Monday, January 21, 2013

And The Award Goes To...

Me!!!

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The Liebster award is given to an up and coming blogger who has less than 200 followers.

-RULES-

1. Post 11 random things about yourself.

2. Answer the questions that the nominator sets for you.

3. Create 11 questions for the people you nominate.

4. Nominate blogs that you love (also with less than 200 followers) & Link them to your post and let them know they have been nominated

This sexy lady nominated me!!

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Meet Ashley from Oh Me!  Isn't she gorgeous??  Ashley was the very first blogger that I made a real-life connection with.  We started emailing back and forth and then eventually it morphed to texting.  She lives in Kentucky, so unfortunately we haven't met yet, but I hope that will be possible someday.  She and her handsome hubby are expecting their first baby this summer and I am so excited for them!!  Boy or girl, that kid is going to be decked out in Kentucky blue from day one!  Go Cats!

Alright, let's get down to business, shall we?

11 Random Facts

  1. I talk to myself a lot.  Out loud.  Mostly when I am really excited about something.
  2. I only shave once a week.  You read that correctly, once a week.  No matter the season.  My hair is really fine and blonde, so you can't really tell when it's been a few days.  In the summer it shimmers in the sunlight and I look like a Twilight vampire.  Saturdays are typically shaving days.
  3. I'm one of those people that knows the words to basically every song.  I had a boot camp instructor that would just laugh at me because I would be singing to every song during our workouts, no matter what genre was playing.
  4. I wear retainers at night.  Every.Single.Night.  I didn't suffer a second round of braces in my adult years for nothing.  I'm gonna keep these puppies as straight as I can for as long as possible.
  5. I'm not really an animal person.  I grew up with dogs and cats, but none of them were ever really "mine".  I had a cat for a year or two, but I moved in with a friend that had a baby and I was worried the cat might hurt the baby (the cat was a b-i-t-c-h) so I gave her to my grandma.  She still has her.
  6. I have texture issues with food.  Eggs, jello, sushi rolls without something crunchy in it, etc. all make me gaggy.  I can get through so many bites of scrambled eggs and then all of the sudden it's like someone turned my gag reflex on high.  That's when I give the rest to JB.
  7. I have a hard time eating foods that aren't categorized in that specific meal time; breakfast for dinner, lunch for breakfast, etc.  My husband can eat whatever, whenever and thinks I'm weird because I don't like to switch it up every once in a while.  To him, food is food.
  8. I love "me" time, but never really get it anymore.  JB is home all.the.time. and usually before I get there, so I never have time to decompress when I get home.  Don't get me wrong, I wouldn't have married him if I didn't like spending so much time with him, but I cherich his monthly guy nights because I come home to a quiet house and do/watch whatever I want.
  9. I can sleep FOREVER.  I can go to bed at 11pm and sleep until 10am.  If I don't have an external force waking me up, I will waste half the day in bed.  I don't think it's normal.
  10. I would love to be a housewife, but it's hard to justify without the kids.  Nothing makes me happier than a clean house, a great workout, and trying new recipes.  I needs more time to devote to those things and the only way that's going to happen is if I stop working....
  11. I want to plan another wedding, like, right now.  Most of my friends hated the wedding planning process.  I thought it was so much fun!  I love details and budgeting and seeing the vision come together.
Now, onto Ashley's questions for me!

 1) What is your favorite place you have ever traveled to?
I think this depends a lot on who you travel with.  I have been so many places with some great people, but I think my favorite place has to be Rome.  I loved the history there and the food was amazing!!

2) Where do you most want to travel to?
Well, right now all I can think about is Greece, but I would love to visit the French Riviera someday.  Also the Virgin Islands.

3) What TV show do you never miss?
Take your pick!  Right now I am on a major Happy Endings kick, but I have seen every episode of Grey's Anatomy and am re-watching One Tree Hill from the beginning.  I'm currently through season 3.

4) What is your favorite food?
Mexican food is by far my favorite.  Tacos, burritos, nachos, chimichangas, flautas, you name it.  I don't eat it too often since it's not the most healthy, but it's definitely my favorite.
5) Is there anything that you DO NOT leave the house without?
My phone, duh.  And now my iPad mini.

6) Who is someone you can always count on?
I can MOSTLY count on my husband.  But I can ALWAYS count on myself :)

7) Do you have any New Years Resolutions?
I never really make resolutions because I feel like if you want to make a change, you shouldn't wait for a new year to do it.  And making a resolution can just be a way to set yourself up to fail and disappoint yourself.  I will just always try to be a better me than I was yesterday and realize that I'm human and I make mistakes.  Live it, learn from it, and move forward.

8) Do you paint your fingernails? If so, what is your favorite color?
I rarely get mani/pedis but my go to color is almost always PINK!

9) What is your favorite holiday?
I think I have to go with 4th of July on this one.  I love the summer and being by the water (pool/lake/ocean) and BBQing, so I love the 4th.  It's also the only holiday that I don't have more than one obligation to tend to.

10) Why did you start blogging?
I started blogging as a way to keep family and friends that are not on FB updated on my life and to also have a place to look back on my different life stages and memories.

11) What is your favorite childhood memory?
Summer vacations were always my favorite.  I got to spend time at my grandparents or aunt's house with my cousins.  I also got to spend more than just a weekend at my dad's house.

And now for my 11 questions for the nominees...

1. What is your day job?
2. Have you ever met up with any other bloggers? If so, how was it?
3. How many countries have you been to?
4. What is your dream job?
5. What is your biggest fear?
6. Are you an electronic calendar or an old school hard planner type of person?
7. Favorite thing to do to waste time?
8. Who was the first person you loved?
9. You're having a burger for dinner - what's on it?
10. Are you a Rule follower or a rule breaker?
11. Where is your favorite place in the world?


And the nominees are...


Thursday, January 17, 2013

Who Has Two Thumbs & A New J-O-B?

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Circa Vegas 2006

THIS GIRL!!!!  Holla holla!!

I have been contacted by the same recruiter for different positions throughout the year, but I was content where I was and none of the positions were appealing to me and they were all farther from home.  My commute is already 45 minuites each way, so I was definitely going to be moving closer to home if I was going to leave my current position.

Let me just say that the company I work for is wonderful.  In every class I have taken for business or HR, my current company does everything they say you should do.  As an employee-owned firm, they go to great lengths to over-communicate and maintain transparency in their operations.  They have afforded me many development opportunities over the past 5 years, including paying for my masters degree and assisting my efforts to get SPHR certified.

Obviously there is a reason I entertained a meeting with the recruiter regarding this new position...

This was my second HR related job out of college and although I started as an HR Assistant, I was quickly promoted to the role of HR Manager (Go me!).  With the corporate office being in the middle of the country, I have been merely pushing down the processes and procedures as set forth from the mother ship.  I have not been able to gain much experience or really dive into the many facets of HR and have spent most of the last 5 years dealing with mainly administrative processes as they relate to HR and handling employee relations issues.  I have gained some great knowledge in these areas, but I feel that in order to become a well-rounded HR professional and be able to move forward in my career, I need to get this experience sooner than later.

This new position is still the role of HR Manager, but is for a much smaller company that has not had a separate HR Manager to this date.  They have had someone that wears many different hats, one of them being HR, but now that they are growing, they realize they need to put someone in place that can dive into all of these things and be strictly dedicated to HR.

That person is going to be me!!! 

I am so, so sad to be leaving behind the friends I have made over the past 5 years.  It has taken a long time to build some of these relationships and grow into my role here.  I am going to miss my work neighbors and work besties soooooooooooooooo much!  That being said, I am so excited for this next chapter in my life and career.  I will be hands on in all areas of HR Management and I will be closer to home!

Here's to 2013 and new beginnings!!

Wednesday, January 16, 2013

Birthday Bonanza

Last year we had our first joint birthday bash since JB's birthday is on January 13th and mine is on stupid Christmas Day and most of our friends are available in mid-January as opposed to holiday season.  Last year was such a hit (aside from JB blacking out and vomiting) we decided to do it again this year!

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My hair was not cooperating, so this is what I ended up with...

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My little Puerto Riqueno drinking some god-awful alcoholic capri sun

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The wrecking ball..."Watch me pop a wheelie on this shit!"

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JB & KP were the Beer Pong Champs

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Beer Pong quickly turned to ADD Pong after a few rounds

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After a few rounds of trying this...

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I gave up.

Nachos were eaten, peer pong was played, lots of laughs were had...oh, and this happened...



I would have won if that stupid beer wasn't ice cold!  Do you see the mountains on that can?  BLUE.  I love that I tried to grab on to him as he was galloping back to keep him from winning.  He definitely doesn't remember any of that.

Thanks to all of our friends and their gifts, our bar is going to be stocked up for the next year!  We are trying to avoid booze at all costs and now we have a million bottles of wine and booze and tons o beer.

Can't wait til next year!

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Good night!  BIL can sleep ANYWHERE...you think I'm exaggerating?

Thursday, January 10, 2013

Introducing...

Jobin City Slicka Magooch!

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Okay, so her name is Lucy Lee Vera M. Isn't she the cutest? I mean, THOSE CHEEKS! She is the third girl for one of my work besties, Monica, aka Jobin. She blogs her craftscapades over at The Painted Pisces.

Lucy Lee Vera (I've been calling her Lulu since I found out what they were naming her) was born on Monday, January 7th at 8:41pm. At 20.5" and 8lbs 10oz, she is the biggest baby that Jobin has birthed. Probably because she was marinating for an extra week! She was expected January 1st.

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I haven't met her yet so all you get are the pics that mama Jobes sent me. I will definitely post more when I finally meet her.

Welcome to the world, Lulu!!!

Tuesday, January 8, 2013

Okay, Who Stole It???

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I have searched high and low to no avail, so I am convinced someone stole my motivation.  Was it one of you beezies?  The ones who have kept going throughout the year with nothing stopping them or standing in their way?  Cuz it sure as hell ain't with me.

I bet if I read back through my posts and made a scatter graph, I could chart my cyclical motivation and lack there of.  I had a whole post planned in my head, but then I read THIS from Kristin over at My Mission Impossible and figured, well, this is exactly what I was going to say so I will just ask her if I can link to it in my blog.  She said yes.  Please, GO.  Read it.  I'll wait....

I found Kristin's blog because it was posted on Jamie Eason's facebook page.  Kristin did the Live Fit Trainer just like I did tried to.  To be fair to myself, I did get through the first 9 weeks of 12.  You can read more about that here, here, and here.  Stupid me, I never took pictures of what happened to my body after I finished the second phase and then fell off one week into the 3rd.  After I stopped working out was when I noticed the biggest changes in my body.  If I had pictures to look back on now, I would probably be more motivated to get back there.

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Regardless, I am going to greece in FIVE MONTHS!!  And I know it's going to take a lot of work in that time to get where I would like to be.  The other hitch is that tax season starts this week (I have my first shift tonight) so if I don't start getting up in the mornings to do something, I am going to miss out on a lot of opportunities.

Kristin suggested I think about why I started the Live Fit Trainer in the first place.  I love the fact that it laid out day by day, exercise by exercise, how much cardio and when.  That's the kind of detail I need in my workout plan in order to get my ass in gear.  I actually just had this conversation with JB the other night.  Knowing is half the battle, amiright?

I also went from spending 90 minutes in the gym, 6 days a week, to telling myself I can get the same results with a 20-30 min intense workout, 5 times a week.  But then that 5 times turned into 3 and then none...I have spent the last 6-9 months without a solid workout plan and then add in the booze and lack of consistent nutrition and we are not in a good place people. 

I have the sads.

This is going to sound so ridiculous, but at least once a month (yes, usually right around that time), I have a major breakdown about my body.  I think terrible thoughts about myself and am so disappointed and I just cry.  It sucks.  I also tend to have major food guilt.  Don't worry, I have never had any sort of eating disorder and I don't harm myself or anything, I just have a good pity party and get on with it.

I think I put a lot of pressure on myself to succeed in this area because I am so public about fitness and good nutrition choices here on the blog, on FB and Twitter.  It's a good way to hold yourself accountable, but it's a good way to let yourself down too.  I think everyone needs a break every once in a while, but keeping those goals nearby and in sight is a good practice as well.

I don't think I will be doing the Live Fit Trainer again right now, but now that I have dug into what I need to get back on track, I can work on putting something into place that works for me.

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Did some beezy steal your motivation too?  How are you planning to get back on the wagon?

Thursday, January 3, 2013

Bremas, New Years, and 11 Days Off

You may or may not have noticed I took a little break from blogging over the holidays. What's new, right? Always taking breaks, this one. I had 11 glorious days off work in which I planned to do all kinds of things around the house in addition to the annual Christmas tour, but I'm sure you're surprised to hear absolutely nothing got done.

I take that back...

I drank a whole lot of vodka and ate a whole lot of crappy food. Not one of my prouder weeks in the past year, but hey, can't do anything about it now but try to work it all off.

As usual I didn't take many pictures because I was too busy living in the moment, and the few I did take are from the trusty old iphone. We started out the Christmas tour with dinner at my aunt's house on Christmas Eve. After dinner and socializing with the family, we gather everyone into one room for The Christmas Story. My uncle used to read this every year, but has since passed the torch. This year, my cousin Drew read it with some help from his youngest daughter.

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My bro and Monkey, loving the story

After The Christmas Story, everyone plays a white elephant gift game, but JB and I take off and head to my dad's house for their annual Christmas Eve party that my stepmom hosts for her side of the family. It was a smaller group this year than last, but my stepsister from LA was up visiting with her family, so we had most of the stepsisters together.

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Just missing Stephers

My dad found this little gem, which is a book full of different pages with different topics that you fill in the blanks on such as favorite color and actor and your best friends at the time. I'm pretty sure this was actually my stepsister's book first and I found it when I was 9 1/2 and erased all of her answers and added my own. This was the last page of the book and what a grand finale it was...

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Say what?  I posted this on Instagram and got some great comments.

We took our mandatory birthday shots for me (not Jesus) at midnight, had a little more family time, and then went to bed. We headed home the next morning after we opened our stockings (stalkings??) and had JB's parents and brother over to our house for dinner. We hung out in our PJ's all day and played with his mom's iPad mini since mine hadn't arrived yet and looked up all the cool stuff we want to do in Greece and all the food we are going to eat...

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See, still in our jammies, no showers.  Hot.


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My favorite in-laws!


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He's available ladies, he and the tree parted ways that night


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Love her so much!


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Hubs and I haven't gotten each other gifts since our first Christmas together due to the buying of the house and getting married and going to Europe and all that jazz, so even though they were little things, I was excited to have a couple of gifts under the tree this year.

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A couple.  As in, literally two whole presents.

My Bremas present was a collaboration from a few different people (JB, in-laws, mom & stepdad). It was scheduled to arrive the day after Christmas and actually came on Christmas Eve while we were at the movies, so I had to wait until the day after Christmas for my iPad to arrive. We stayed put all day to make sure we were around when it arrived.

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The next day, I went up to spend the day with my mom who is recovering from major back surgery. She is doing so great! The doctor and all the nurses kept saying how well she was doing and even the physical therapist didn't know why he was there because she was moving around so well. I'm very proud of her and excited for her to have a better quality of life once she is completely healed.

My dad took me, my brother, and JB to the last regular season Niners game on the 30th, which was a pretty big game because they clinched the NFC West!! And wouldn't you know it, I didn't get one single picture of the four of us decked out in Niners gear (probably cuz I'm a Pats fan...). I did get this pic from our lower reserved seats though:

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We were in traffic longer than we were at the game, but it was totally worth it.

For New Year's Eve we went to my friend's house downtown. She and her friend live on either side of the same duplex, so they took out the middle fence in the back yard and had a joint gathering. It was fun to dress up, but still go somewhere low-key and be with friends. Lots of beer pong was played. I seriously played the games of my lifetime! I usually suck at beer pong, but that night, I was magical.

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Since there's not a single pic of me in the dress...


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Me and the Hostess


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Before heading out


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All bundled up for beer pong!

So, none of the items on my staycation to-do list got done, but I did stay up late, sleep in late, spend time with family and friends, and enjoy every minute of it.

I hope everyone had a wonderful new year! Here's to wonderful things for all of us in 2013!!!

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