughter and the tears of 2010.

All I have is Bullets....

• Today I take both cats to the vet for their annual check up.  This will also be a 2 week check-up for Walker following his trip to the emergency vet for his bladder...I hope I get the news I am hoping for!

• Normally during the Christmas/New Year season I get about 14-16 days off from work.  This year I am only getting 7!  I'm hoping that in those 7 days I can find some time to relax and re-energize!  I'm just exhausted lately and my schedule doesn't allow me a day to veg out until after Christmas.

• I'm addicted to the Hallmark channel....I just love the Christmas movies.  Normally during this time of year I get hooked on Lifetime for the 25 days of Christmas but this year it's definitely the Hallmark channel.

• We are done Christmas shopping all but one person.  I also have almost everything all wrapped and under the tree.  Definitely ahead of schedule considering I'm normally wrapping gifts on Christmas Eve.

• I joined Weight Watchers again last week and they started a new Points Plus program the same day I joined.  It's going to take some getting used to.  I understand the overall concept of the changes, but still have some doubts that the system is actually going to work as well as the old one.  Only time will tell.  I've been tracking my points for 3 days straight and only hope I will continue.  I don't have as much to lose this time, but I should have never allowed myself to get to this point.

• We go a little crazy decorating outside for Christmas and our electrical bill doubled from last month.  We have since added more lights outdoors so I can only imagine what next month's bill will bring.  But, it's totally worth it :-)

• My self esteem has taken a toll lately.  Not only have I gained 14 lbs since my wedding in July, but I am so pasty white.  I can't afford to go to the tanner (and it's not healthy to begin with) and I live in Michigan so it's not like sunshine is available, so I'm feeling a little blah lately.  I even try to wear makeup every once in a while and I still don't feel "pretty".  Ugh...I hate when I get into these funks

• This will be our first Christmas as husband and wife.  I have found that every holiday we have celebrated since our wedding has been so much fun.  Who would have thought that picking out hallmark cards addressed to "husband" would be so exciting!

• I miss my family and friends.  It might be the time of year or it might be that the first half of the year was spent getting together so frequently with them for all my wedding related activities and now I feel like I haven't seen anyone in ages.  I don't live that far from my family or friends (1.5 hrs) but this time of the year is so hectic for everyone.  It's like pulling teeth trying to find a free weekend to get together. 

Fed Ex can suck it

On cyber Monday I was scoping out the online sales and came across a 60"x80" photo blanket that was priced rather decent.  (see image below for idea)

I thought it would be a great personalized gift for my husband by using some of our favorite wedding pictures.  While at work, I took the time to upload all of the pictures to the site and get them in the perfect "collage" setting.

Yesterday I get an email from the vendor stating that my order has been sent to the wrong person and they have issued a refund for the item.  At first I was a little confused so I called the 800 number to speak with a customer service representative to get the details.  As they stated...my item was shipped to the wrong person.  Fed Ex delivered my "personalized" item to the wrong address and to the wrong person!!  Someone (a stranger) is in possession of a blanket covered in pictures of me and my husband!  How could Fed Ex do this?  My NAME and ADDRESS were on the shipment...why would they accept signature from anyone different?  And why would someone sign for a package that had MY NAME on it.  They obviously don't know me so why would they sign for the package!  UGHHHHH.....

I don't know if I'm more frustrated at Fed Ex for their screw up or at the person who signed for the package knowing it wasn't theirs.  If they would have looked at the name/address on the package they could have told Fed Ex they were at the wrong location and then maybe I would have my gift for my husband.  But instead...I have no idea where the item is and there is no way I'm taking the time to make another blanket and upload all those pictures again!

I will refuse to use Fed Ex ever again!!!  It is for this exact reason that my place of employment stopped using them years ago!

First Snowfall of the Season

It's snowing and blowing here today which does not put me in the best mood.  It's our first "real" snowfall of the season.  I always have mixed feelings about the first snowfall.  On one hand it is so pretty but on the other hand, I live in Michigan and people tend to forget how to function in the snow.  My normal 35 minute drive to work turned into a 1 hour 10 min drive to work because idiots forget how to drive in this weather.  It's Michigan people...you should have learned the basics of winter driving.  And if you haven't...GET OFF THE ROAD!! 

On a happier note, my hometown won the high school football State Championship!!  Congrats Tigers!

Bullets

I've been neglecting to blog lately because I feel like there is either nothing worthwhile to talk about or so much to talk about that I can't begin to put it into words.  So today I've decided to update life using bullet points.

• This upcoming Saturday I'm having Thanksgiving with my in-laws
• Thanksgiving day will be spent with my sister and her family this year as the rest of our family has other priorities
• That same sister turns the big "4-0" on Black Friday..Happy Early Birthday Rachel!
• My hometown highschool football team is playing in the semi-finals this upcoming weekend and if they win they will be competing in the state finals at Ford Field in Detroit the weekend of Thanksgiving.  I am planning on going so I'm praying they win this Saturday
• This past weekend I attended a baby shower of one of my best friends.  I have mixed feelings about the day.  I've come to realize that my "best" friends are failing me...I don't know if we are growing apart, if we lack things in common or I've been naive in who I thought they were.  Either way, it hurts to know life is not the same as it used to be.
• I've gained 13 lbs since my wedding in July and I'm having a terrible time getting motivated to lose it.  I hate the way I look, how my clothes fit, etc, but I can't seem to want to do anything about it.  And worse, the holidays are fast approaching which means lots of BIG meals and baked goods.
• My step-son will be living with us full-time starting in December.  If you remember, he was supposed to move in with us before the new school year started, but my husbands ex-wife changed her mind at the last minute.  As of yesterday she has once again changed her mind...
• I am so burned out on life...especially work.  I have never been so looking forward to some time off.  I will have a long weekend next week for Thanksgiving and hopefully 7-8 days off for Christmas. 
• The time change sucks.  I hate that it is dark out before I even get home from work.
• I'm so ready to decorate for Christmas.  I think we are going to begin bringing out the Christmas decor this weekend.
• As I've stated before...I LOVE Christmas music!  A local radio station began playing it on Monday so I even listen while at work.

There you have it...my life in bullets! 

The Soothing Sound of Jingle Bell Rock

I know we are only a few days past Halloween, but I am so ready to start decorating for Christmas!  It is by far my most favorite holiday.  I even started listening to Christmas music at work yesterday.  There is nothing else that can make me feel so warm inside.  I truly believe if Christmas music was played all year long I wouldn't be so stressed.  Case in point...this morning was a hell of a morning when my phone started ringing just after 6:30am with work "issues".  As soon as I arrived to the office I logged onto iTunes and jammed to a little Jingle Bell Rock and all the stress of the morning was gone.  I even found myself smiling a little!

What are some of your favorite Christmas tunes?

Happy Halloween

This week at work has been HELL.  Thank goodness I've got a great weekend to look forward to.

Happy Halloween!

Being a Homeowner is not always Rainbows & Unicorns

I used to love fall!  The change in temperature, the beautiful colors.  That was until I spent 7 hours raking and bagging leaves yesterday.  And this was just my back yard.  I ran out of steam before I could finish the front yard.

There are 40+ of these lining my curb at the moment...I hate Fall

Needless to say...today I can barely move!  My lower back hurts, my legs hurt and my forearms hurt!  It is a task I hope to not ever do again...or at least not until next year!  I will be paying a neighborhood boy to finish the front lawn because I just can't do it.

It is times like yesterday that remind me that being a homeowner is not always rainbows and unicorns!  It is hard work...

Halloween

I was going to post pics of our house all decorated for Halloween, but due to the fact that Blogger is doing maintenance and image uploading is disabled, I am unable to do so.

Instead, I would like to know what your favorite/best costume is.  Husband and I are going to a costume party this year and it's been forever since I've worn a costume.

TGIF

I'm so excited to be inching my way towards the weekend.  TGIF!!

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the football God's and how they saved my marriage

I am from a small town where football brought us great fame by holding the national record for "most consecutive wins" in the early 1970's.  Our 72 straight wins was beat by Concord (California) De La Salle Spartans football team when they piled up 151 consecutive victories between 1992 and 2004.

When you grow up in a town where all you know is "football" and the only place you want to be is near the football field and the only day of the week that ever really mattered were Friday game days....You tend to take the sport a little serious.  And by "serious" I mean "IS THERE ANYTHING BETTER THAN FOOTBALL SEASON!!!"  The crisp fall air, the cheerleaders, the coaches, the announcers, the fans, the hot dogs and hot cocoa....I'm giving myself chills just writing this.

And being that I am from Michigan we grew up not only loving our beloved Tigers from our hometown, but LOVING the Michigan Wolverines.  For as long as I can remember my Saturday's have been dedicated to college football.  And thankfully, my husband is also a Wolverine fan or else we just might not have been deemed compatible in my eyes :)

We got engaged on 10/9/08 and when we started wedding planning we thought it would be a great idea for our wedding day to be exactly 2 years later which would have been this Saturday 10/9/10.  Thankfully, a year into our engagement we decided to change the date, due to Michigan weather and how unpredictable it can be this time of year.  Our July wedding was perfect and given that it's been freezing in these parts for a couple weeks now I'm so happy that we chose against it.

But, truth be told, there is no way on God's green earth I would have been able to get married tomorrow!  Tomorrow, Oct 9 is the big rivalry game between Michigan and Michigan State.  The Paul Bunyan Trophy is at stake here people....and tomorrow is the Wolverines chance to regain possession of the trophy!  This is HUGE....maybe not as "huge" as say, a wedding would have been, but you get the idea!

Just another incident where I believe "everything happens for a reason".  I think the Football God's had a hand in changing our minds about our wedding date!

GO BLUE!!    HAIL TO THE VICTORS!!

My Life...In Quotes





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D-Day

The next 24 hrs may go down in history as the hardest day of my life.  Please pray for my strength to get through.

The Bagette

Every year my hometown has a women's golf tournament called "The Bagette".  My mom has been golfing in this tournament since the first one (about 18 years).  About 4 years ago she needed someone to fill in for the 4th spot on her team so I did it.  And no, I did not do it because I like to golf, or am remotely good at golfing.  (I've only golfed 4 times in my life with this year being the 5th)  I did it because it sounded like so much fun to spend the day with a bunch of fabulous woman having the time of our lives.  And that is exactly what we do....have the time of our lives!

Here is a look back at our Bagette days....(for some reason I don't have any pictures from 2009)

The Bagette is tomorrow and I can't wait!!!

In my opinion, it's disturbing

For the record....this is MY opinion.  I do not expect everyone/anyone to feel the same way as me!


I was reading a story today about a family of a newborn baby who are asking for donations of breastmilk after his mother died unexpectedly one week after giving birth.  Although my heart is broken for this new dad and sweet baby who will never know his mother, I just can't get past the fact that this father will be giving his baby breastmilk that came from complete strangers.

There are no laws or guidelines against doing this which seems utterly ridiculous to me.  How do you have any idea what your baby will be ingesting?  Who know's what kind of diseases or substances could be unknowingly/unintentionally passed on to this baby.

If a stranger on the street walked up to you and offered you their breastmilk for your baby, would you take it and give it to them?  Without knowing anything about them, their habits, their health, etc.

I think it is very kind of so many mothers to want to help, but I have to say, that for myself, I would never consider giving unscreened breastmilk to my baby.  Not that I have a baby...or have ever had a baby, but just sayin!

And as I stated above...This is MY opinion!!  And maybe if I were a mother I would feel differently?  I don't know.

blah

That's exactly how I feel lately....blahhh!!  I don't know what it is, but I can't seem to get out of this funk lately.

I am not happy with life right now and so I just try to get through each day the best I can.  I know it won't always be like this, but I can't see the light at the end of the tunnel.

I feel like I don't have that "get away" place I so desperately need right now.  I am miserable at home, miserable at work and even miserable on my commute between home and work.

Calgon take me away!!!

A "NEW" ME....

Since the wedding I've been feeling very "blah" about myself.  I've gained about 7-8 lbs, my crows feet around my eyes seem to be getting worse, I've lost all signs of a once golden brown tan.  I never take the time to do my hair anymore and the closest thing to makeup that has touched my face the past couple of months has been vaseline and/or lip balm.

I decided that maybe a change in my hairstyle was just what I needed to give myself that extra boost of confidence.  It would make me excited and want to take the time to "get ready".

Unfortunately, the exact opposite has happened.  Not one person who has seen my new hairstyle (in real life, not in pictures) seems to like it.  I think my self confidence is worse now than it was before making the change.

Here is a picture of the husband and I a couple weeks ago.  I had recently gotten bangs cut thinking that a small change like that would do the trick.

My "bob" style cut I have had for years with added bangs

Here is the photo (from iPhone) just after leaving the salon

"NEW" Look

And this one was taken yesterday in my car (via iPhone)

Wow...my glasses never seemed SO big before...LOL

What do you think of the new "do"?  I'm trying to like it since it is SO easy to get ready, but I just don't think it's "me".  Looks like I'm officially growing my hair back out....

Life

Life has taken over....Let's just say so much has happened in the past couple weeks that there are days I can barely form words to speak.

To make a long story short, my husband is having some medical problems and it's scaring the living daylights out of me!!  I always knew in the back of my mind that there would come a day that my husbands spinal cord injury would cause him some issues.  I was thinking more like 30 years down the road, not less than 2 months after getting hitched!

The main problem at this point is that there are SO many different things going on, that the doctors can't pinpoint a diagnosis to fit all the symptoms.  Seriously people...it's been over 2 weeks of hospital visits and trips to the ER.  Can't someone please tell us what is going on?  The cat scan of his brain didn't show anything disturbing, we are meeting with a neurologist tomorrow, and driving to University of Michigan hospital on Monday to meet with some specialists and have an MRI done.

As much as I "don't" want them to find anything wrong, it would actually be nice at this point if they "did" find something wrong.  Then we would have some answers and be able to move forward.  At this point we are at a stand-still and in the meantime, my husband is not getting any better.  There are days where he is actually getting worse.

Please send your prayers our way because we could surely use them!

People are so Rude!!!

The image below is our DIY Photo Wall from our wedding.

I was contacted immediately after our wedding by a wedding planner about purchasing this from me.  Of course I agreed!  She also wants an inventory of all my other wedding items I'm willing to sell...Awesome!

I was recently approached by the wife of someone my husband and I know about renting it for a family reunion.  Since I haven't technically sold it yet, I didn't see the harm in letting someone else enjoy it.  Oh, if only I had known then what I know now!!

Yesterday was the family reunion so they came to my house to pick it up.  I helped them load it in the trailer and gave them specific directions that it needed to be laid flat in the trailer because it's top-heavy.  I even went as far as lending them a sheet to lay down in the trailer so the fabric wouldn't get dirty.

6 hrs later they pull up in front of my house with the photo wall basically in pieces!!  They tried to stand it upright in the trailer and the wind caught it and it flew out onto the pavement face down.  The legs on one side were broken off, one of the frames came right off, and the large antique frame in the center is broken into dozens of pieces and chipped all over.

I understand that accidents happen, but I specifically told them to LAY IT FLAT IN THE TRAILER!!!!  It's not so much that its broke, as I think I can probably come up with a way to fix it, but the fact that they were laughing about it!  They literally just kept laughing as if it was the funniest thing that's ever happened to them.  It's not so funny if you ask me!

And not that I would have taken any money from them, but maybe if they had OFFERED to give me some money to repair the damage I wouldn't be this pissed.

PEOPLE ARE SO RUDE!!!

Now I'm stuck with the following dilemma:  Do I put more $$ into the board to fix it in order to sell it to wedding planner?  I'm just not sure I will get my money back out of it.  Or, do I not sell it and just keep it for myself?  But, where am I going to store it?  It's huge.  Or, do I sell it damaged and consider it a loss either way?

Hurry, Hurry

I can't wait for this work day to be over with....the past couple weeks have been sooooo long!!  And then the weekends go by sooooo fast!

We've got  a lot on our plate for this weekend, but I'm still looking forward to time away from the office.

Tonight I'm hanging out with one of my best friends Lindsey...I love "girl" time!

BFF Lindsey singing me a song at my wedding

Have a great one!!

Life is Like a Roller Coaster

There has been an update in my earlier post.  My stepson will no longer be coming to live with us.  I can't get into the details here, but know that we are all crushed and heartbroken!  The past couple days have definitely been a roller coaster of emotions.

But, as my sister told me this morning "everything happens for a reason and if he is meant to live with us then it will happen".

Things are about to change.....

The husband and I made a HUGE family decision last night.  My 15 year old stepson is going to live with us full time.  This is something we've been throwing around for well over a year now, but the time just never seemed right.  Finally, all the pieces are falling into place.  This is going to require him starting off Highschool in a different school, but he is more than ready for a change and we (as parents) are more than ready to get him into a different environment.

I'm looking forward to this and know in my heart that this is the best thing for him.  Not to mention, this is a dream come true for my husband.

Summer Projects

We had a huge list of home improvements we wanted to accomplish this summer, but here it is almost the middle of August and very few items have been crossed off.

I don't think we anticipated the amount of time we would spend at my parents house getting ready for the wedding.  Our house definitely took a backseat on our priority list as we were prepping for the wedding.  But, as soon as the "I Do's" were said, we jumped right in.

In the last few weeks we have pulled out all of our landscaping from the front of our house.  And I use the term "landscaping" lightly as we pretty much just had a bunch of dead evergreens, a couple bushes and a lot of over-grown ivy plants.  So far we have been able to lay down mulch and have purchased a few plants that still need to be planted into the ground.  It may not be a finished product yet, but the changes are remarkable already.

The original "landscaping"

(not sure why this is sideways)  After we removed the "Landscaping"

We also cut down 5-6 trees from the backyard opening up our back corner.  We aren't sure what the previous owners used this corner for, but it was nothing but dirt, weeds, and a lot of buried garbage.  This was not a simple project as this area is almost 50 ft long by 30 ft wide.  It's a BIG area that needed a lot of work.  We managed to use the rest of the leftover mulch from the wedding in this area and oh, what a difference.  I also moved some of our hanging plants back there to add a little color.  It's not a finished product, but boy does it sure look better than when we started. (sorry I don't have any "before" pictures, but you should consider yourself lucky that you will never have that image stuck in your head)

Corner in the backyard

And finally, we decided that the front of the house needed a pop of color. We decided to paint our green shutters BLUE! We love it and the change is just what we were looking for. (see the green shutters in photo above)

Green Shutters have now become BLUE!!

Picture Overload

The wedding day was nothing short of amazing!  I've never smiled so hard in one day in my whole life.  I couldn't help myself.

I felt stunning and gorgeous, but most importantly I felt loved.  The entire wedding party radiated from the joy and excitement of the day.

I was on a high that lasted the entire weekend.  It was a dream come true to see all of our family and friends in one place.

It was a perfect wedding!  Literally, the best day of my life.  And to be honest, I wasn't shooting for perfection...it just happened that way!

I was making big, life-altering promises to the man I love and I was surrounded by the most important people in my life.

I danced like a mad woman and laughed and screamed with joy!

I'm so glad that that everybody came...I'm so glad that we didn't take on anymore DIY projects...I'm so glad I have such amazing women in my life...I'm so glad we composed our own ceremony and vows...

I'M SO GLAD WE DIDN'T ELOPE!!!

If I had known the wedding would be so amazing and that marriage would be this good, I would have had a MUCH shorter engagement.

To watch our families intertwine to a degree that they appeared as one made my heart melt.