Day 47 - Yoga

I went to the gym today.  I have lost motivation lately, so just getting there was a big step.  There is a yoga class on Sunday afternoons that I like.  Well, I say I like it, but for some reason I dread going.  But today, I was going.  I even went early so that I could get in some good cardio before the class.  I did an hour on the elliptical and then headed into the darkness.  I only say that because the room is dark.  I think I don't look forward to the class because it is so calming and it's a different workout than anything else.  Time seems to creep by during class and muscle fatigue happens without feeling like you're doing much, so you start to get tired and you're only half way through.  I do this class because I love the way I feel when it's over.  I came home and set my stuff down.  I was happy and proud that I had made myself go.

Day 46 - My future's so bright

I gotta wear shades!  I broke mine last week, so I bought some new ones today.

I couldn't decide which ones I liked better, so I got them both.  Don't worry, the total for both pairs was less that $20.  Bargain shopping and new sunglasses makes for a great Saturday.  (and yes, the top pair is JLo brand.  hahaha)

Day 45 - DD does it again

I drove threw Dunkin' Donuts this morning for my weekly Friday morning coffee.  I gave the nice girl my money and punch card.  She handed me the coffee and my punch card back with 2 new punches which makes my next drink free.  Sounds like a pretty normal exchange I know, but she also gave me a bright yellow slip of paper with her name and some info to fill out an online survey.  Once the survey is filled out and I write down the code, and I bring the yellow paper back for a free drink! 

Not only are their drinks cheaper and better than most other coffee places, but they reward you for going there.  This is my kind of place, and I will continue to "freequent" their establishment.

Day 44 - Nap time

I woke up this morning feeling tired.  I understand that it is typically to feel this way in the morning, but it was extreme today.  I thought I would feel better once the day got going, but that was not the case.  I know what you're thinking, "it must be due to the wine".  I didn't drink much, and this wasn't a hangover.  It was pure exhaustion.  RW could tell that I didn't feel like myself today, so he told me to go home around noon.  I appreciate him being aware and awesome.  When I got home and saw this,

I was thrilled.  I went straight to bed and slept for about 4 hours, and even after that I only left bed for food and the bathroom.  Sometimes your body just takes over and forces you to slow down or even stop for a while.  Rest was exactly what I needed.

Day 43 - Wine

My work hosted a wine tasting today for some of our clients.  We just wanted to bring them together and let them mingle while tasting some different wines.  RW set it up at a quant little wine bar downtown.  I'm not much of a wine drinker, but I was looking forward to meeting the women that I hear about and occassionally talk to on the phone.  The tasting and mingling went really well.  J (sorry, I didn't get last name) was the last woman there, so RW and I visited with her for a couple of minutes.  Then, RW asked if we wanted to grab a drink and continue to chat.  I told the wonderful wine man that I really like a moscato, and he told me they had an "asti".  I was pumped!  Like I said, I'm not a wine connoisseur, but this is my favorite.  It was so delicious that I forgot to take a picture.  Sorry.  I enjoyed the wine, but the company was even better.  J is awesome, and she's a fellow Ag.  Thanks to all parties involved in this nice evening.

Day 42 - Summer Clothes

I mentioned on day 39, my mom and I did some shopping this weekend.  Today, I got around to getting them out of their bags.  I put them all over my bed and realized how much new stuff I got and/or was given. 

I'm looking forward to upcoming trips and summer months!  Yippy for new clothes.  (I hung them up after the pic.)

Day 41 - Gifts from Abroad

My dad and step-mom take a trip every winter to escape the frozen tundra of west Michigan that they call home.  This year they took a cruise that left out of Puerto Rico.  As any daughter would do, I asked them to bring me back something.  Today when I checked the mail I had a package from them. 

My step-mom picked out this cool bracelet for me.  It's made of nuts that are native to one of the islands that they ported on.  I have a vacation and a cruise coming up, so it will be getting worn soon.  She also sent me some cute cards that she thought I could use.  She knows how much I enjoy sending and receiving cards.  I will put these to good use as well.  The card was in the package as well.  It was sweet and explained the gifts.  Thanks PL, and dad (although I know he didn't really have much to do with it).

Day 40 - I scream, you scream, we all scream for . . .

Ever since I moved away from home to go to college, there are certain "restaurants" that I look forward to when I go home.  Well, on my drive home today, I stopped to get a little sweet treat at  one of these places.

Braums is GREATNESS!  I'm not a huge fan of their food, but I thoroughly enjoy their ice cream and frozen yogurt. 

Day 39 - Mother/Daughter time

My mom and I have a couple of hobbies that we really enjoy, so that is what our day consisted of.  We started with a trip to the nail shop.  Mom gets her nails done every 2 weeks, but her feet are neglected for months at a time.  So, she just gets a pedicure while I go ahead and get the mani/pedi combo.  It's awesome to visit with mom while sitting in a massage chair and getting beautiful hands and feet. 

After this we met my step-dad, bro, grandma and grandpa at Cheddar's for a yummy lunch to celebrate my grandpa's 76th b-day.  Then mom and I were ready for what we're really good at - bargain shopping.  We go through the store together at first then go our separate ways for a bit before reconvening at the dressing room.  Today we both ended up with the same top to try on. 

I had to take a picture in the dressing room.  Don't worry, we didn't both get them.  Mom bought it in the size that I had on, and told me I could borrow it.  Works for me!  It was a fun and successful day of mother/daughter bonding.  Thanks Mom for being the BEST!

Day 38 - D-town

I went home this weekend to visit family and friends.  I have gotten to where I strongly dislike the drive home.  There are too many people on the road and none of them seem to drive as good as me.  For about 40 miles my average speed was 30.  I was so frustrated that I wanted to scream.  Once things loosened up and I got to drive 5 over the speed limit again, I chilled out a little bit.  But then when I saw this.

all was right with the world again.  There is something extremely comforting to me about the Dallas skyline.  The rest of the drive was cake.  Thanks D-town for being awesome even from a distance.  (and yes, I took this while driving. haha)

Day 37 - Painting the town Green!

Today is St. Patty's Day, and I like this day for a couple of reasons 1) Everyone wears green, 2) It gives everyone a completely unnecessarily excuse to drink beer, 3) Even the beer is green, 4) People celebrate a holiday of another heritage and don't know why, and 5) there are fun shirts just for this one day.  I ordered JE a shirt that says "Irish I had a beer".  I thought it was hilarious and when I mentioned it to RW, my coworker, he thought so too and wished I had ordered him one too.  It was too late for that, but I was able to find this one.

And, I got it for $5!  RW had a working social event to go to this afternoon, so he had a reason to wear this fun St. Patty's day shirt. 

I met friends out later for some green beer and had a great time.  Here's to St. Patrick's Day!

Day 36 - March Madness Time

I have to be totally honest - I really don't follow college basketball at all until it's March.  I like to fill out a bracket and see how I do.  Typically i get in a pool of some sort, but this year, I'm just competing against JE.  We haven't come up with the guidelines of the bet yet, but it will be something fun.  We did a bet for bowl picks and the loser had to plan and pay for a date.  I lost, but it was still fun to wager and to enjoy our date.  So, here is my bracket . . .

I haven't finished it yet because I don't want my competition to cheat.  (and I haven't decided who I want yet)  It will be done before games start though.  Wish me luck!

Day 35 - Ebay Rocks!

I was given this bracelet as a great gift for Christmas several years ago by a close friend at the time.

I think it is beautiful, but I don't wear it.  So, I decided recently to try to sell it.  JE posted it on Ebay for me, and I set a price that I felt was extremely reasonable.  It is a retired piece from James Avery, so I knew that someone would love it.  Well, the biding closed today, and it went for almost double the starting price.  I can't lie, the money will be nice to have, but I really hope that this bracelet will bring happiness to its new owner.  A good day for all parties involved.

Day 34 - Monday night finale

Tonight was the finale of The Bachelor, and boy was it an emotional roller coaster.  I had heard that there were spoilers out there saying that he selected Chantel, so I had convinced myself that she was the one.  Well, in true Bachelor fashion, they threw us for a loop.  I know that some people think the show is ridiculous, and sometimes is truly is.  But, if you keep in mind that these are people's real lives, it brings it a little more into perspective.  It breaks my heart every season to watch someone stand there waiting to either get proposed to or broken up with.  I can't imagine how that would feel.  I remind myself that they had to know what they were possibly getting into when they signed up for this, but still, there are feelings involved and that is hard to watch.  Bottom line, he didn't pick who I thought he should have, but I hope everyone involved ends up happy. 

For better or worse, I enjoy watching the craziness and love on this show.

Day 33 - The Sunday paper

I really enjoy the ads that come in the Sunday paper.  The perfect Sunday morning goes a little something like this - sleep until my body decides it's time to wake up, drink a cup of coffe while flipping through the weekly ads.  I have a very specific method to this.  I pull them all out of the paper, get rid of the ones that I don't care about, and then put the rest in order from least important to most favorite.  I typically clip coupons first and then end with the Target ad.  Today wasn't "the perfect Sunday morning", but after some cardio and a yoga class, I stopped at the gas station and picked up a Sunday paper. 

I watched some trashy reality tv and enjoyed my ads.  Ahhhh, Sunday.

Day 32 - Second family

These lovely ladies have always treated me like part of the family.  I'm so blessed to have them in my life. 

Day 31 - Sweet Scrub

KM's wedding shower is tomorrow morning, so some of us got together tonight to do some prep work.  CC had asked me a couple of months ago to help her come up with an idea for the shower gift.  You know, something small that people get to take with them as a thank you for coming.  I feel like so many times shower or wedding gifts are cute but aren't useful.  I expressed that to CC and she agreed.  So I started looking online.  I found little jars that were adorable and then CC and I talked about what could be put in them.  She mentioned that her mom had a recipe for homemade sugar scrub.  I thought that sounded awesome.  So, CC's mom, JM, made these . .

They turned out ADORABLE and they smelled fantastic too!  Thanks JM for making these.  I def need to write down the recipe.

Day 30 - It arrived

I checked the mail today expecting nothing but the usual junk mail.  My heart dropped when I saw that I had priority mail from the U.S. Government.  I immediately starting thinking about my taxes.  But, I've already filled and gotten my return, so I had no idea what this good be.  I got to my car and ripped the envelope open.  I was relieved and ecstatic to see that it was my passport!

I've been meaning to do this for the past 3 years, so I'm uber excited that's finally done.  Watch out world, here I come!

Day 29 - Fun Frog Ring

My mom is the Queen of fun rings.  She probably has 50 of them and wears at least one everyday.  A couple of months back we went to Canton, and we found a lady that sold some very unique rings.  I found one that was a great green color and was kind of in the shape of a frog.  Mom found one that she liked as well, and she bought them for us.  I have to be honest that I haven't worn my since that day, but today it was the perfect accessory for my outfit.

Thanks Mom for being fun and encouraging fun accessories!

Day 28 - Moving Day

The movers came today and loaded up EVERYTHING from JE's house.  I went over after work to help with any of the little last minute things.  While it was hectic and exciting, it was also a little sad.  But then you stop and remember that he is moving to Hawaii, and it's hard to be sad anymore.  After everything was cleaned out, taken out and loaded up, we were popped.  (and we didn't even do that much because there were professional movers.)  I came and picked up my roommate, a different SS, and we met JE for dinner.  The food was good, but afterwards, we all wanted a little something sweet.  Lucky for us there was a Baskin Robbins in the same parking lot.  It was the perfect way to end a busy, stressful and emotional day.

Day 27 - Jardin's

JE used to have a neighbor, SS, and over the past year and half they have become really good friends.  They use to sit on JE's back porch, drink some cold ones, and talk about life.  SS moved out of the neighborhood back in October and tonight will be JE's last night in his house.  So, they decided to get together one last time for beer on the back porch.  After they had caught up, we all went to our favorite little mexican food place, Jardin's.  We drank margaritas, enjoyed a great meal, and had some laughs.

(I took a picture with my phone, but don't know how to get it from there yet, so there is not pic to go with this post yet.  Sorry)

Day 26 - Backyard, a new smoker and some ribs

JE's friend, and mine, JT, recently got a new smoker.  He called JE and said that he was smoking some ribs this afternoon and that we were more than welcome to stop by.  After running some errands, we grabbed some beer and headed to JT's.  The weather was fantastic, so we hung out in the backyard, played with JT's awesome dog, Jameson, and waited for the ribs to finish.  And, oh, were they worth the wait. 

I'm not a big meat eater, but these looked and smelled amazing, and they tasted even better.  Thanks JT for letting us be a part of your first masterpiece from the new smoker.  I look forward to many more!

Day 25 - So fresh and so clean, clean

My amazing boyfriend took me to breakfast this morning and then took my car and had it cleaned inside and out for me.  I was so excited!  It's like driving a totally different car.  I haven't seen it this clean in years.  I need to get this done every couple of months.

Thank you for being so good to me.  You rock!

Day 24 - Ooopppsss

Theres a lot of back story to the happy ending on this one, but I'll try to keep it brief.  A couple of years ago, I found a chip and dip bowl set that I really liked at Kohl's.  When I went to get it, they no longer had it.  Food Network made it as well as some other serving plater/dishes that I liked.  My step mom tried to find it at other Kohl's locations as well as online, but the bowl wasn't available anywhere.  Last summer, CC and I were driving back from Houston and we decided to stop in at Kohl's.  I have no idea what we were looking for, but I was glad that we had stopped.  This Kohl's had the bowl that I wanted!  And, it was buy one get one half off, so I decided to get it and one of the matching serving sets.  I used the chip and dip bowl this past fall at a football watch party, and I got a couple of compliments on it. 

Well, the other day, JE was carrying the empty chip and dip bowls down to his car when apparently he tripped on the stairs and fell.  (He tripped because of a broken big toe that happend on a recent surfing lesson.)  The fall caused the dip bowl to hit the chip bowl and break.  I was very sad when James gave me this bad news and then I felt bad for not asking to make sure that he was ok.  He had a bruise on his knee but was fine otherwise.  He would heal, but the dip bowl couldn't be fixed.  I was afraid that I would not be able to find another chip and dip bowl set since I had stumbled on it to begin with.  After work today, I stopped by Kohl's to see if by some slim chance they would have the chip and dip set.  And . . .

I got the only one they had!!!  To top of this great news, I had a gift card that PS had given me for my birthday which came in very handy.  Thanks PS and thank you Kohl's for keeping this item in stock.  I see several gatherings and delicious dips in my future and I'm glad that I will have this for them.

Day 23 - It's a girl! (we think)

One of my very dearest friends, LB, recently found out she's pregnant.  Well, I guess not all that recent, it was Christmas night to be exact, and now that I'm typing this, I would like to tell the whole story. 

It was Christmas night and LB and I had been texting back and forth about going out to grab a drink with friends.  Her mother in law was in town and I was waiting on JE to get to my mom's house.  As the night progressed, it became apparent that drinks would not be in our future.  LB sent me a picture text and I opened it to see what I thought was a Wii remote.  I took a closer look and realized that it was actually a picture of a pee stick.  Yep, she sent me a picture of the birth control test that she had taken.  I still have not bothered to ask her what led to her taking this test, but it was an interesting mix of emotions to see that picture.  The thoughts/emotions when something like this 1) what is that?/confusion, 2) it's a pee stick/gross, 3) wait, a pregnancy test picture/holy crap, 4) she's pregnant!/totally elation, 5) I have to keep a secret/crap.  Well, I failed a little at number 5.  I was so excited that I immediately told my mom and as soon as JE walked in the door, I told him.  Sorry, LB.  But, I made both of them promise not to tell. 

It's amazing how as soon as you find out someone is pregnant the first thing you want to know is the gender.  We all know that you have to wait until it has those parts to be able to know, but that seems to take forever.  I go back and forth on if I will find out the gender when I'm pregnant and I think I won't really know how I feel about it until that time comes.  But, I'm always super pumped to know when other people find out.  Last week LB had a sonogram and the nurse said that she thinks it's a girl.  I guess they won't know for sure for another month or so, but I heard girl and I'm going with that until I hear differently.  With that said, I have already been giving my opinion on names and room decor, and I picked up this cute little outfit.

I thought it was adorable.  It's a 6 month but if my math is correct she should be wearing it close to Valentine's Day.  It has a cute little ruffle on the back side and says "Daddy's Love" on the front.  I figure it couldn't hurt to earn some brownie points with AB.  I'm so happy for you guys.  Love y'all.  (and Bree.  hehe)

Day 22 - Cards

I checked the mail and got 2 wonderful surprises - cards!  One was from my mother and it had money in it, sweet!  The other was from my JE just to tell me that he was thinking of me, sweet.  I appreciate both of them.  Cards are such an easy and affordable way to make someone's day.  I would like to encourage everyone to skip their morning Starbucks and instead spend that $3.50 to make someone else smile.  These sure did that for me.  Thank you mom and JE!

FYI - Neither of these cards was dirty in any way, I promise.  If your mind went there, then that's on you.



Day 21 - Invitation

As I mentioned in my previous post, CC and I exchange things on Monday nights.  Well, yesterday not only did I get cookies and junk mail, I also got my invitation to KM's bridal shower.  CC is hosting the shower for her sister and therefore created the invitations.  I think they turned out really cute, and I'm looking to the upcoming shower.

For the record, CC has had these for a while, I just hadn't remembered to get mine.  See all you lovely ladies soon!

Day 20 - Cookie Exchange

There is a class at the gym on Monday nights that CC and I enjoy.  The class is fun and kicks our butts, but it's also great to catch up and get in some laughs with CC.  Also, we usually have things to give each other from the previous week(s)/month(s) like mail, a fan, cutting board or clock, or any other random items.  I like to bake and since there are only 2 people in my office, I usually share whatever goodies I've baked with CC and JC.  This week I had made chocolate chip cookies with a marshmallow and some chocolate icing on top.  CC mentioned that she had made some lemon cookies with icing.  So, after class, in the parking lot of the gym, we exchanged cookies.  It's a good thing we workout first. 

Thanks CC!  The cookies were great!

Day 19 - The View

It was cloudy this morning which kind of put a damper on the plans for the day.  We sat around and watched a couple of movies while slowly getting going for the day.  By the time we were ready to head out, the sun had decided to join us.  Lunch at The Oasis was back on.  I have heard the commercials on the radio for The Oasis, and the jingle very easily gets stuck in my head.  I'll sing it for you - "Meet me, at The Oasis".  See, you understand how catchy that is.  Anyway, I was excited to finally be going there.  We decided to eat our late lunch at Uncle Billy's which was one of the 3 restaurants they have.  It is a brewery that serves barbecue.  The beer was good, the food was good, and the company was good.  Oh, and on top of all of that the view was AMAZING.  It made me realize that sometimes we all need to stop moving so fast, take a nice look around at the people, the moments and the joys that make life great. 

Just enjoy the view.

Day 18 - Breakfast

This morning for breakfast I had half of a blueberry muffin, plain yogurt with granola, and some delicious fruit.  It's nice to eat healthy, and this past week has made me much more aware of my eating habits.  I'm glad that this theme week is over but hope that I keep up my awareness and continue to make "healthy" food choices.