Monday, February 22

just for kicks & giggles

1. High heels or boots? Depends on the occasion! I love heels, but I have a low tolerance for painful shoes... 

2. What time did you get up this morning? Well, I got up at 2:45pm yesterday and haven't really slept since...I can't get to sleep!

3. What was the last film you saw at the cinema? Valentine's Day! LOVED it :)
 
4. What is your maiden name?  Weaver

5. What is your favorite TV show? Crappy reality TV (The Bachelor, etc), Desperate Housewives, funny sitcoms (Modern Family, anyone?!?)

6. What did you have for breakfast? munching on pineapple

7. What is your middle name? Nicole :) I used to want to change my name to my middle name, haha.

8. What food do you dislike? Weird texture or raw meat (except for sushi). Ugh.

9. What is your favorite CD at the moment? Gaga and Otherside of Clearview. Totally opposite, I know! I have eclectic tastes!

10.What characteristic do you despise? Unwilling to work hard to reach your potential.

11.Favorite Clothing? Yoga capris and a cozy tank or sweater depending on the weather!

12.Any where in the world on vacation? Greece and Spain!!! Please and thank you.

13.Are you an organized person? Yes!!! Everything has a place (usually) and I'm a total scheduler.

14.Where would you retire too? Somewhere peaceful but fun with my husband, and somewhere where I could still visit family (or they could visit me!)

15.What was your most recent memorable birthday? Mmmmm 21 was pretty memorable! Had lots of friends out to support that momentous occasion!
 
16.What are you going to do when you finish this? Eat breakfast and let the dogs in.

17.Furthest place you are sending this? Wherever the farthest blog reader lives!

18.Person you expect to send it back first?  Well this isn't really an email...

19.When is your birthday ? February 16th

20.Are you a morning person or a night person? I would say a mid-morning person. haha. Is that allowed?

21.What is your shoe size? 6 1/2 - 7

22.Do you own any animals? Yes! I'm sure you all know - Penny and Gryffin! My two puppies :)

23.Any news you'd like to share? Ummmm. I think Celebrity Fit Club is the funniest show I have watched in a while. What a hot mess of celebrities - K Fed, Tanisha from Bad Girls Club, Bobby Brown...

24.When you were little, what did you want to be when you grew up? An actress :)

25.What is your favorite flower? I love those multi-colored daisies!!!

26.What is a day on the calendar you are looking forward to? March 13th - Chelsea Handler! March 27th - Black Eyed Peas and my BFF's baby shower! August - Hawaii???

27.If you were a crayon, what color would you be? I REALLY like emerald green colored crayons. Love to color with them. 
 
28.What is under your bed? Scrapbooking stuff and snowy weather gear.

29.How is the weather right now? Snow on the ground but the sun is shining and making it sparkle :)
 
30.Last person you spoke to on the phone?  Um...Joedy I think?

31.Favorite drink? Ice water!

32.Favorite restaurant? Big City Burrito babayyyy. Love yummy breakfast, too.

33.Hair color? Dirty Blonde normally, died it brown for fun :)

34.What was your favorite toy as a child? Barbies and their accessories!

35.Spring Summer, Fall or Winter? Summer!!! But that's why I love Colorado - we get all the seasons :)

36.Chocolate or vanilla? Vanilla

37.Coffee or tea? Tea for sure! Green tea. Blueberry green tea! Mmmmm. 
 
38.Wish you were still young? I'm very nostalgic about the way things used to be sometimes, but I'm so happy with my life right now and excited for the future :) So no, not really.

39.Do you want your friends to email you back? No, but I hope someone copies me, reposts this, and let's me know so I can read what their answers are. (well said, Jess ;) )

40.When was the last time you cried? Feb 9th - 12th = emotional wreckage...

41.What did you do last night? Cooked pad thai for friends, drank wine, played Scattergories, ate ice cream, snuggled with pups/hubby/book. Great night :)

42.Did someone not like this question? ehhhh, guess not.

43.What are you afraid of? Losing Tyler or having a bad relationship with a family member.

44.Salty or sweet? Both! Like popcorn with chocolate chips - they get all melty! YUM. Messy, but yum.

45.Best quality you have? Determination and positivity (but I have my bad days, too)

46.How many years at your current job? since the end of September - 5 months.

47.Favorite day of the week? Saturday after Tyler has taken a test - then we can actually hang out :)

48.How many people will you send this to? All my readers :)

49.How many will respond? Umm, I'll be ambitious and say 8! haha.

50.Do you like finding out all this stuff about your friends? YES!  

Thanks for reading!  
Cheers :) 

Sunday, February 21

one week changes everything

So, right off the bat, I am going to be honest with you and tell you that I did SO bad about going to the gym over Vday and what not. I missed...drumroll........11 days at the gym. Ugh. So embarrassing to tell you that. But it had to be said. But I stepped it up starting on my bday and have been going consistently again. Okay, with that confession out of the way...

I mentioned a few blogs ago that my brother and I have a rocky relationship, and it has been such a source of stress over the last 6 years. But this week, we made leaps and bounds of progress! On Valentine's Day we talked, then on my birthday he was the first person to tell me "Happy Birthday", then we texted more, then I got a card in the mail from him! Do you realize how big all of these things are for us? HUGE. The card was the most sincere and genuine thing I got from anyone on my birthday. It made my heart soar and it gave me hope that our relationship can once again be everything it used to be. It made my week. Period. :)
This week has also been really great for our new little boy Gryffin! Knock on wood, but we got him last Friday and he is already 4 days straight without any accidents! Hooray! And he knows sit perfectly! The commands down, stay, come, and all done are coming along really well! Such a smart boy. I love him love him love him! And I love that he is a sleepy cuddly kind of guy because I finally have a puppy that wants to nap with me when I get home from work! Penny and Gryffin are so cute together! Penny shows him how to do things - like the stairs and dog door - and Gryffin follows her around like a shadow. The only problem is that Penny loves him SO much, that she doesn't let the poor kid sleep! He's still a puppy puppy, and thus needs lots of naps, whereas she is an older puppy, and doesn't want to do anything but play all day! Thankfully, Gryffin loves his crate, and he just goes in the crate to escape from her for a while ;) 

Also in crate news, Penny had become absolutely NEUROTIC over time about being crated. We're talking she would shred anything she could get her teeth on (therefore we couldn't even leave anything soft in the crate with her), she cried literally the entire time being inside, and she would work herself into such a frenzy that she would pant literally puddles (YES, like a miniature flood) at her feet in the crate. I have never seen anything like it. When we got Gryffin, we decided we were going to start crating Penny again. We started crating them together, and Penny loves it! She has gotten to the point where when we get out their kongs (for non-dog-owners, they are plastic chew toys that you can fill with peanut butter to keep your dogs occupied when you leave), she walks into the crate! She sleeps with him and doesn't panic or even cry (unless Gryffin plops down in the middle of the dog bed and doesn't leave room for her to lay down). It's truly incredible how much can change in a week! I am SO glad we got a second dog, it is truly helping Penny just like we hoped it would.

I wrote a blog a while ago about what makes a friend, and I expressed a lot of heartache over fading relationships and unrequited friendship. I was such a happy girl on Wednesday when two of my best friends, and friends whom part of that particular blog was more or less inspired by, both called me! I was literally in shock! Having them call me made my Wednesday! That plus my brother being open to talking to me again put me on cloud nine :)

The last three nights at work have been busy busy busy! Which is great! Makes the night fly by and I get to stay on my floor! I have tonight off, and Tyler and I cleaned house and are making dinner for some friends. For those of you who know Clint, he is in town interviewing at the med school tomorrow! So he is staying with us tonight and Tyler is driving him to school and everything tomorrow. How cute :)

I hope everyone has had a fabulous weekend! Good luck going into your Mondays!

PS I am so excited there is a new Desperate Housewives on tonight! FINALLY, right?!?!? 

Cheers!

Sunday, February 14

in the name of love

Happy Valentine's Day to all you sweet and fabulous ladies! I am DEFINITELY a fan of Valentine's Day - not for the commercial aspect of chocolates and roses (didn't get either today and didn't want any!) but because it is a day where you are reminded to be appreciative of those who mean something special in your life. It may seem obvious to say 'I Love You' to your parents and significant other, but what about those friends that have been there through thick and thin or your wonderful grandma? I am SO thankful for the loving people I have in my life, strong women and caring men who have helped me to become who I am today! I am thankful for my friends and especially for my blog readers - you all may never know what your comments and support mean to me. This blog is about bettering myself and following my ambitions to make them a part of my reality. Having YOU to hold me accountable means everything. Sharing my stories with you and having my emotions validated can lift me up when I am down. And you all have inspirational stories that help keep me focused on my goals at hand. So thank you - much love to you - and I hope you all have someone special to share your love with today! 

Cheers! :)

Saturday, February 13

and we shall call him GRYFFIN!

After lots of ideas and trial runs of names, we are 99% sure he will be Gryffin! He made it through the first night in his crate, only whining for a minute when we put him in each time. Going potty outside for the most part, so it's looking good! He does pee a little when we pick him up though - either scared or excited...so hopefully that habit goes away REAL quick! Love my newest little lovebug :) And Penny is warming up, too!!!

Happy Saturday!

Cheers -

Friday, February 12

could i BE more emotional???

Well, this week my emotions have been running AMOK! Amok I say! I had a long week because it was my work week - work 6 out of 7 nights - 12 hours a night...makes for a long week, trust me. But I had this light at the end of the tunnel called the weekend. My weekend was going to be SPECTACULAR. First of all, it will be Valentine's Day and the weekend before my bday! Secondly, we were going to go to an adoption event on Saturday and get a brother for Penny! Lastly, my sister was going to come spend the weekend with us - yay! But then...Tuesday night it all changed.

On my way to work I learned that my sister had been grounded from seeing me. EFF. So pissed. Then, at work, I was checking out the adoption event online. CANCELED. FRAAAAACK (my new cussword alternative of choice). I was literally on the verge of tears. That was when my pity party started. And it lasted a solid 30 hours. Then my coworkers were talking about all the amazing plans they had for Vday, which left me feeling very sorry for myself because we had no plans because we were planning on hanging out with new baby puppy and my sister. From there it snowballed into, "We never do anything fun!" "I'm so sad and alone in Denver!" "I have approximately 3 friends in Denver!" "It's my birthday on Tuesday and no one cares and we have no plans and my bday will suckkkkk!" I got home from work and Tyler had already left for school, so I cozied up in bed with roll of toilet paper (because I didn't have a box of tissues) and cried myself to sleep. Pathetic, I know. Even worse, I have a little mouthy pup who doesn't know what to do when humans make that weird sputtering sound with wails and a wet face (aka crying), so she just growled and barked at me until I passed out from utter exhaustion. Upon waking up, I didn't really feel any better, and I was even more upset because I had been so sure that if I just slept some, it would all feel okay when I woke up. Nope. 

So then I had to reflect on what the REAL problem was. 2 weeks ago I put my heart on the line and tried reaching out to my brother. We used to be best friends, and now I'm lucky if I get a text twice a year. Our relationship is rocky, to say the least. Every few months, though, I get brave and reach out via an email, text, or phone call. And usually it's the same response: nothing. Which is the most heart-wrenching thing in the world to me. It actually devastates me, but I try to push it aside like I don't care that much. But then what happens, without fail, is that other trivial things pile up on top of that stress about my relationship with my brother, and they push me over the edge. Then it appears I am a complete psychotic crybaby because some weekend plans got canceled. Geez. 

Weds night at work though I blabbed and blabbed to all my coworkers about my issues, and all that venting and validation sure made me feel better! At their expense, I'm sure. So a big thank you to my lovely nursing ladies for hearing me out til ALL hours of the morning! haha. 

By Thursday, my parents decided my sister was allowed to come see me. YAY! Tyler and I also decided to do something about this "no fun" rut we've been in (which is mostly my fault because I'm trying to save money so we never do anything), and we bought tickets to go see Chelsea Handler in Denver in March! YAY! Do you even know how much I love Chelsea Lately??? Things were looking up! 

This morning, Tyler and I woke up early and cooked breakfast together - which was so fun! He decided not to go to class so we made an extensive grocery list and went to the grocery store. $275 later...we replenished our freezer, fridge, and pantry. Happy day :) Then, I needed to go to PetSmart to get Penny some food. I called to see their hours, and on their voicemail they talked about a Second Chance for Love Adoption event starting Friday, February 12th. WAIT, HOLD UP...an adoption event? Now? Today? OMG. It was 8:50 and the event started at 9. Tyler, Penny, and I raced to the car and took off to PetSmart! 

At the event, we fell in love with a boxer/shar pei mix. Boy, was he full of energy! As adorable as he was, trouble was clearly stamped on his forehead. Then we met a cute, soft, relaxed little red heeler mix. He snuggled us as soon as we said hello and we wasn't scared of Penny (although she's small, she's definitely an in-your-face kinda girl), so that was good! We decided he would be perfect because he's not going to challenge Penny for the Alpha position, but he'd be a great playful companion! So here's our new little baby (and hopefully our last baby anything for a few years at least!)

 
Do you have any name ideas? We liked Crush at first, but he's to mild for that. Meeko? Mowgli? Riley? Tiko? I don't know. We'd LOVE input and ideas!!! Help!

So, things are looking up! We're leaving in a few to pick up my sister at the beloved half-way point of McDonald's in Longmont, and looking forward to a weekend in with all my loves! And some sweet rentals :) I hope everyone has a great weekend! Please share ideas for puppy names! He loves to snuggle, is very sweet, chews a lot, not so aggressive...Thanks in advance!!!

 
 
Cheers!!! :)

Saturday, February 6

an apple a day

Tonight, I am blogging from the IMC - Intermediate Care Unit. Last week, I mentioned that I worked in the ICU. The IMC is like the next step up in the world. So it's not quite as intense (pun kind of intended). As always, it's better to float around the hospital than have my shift canceled! So thankful! Okay, short story time: When I got to work on Thursday evening, I walked into the staff break room (like I always do), glanced down at my mailbox (like I always do), and noticed some apple cards (which I never do!). There is a nurse whose name looks a lot like mine, and her mailbox is right next to mine, and usually when I see an apple card down there, it belongs to her. So I had to double and triple check that they were actually in my box! And guess what?!? There were THREE! I know they are kind of silly to be so excited about, but it means a lot to me when patients take the time to recognize my hard work. So that brings my total to 4, and yup, I'm running out of space for my apple stickers on my badge ;) If you have no clue what I'm talking about, read this old blog about halfway down, and it explains the concept of the covetable apple card.

In puppy news...we have definitely decided to adopt another rescue dog! We are looking at Colorado Puppy Rescue because they have adoption events every Saturday. Since I have next weekend off, it's going to be adoption day (hopefully). This adoption will be a little different than when we adopted Penny. Mostly because we have her to keep in mind. With her imabadass attitude, it's going to be important we don't get another female that's going to try to be alpha. So, we're leaning toward a boy! We don't have specific breeds in mind, but something medium-large (not the adorable St. Bernard mix we were looking at earlier - too big, realistically) that is smartish and mucho friendly. So...wish us luck that we find just the right pup to complete our little family for the time being! We hope Penny will be super stoked to have a buddy :)

Aside from the obvious excitement over the prospect of adopting another pup, I can't wait for next weekend because my sister is coming up! Yay! She hasn't had a weekend with us since Tyler's bday weekend before Christmas! And now it will be my bday weekend! Perfect! I love spending time with her, and she'll get to be there during the adoption! This time, I finally finished the guest bedroom so she won't have to sleep on the couch :)

Aaaaand, here comes Valentine's Day! I love this holiday because it just reminds me to be thankful for the loving relationships I have in my life. If we do adopt on Saturday, we probably will cook dinner together on Sunday or order dinner in, because I guarantee neither of us will want to leave the new baby all alone that soon! Looking forward to a low-key holiday, celebrating with my two very best friends - my hubby and my sister :) Can't imagine anything better!

I'm excited to have tomorrow night off work! Nap in the morning, hopefully take Penny to the dog park if the weather is nice enough, hit the gym, and cook dinner! Monday maybe I'll get my tax documents (where the eff is my $$$ from my First Time Homebuyer's Credit anyway??? A girl's gotta shop sometime...geez) in order and run some errands.

I hope everyone had a fabulous weekend and that you've got some lovely people in your life to do something special for this Valentine's Day!

Cheers -

Thursday, February 4

how am i measuring up?

Hey all - so, I believe I have mentioned my persistent trainer - we'll call him Mr.Trainer (original, I know). He is awesome. Funny thing is, when we signed up at 24hr in September, we got 3 training sessions free (it was some promo). So after those 3 sessions, I was prepared to say, "It's been great. It's been sweaty. See you around." And scamper off to nurse my aching muscles. But nooooo. Mr. Trainer texts me if he hasn't seen me at the gym, and is always trying to get me to come in and train with him. Believe me, if I could afford it, I'd work out with him every day! But a gym membership alone is costly enough! He knows that I'm not financially in a position to work with him consistently, but that doesn't stop him from wanting to help me (and his wallet, too, I'm sure). It's actually a great extra source of motivation, because if I haven't seen him in oh, a day, I figure I better get my butt in there or I'll be hearing from him. I think he might live there, because he actually is there every time I am. And trust me, I don't go at a regular time each day. Anywhere from about 4am - 11pm. And sometimes between 11pm and 4am. I mentioned that one of my goals was to go in and get measured with him before my bday, and I did just that on Tuesday. 

Results:
  •  Down 9 lbs since the last time we measured (12 lbs overall)
  • Lost fat/inches in biceps, triceps, back, chest (Mr. Trainer doesn't like when I lose an inch in the chest because he says I do too much cardio and will get saggy...but I like it, so there. I mean, I do my obligatory chest presses and stuff, too dontcha know).
  • Lost fat in abdomen (measured with the mean ole pinchers) but no inches...hmmmm. No bueno. Because according to Mr. Trainer, this is the main place that indicates the tightening of the body.
  • No lost inches in booty. Damn.
  • BMI and body fat % are down 
  • Lost two pounds of muscle apparently...oops. Don't know how considering I think I do a pretty good job at lifting/cardio. I definitely eat - no starvation going on here - and I try to drink protein shakes...when I think about it...
Overall, I am pleased with our little measuring session. I'm going to work really hard on my core in the next month, and set a goal to get measured again by the end of March. Let's say March 25th just because that sounds nice.

One thing that I think is really affecting my health is my sleep pattern - or lack there of. This last week, I never really got back into sleeping at nights. I was always up by like 3 or 4am...which is evidenced by my early bird facebook activity. Ugh. I start my work week tonight, then next week I am going to try SUPER hard to get on a regular night sleep schedule. 

I finished Life of Pi by Yann Martel this week. I started it in November, and had a really difficult time getting into it. The first 60 pages or so are background and didn't really keep my attention. But then it gets to the part where a 16-year-old boy gets stranded in the Pacific Ocean on a life boat with a hyena, an orangutan, a zebra, and a tiger. Yep. Things got interesting, all right! Once I got there, I finished it in 2 days! Haha. 


I am now reading Ken Follett's The Pillars of the Earth. And I'd love to get some book suggestions for when I'm finished. Any suggestions? I read pretty much all genres! On my list are The Faith Club, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Son of a Witch, and The Help


I hope everyone has had a great week! Anyone have awesome weekend plans? Pray for tons of deliveries for me so that I can stay and work on my floor and not get canceled or floated too much! FYI - I got floated to the ICU last weekend...really great learning experience, but also really scary. Tubes EVERYWHERE. Not quite the same happy-go-lucky joyful general attitude in the ICU that you find on the postpartum unit!

Oh, and I finally got my first Artist's Magazine and Cosmo en Espanol! That I ordered in November! So I've got a lot to read, and I'm looking forward to it!


Cheers :)

Monday, February 1

disney, how i love thee

This girl LOVES Disney movies! I am embarrassed to admit that I have yet to see the Princess and the Frog, but I'll grab it up on Red Box as soon as it comes out, I swear! Tyler and other people have been asking me about what I want for my birthday, seeing as how it's in 2 weeks! Don't get me wrong, I love presents, but for some reason I don't really like to make a big fuss out of my birthday. I like holidays where everyone gets presents because I love to BUY presents and see people's reactions when they open them! I was kind of just making a list of stuff I want just for the sake of having some gift ideas for people...and here are some ideas on my list:
  • Nerdiest idea ever - swim cap and goggles. haha. But sometimes I would go swimming of only I didn't have to get nasty chlorine in my hair!
  • New Nikes -  I designed some online. They're ridiculous...ridiculously AWESOME! The Nike website is down (geez, it's like it's 3ish in the morning and they're doing website formatting or something...) or I would show you a pic. Lotsa colorsssss!
  • Michael's Gift Card - this one I actually want. Then I can buy oils and whatever else I need to support my hobby without feeling like I am breaking the bank!
Then, I had an urge the other day to watch a Disney movie, and I realized that I own 0ZERO0 Disney movies! Saaaad day! So, I have decided it is imperative to get this tragic situation under control and start collecting them! Here are some of my FAVORITES (found a fantastic list of ALL Disney movies ever made!) in order of release:

1. Dumbo
2. Peter Pan
3. Lady and the Tramp***
4. Sleeping Beauty
5. The Sword in the Stone***
Ha, the squirrels are my favorite part!
6. The Jungle Book
7. Robin Hood***
8. The Fox and the Hound***
9. The Great Mouse Detective***
10. Oliver & Company
This movie is HiLaRiOuS!
11. The Little Mermaid
12. Aladdin***
13. The Lion King***
14. Pocahontas
15. Toy Story (I know it's not classic Disney animation, but I love it!!!)
My favorite Disney love story :)

16. The Hunchback of Notre Dame
17. 101 Dalmations
18. Mulan***
19. Tarzan
20. The Emperor's New Groove***
My favorite princess, by far! What a badass.
21. Lilo & Stitch 
22. Finding Nemo
23. Ratatouille
24. Up
Wow...that's a lot of favorites! 

Let's also not forget some of the incredible Disney flicks that aren't animated! Also in order of release, man, some of the old ones are AWESOME!

1. Swiss Family Robinson
2. Mary Poppins
3. The Love Bug
4. Bedknobs and Broomsticks
5. Homeward Bound
6. The Santa Clause
7. Tom & Huck (during my extreme infatuation with the one and only JTT)
8. Mighty Joe Young
9. The Princess Diaries
10. Tuck Everlasting
11. Holes
12. Pirates of the Caribbean x 3
What are your favorites??? Also, anyone down for a Disney-thon??? Slash dress-up party? 

Also, it looks like we may be getting a puppy earlier than April! Tyler is stuck on the idea and wants one right now!!! Daunting yet exciting!!! Here is one that we are REALLY interested in, but she could be adopted already, we're trying to find out...
 For some reason, it came out all pixely, but this is Poky! The St. Bernard mix!!!
Ummm...just a little cute!  
Off to the gym...I have to go get measured with my trainer tomorrow! Scary...but hey, I told you I'd  do it before my birthday! And I'll be a full 2 weeks early :)

Hope you have a great Monday and a fantastic week! Any ambitions of the week you'd like to share?