Fall day

What a lovely day it has been! Unfortunately, we had to spend a good chunk of it getting the duplex ready for our next tenant. . .but I was still able to enjoy the cool breeze coming in through the windows.

Right now I’m sitting in my living room chair looking around my house and feeling this huge sense of pride. There’s not a clump of hair or dirt to be found and it smells of cinnamon brooms and fresh laundry. Unfortunately, the yard didn’t get mowed and Milo didn’t get a bath. . .ohh, and the toilets didn’t get scrubbed and the weeds didn’t get pulled. . .but we do what we can. I take a whole lot of pride in my house though and I think Kevin would say the same. Even when I rented an apartment, I tried to respect wherever it was I called home. I’d say the biggest downfall to having rental property is seeing how disrespectful people are of their “home”. What’s even worse is having to clean up that disrespect. Uhhhh. I am very thankful for Kevin though and his decision to buy the duplex back in the day. It’s a good source of income for us that I never want to take for granted, and I will always do what needs to be done (with small amounts of whining) in order to keep that running smoothly.

Now my favorite day of the week is slowly coming to an end. . . and there’s still so much more to be done. Groceries to be bought and clothes to be hung. . .but I guess there’s plenty of time for that stuff. Tonight I will relax with my husband and watch Sarah Palin impersonating Tina Fey on SNL. Thank God for Tivo!

Ouch

That’s how my head has been feeling ever since I went to the chiropractor this morning. I know it’s going to help things long term, but it didn’t help how I feel TODAY. I have a terrible headache. Everything is too loud, overly bright, and incredibly annoying. The doctor said my neck spine doesn’t have quite the curve that it’s supposed to. He said it could be due to my car accident a couple years ago, or something that just never really fully developed when I was a child. It’s a good thing I’m getting it fixed now, seeing how it could have gotten much worse. It’s nice hearing that there has been a reason for the headaches I’ve been getting. . .but it’ll be even nicer when they go away with treatment. I really liked the chiropractor I went to. He was very friendly, explained everything in great detail, and calmed my fears of chiropractors stepping on my back and crushing my spine to pieces!

Oh man, I love my husband! Just as I was writing this he came in and surprised me at work with the sweetest card. It’s kinda-sorta-exactly what I needed today. He can always manage to put this huge smile on my face and make me forget all the bad things going on in the world. He makes me love love.

And now I’m about to go home and put an ice pack around my neck and take a couple extra strength Tylenol. Maybe I’ll even eat bad and not exercise. That will make for a relaxing, fun night! (I’m so old!)

We’re a mess

I’ve been having a not so fun time with my back and neck. It feels like I’ve been in a car accident where someone hit me from behind, but as far as I know. . .that hasn’t happened anytime recent. I can’t figure it out. I’m going to make an appointment with a chiropractor next week, despite my nervousness about doing so. Maybe it’ll help. I’m desperate for some relief, so I’ll try anything at this point.

Today I started going through our guest bedroom closet. Some things got thrown away, some stored away in the attic, and others just stayed put. I guess that closet is meant to store things, but I just can’t handle not being able to walk in to our “walk-in” closet. Tonight I was helping Kevin put some of the stuff away in the attic, when a 20lb dumbell fell on his shoulder. He was standing on the stairs to the attic when the dumbbell rolled right down on him. Poor guy. He’s been icing it ever since. So now, we’re both sore and pathetic watching Saturday night fights.

As I was going through our closet, I came across my wedding dress (and a ton of other wedding stuff!). I’m so confused on what I’m supposed to do with it. I love my dress. It didn’t take very long to find, but when I saw it I knew it was just perfect. It was so me. The bottom is completely dirty and just might have a small red velvet cake stain, but it’s still beautiful. Here are a few ideas I’ve come up with. . .

1. Sell it. That would mean me having to get the dress cleaned which I can’t imagine being cheap. As is I didn’t pay very much for my dress, so I really don’t feel it’d be worth the hassle and money.

2. Make something out of it. Unfortunately, I don’t know how to make things.

3. Store it. Who knows if I’ll ever have a daughter, and chances are the trends will be completely different by then anyway. Why would I really want to spend the money to have something saved in a box? I don’t think so.

4. Trash it! This is my favorite option so far. I’d like to hire a photographer to do a fun photo session of me in my dress jumping into a pool, playing on the beach, or rolling in the mud. How cool would that be? Maybe I’ll do that soon!

I’m open to any other ideas seeing as I don’t really have the extra money right now to do a random photo shoot!

Sunday, beautiful Sunday

This weekend seemed long, yet not quite long enough for everything I needed to get done.  Yesterday I slept in. . . and boy was that nice! I don’t know how many other people would consider 9am “sleeping in”, but that seems to be my new sleeping in time. It used to be the dragging me out of bed time.  I was also able to paint the guest bathroom and the color turned out perfect! I have before and after pictures but I’m not completely satisfied with the after, so pictures will come later. I’d like to get a new shower curtain, some art for the wall, and some new accessories.  It feels really nice to have the entire house feel done though. Done meaning paint. . . because I’m pretty sure our house will never really be complete, unless we end up living here for years to come. My list of to-dos would fill up this post and bore you to death. Those will come in time though, as there are many more important things to spend our money on. Although, new flooring and counter tops in our bathrooms would be GREAT!

Today after church, we went to a birthday party for my Grandma. After that we went over to my parents house to help them book their mini vacation to NYC! My mom is totally excited, and I’m completely happy for them to get away. They deserve some time away. They deserve a lot of good things that never seem to happen though.

Tonight we were able to curl up on the couch, watch a movie, and eat some delicious ice cream sundaes! This has become our Sunday night ritual. Sometimes I wish I could just stop time on Sunday evenings. It is my all time favorite day of the week! I’m sure it also doesn’t help that the dreaded Monday is whats to follow. Hopefully this week will be better having Kirstie back at work!

Crazy Love

Crazy Love was the topic at church this morning. (Go there and watch the video “The Awe Factor of God”). Later on while at the book store looking for a new purchase I stumbled across the book “Crazy Love” which I imagine our Pastor based the sermon off of. The whole concept is how big our God really is. There’s so many things that happen on a daily basis that are truly amazing and I don’t even stop and give thanks to the One who created all of it. I’m so small in the grand scheme of things, and to think how God cares so much about me is beyond anything I can really grasp. Who am I to live so selfish? That’s something I am struggling with, as I’m sure most of us are.

Well, I’ve had a very productive weekend. Friday night we got to spend time with Jason and Lis. Jason is the Pastor at the church we attend and have come to love! We had a really good time eating pizza and playing games. Rest of the weekend was spent checking off all of the stuff on my to-do list. Cleaned the entire house, emptied the laundry baskets, washed my car, bought a new Beta fish, went grocery shopping and to Target, got a new book, and turned the house into a festive fall theme! What a way to kick-off a great week!

Time to go start dinner and spend the evening with my husband!

Simple is the theme. . .

Yesterday was a nice day. For some reason beyond me, I actually enjoy having a daily routine. Just a couple of years ago. . .I didn’t want anything to be the same from day to day.  Now, when my routine goes out the window I feel so much unlike myself. We were able to go grocery shopping, and FINALLY go to the gym. Also, I got a bunch of new fall decor! I figure since we don’t really get to see the beautiful season, I can at least pretend and make the inside of our home have the smell and look of fall. I’m completely and utterly jealous of the people who actually get to experience the weather and leaves changing. The little bit we do have here in Florida, I love and am very excited about! As well as enjoying my routine from day to day, I’m learning to enjoy the simple things. My new favorite simple thing is Rachel’s Organic Vanilla Chai Yogurt. Who knew yogurt could be so amazing? I’ve ate yogurt for years. . .you know, the fat free Publix Vanilla or Strawberry kind. I feel like I could never go back to those now, they are just so sugary compared to Rachel’s. If you love yogurt, you must try this brand. It’s just simply delicious!

This weekend I plan to clean, clean, clean! Milo has been shedding his hair like crazy, and it’s driving me mad. If I had one complaint about him, that’s it. He’s such a good dog though and makes us happy. Wednesday night when we got home, he wasn’t at the door to greet us like usual. So we immediately went to check our closet and of course he was in there asleep. When we aren’t home and it’s storming, he’ll go in there to hide and usually just falls asleep. It’s kind of the cutest thing ever.

I also plan to buy some paint this weekend to paint our guest bathroom. That’s something I’ve put off for the past year, and it just simply needs to be done. White walls have no place in my home!

Well, I’m gonna go finish looking through the personals on Craigslist. It’s one of those simple things that makes for a good laugh! Is that mean?

No longer on “vacashehon”!!!!

Hello, blog. How I haven’t missed you.

I can’t tell you how nice it was going one whole week without looking at a phone or computer. We debated on bringing the laptop with us, and I’m so glad we decided against it. Just my favorite person in the world, a balcony with a great view of the never ending ocean, and a ever-so-big swayey boat. (Swayey? I’m gonna go ahead and assume that’s not a real word, but I like it anyway.)
It was such a nice week, despite the not-so-fun effects from Hurricane “Hhhike”. . .as the captain would say. We missed our first stop in Grand Cayman due to the poor weather conditions. It worked out pretty good seeing as we didn’t have any excursions planned for the day, although we were slightly disappointed since we wanted to walk around and just see the island, but life went on. The next day we arrived a couple hours ahead of schedule in Isla Roatan, Honduras. We walked around a bit and then headed off on our tour to go Snuba. Snuba is a mix of snorkeling and scuba diving. Let me tell you, I was TERRIFIED. I had only been snorkeling once before, and it wasn’t the best experience. So when they started to strap weight belts around people, I freaked. I didn’t want to be that lame girl though so I toughed it out and went along with everyone else. I kept my weight belt on the raft until I saw that everyone else wasn’t sinking to the bottom of the ocean like I thought they would. It was a really good experience. Unfortunately, the water was terribly murky and I didn’t see one single fish. . .but a good time was still had. After that we saw some beautiful birds, and met a little baby monkey named Peter. Peter was just about the cutest thing I’ve ever seen, so now my dream to own a monkey one day is right there along with owning my own private island! Both will happen, you’ll see.

Next up was Belize! There we were whisked away on a small boat to a private island (like the one I will own some day), where we spent a couple hours swimming along-side fish, lobster, and many other crazy ocean creatures. It was such a nice, calm, relaxing day on the beach. The last port we got to see was Cozumel, Mexico. This was by far my most favorite place. I’m not sure if it was because of the awesome resort we got to spend the day at, or eating the BEST chicken tacos I’ve ever had, EVER. . .but it was just perfect. If it wasn’t for the salty taste in my mouth, I would have thought we were snorkeling in a pool. . .the water was that blue. The fish just circled you. Big ones, little ones, bright and striped. . .it was like swimming in a fish tank. I hope our cheap underwater camera was able to capture just a small ounce of the beauty. At the resort we also got the chance to zip line and rock climb. That was intimidating, thrilling, and fulfilling all at the same time. We already want to book our next vacation!

Rest of the trip was spent sitting on our balcony enjoying the water, eating until we wanted to puke, laughing at the people who wore bed accessories as clothing as well as laughing at the ones who didn’t, and enjoying the complete and simple comfort of each others company.

Tonight I will finish laundry, finish uploading the hundreds of pictures we took, and try to kick this cold and sickness I’ve had building up inside of me. UHHH! 7 days wasn’t quite long enough.

A couple of my favorite pictures from the cruise. . .(if you check out our flickr, there’s around 400 pictures or something crazy like that!)

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Excitement is taking over!!!!!!

Free Grillsmith lunch today, TGIF tomorrow, packing for our cruise on Saturday, and we’re outta here on Sunday! Pray that we won’t meet Hurricane Ike in Cuba, I have a feeling he wouldn’t be too friendly.

New bedroom

I’ve finally gotten around to taking pictures of our bedroom. I’m in love with the way it turned out! There’s still a few things I’d like to get (1 being a big flat screen over the dresser!), but I’m very content. I am crazy about our new mattress. I seriously have to recommend USMattress to anyone who needs a new mattress and doesn’t mind waiting a couple of weeks. Go out and find the mattress you want, then look for it on their website and they are pretty much guaranteed to have it. It’s crazy how much money we saved.

Maybe tomorrow hurricane Fay will give me a day off and I’ll be able to write more. I’ll leave you with pictures!

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I’m really trying to shine here, I’m really trying.

I ‘m going to get my hair colored today!! I’ve never really said that and gotten excited. When you work in a salon, you definitely take for granted how often you’re able to get your hair colored. I’ve been keeping up with it myself, but it’s definitely not the same. I LOVE people doing my hair, it’s such a calming and relaxing experience. My at home pedicures aren’t really doing the job either. There’s just something about having somebody else scrub the dead skin off your feet! I also just love being in a salon. Some days I miss the smell of hair dye and rotten egg perms, so I think about going back. . .but then I realize I don’t actually miss it. I don’t really miss my first client on a Saturday AM just not showing up, or the drama that ensues working around a bunch of other women, or people making you cry because they wanted to look like Angelina Jolie but for some reason they still look like themselves. Uck. I don’t miss that at all! It was fun though. I miss being around people, and hearing them say I’m the only one they trust with their hair. There’s a lot of power that comes with chopping away at someone’s hair. They need complete trust in you. I think it was too much power for me, along with too much worry. I didn’t really want this to become a post about my past career, but I guess it is what it is.

We are starting the Extreme Fat Smash Diet tomorrow. Our cruise is 4 weeks away and this is a 3 week crash diet. Yeah, yeah, I know that slow weight loss and long term healthy choices is the best way to a healthy body, but we’re looking to drop some pounds now without our body absolutely hating us. It’s a healthy “crash diet”, the only thing I’m worried about is the amount of calories. They might be okay for me, but I think it might be too little for Kevin. We will just have to add in a couple extra things for him. We did the non-extreme Fat Smash Diet before and Kevin lost about 22lbs on it. I’m sure any weight we actually lose in the next 4 weeks will be gained right back on our cruise, but at least we’ll look good doing it! After the cruise, I’d like to give the regular Fat Smash another chance. It was a really good, healthy eating plan. It’s easier for me to have a guide to losing weight. I know the principles of losing weight. . . eat less, exercise more. . . but when I can’t seem to follow that simple rule, it’s nice to have a plan infront of me!