tag

Ashley at Everything is Uncharted has tagged me in a blogger get to know you game :)

Part 1: Rules

1) You must post the rules.

2) Post eleven fun facts about yourself on the blog post.

3) Answer the questions the tagger set for you in their post, and then create eleven new questions to ask the people you've tagged.

4) Tag eleven people and link them on your post.

5) Let them know you've tagged them!

Part 2: 11 Random Facts

1) Most of you probably know this one, but I played rugby for 6 years in highschool and college. I miss the game and the camaraderie, but my joints sure don't miss it!!!

2) My husband is my high school sweetheart :)

3) Lived in Burbank, CA for 3 months when I was in the 3rd grade to try my hand at acting! Made it into a Muppet movie, a math movie, and a local small budget film :) Got paid, came home, and bought a TON of Barbies at Wal Mart. 

4) 2 things I refuse to buy premade when I could make them at home: Bloody Marys and guacamole. I have serious skills in making these 2 treats. 

5) I think I have a tv addiction.

6) I wish I had a gym addiction.

7) I want to raise a family in Fort Collins, Colorado.

8) I was involved in so many clubs in high school that I only went out to lunch with friends 3 TIMES senior year! The rest of my lunches were spent at club meetings!

9) I consider shopping to be therapy. It costs the same as real therapy probably.

10) Something I refuse to spend money on are massages --- that's my husband's job! 

11) My car is named Princess :)

Part 3a: Ashley's Questions for Me

In the event of some sort of disaster what three items would you grab first?

My husband, my dogs (can they count as one?), and my laptop (has all my pictures on it!)

If you could have any super power, what would you choose?

To be able to pause time! Then I could extend my days and hit the gym or study until I actually feel prepared for an exam instead of freak out cramming all the time!

Who is your favorite music artist/band?

I don't have one favorite...but some of my top jams include: Britney (fan for 12 years!), Gaga (much respect), Rihanna, Tom Petty (since I was 5 years old), Adele, 80s Madonna, No Doubt, Blink 182.  

What is your favorite thing about blogging?

Getting things off my chest, writing is therapeutic!

What’s the best movie you’ve seen in theaters in that past month (or so)?

I have watched SO many movies in the last month since I have been on vacation. The only movie I saw in the theaters was New Years Eve, and it was a lot of fun! The best movie I rented was Soul Surfer! I also loved Our Idiot Brother, Crazy, Stupid Love, Midnight in Paris, the Justin Bieber movie, and How Does She Do It

Do/Did you go to college? If so, where?!

Graduated with my undergraduate at Colorado State University in Fort Collins, Colorado in 2008. Now I'm in graduate school studying to be a Physician Assistant in Aurora, Colorado. Graduate in 2014!

What TV show is your guilty pleasure?

Desperate Housewives --- that show has gone to complete shit! And yet I still watch it. Seeing it through it's final season :)

Facebook, Twitter, or Other?

Facebook, I have a serious problem!

Given the option, where in the world would you like to live?

Temporarily? Spain!!! Permanently? Fort Collins, CO. 

What are you currently reading?

The Education of Little Tree and The Devil in the White City

You just won 1 million dollars! What is the first thing you are going to do with it?

Pay off my townhome, my car, and school loans!!!

Part 3b: My Questions for You

1. What is the best book you have ever read?

2. If you could live in any decade for a year, which would you choose and why?

3. Who is the first celebrity crush you can remember having? (JTT!!! haha)

4. What is the best TV show you have ever watched?

5. If you could create your own nonprofit organization, what would your efforts go towards?

6. If you could dye your hair any color and be able to change it back with a snap, what color would you dye it?

7. Describe your dream home :)

8. If you could have any nonconventional animal (not a dog, cat, bird, etc) as a pet, what would it be?

9. If you could have one superpower, what would it be?

10. What is your favorite karaoke song?

11. What household chore do you loathe the most?

Part 4: Tagging

Well, I'm not really going to follow the rules. I tag YOU! All of you!!! I love you all and can't choose only 11 blogs to tag! Anyone who thinks this is fun, post this tag game on your blog :)

Have fun!

CHEERS!!!

changing my heart

Hey there guys, this post is an update on the drama that is Naggie {my neighbor}. If you're not familiar with Part One of this story, you might want to read up real quick. In short - she is a 67-year-old woman who is absolutely certain we are trying to ruin her life by playing really loud bass music all day and night. She has written letters to the HOA, called the police on us, and talks badly of us to all our other neighbors. We don't even play music. If I do, it's on my laptop, and it's not possible for it to even produce a bass sound. She also makes allegations that our dogs bark too much and that we never clean up their poop. Except for the part where we clean up the backyard every 2 days...but whatever. That's what we've been dealing with, and last week, things got HEATED over in this hood!

On Monday, April 11th, I was packing for our vacation, when I hear a knock on the door. Two police officers were standing there. Immediately I felt my blood begin to boil. I said to the officers, "I assume Naggie called the police on us for supposed bass music and dogs barking?" They chuckled and asked to come in. They started praising my dogs, asking what kind they were, saying how well-behaved they were {I am so glad they got the memo to be on their best behavior on front of police officers!!!} Anyway, the officers noted that there was no music playing and that it was really quiet in our house. Yup, as usual. The officers then mentioned that she also called the cops on Sunday, April 10th. Really? We were at the zoo all day, not even home! I told them I was literally shaking because I was so frustrated with this woman's continuing to call the police over something that isn't even happening. They gave me information for a local mediation officer, told me they were going to write up a report for the call saying that the call was "unfounded" - unnecessary and bogus pretty much. Then they left.

As I'm sitting in my house seething with anger, I see Naggie standing outside my house. She does that sometimes. Just stands there to see if she can hear music playing. I'm starting to consider it an intimidating gesture. So I open my door and step outside. She immediately retreats inside her house. I go knock on her door and ask her if I can help her with something since she was standing in front of my house. And that's when she goes berserk! 

She has always been passive with me, never directly confrontational. But today she started screaming at me, "You can't say anything to me! I'm sick of all your lies! You people play music nonstop! You played it all night Saturday night so that I was too tired to go to church Sunday! And your dogs are horrible." I'm fuming. And although my voice is shaky, I am trying my best not to yell back. But I do counter with, "Naggie. We went to bed at 10 o'clock Saturday night! And if our dogs are so horrible, why does every officer love them and state that they're merely doing their job as dogs by barking when people approach our home? If you can't handle the normal noise of having neighbors, maybe you should move." To this, she throws her hands up in the air and tells me, "Well I was here first!." Okay, are we in 1st grade? I'm well aware that you have been here tormenting other neighbors for years. I march away from her door because I'm afraid I'm going to slap an old lady, when she shouts after me, "You trashy bitch!"

WOW.

Just --- wow. 

 She claims to be this admirable Christian woman going to church all the time, when really, she's one of those judgmental and higher-than-thou religious people that makes non-religious people shy away from Christianity all together. And she has the nerve to call me a trashy bitch. I probably don't even need to tell you that for the next 24 hours, I said more curse words than I have said probably in the last 6 months. I was SO. MAD. I was crying because I didn't know how else to handle my anger. And I'm sure my blood pressure was through the roof. I left a message for the mediation officer stating is was imperative that we talked and sort things out ASAP, then I tried to take a deep breath and get ready for our vacation. 

Although we had a wonderful trip to San Diego, every few hours I would think about the frustration that my situation with Naggie had brought about. She certainly affected our trip in some ways. Then we checked the mail when got home this last Sunday. Surprise, surprise. We find a letter from our HOA stating that it has come to their attention that we are not in compliance with HOA standards. It had come to their attention {I wonder how...} that we were violating these standards by playing music loudly and not picking up our dog feces. Again --- cue blood boiling and steam coming out my ears. It's no question who reported these supposed violations to our HOA. They ask you to agree to correct the issue and go on with our day. Well, no thank you. I refuse to sign a document agreeing to correct the issue when we have done nothing wrong. The only other course of action is to request a hearing with the Board of our HOA where we and the complainant { = Naggie} get together to hash it out. Sounds lovely. 

I have had it with this woman. 

She is trying any venue she can to be as annoying as possible to us. 

I get it. She's old. She's lonely. She's angry, bitter, and frustrated. Frustrated because she probably does hear noises. Whether they're in her head or she really hears music, it's not coming from us. I feel badly for her. But I'm still done with her. 

Most of the support I have gotten from friends during this time are words encouraging me to "fight back" or to "play dirty too". I must admit at first that was my plan. Fight fire with fire, right?

But then I started thinking about how draining it is to carry around that anger all the time. It's absolutely exhausting. Not to mention it affects every other area of my life to where I see things through a more pessimistic and violent lens. Which is NOT what I want.

I decided to try handling this situation differently. While I will absolutely continue to protect ourselves, doing the hearing with our HOA and continuing conversation with our mediation officer, I no longer want to let her take away my happiness. I don't want to be bitter because of her. I'd rather wash my hands clean of her negativity. Instead of narrowing my eyes, thinking thoughts of hate, and sending bad vibes her way, I decided to pray for her. I pray for her mental health. I pray that her family comes into her life and softens her up a bit. I pray she finds things to do with her time so she isn't just idle with nothing better to do than call the cops on us. I have been reading scriptures on forgiveness. And you know what? I feel so much better. I am much more calmed down. I'm not at complete peace with the situation, but I am proud to say I'm handling it with much more grace than I ever thought possible. 

Is she crazy? Mean? Bossy? Manipulative, negative, rude? Yes. She is all of those things. But if I utilize my background in psychology, and really think about the underlying reasoning for all of her behaviors, then I feel sorry for her. She's elderly. Bored. Lonely. Bitter. Confused and frustrated about this bass music that she truly believes she hears. Immaturity has no age limit, and she showed her true colors last week. But I refuse to get down on her level. I will stay above it all. 

Do any of you have any Bible readings you might suggest to help me with my efforts to forgive, and Heaven forbid, LOVE my neighbor? 

Cheers.

out with the old --- in with the new {and sparkly!}

Howdy, y'all! {I like Texans, okay?}

Happy Friday to you! It was my Friday last night at work, too, and I don't have to go to work again to April 20th!!! Wahoooo! I have all of next week off {vacation days, babay!} so that Tyler and I can take a vacation and guess where we're headed?

Still don't know?

Yup! SAN DIEGO!!!

We are so excited :) I haven't been since I was 9 years old {and trying to be a movie star --- but that's a different story altogether} and Tyler has never been, so this should be rad! We have lots of plans! Zoo, Sea World, Pacific Beach {or P.B. as I have been instructed to call it}, Gas Lamp Quarter, Downtown, Balboa Park, Seaport Village, and Belmont Park! Phew. We are up in the air about Coronado Island and the Wild Animal Reserve. What do you think? What is a MUST see/do in San Diego?

Anyway, vacation details aside...I got new glasses! About a year and a half ago I got these {awww one of Gryffy baby's first puppy pictures!!!}:

And I adored them! Aaaaand I lost them. In Breck. Who knows where in Breck? Not me.

So, I replaced them with these!

Just picked them up yesterday and I love em! They are very me and I hope I don't lose them! {ummm just cleaned out my flex spending account getting them so I have NO money for another replacement!} Yay yay I'm excited :) I can finally see again! Plus I feel fancy because they're my first Coach product to own! Aaaand probably my last. So I'm gonna treasure 'em!

Lastly I wanted to share with you all the ingredient of the week at mi casa: ASPARAGUS! Yum!

We had it in a delicious Asparagus Frittata that the hubs so kindly made,

and then we had it again last night just baked with a little butter and balsamic vinegar! Mmmmm.

What have you been cooking with lately?

Happy weekend :)

Cheers!!!

the girl who played with fire

Hi!!!

I realize I have been a stranger to blogland. Sorry :( I've missed you! I have loooots to tell you about, so be prepared for like 6 blog posts, haha. First thing, I read the sequel to The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo. Book #6 of 2011 :) Thank goodness the action picked up much earlier in The Girl Who Played With Fire! This book's plot is based around a trio of murders, sex crimes, and intense background on Lisbeth. I'm still not in awe of the series, but I am attached to the main character, Lisbeth, so I plan on reading the third book in the series. 

Then I think I'm moving on the Hunger Games trilogy. I've heard great things about those books!

What have you been reading? 

Any suggestions?

I'm trying to read as much as I can before I start school in June!!! 

Speaking of school, I had a total freak out session the other day. I cried and realized that I am nervous as HELL to start! I put an insane amount of pressure on myself to excel in whatever I do, especially academics, and I am just so scared of failure! But luckily I have an incredibly supportive husband that listened to my lunacy and reassured me that I will not fail, and that yes, this is the right direction for me to be heading. *sigh* Severe crisis averted.

Cheers :)

thoughts i am thinking

Happy Wednesday!

I am thinking some random things. And maybe you'd like to take a little trip into this silly little mind of mine...

1. So...you know I have been collecting Disney movies...last week I went a little crazy and bought like 10 movies between ebay, Amazon, and Target. I decided to try buying a couple of used movies that were of "very good" quality to save some $$. Well, that worked out just fine for Aladdin and Pocahontas...but let me tell you...my Emperor's New Groove used movie was NOT "very good" quality! The cover had sticky stuff on it and the pictures under the plastic were all frayed around the edges. Not cool. :( So, what do I do? I buy another *new* copy from Target! Morals of the story: I'm not buying used D. movies anymore - sorry, I just like the shiny pretty covers too much. And I'm kind of ridiculous, proof being that now I own two copies of the Emperor's New Groove. lol. 

2. Speaking of said Disney spree...I have decided that my compulsive and impulsive buying needs to stop...like yesterday! I decided I am going to my girlfriend's wedding in Seattle in September, and to make this work I need to cut out the D sprees, Target sprees, and all other unnecessary expenses that would make me feel slightly guilty. I decided this on Sunday and so far, so good! {I know, it's only been 3 days...but give me a little credit!}

3. I DESPERATELY need to go to the grocery store! I. Need. Milk. A.S.A.P. Our fridge is pretty bare except for condiments...

4. I saw Salt with a gf last night. Pretty good! I mean, it's the typical Angelina is a hot bad-ass movie, but there's some pretty sweet CIA/spy twists to it! I give it 3 1/2 stars. 

5. My mommy is coming up today to hang out! We're going to cruise the Cherry Creek Dog Park :)

6. I'm going to the Springs tonight to see Pro!!! Hooray for impromptu dates :)

7. I ran 7 miles yesterday! Yep. I ran ALL 7 (taking a 30 second break every 2 miles for some H2O) I felt really good about it :) And I'm logging off in a few to hit the gym with Joedes!

8. I am reading the Amber Spyglass - the third installment of His Dark Materials (The Golden Compass series) and all I can think about are the characters/storyline. I even had a dream last night where my sister was a soul-sucking Spector except she could only go through walls where there were Christmas wreaths hanging, otherwise a flower would hit her in the face. Weird. And my brother and I were doing math homework. Real weird.

Anyhoo - RANDOME - I'm off to hit the gym, buy some milk, then curl up with my book til my mama gets here! What a fab Wednesday, y'all! I hope you have a good one, too!

xoxo CHEERS! xoxo

joys & concerns

So, I was thinking about how I have a few things to rant about, but also a few fun things to tell you all about. And the phrase 'joys and concerns' popped into my head. During my junior high and high school youth group years, at the end of each youth group, we went around in a circle and discussed the joys in our lives and also things we're concerned about. So, without further ado...


First, the pity party: I think many of you know that Tyler and I had been really excited to take a trip together to Hawaii. Then, in April his car died and we had to buy a new one. Scratch any chance of a romantic getaway. I felt slightly better because I had a really fun week planned in the middle of July. First, I bought tickets to Lilith Fair, which is playing this Tuesday. I am going with my mom, sister, aunt, and cousins. Totally excited! Then last week I found out that Kelly Clarkson pulled out of Lilith Fair. UGH! Not fair. Pun totally intended. Whatever. So now I know Sarah McLaughlin and Ingrid Michaelson, who will be great, and then there is a slew of other artists that I have never heard of. Effing Kelly. Then the other fun part of this upcoming week was going to be the Rihanna & Ke$ha concert on Thurs. Planning on going with Mandrew - and we were totally ready to rock! But I guess I'll never know how awesome it would have been because Rihanna canceled her concert!!! Not cool! So my supersweet week that I have been looking forward to ALL summer now kind of sucks.
But now, for the fun things that make up for the bummerness of the concert situation. Work was actually superfun last week! It reaffirmed my decision to stay on nights because I LOVE my coworkers :) This weekend was sooooo much fun. Keyan came down Friday night and we went to the Rockies game. It was perfect weather, we witnessed a grand slam, and we won - so all around a great night! Saturday we decided to go to the Sports Column with Keyan, Clint, and Erin to watch the World Cup 3rd place game. Sadly, the bar wasn't full of the rowdy soccer hooligans we had been hoping for, but it was a good game nonetheless! And the bottomless mimosas for $9 didn't hurt! Neither did watching the boys do the jalapeno eating challenge. Haha. They ate a raw jalapeno, waited 5 minutes without drinking anything, then had a tequila shot. And they got a shirt out of the deal :) 

Saturday night was a blast, too! A lot of my nursing coworkers and I went out for a fancy little black dress night! We started at the Rio for some margs and foodstuffs, then we headed to the Champagne Bar. Which I LOVED! At some point someone decided we should tell people it was my bachelorette party because there were 13 of us out! So the shots for the bachelorette and her bridal party started flowing! We followed up with a night of dancing at Suite 200. Overall fab night! And felt stellar today, let me tell you :( Tyler and I have decided to ward of alcohol for the next three months because...A) We are tired of hangovers. and B)...

We signed up for the Rock & Roll Half Marathon! I've always wanted to do a half marathon, and I've been lacking motivation for working out, so I thought this might give me the kick in the pants I need! It sounds like it's going to be fun (is there really a way for running 13.1 miles to be fun?), because at every mile marker, there is a live band rocking out! I figured it will distract me a bit during the run. And after, there is a party at the finish line, so that should be fun too! I've been recruiting people to do it with me, so now I really have to work hard for it, because I don't want to be the one who can't do it! Tomorrow starts my training! I have til October 17th to be ready, and my goal is to finish it in 2hrs 30mins...I'm eager to get it started! And honestly, with all the drinking I did this weekend, I am looking forward for a break from my friend alcohol. He's a bad influence on me and doesn't help my weight loss whatsoever!

I'll keep you posted on my training!

Cheers to your week!

music music music!

Hey y'all! It's midweek and I have to tell you, I have been pretty darn lazy with my week thus far. We went camping over the weekend, which was fun and beautiful. Sunday I accidentally got waaaasted. How does that accidentally happen? Well. It all started with an innocent enough glass of wine with my husband. Then our friends came to stay the night while they are house-hunting in Denver. We were so happy to see them, and offered them a beverage. Before I knew it, I had polished off a bottle of wine {almost all by myself - oops}. Next thing I know, my hands had mixed margarita ingredients, shaked the goods on ice, and poured a tall round of margs. Without my brain knowing, my sneaky hands accomplished all of that. Damn. Then my brilliant husband {we make quite a pair ;)} poured a round of tequila shots. RED FLAG RED FLAG! Then, I decide to finish the night by polishing off a beer. Naturally.

Ugh. So...I spent Monday in a worthless state known as a hangover. Literally all day long. Like - puking until 6pm. Go big or go home, right? Welp. I went big.

Monday night, however, I went over to Mandrew's for a little din-din action {well, Sprite and watermelon...}, and I learned an A.MAZING technology trick - how to convert videos into mp3s!!! So, I spent the afternoon getting lots and lots of freeee music! Hooray! What sort of songs did I download? Ones like these. Haha. Prepare to be amused. 

Lion King + Lil' John = Stuntin' Like Mufasa

Omg I'm such a nerd. I literally downloaded 20 Disney songs, some remixes, some sung by famous peeps, and some the movie version. LOVE me some Disney, as you probably know by know (if not, check out this post). I also spent the majority of the day listening to the Glee soundtracks! So awesome! My favorite favorite favorite is the It's My Life + Confessions mash up :)

So then I worked last night, slept for a few hours today, and am about to meet my friend at the gym. My work called to see if I wanted to work a bonus shift - which I do - but I've had 3 1/2 hours of sleep today. Probably not a great idea. Plus, I've been missing quality time with my husband like nobody's business. Between work and all this camping and visitors staying with us - we haven't truly had a night to ourselves in soooooo long. So I'm thinking a night in with the loves of my life is in order :)

Happy Weds, my friends! I hope it's a blessed one :)

Cheers

lazy, yet awesome!

This weekend was the first weekend since Tyler has been done with his first year of med school that we actually got to spend it together just being kind of lazy! And it was GREAT! Don't get me wrong, camping last weekend was a blast, but sometimes it's so nice just to lounge, you know? So, on Thursday night we did the big TV shopping trip! And we found ourselves a Panasonic 50" Plasma with 720p capabilities at Best Buy. It was perfectly in our price range, but then the 4-year additional warranty added another $140...and the energy saving power strip added another $80...and then there's tax...damn...another $65. So we ended up over budget on the TV but we were way under budget on our couch, so it actually evened out perfectly to what our living room budget is! Hooray!

Here's a pic:

The entertainment center looks a little better with the upgraded TV, right! (here's a pic of our dinky TV from before just for an FYI comparison!)

We have enjoyed our new TV PLENTY this weekend! Especially with the start of the World Cup! What fun :) I like soccer, and I have played it for most of my life, but Tyler REALLY likes soccer! It's so fun to watch something with him that he actually gets excited about. He doesn't really get excited about much on TV, so it's definitely a treat to see him worked up about watching something for once!

On Saturday night we rented The Hangover via DVDPlay (similar to RedBox) and enjoyed the hilarity of the ridiculous situations they found themselves in during that fateful night in Vegas! We saw it in the theaters but I had forgotten all the one-liners that I loved so much the first time around! 

Sunday night we rented Shutter Island. OMG Scorsese! Such a mind trip at the end! Well done, and I'm obsessed with DiCaprio, but I still can't decide it he was crazy or not?!?! What do you think? Was he a man who cracked because of what his wife and then subsequently he did? Or was he truly Teddy and everyone was in on this plot to keep him on the island? Or was he crazy but had a breakthrough and then pretended to still be crazy so he could go to the lighthouse and be through with life as he knew it because he couldn't pretend through the pain anymore? Either way, it was a good flick!

Thus far, this post makes it sound as though we've been on the couch ALL weekend! Most, but not all, my friends :) Friday night we went to the Garden Grapes & Hops event at the Botanic Gardens with my family. It was sooooooo much fun! Picture this: $25. Buys you all the wine, beer, and food samples you want for 4 hours. From top wineries, breweries, and restaurants. Accompanied by live music delivered by the band HomeSlice. It was AWESOME! It is now my new summer tradition! I hope to go and drag along as many friends/family as I can every year! It was great weather during the first hour, and then rained a bit for the next few. But with some beer in one hand and an umbrella in the other + tons of tents to ward off the rain, it was fine! Plus it kept some of the people who can't handle rain away = more food for me! lol. Then the rain stopped and we went in front of the stage and sang and dance to our hearts' content! Such a fun night. Here are some pics to prove it:

The pretty lights in the tents!

Saturday was my sister-in-law's 21st birthday, so we went to her house in Greeley and played some games and ate some good eats. I also hit the gym twice this weekend. So, you see, my rear wasn't glued to the couch ALL weekend ;)

Anyhoo - that was my weekend! Hope yours was fab!

Cheers to a new week!

confusing the IRS

Okay, peeps, I am BEYOND thrilled to share with you that I FINALLY got my first time homebuyer's credit in the mail today! There is kind of a history to this situation...let me share the timeline with you...

*April 2009 - Got married

*August 2009 - Bought townhome

*September 2009 - amend 2008 taxes for first time homebuyer's credit  because SURELY it will be much faster to amend 2008's taxes than to wait for 2009 taxes to go through in April 2010. Have to amend each of our separate 2008 tax returns because as of taxes 2008 we were not yet married.

*October 2009 - receive tax amendments back because of an error - fix and refile

*December 2009 - receive Tyler's half of the homebuyer's credit

*January 2010 - receive letter saying my claim for my half of the credit is being audited. UGH! Have to submit 5 documents (car title, house deed, driver's license...I don't even remember what else) to prove I am me (name changes are confusing for the IRS, I guess) and that I do in fact own the home I'm claiming to own.

*March 2010 - receive letter saying the audit is being processed.

*May 2010 - receive letter saying they believe me and credit is on the way

*June 2010 - receive credit in the mail!

The only thing good about the whole delay debacle is that they add interest to what they owe you so I got $180 interest from the IRS. Nice! 

However, the battle isn't over...I went to deposit the check and realized it was made out to my MAIDEN NAME! Ugh!!! So...I deposited it anyway and am crossing my fingers that everything goes well! 

Because...I have been waiting 9 months for this and we are using some of the $$$ to re-do our living room! I am dying to get our new couch and tv and rug and bookshelves!!! Please please please go through, money! 

Okay, so now you all have heard me whine :) 

On that note, I am happy it's Friday and I don't work til Monday night so I plan on enjoying the weekend with good friends, food, travel, camping, and whatever else comes my way!

Much love & Cheers!

i can hardly see straight...

Contrary to what the title of this post on a Friday night (or Saturday morning) at 5am might make you think, the reason why I can't see straight isn't from a fun night out on the town imbibing big kid beverages. I can't blame it on the a-a-a-a-a-alcohol babay. It's because it's 5am and I'm at work...my third 12-hour shift in a row...omg. I'm on my break, and man, 5am - without fail - is my wall. I hit it hard every morning, and no amount of repititions of "only two hours left" can make my eyes open any wider. Maybe it's psychological and if I stop looking at clocks at work I won't know when 5am hits and I won't ram into that wall of lethargy. But I probably will. And considering my job relies a lot on looking at the clock for vital signs and baby feedings...it isn't really an option to not look at it. Oh well. Don't get me wrong, work has been great this week! I got to work my night shifts on my normal floor with a great crew. It's been steady busy so the nights have gone by fairly quickly, I can't really complain! It's my own fault that I cheerily bounce out of bed during the day after maybe 5 hours of sleep, so sure that it won't be a problem come 5am...but it always is! Will I ever learn??? haha.

Well, I'm almost done with my shift which means I'm almost done with my work week which means I can almost enjoy Memorial Day weekend! Yay!!! We will probably do some really crazy exciting stuff like go to the dog park, go to the gym, and maybe go to church! Outlandish, I know ;)

But I think I am headed to Estes Park with a girlfriend Monday for some hiking and hanging out, so that should be lots of fun! Of course Estes is having both an Art Market with music/food in the park and an antiques and collectables show on Memorial Day (more crazy activities from my life for ya), so that should be entertaining at least!

TANGENT --> speaking of antique and arts shows, fun little fact about me: my grandmother buys Native American jewelry from artists on reservations and sells it out of her home, out of a shop for a while, and multiple times each year at shows just like the aforementioned arts/crafts or antiques/collectables shows. When I was 7 years old, I started helping her at these shows. I still help her every once in a while. It's a fun way to spend a day with my grandma, and it's a fanTAStic place to people watch! A lot of crazies show up at those things! Plus, my grandma pays me in *jewelry* - sterling silver and turquoise or opal or onyx or coral...what granddaughter could say no to that proposition?

Tangent aside, I apologize for my spelling if there are any errors (fun fact #2 - I placed second in our school spelling bee in the 5th grade. I'm a genius ;) ). Like I said, it's 5am...plus these computers don't have built in spell-check (sad generation we are, if the computer won't check it for me...I can't be bothered to read over my blog post for errors!).

Happy Memorial Day weekend!!!
Cheers to you and yours~

it's been a while

Hey y'all! Sorry I've been MIA...I haven't been doing too much noteworthy stuff lately. Kind of taking a break of home decorating stuff since I am waiting on my homebuyer's credit before I can really tackle the living room (PS - I've been waiting for it since NOVEMBER. November, people!!!! Ugh.) The dogs have been behaving themselves in the back yard - for now, anyway. I was doing super with working out, then took the weekend off. Today I am so sore from my arms work out yesterday, and I got my butt kicked by Mr. Trainer at the gym this morning! My legs are going to die tonight at work!!! 

I guess the biggest news is that I've started watching GLEE! Haha. I'm such a theatrical nut and I knew I should have been watching it since it started, but I avoid starting a new show because I get so addicted so easily to TV (It's sick!)! Yesterday I watched a few episodes, and they are so much fun! Borrowed Season 1 from Mandrew (thank you thank you thank you!) and am enjoying some more today :) 

Anyone else watch the Biggest Loser finale last night?!?! So awesome! My favorite part about Biggest Loser finales is the pride you see on the contestants' faces. Their smiles are just so beautiful to me! Love it :) Already excited for next season!

Pretty awesome how TV is the most exciting thing in my life, lol. 

Today I've just been playing wifey, doing laundry times a million, dishes, planning recipes, and going to the grocery store. What fun! It's not so bad interspersed with Glee episodes!!!

Happy Weds - I hope everyone has a good rest of your week!

Cheers!

shopping shopping shopping

Yesterday was such a blast! I went shopping at Cherry Creek with Lindsey at They Call Me Pro. Hooray! We had lunch at California Pizza Kitchen - YUM.O. We then did a complete round on both levels of the mall - phew! I managed to keep everything under control! I have been needing some new Nikes for a while, and I found a pair! They were even "on sale" - which meant normally $115 and priced down to $89. So, $26 off, but still pricey! I also got my mom the MOST incredible Mother's Day gift! I can't tell you what it is because she is very sneaky and reads my blog sometimes ;) So I'll tell you about it after Mother's Day! It was so nice to hang out with a friend who is so easy to get along with! Very refreshing and lots of fun! 

Today I was reading an entry at Bon Bon Rose Girls and it was about wall decals. It TOTALLY inspired me to get cracking on finishing decorating my townhome! Everything is in its place, but I'm not done with ANY room in the house, and we've lived here since September! Yikes! So I have made a list of rooms that need to be finished and what I want to do in each room. Realistically, we'll have to wait on some of the furniture "needs" for a while, but a lot of the other stuff I can get done! So back to the decals, here is one I am thinking about putting up above our bed! 

LOVE IT! 

Although since our walls are white, I am thinking green branches and not sure what color birds.

Here is our room as of now, you can see that space above our bed would be PERFECT!

So excited! So, I am starting my projects TODAY! I am finishing a painting for my mom then putting together shadow boxes for Penny and Gryffin. Yay! 

Does anyone have a favorite store to find home decorating things for a good price?

Thanks & Cheers!

my patience is running out...VERY quickly

As most of you know, I have a job that I really like. I work at a hospital on the mom/baby floor, taking care of the mothers after they deliver as well as the newborns in the well baby nursery. It is so much fun! I LOVE my coworkers, too, which I think makes all the difference in the world at a job. My pay is okay, the benefits are great...so what is the problem? As most of you also know, if there are not many babies, then I am S.O.L. and my shifts get canceled. Sometimes I am lucky and other places in the hospital need me, so I float to other floors to work. This is usually awesome because I get so much experience in other areas of medicine. And I am okay with one shift being canceled per paycheck (two weeks). But this week was a whole new ball game, not one I'm ready or willing to play...I was supposed to work Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday (12 hr nights)...and I got canceled for EVERYTHING except 4 hours last night. Going from 36 hours to 4 hours on my paycheck isn't something small and insignificant. I ran out of PTO a long time ago...I feel like crying. 

I know everything happens for a reason, but I'm just wondering what God's message to me is right now. On the one hand, Tyler has been on Spring Break this week, and maybe I wasn't supposed to work so that I could spend some much needed time with him. On the other hand, maybe this is supposed to be the last straw in a series of frustrating times of being canceled from work. But this is just ridiculous. I can't be expected to be okay with it. I don't know what to do. Supposedly the slow season ends mid - April, but that still doesn't make this okay. If all you need is help May - November, then hire a seasonal CNA! I was planning on working here until hopefully getting into PA school in one year...but that means enduring another slow season of work from Nov - April next year. And who's to say I'm going to even get into PA school next year. 

I am sad, angry, and confused. Do I get a second job so I can have some sort of paycheck? But what about when work picks up and then I'd have to work 2 jobs. Do I start the hunt for a new job altogether? I suppose I could. It's just all so daunting. I finally feel like I know what's going on at work (got the job in September), and the thought of starting all that all over again just sucks. Do I just stick it out? I have been painting, and I have been thinking of setting up something on Etsy where I could sell some stuff. I'm currently painting for Sydnie's nursery, and it's really fun, so maybe have nursery/kids' room art for sale? But I have no idea how to even start that or anything, so I don't know. 

Bottom line is this, I'm frustrated and conflicted. Tyler doesn't want me to stress because technically we have his loans to live off of. It's not like I'm skipping meals because I can't afford to eat. It's interesting to feel the pressure of the provider of a family. Especially since I have two chomping puppy mouths to feed on top of it all. I'm just so worn out by this game of not knowing whether I'll have any work this week. But living off of loans isn't ideal, and it means we don't have the extra income we had planned on. That gorgeous romantic trip to Hawaii Tyler and I were going to take in August? Yeah. Not going to happen. This summer Tyler gets 10 days off from school things, and he doesn't get any more summers off for the next 3 years, so I was really hoping Hawaii would be our thing we could do together since we won't have the opportunity to travel together anytime in the near future.

Sorry if this sounds so negative. 
I'm just worn, and I don't know what to do. 

a sun kissed time

This whole week has just felt sun-kissed to me! I worked Wednesday and Thursday and was low volumed on Friday - yay! I took the opportunity to actually do something for myself - and went to the gym! Then I decided to be social and went out with some girls for a girls' night birthday celebration! My oh-so-sweet husband dropped me off downtown (with puppies in tow, of course!) and we had a lot of fun! I hardly ever go out, and this was a much needed night of girl time! 

I ended up having a good ole' fashioned sleepover at Whitney's - which was fun! So much girl talk...which when drunk leads to deep heartfelt confessions, reminiscing about high school, and too many tears. Haha. Saturday morning I FINALLY tried Snooze for the first time. I had never even heard about Snooze until I moved to Denver, and then it was the only breakfast place that anyone ever talked about! People looked at me like I was crazy when I said I had never eaten there. It was similar to how I react if someone from Fort Collins says they have never eaten at Big City Burrito (which is sheer craziness, by the way, because we all know who makes the world's best burrito...). It was really yummy - and the pomegranite mimosa helped the hangover, for sure ;)

 At breakfast

Tyler picked me up from Whitney's, then I came home for day of relaxation in the sun. I'm not too picky about where/how I'm in the sun, as long as I'm basking in it (and no, I'm not advocating for skin cancer - always wear sunscreen!). Since we don't have any lounge chairs, I brought Penny's dog bed outside and lounged on it. Ha. Tyler was amused and took a photo to document (no, I'm not posting it - it's REAL unflattering, just trust me). And the dogs were just plain confused. They circled me, sniffed me, and pawed at me. Penny cried a few times until she realized I wasn't about to budge from my cozy place on her bed. They settled in beside me and we dozed for an hour. It was glorious :) Although, after sleeping on the bed, I decided it needed to be washed...it smelled of peanut butter from their kongs. Once I was able (took quite a bit of resting...), we took the doggies on a walk. See, I knew I'd be such a better mom once the weather was better!

After the walk we napped the evening away, then got dressed in our best duds and went to an 80s party that a nurse from work was having! I went as an 80s prom and Tyler was kind of 80s prom but then didn't really turn out that way. Either way, we were 80s through and through.

Now, I am SUCH a fan of theme parties!!! Sometimes I wonder if the only reason I stuck with rugby over the college years was for the incredible theme parties we threw! Not really - I loved the sport and my teammates :) but seriously, we threw rad parties. Here are pictures from our Gangster, Pirate, and Pretty Pretty Princess parties:

I think a party of rugby girls dressed as princesses was my favorite!!!

Anyways...Sunday was momentous for us - we took the puppies to a dog park for the first time! We found a free fenced in park only about 10 minutes from where we live, so that is awesome! If you haven't gathered from my previous posts about Penny...she actually thinks she is a princess. I'm serious. She thinks Tyler and I are her servants and that Gryffin is a high-tech toy we got for her. She does what she wants, pretty much. We do try to make her behave, and she'll do it, but not without mouthing off. She is also so very Alpha with anyone we meet. No matter that she is only 32 lbs, she takes on dogs who are 100+ lbs like they're a chihuahua. Ridiculous. So, while we were excited for this outing, we were actually pretty sure we were going to get kicked out and have to run awkwardly and embarrasedly away with our yipping and misbehaving little mongrels happily at our heals. Holding our breath, we walked into the dog park. After about 30 seconds of watching the dozens of dogs running around, and Penny and Gryffin surprisingly remaining calm about the situation, we nervously took off their leashes. Instead of immediately darting away from us, they hung out by us and started doing a lap of the perimeter of the park. They happily greeted each and every human and dog they came across, no aggression whatsoever! And no humping from Gryffin! Double success! We were there for over an hour before the pups started to slow down (and by slow down I mean jogging instead of racing everywhere). Our babies did great - and I was SO proud to not be kicked out of the dog park on our first visit!

Tongues out = tired and blissful!

After the dog park I decided to go shopping at Costco for the first time. If you remember, I signed up for our Costco membership last week. I was only going for the necessities - paper towels, toilet paper, snacks for the Oscars...and a book...and a 13-pack of Chapstick (!?!? Amazing deal, I assure you)...and a 3-pack of mascara (which I needed for reals). $250 and an hour of walking around the gargantuan warehouse with wide eyes later, I made it out alive and well.

I made it home just in time for Colleen and Ollie to arrive for an Oscars play date! Colleen brought the vino and I had the snacks - and we enjoyed hours of cheering for Sandra Bullock, The Hurt Locker, and Avatar, making fun of George Clooney's really weird facial expressions, and oohing and aahing over the gorgeous gowns. I was a little mad that the dresses these people wear on a night out were that beautiful, but whatever, because I am planning on going to Forever 21 this weekend. Take that, Hollywood. 2 bottles of wine later, we said goodbye to our friends and we went to bed. But I did insist on Penny staying the night in our bed with us. haha. Oops. Good thing Tyler knows just when to not argue, but roll his eyes, sigh, and kiss me on the forehead. Even when I'm being a completely tipsy, stubborn, giggling idiot. Love him :)

I worked Monday night and got sent home at 3am. I was really excited because I was exhausted. I was asleep by 4am and had 8 hours of glorious sleep in by noon! But of course I slept til 2pm...just for good measure. I woke up and planned meals with Tyler. Did I mention he gave up CHEESE for Lent?!?! Sheesh. So we've been trying to find decent food that doesn't have cheese in it (I'm not entirely sure that exists). Here's what we came up with: bratwursts with sauerkraut, curried split pea soup, corn and buttermilk soup with tomato corn relish, BLTs, and chicken coconut curry soup. Apparently I'm into soups this week. I'm also planning on making myself cream cheese and cucumber sandwiches, YUM. LOVE FOOD.

At the grocery store I also picked up some lovely daffodils that caught my eye on the way to the check out. They are so sunny and beautiful - I couldn't resist them! Plus at $1.48 for a bundle - how can you refuse? So I got two, duh, and now they look so lovely on our table!

Tuesday night at work was fine - it was a little sad because we had two demises - or babies who had passed away in utero and the moms still had to labor and deliver them. So many things about my job make me so scared to have babies...So tonight, I should have been at work a few hours ago but I was low volumed for the first 4 hours. So I'll see at 9pm if they need me. Hopefully they do because we are low on the $$Moneys$$. After blogging I'm heading to the gym, where I plan to get my cardio on and hopefully watch Modern Family if it is playing on one of the screens!

Tyler has his finals tomorrow and Friday, and I am SO looking forward to him having a true Spring Break! Saturday we are planning on going to the dog park again and Saturday night we are seeing Chelsea Handler from Chelsea Lately - and I cannot wait! She is such a hilarious woman! Sunday we have designated as "Cuddle Day" - and I am so excited! We get to rent movies and catch up on lounging together on the couch! Yay! It's going to be a wonderful weekend :) 

Sooooo...I'm realizing that I should really blog more frequently instead of these RIDICULOUSLY long blogs once every 10 days...my bad. Thanks for bearing with me, and I'll try to do better! Happy Wednesday evening, everyone :)

Cheers - to you and yours -

random can be good, right?

Heylooooo. So today I have been completely lazy and it has been so great! Just doing laundry and getting stuff done around the house during commercials of crap tv shows. haha. Ideal ;) My puppies were terrorizing each other and the house until about 2:30pm when they finally decided to take a nap. Damn, it's been about 2 hours and I'm sure they will be awake and fully refreshed and RECHARGED any minute now. I think I forgot to post my latest painting...so here it is :)

 

And how was everyone's weekend? Mine was actually really eventful! Friday afternoon one of my friends Becky came up to hang out. This was QUITE a treat because she has been one of my best friends since junior high, was in my wedding last April, and then we haven't truly hung out since my wedding. Booooo. 

 

So it was REALLY great to catch up! Then we went to dinner at the Samba Room with Ashley and Joedy and made a girls' night out of it! I totally recommend Samba Room! It's a Cuban restaurant downtown with fantastic mojitos!!! 

  

Becky, me, Ashley, Joedy :)

Love it. We then hit a few bars - Atomic Cowboy and Rock Bar. SO much fun! I happened to meet up with a girl I lived next to in the dorms and haven't seen in ages! 

  

Hi Megan!!!

Tyler came and picked us up at last call (love him!) along with the babies! Someone threw up in the car on the way home...and no it wasn't me...it seems little Gryffin may have some carsickness issues because this is the third time he has gotten sick in the car. Poor guy. 

Saturday I slept til 1:30pm...wow...haven't done that in forever!!! Very nice! Then just relaxed with Tyler until dinner at Mimi's Cafe (YUM) with Tyler's aunt and uncle. They are so sweet and we love going to dinner with them! Tyler's uncle wants to wrestle alligators and I offered him practice on Penny. If you can catch her and pin her in our backyard, then I'm sure you can take on a little ole' gator ;) 

Sunday Tyler and I went to church with Manuel&Andrew. Lots of fun! We haven't gone to any churches down here yet (pathetic, I know...). It honestly has been on my list of things to do ever since we have moved! My excuse is that working every other Saturday night does not make me energetic to go to a new church on Sunday morning! Just laziness, I suppose. But it was a great contemporary service with a band at a church that preaches about acceptance and love - just my style :)

After church we went to brunch at Sam's #3 downtown. It is the third in the chain to open (hence the name) and it was delicious! Mandrew claims it's their new brunch diner they loved it so much. After brunch we were driving home through Cherry Creek where I saw The Container Store. I remarked, "Oooh, I've always wanted to go in there," to which Manuel replied, "Good girl! There's the green light I was lookin' for!" And he promptly turned into the parking lot. Haha. The truth is, I had been avoiding the store because I have a natural affinity for organization, and I thought the store might bring out some inner crazy Martha and I would go on a storage container shopping frenzy. Luckily Tyler was there. We only made one purchase - a lovely magazine/newspaper bin for our coffee table. But I was this close to buying a dog food bin. I would have if it were on sale, but I couldn't justify spending $45 on a dog food bin. Even though it had two openings. And a built in clip to hang the dog food scoop on. And lovely little doggie decals on the sides of the bin...oh crap, I'm probably going back to purchase it soon, aren't I? 

After our impulsive swerve into the Container Store, we really were headed home. Until we saw a sign for an estate sale. We all decided we'd really like to go to one because we'd never been to one and it sounded like fun! Plus we could look for unique little treasure. Unfortunately, it was like when people don't take down the signs for the garage sale that happened a day ago. Which - PS - is a huge pet peeve of mine! If you are going to put up garage sale signs - then go take them down after it's over! I could sue you for false advertising. Maybe. Somehow. Plus it'll just become litter to our poor Mother Earth. Clearly, there was no estate sale :( Boo.  

So we were really on our way home this time. Until we saw Costco and I said, "I've been meaning to go there for  forever to get a membership!" Mandrew decide they'd like some samples, so we pull into the Costco parking lot. We tour the facility and all it had to offer and I went to get my membership while the boys got nourishment in the form of ice cream and hot dogs. I'm really stoked to have a membership there! But I'm also really nervous at how much I'm going to spend...good thing the lady at the membership counter conned kindly talked me into upgrading my membership (for only $50!) to the one where I get 2% of my purchases back at the end of the year. So it all makes the spending okay, you see?!?! I already have a list of completely necessary things I need to return for. 

Listen to me - I sound like a shopaholic! Which makes sense considering I am reading the Shopaholic series! I read Confessions of a Shopaholic last year, and have wanted to read the rest of the series ever since then! It is a frothy and hilarious series of books with a main character whose neurotic behaviors crack me up! Thank goodness I don't compulsively lie like the protagonist does...but maybe I do compulsively buy if I don't watch myself! The most dangerous thing Tyler ever said to me was, "Well, you make all the money, you can buy whatever you want!" My jaw dropped and I told him to never say such things again unless he wanted to seriously see what I was capable of! haha. 

So yes, I finally finished The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follet. All 976 pages. Sheesh. 500 pages through, I just wanted to be done with it! Don't get me wrong, it was a good book. It was set in England during the 1100s (a time period in which I LOVE), and the character development was incredible. That was the bulk of the book. I got really really into the plight of the good guys and hoping for the bad guys to all get what was coming to them. If you have some time, I recommend it. If you don't like rapes depicted down the last detail, then don't read it. Because that happens for too often than I ever cared to read. Ever. In my lifetime. And it was all packaged in one book. 

After the severity of that book, I decided I needed something fun and bubbly, so Tyler and I went to Barnes & Noble and I purchased the rest of the Shopaholic series. I also purchased Chasing Harry Winston by Lauren Weisberger (auther of the Devil Wears Prada) and the third book to the Wicked series. Yes, I bought 6 books in one trip, but I had a gift card from my birthday! And if you're going to splurge on something, I figure books are okay. 

This post has been kind of rambling about, and I hope I haven't come across as frenetic or anything! Things just kept coming to me!

SO looking forward to the bachelor finale tonight! Eeek! I have a feeling in the pit of my stomach that Vienna will be the winner, but I love Tenley. I actually would like to be her best friend. She seems so positive, despite all that's happened to her! Some quotes the girls she lived with in the Bachelor house have said about her, 

"The girl shits rainbows" - Gia

"She probably dreams in cartoons...I'm just sayin'!" - Vienna

"She fell out of a Disney movie" - Jessie

Love it! Go Tenley! If she doesn't win - I wish her someone with a love for life and a heart of gold just like she has!

Cheers!!!