What, More School?!?

Yes, but this time it's for fun.

Somewhere in the middle of the Spring semester, I decided to go online and check out what classes Folsom Lake College had to offer. The campus is right down the street from my office and I thought they might have a dance class I could take. I have been dying to get back to dancing, but I simply cannot afford to dance at a studio. One class a week is like $80/month!

I didn't think I would have any luck with the dance class schedules because I know from past experiences that most of those classes take place in the middle of the day. To my surprise, I found a ballet class at 5:30pm two nights a week for an hour and 20 minutes. Since it's so close to the office, I shouldn't have a problem making it on time, and I will still be home in time for dinner, yay! The best part, it's only $26 for the entire 18 week semester!!!

From what I can tell it's a beginning ballet class, but that is fine with me. When I danced all those years before, most of my training was jazz and hip hop, so I missed the fundamentals of ballet. I will be happy to learn them all over again from the beginning and get some dance in my life twice a week. Maybe I can even get flexible again.

I am also going to start taking some nutrition classes since I have become more interested in food and nutrition with working out. I initially signed up for a summer class, but realized that an hour and 20 minutes twice a week would be better than three hours twice a week. And since it's just for personal interest, I can do it whenever I want. JB mentioned something about becoming a Nutritionist, but we'll see how I like the first class and go from there...

When it comes to blogging...

I feel completely inadequate when I see other people's blogs. I follow my awesome friend, Mrs. Awesome and she is always re-posting funny articles or quotes and posts lots of pics of stuff that her and Mr. Awesome are always out doing. And that Mr. Awesome is a crazy sports fan and funny as hell and I read his blog to be able to communicate with JB about sports at home, LOL! But Mrs. Awesome has all these other awesome friends, besides me, that have super awesome blogs like her. I just don't know where people find the time to do this. Most of my posts are stories, not pics. It's too much work to get the pics off my camera, on to my computer, and then into a blog. Or... maybe I am just lazy...

Whatever.

One day Mrs. Awesome is going to come over and give me the rundown on how to be a better blogger and tweeter so I can keep my 7 followers happy :)

WTF of the Week aka Big Spoon FAIL!!!

Big Spoon has delicious peanut butter yogurt from Sunday through Wednesday every week. The last two times I have been there, once on Sunday and once on Wednesday, the spot that usually holds the delicious PB frozen yogurt goodness was OUT OF ORDER!

WTF?!?

I just want some effing peanut butter frozen yogurt!! Get your shiz together Big Spoon!

Nugget Has Arrived!!!

AKA Juliana June, this little cutie arrived on 5/31/2010 at 9:54am, weighing in at 7 lbs even and was 19 1/4 inches.


Below is her first pic with Auntie Bre. She is so perfect! Mom and Dad are doing great and told me that she is going to go home in her blanket that I made her!

Hopefully they will send me a pic so I can post it on my bloggy blog. I am so excited that she is finally here. I feel like I have been waiting forever, so I can only imagine what they must have felt like. I can't wait to see what her little personality is like as she gets older.

I Was Running...

You are supposed read it like Forrest Gump is saying it...anyway...

I guess I should say 'I will be running'. I just signed up for two different 5K runs a week apart. the kicker, one of them is the day after I return from Vegas. Should feel amazing. Maybe I will try not to completely wreck my body while we are there. I'm sure I won't be very successful. I haven't had a drop of alcohol since May 1st so I should be a cheap date.

Memorial Day is the No Excuses 5K. It's in Land Park. I am running with John and Melizzle and possibly Erykah and Angel. Verdict is still out on that one. The last (only) 5K I ran was the Folsom trail run at Negro Bar and it was TOUGH! So many inclines and uneven paths. My ankle was not happy with me when it was over. I still ran it in 35 minutes, but I was doing a lot more cardio back then. All I have been doing lately is boot camp and not a ton of cardio, so we will see how it goes.

On June 6th I am running an all women's 5K put on by Fleet Feet. I am running this one with my friend Ashlee and maybe K-Put. The proceeds benefit WEAVE, which I am a big fan of. The boot camp I have been attending will have a booth out there too, so be sure to stop by if you are going to be there.

Last night our trainer was trying to talk Melizzle and I into training for a half marathon, but that still seems way too ambitious. Today, while registering for the fleet feet race, I found this. The half marathon relay is done in teams of two and each person does exactly half, aka a quarter of a marathon. And it's not until October so we have some time to train. 6.55 miles seems much less scary than 13.1.

All It Takes is a Bet

JB and I have made a bet. It seems the only way to get him to get back into the shape he was pre-us (prius?) is to make a bet with him. In the past, when he has made bets with coworkers or other friends, he has been able to drop weight like whoa and get in amazing shape. Apparently he just hasn't had that motivation over the last year and a half. So today, we made a bet.

We have talked about taking that next step in our relationship. You know, we moved in together, then bought a house, so there is an obvious progression here. No, we are not talking a wedding or children. Although hopefully the wedding isn't very far off. We are talking about a dog.

JB has been missing Larry since we moved out of Grandma's house, but I just couldn't bear to take the dog away from Rich, and I also couldn't bear the thought of having a dog in our brand new house. So, Larry stayed behind. JB misses him greatly, and in the few short months I lived there, I became pretty attached, but it is what it is. We don't necessarily want a dog of that size with that much energy either. So we have been mulling over the the breed that will suit us best. We obviously have different ideas of this, so it has been a challenge. But since it's not happening anytime soon, we have some time to decide.

Today we got on the topic of getting back into shape and he explained that he needs a bet of some sort to really get him motivated. Something he really doesn't want to happen so he is motivated to meet the goal. Negative reinforcement, if you will. So I proposed this:

JB has to lose 21 lbs. by August 7th or he gets absolutely no say in what kind of dog we get.

This is important to him because he doesn't want some sissy la la dog that he has to carry around in his satchel (you know, Indiana Jones has one). After I really sold him on this bet, he started walking around the house all pumped up. I am very excited for this, and I know that he will be too once he gets there. It doesn't mean we will be getting a dog right away, but it does mean that if he does not meet the goal set before him, that I WILL RULE THE WORLD!!! BUAHAHAHA!!

Ahem, pardon me.

Whatever I choose will be the final say, shall he not make good on his side of this deal. The beauty of it is, if he does meet his goal, I don't really lose anything. It might just take us longer to decide on a dog. But really, I can't lose. And we already shook on it. Sucker!

Picture Day!

Today and tomorrow it's picture day at my work. They have paid a photographer to come in and set up a back drop and take professional photos for anyone in the office who is interested. Granted, they are often necessary here, but it's just funny to see everyone dressed in their Sunday/business best. Reminds me of being a kid again with Olan Mills.

For the Nugget

You know how you have that one work friend that pretty much knows all of the ins and outs of your life because you see them every day? That's Heather. She's my tell-all work friend. When Heather told me she was pregnant, I told her "I shall call it Nugget." She is due in June and having a little girl. I am very excited about this. Last Friday, we had a baby shower for Heather and Nugget at work. I decided that I wanted to make Nugget a quilt. I have only done this for one other friend, and it turned out great. I went a different route this time, but it turned out so cute. I got to spend some good quality time with mom, and make something wonderful for Heather and baby Nugget.

Heather loved all of her gifts and I can't wait to meet the new little one!

WTF of the Week

It happened on a Wednesday, and I almost actually posted it on a Wednesday, but again, I failed. I have just one this week, but it was a personal experience, so it's that much better.

Every other Wednesday, I work at our downtown office and take this opportunity to have lunch with friends I don't get to see very often otherwise. Callie and Sean are my two regulars, but sometimes I sprinkle in others. This week, I was able to have lunch with Sean. He swooped me up in his new whip and we headed to Buckhorn Grill for some tasty salads. I got my usual Roadhouse Salad with grilled chicken, which comes with a pile of fried onion strings on top. To me, this is overkill. I always take at least half of them off, if not more, and place them on a napkin on the table. Sean took this opportunity to snack on them, since his salad didn't come with any, but there was still quite a large pile of them on the napkin.

Over the next hour, we enjoyed our meals and shared stories from the past few weeks since we had last seen each other. During this time, other diners had come in and out of the patio area where we were sitting to enjoy their lunch. Two ladies sat at the table next to us. We had no interaction with them during our lunch. Just as we were nearing the end of our time there, an employee came out to bus our table. She had picked up the napkin containing the pile of onion strings and placed it on my plate. Right as she was about to take the plate away, one of the women at the table next to us got up and came over and asked if she could have the onions.

WTF?!?!?!?!?!??!

Who does that? I mean, I have joked about eating people's leftovers before, but seriously, you don't even know me. And you want to eat my discarded food after it was already piled on top of my plate as garbage to be taken away? So gross. But so awesome.

At the time, Sean and I couldn't really give the moment the attention it deserved because of how closely these women were sitting to us. This was the perfect moment to end a wonderful lunch hour. And made for a great WTF Wednesday.

WTF Wednesday

Maybe I should change the name to WTF of the Week, or Weekly WTFs. I obviously can't seem to get this posted on Wednesdays. So, I only have a few, but here they are:

The new thing that everyone is buzzing about in a bad way is ashleymadison.com. You are crazy if you think I am posting a link to the site. I am not promoting this madness (although I kind of am just by mentioning it). If you haven't heard anything about it yet, I will fill you in. Apparently it's a website where married people can go to meet someone to have an affair with.

WTF?

According to the CEO and founder, the sites users are about 70% male and 30% female. This really saddens/infuriates me that someone is capitalizing off of ruining people's marriages. To provide a venue for someone to find a mister/mistress when they may not have found one otherwise (okay, who are we kidding? They would find someone) should be illegal or something. Way to make even more of a mockery of the institution of marriage.

My next shocker may be even less familiar to everyone. While driving to work one morning, the radio show I happened to be listening to at the time was talking about Skittles Parties. Until this moment, I had never heard of them either. Apparently this is a party where kids go into their parents medicine cabinets or purses at home and sneak a bunch of their prescription meds and bring them to this party. They all dump them into a bowl and then each person grabs a handful and takes them.

WTF?

The biggest shocker is that kids as early as 6th grade are doing this. Obviously this came to light because some of these kids are ending up in the hospital. America is severely overmedicated and the last thing we need is kids combining lethal doses of meds. Just like guns, anything that is potentially life threatening should be locked away in a safe place where your kids can't get to it.

My last item is not as serious as these other two, but still pretty annoying. While at the grocery store on my lunch break the other day, I was looking at the magazines at the checkstand while waiting in line. Instead of perusing the gossip mags, The TIME magazine caught my eye. It had a summary of the health care reform, which is somewhat related to my line of work, so I thought I would buy it and take a look. Maybe I'll even learn something. The checker rings it up and it's $4.95!!!

WTF???

I understand it's TIME magazine, but I guess you have to see it to really get it. This issue is only 56 pages cover to cover. How can you really charge me $5 for 56 pages??? Ridiculous! the best part is, I still haven't read it. LOL!

Adventure Boot Camp

Summer is almost here and we know what that means....BATHING SUITS!!!

After my last experience with boot camp, I can definitely say I was in the best shape I have been in since high school, probably better. So what better way to get my a$$ back in gear than to do another one? I had to wait for my tax return and for the weather to get a little better, but after months of being a slacker, I think this will do the trick.

My friend Tiffany (aka GF) and I were at the bridal expo in February and these guys had a booth there. I kept receiving emails from them and finally got one that offered to let me come try a class during their week between sessions. I rounded up a couple of friends and tried it out. Keep in mind I have only really been doing cardio. I tried the P90X thing for a while, but with the time commitment and my commute, it didn't really work out for me. The last boot camp required bringing three different size hand weights, but this one didn't say anything about that, so I was a little skeptical at first.

Boy was I wrong!

We started out with some light stretching and then a couple of laps around the school yard (it's held at an elementary school downtown) and then we got right to work. We did some stuff in the plank position that also worked our upper body somewhat, but most of the exercises are targeting the upper and lower body at the same time. We did a circuit of three excercises with the hand weights and squats three times, but then moved on to these Turkish sand bag things. Imagine kettle bells, but it's a intertube cut in half, filled with sand and duct taped at both ends for closure and handles. We did a circuit of three different exercises with this, using upper and lower body three times, finishing the class with an ab circuit. Once again, three different exercises, three times. I was a little wobbly after class, so I knew I was in for a real treat in the coming days.

I was already tight and starting to get sore that night before bed. The next day, my legs got tighter as the day progressed. All of the muscles in my back and rib cage were sore, so I couldn't take deep breaths very easily, and my triceps were tight. Boot camp was on Wednesday and by Friday, I was practically immobile. Not only were my legs and glutes so tight and sore that I could barely get up and down in my chair (going to the bathroom was a real treat), but my triceps were so wrecked that I couldn't use my arms for support.

I immediately went online and signed up for the month of April. :)

Some/all of you may think I am crazy, but I know this is exactly what I need to get where I hope to be. Even though JB is a trainer, I don't let him push me as hard as he should. In the release, we had to initial that we would not drink alcohol for the month of boot camp and stay away from sweets. I am not a big sweets person, but the drinking might be a little tough. Especially since I have some friends coming to visit and a camping trip planned. I know how to cut it out for the most part, and make wiser choices when I do drink, so that is the route I will go. Our overall eating has been pretty good, so it shouldn't be too hard to keep that up. And after I finish the camp, I can get back to working out the way I was last year before I started the first camp and keep myself in shape that way.

I will try to update with specific workouts that we did so those of you that want to can try it at home :)

Wine & Books...and WW Bean Dip!

I have been wanting to be part of a book club for a long time. Although I do love great stories of struggle and books I can learn something from, I really enjoy "colored" books. You probably gasped when you read that, but let me explain:

I dated a guy once that had such low self esteem that he had to act like he was so much smarter and better than everyone else. He read political books and books about changing the world, one vegetarian at a time. Gag! I always liked the books about the single, successful, 20-something girl in a big city looking for love and purpose. Those books just happen to have colorful covers; pastel pink, blue, yellow, green. You get the picture. Anyway, he never understood what I got out of those "colored" books. It's called ENTERTAINMENT! And validation, and hopes that someday I would meet someone who was way better than him. LOL!

But I digress...

So, Kristen decided to make this book club just that, chick lit. But more of the 'I don't have to think about anything when I read these books' kind of chick lit. Not the kind about heroic women who do all these great things. So, without knowing better, she picked our first book:


Had this book been about Lauren Conrad's actual experience during the filming of Laguna Beach or The Hills, it would probably have been great. This was more along the lines of Sweet Valley High level writing meets a huge cover up of the taping of The Hills as to not violate any contractual stipulations. It was NOT GOOD. I think I lost brain cells reading it. But, you live and you learn.

Our book club met at Kristen's house, and she offered to provide the beverages if everyone brought an appetizer. Given every girl's weight loss goals, I figured I would bring something that is yummy, but also not high in fat and calories. That way we could drink more of them :) I brought a Weight Watchers bean dip that I got the recipe for years ago from a high school friend. It was a big hit, so I thought I would post it here for anyone else who would like to try it:

16 oz. can of fat free refried beans (I get the zesty ones for an extra kick)
8 oz. of fat free cream cheese
1 cup of light sour cream
2 Tbsp taco seasoning (lower sodium is a good choice)
1/2 cup low fat shredded cheese
1/2 cup chopped olives
1/4 cup sliced green onions
2 tomatoes, chopped

Heat oven to 350 and spread the beans over the bottom of an 8x8 dish
Combine cream cheese, sour cream and taco seasoning - spread over beans and sprinkle with cheeese
Cook 15-18 minutes
Remove from oven and top with the remaining ingredients
Serve with your favorite tortilla chips

Our next book is:


We all weighed in on this one, so let's hope it doesn't suck. Happy reading and eating!

New Segment - WTF Wednesday

I initially thought I might do this as a daily entry, but then realized that was a bit overzealous, and figured weekly would be a good start. I have started keeping notes on my iphone to document in my weekly WTF Wednesday entries.

The idea came to me the other day, which was a Wednesday, while driving home from boot camp. You know that recorded voice that often plays before a song on the radio that tells you who the artist is? Imagine my surprise when it said "Bare Naked Ladies"...

WTF?

The last song I remember from them was the "chickity-China, Chinese chicken" song. I know there were others, but that's the only one that survives in anyone's memory bank. This song was nothing like that. It was slow and boring and I immediately changed the channel.

Now you know how the name came to be for this new little gem. It was funny because just the day before the BNL incident, I was perusing my friend Perez Hilton's blog and came across this interesting post about Justin Bieber. I love that he is on Chelsea Lately AGAIN, but the thing that caught my eye is that he is Canadian!!! WTF??? This changes everything.

Yesterday, which was Thursday, I was driving to work and I heard a station FINALLY play a new Lady Kaka song. I am so sick of all of the others they have played out, but I liked them once, so I figured I can be optimistic about this one. Then I started noticing some interesting similarities between the sound of this new song, and every Ace of Base song. WTF? Get your own shiz, Kaka!

My final WTF moment for the week is quite a doozy. I am a fan of Sac PD on Facebook, for many reasons, and yesterday I came across this juicy morsel of WTF goodness:

DUI CHECKPOINT REVEALS TRUE FRIENDSHIP: On 3/26/10, we conducted a DUI/driver’s license checkpoint. One subject was being evaluated for DUI and announced that his friend, who was driving in a separate vehicle behind him and anxiously waiting for his turn in line, had 'JUST AS MANY DRINKS AS I DID'. Thus, both individuals were arrested for DUI. With friends like him who needs enemies?

Murder. If I were the guy, aka "friend", in the car behind him that he narked out, a DUI would be the least of my worries, because I would have killed that guy for ratting me out to the cops. What a jerk!

So, that's my first installment of WTF Wednesday, even though it's Friday evening. Now that my friendy has taught me how to blog via cell phone, I will be more accurate with the WTF Wednesday postings. I hope you liked it!

Concert Season

So, back in the day (which was a Wednesday) I attended many concerts each year. And that day was not so long ago. Maybe 3 years ago, if that. Me, Regyna, Heather, and sometimes Dawn (and random others in the mix) would go to several concerts each year. Needless to say, since I started paying down my debt a couple of years ago, the concerts became fewer and farther between. They needed to be prioritized. Now, if I was going around seeing local bands or going to San Fran with $20-$3o tix, it wouldn't be so bad. But I like the people that everyone else knows about and likes too, so I end up paying $50+ for tickets. In the past year and a half I have been to maybe 2 or 3 shows, probably less. This makes me sad.

So when I heard these guys were coming to Tahoe:

There was no way I was missing out. I already missed out on Taylor Swift because her tix sold out during presale. Stupid kids with allowances that they spend on fan club memberships. Grrrrr! I told JB that he didn't have a say in the matter and we were going. He's not really going to protest a night/weekend in Tahoe anyway, so I got lucky with the venue.

Now if only it were July....

Hawaii

So, for those of you (and there were a couple) that were anxiously awaiting this blog, I apologize for the delay. The cluster that was my business trip to Honolulu did not provide the time I thought it would for posting this, and it has been non-stop since I got home. So, without further ado...

We have an acquisition office in Hawaii and I have had to visit exactly 3 times. The first time was to go out and meet everyone, train the HR Administrator there on orientations and system processes, and to attend a seminar. The second and third visits were both to deal with employee relations issues...for the same person. I obviously cannot go into the issues, and that's not exactly the point of this blog. The point is to show all you people who think I am sooooooo lucky to go to Hawaii on business, just how not exactly fun it is, and how it compares to every other business trip.

The first trip out there, I used for some soul searching. It was during a transitional period in my life, just after I had moved back in with my parents, reconnected with a long lost friend, and started talking to JB. I used the time alone there, even stayed an extra day for pleasure, to read and journal and just really think about everything that was going on in my life. The second trip out was interesting. It sucks to go alone, especially since I have issues with eating alone in restaurants, but it wasn't the end of the world. I went, took care of business, and came home. No extra time for me.

This time....so lame.

I really didn't want to go because I love my house, and my man, and didn't want to leave either of them. I was dreading the 5 hour flight, eating alone for a couple of days, and being away from home. Luckily someone I have worked with via phone and email for the past 3 years from our Omaha office was going to be there at the same time, and I was looking forward to meeting her. I decided to not stay at my usual Hilton Prince Kuhio setup, and opted to stay at the same hotel as her, which was the Sheraton Princess Kaiulani. Well, that was my first mistake.

Let me take that back, my first mistake was not getting my parking validated when I got to the office. See, the flight leaves Sacramento at 8:30am and lands in Honolulu at almost noon, which gives me a few hours in the office once I get my luggage and rental car. So I get to the office and get right to work, only when I leave everyone is gone and I have no one to validate my parking. I get to the booth to pay for my parking in the garage, and they don't take cards. WTF? Welcome to 2010 people! Cash only? Who are you? Of course I have absolutely no cash on me, especially not the $30 they were raping me for for 4 hours of parking. The woman tells me that there is an ATM upstairs in the lobby. So, in my 'oh-so-comfy' work shoes, I take my ATM card only and walk to the elevator, through the lobby, to the little convenience store to use the stand-alone ATM in the corner. "Invalid card number" it tells me. I try again. "Invalid card number." Now, since JB and I got a joint account, I don't use this one very often anymore, so I figure there may be some slight possibility that it really doesn't work at this point. So I take my card back through the lobby, to the elevator, down to my rental car and grab my entire wallet. Rinse and repeat. "Invalid card number" WTF?????

I ask the lady at the counter if I can just use my card and get cash back from her. She does not believe me, so I have to show her again. She then tells me that she cannot help me and I have to go out the building and down the street to the ATM next to the McDonald's. Awesome. Here I go, down the street to the ATM. Since it's a real ATM, I figure it should work. "Invalid card number". At this point I am fuming. My feet feel amazing, obviously, and I am walking all over the place in search for cash to no avail. I take my happy ass back to the building, up the stairs to the lobby, to the information desk. I explain to this man my predicament hoping he will tell me that he can validate my parking and I will be on my merry way. No such luck. He informs me that down the steps, out the door, and down the street in the other direction is another ATM. If that doesn't work, I can go across the street to the Long's (if they're still open) and buy something and get cash back. Cool. Off I go to the new ATM. It works. Thank the lord. I take my cash and limp back to my car so I can sit in Honolulu city rush hour traffic to get to my hotel. At this point, it is 5:45pm. I started this little adventure at 5:00.

I find my way to the hotel with ease. It's only one block up from where I usually stay, and it's on the main strip which means I have more dining alone choices. When I get there, I find the parking garage. The hotel I normally stay at only has valet parking for $25/day so I am used to just pulling up to the front and letting them take it from there. The Sheraton has a self park garage for the same price. At least I don't have to worry about tipping them every morning, fine by me. I drive up four floors and find a spot that is right next to what I assume to be the elevator, since the garage is not even attached to the main lobby. I get out, unload my suitcase, computer and purse, and walk over to the 'elevator', to find that it is actually only a stairwell. Obviously excited about walking down 4 flights of stairs with all of my crap, I immediately load everything back into the car and drive down a couple more flights and find the same spot on floor two. Again I unload my things and proceed to check in.

The hotel has a lovely open air lobby with a view of the pool, a computer lounge, and two different elevator banks since there are different towers. I had reserved an ocean view room with an lanai and was surprised to find it to be cheaper than my non-ocean-view room at the Hilton. When I got to my room in the far tower on the 24th floor, I was no longer surprised. The room was in bad need of renovation. The plain white walls with white furniture and a bad, randomly placed hotel pic from 1992 screamed Holiday Inn. The tiny bathroom was very dreary and nothing compared to the recently updated room I was used to occupying at the Hilton. I really sound like such a snob, but given the days events, this was the last thing I needed. I open the drapes and look out the sliding glass door with a view of high-rise hotel buildings. But, if I look to my right, it's all ocean. I guess, technically, that's an ocean-view room. Definitely not what I was expecting.

I decide that after the day's events, I will unpack my things, get comfortable, and order some room service. I guess I was wrong. After looking a few times through the only book the hotel provided, I find no information about room service. Highly irritated, I text my Omaha buddy and see if she wants to accompany me to California Pizza Kitchen down the block for some dinner. This was honestly the highlight of my day. A drink and good food, and I didn't have to dine alone.

As we are heading back to the hotel, I am informed by her that there is nightly entertainment on the stage by the pool located 24 floors below directly under my room. They play until about 10 or 11pm. This excites me greatly (please note sarcasm). When I return to my room, it's about 8:30. I unpack, get comfy and turn on the TV. I am able to turn the volume up so that the amplified noise from the stage below that is reverberating off of the two hotel towers and directly into my ears is somewhat muffled. About 30 minutes later, I hear people in the hallway. They are talking and rustling a plastic bag and are out there for a long time. I get up and go to my peep hole to see what the hell they could possibly be doing in the hall that they cannot do in the privacy and enclosed area of their room. I look out to see nothing. No people. But I can still hear them. I hear running water now and realize that they are not in the hall, but in the adjoining room next door. I can almost clearly make out their conversation. And then.....the alarm clock/radio turns on and I hear Kesha's "Tick-Tock" loud and clear from the other side of my headboard.

Could this day get any better?

Obviously these people are here on vacation along with the majority of the people in Waikiki Beach, so they do not realize that someone here on business needs to get some rest after a long day of travel so they can be bright-eyed and bushy-tailed when dealing with the issues they have come to Honolulu to deal with. I figure that they are probably getting ready to go out and hit the club on a Monday night and once they are gone for the evening, I should be able to pop in my ear plugs to drown out the remaining noise and fall fast asleep before they return. But then I start to think about their 2,3,4am return. After a night out on the town, they are surely going to be intoxicated which automatically means loud. And with their bed being directly on the other side of my post-it note thin wall, should they decide to fornicate, I am sure to hear/feel everything that goes on. Along with these thoughts, the entertainment downstairs is not ceasing and the street vendors that are now playing for money are amplified 24 floors up as well. I lie there and test my ear plugs to see if they will even keep the noise out. They do not succeed. I start to panic and realize that if I do not pack up my things and request a new room now, which is 10:15pm, I am going to seriously regret it.

My new room is better. The same, but better. Wood colored furniture contrasts the white walls and just makes it seem a little nicer. The set up is slightly different, but the bathroom is the same. What makes this room awesome however, is the fact that there is silence. No nightly entertainment. No street vendors. And no adjoining door, so if there are neighbors, I cannot hear them. Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh. Good night.

On my several trips through the lobby of the office building the day before, I noticed a little cafe I never knew was there that served normal food. I say normal because all of the places surrounding the building besides the McDonald's, serve Filipino fast food, Korean BBQ, or sushi. Nothing I want to eat 99% of the time, if ever, especially if I am not familiar with the restaurant. Needless to say, finding this little cafe with an espresso machine and breakfast croissants, along with lots of yummy looking lunch choices, really made my morning. I got a non-fat vanilla latte and a ham and cheese croissant for breakfast which started off my morning right. I knocked out half of the interviews I had to conduct and returned for lunch. The chicken pesto sandwich on soft, warm focaccia bread and pasta salad was waaaaaaaay better than the McDonald's lunch I subjected myself to the day before. I also made sure to get my parking validated the day before, but had plenty of cash on me in case I forgot. I only make mistakes like that once. I finished all but one of my interviews after lunch and had a nice sunset dinner on the lanai of a restaurant above Duke's at the Outrigger on Waikiki Beach (although it was with my boss and three other colleagues). This day was exponentially better than the day before.

My last day in Honolulu was only a half day, since the flight home was at 1:45pm. I saved the best for last as far as interviews went. That one was a doozy. I concluded my investigation and headed back to drop off the rental car. This is never as easy as getting from the rental car place to the office for some reason. I missed my exit due to the odd interchange systems and ended up at Hickam AFB. I explained to the guy at the visitor gate what I had done, which I am sure happens pretty often, and he had to stop traffic so I could turn around and get where I was going. I was cutting it close as it was, and the Honolulu airport is always busy, so I was really feeling the pressure. I got the car back, got on the shuttle, got through the check-in line, and security, got myself some food to take on the plane, and headed to my gate. Usually for the mainland flights, you have to take the Wiki-Wiki (shuttle) to the other terminal, so I immediately headed that way. Only when I got up there, I realized that my gate number was not included in the numbers for the terminal the shuttle would head to. So I went back downstairs to find my gate just as they were beginning to board. I walked down the ramp and up to the gate to find a barrier in between me and the gate. My gate number was 57. So obviously I went toward the sign that said "Gates 54-57" and not the one that said "Gates 58-60". But the person at the barrier was telling me I now I had to go back up the ramp and all the way down to the other end of the terminal to the other sign, and come in that way. Cool. Apparently scanning your carry-on in the metal detector isn't enough. You also need another scanner, and they only have one of those in the entire terminal.

I get on the plane in the first boarding group, since I am in the second to last row of seats. This gives me time to get settled and eat my lunch before the plane takes off. I am sitting next to a couple, specifically the guy. The girl asks him if he wants to trade her seats, as if he is cheating on her by sitting so closely to me. Whatever. I apologize in advance for my smelly Chinese food. At some point they are informed after everyone has boarded that there are two seats on the window side available and they move. I have the whole row to myself. Until the flight attendant asks a man several rows up if he would also like more room and puts him in the other aisle seat. At least we have the middle open. Great situation to ask for on a long flight. They are also showing The Blind Side, which I have seen, and loved, and was excited to be entertained by on the flight home.

But then there was the guy behind me. And his kid. As if it weren't bad enough that the guy was a seat grabber every single time he got up and sat down, which was A LOT, but his child was probably under 3 and in that stage where they like to pound on the tray in front of them. So I have this guy jerking my seat back every 5 seconds and his child banging the tray behind the seat next to me, which is obviously attached to the seat I am sitting it. Not to mention several rows up, but not far enough, there is a child that just keeps screaming/crying intermittently. And that wasn't all that bad until you added the parent that would "ssssshhhhhhhh" every time they did it. Obviously that's not working. You can stop doing that. I know I don't have children and I don't understand, but whatever. It was still not the way I wanted to spend 5 hours.

Needless to say, when the plane touched down in Sacramento, I couldn't have been happier to be here. Even if it was 47 degrees instead of 79. And let me tell you, I am never going to Oahu for vacation again. After being there twice for leisure and 3 times for work, Oahu can kiss my ass. I'll take an island with more nature than people. I vote Maui or Kauai.

OMG, I want this!

It's a blanket. And I need it.

Things Are Looking Up

I know, I know. With the awesome 2009 I had and some of the great things that have happened lately, you are probably wondering what the hell I am talking about. Well, it's been rough since we moved into the house, financially. It's not just the shock of having a mortgage and paying utilities again, it's the series of events that led up to them. Maybe I already lost you. Let's see if I can bring you back.

Back when we were living at grandma's house, and after I finished paying of my credit card, I started stashing cash. I wanted to make sure that we had what we needed for closing costs, moving costs (you know, buying food and cleaning supplies and everything else you realize you don't have), and still have some sort of cushion for the first month's bills. I was doing pretty well. We knew that the closing costs would be around $1000, we had started buying things here and there that we figured we (I) would need or want (decor for the guest bath, air fresheners, Brita water pitcher, baking pans), and we had a month in the house before our first mortgage payment. We had about $3500 in our joint savings account and I had about $1500 in my personal savings account. It looked like we were in good shape from where I stood.

A week before the house was supposed to close we had some issues with the financing. Because obviously you cannot be a homeowner unless something goes terribly wrong during the process and you come very close to losing your house. Otherwise you just won't appreciate it, right? Yeah, about that. So, we had our fun little incident a mere week before. Rushing around, trying all these different alternatives and scenarios and finding out they won't work and with every hour that passes you feel your dreams slipping farther and farther away. We were finally able to work something out with the loan, but it meant we had to put a little bit more money down. A little bit more, as in, cleaning out our savings. Great. Awesome. At least December was one of those awesome months that has 3 payday Fridays in it, so we had that as a cushion. Yeah, about that....

Now don't get me wrong, I work for a great company. I got my masters degree for "free" through their tuition reimbursement program. The fine print didn't catch up to me until the most opportune of times. December. That awesome 3rd paycheck with no bills coming out of it. That nice little cushion. Here's where the quotation marks around the word free come in. Apparently, the government will only allow you to recieve $5,250 tax free in one year for tuition expenses. The rest is added to your taxable income at the end of the year. Well, last year I recieved $10,000 in tuition reimbursement, so the other $4,750 (yes, I had to get the calculator for that one) was to be added to my taxable income. I did not experience this the year before, otherwise I would have planned accordingly. Instead of payroll planning ahead and spreading it out over several paychecks, they added the lump sum to my last check of the year. After it was taxed, I was left with $87.65 to get by for two weeks. So, there went our cushion.

During this time we were also dealing with JB's 3 new jobs not having ramped up yet, so it has been interesting trying to make everything work. A little stressful, and VERY boring. Since we have no money to go out and do anything and the weather has been crappy, we have been stuck at home with nothing to do but stare at each other or the TV. Lucky (or not) for me, all JB needs is a TV and food to get by. Happy as a clam. Me, not so much.

But, as the title of this blog suggests, things are getting better. One of JB's jobs supplies a consistent income, which makes me very happy. The other two will be a bonus. With all three jobs (training at Granite Bay Golf Club and Johnson Ranch Racquet Club, and teaching at Bryan College) he still works less than 40 hours a week, but as long as we have everything paid, I don't care how many hours he works. Thanks to the house, we also have a significant refund coming our way, which should help with the catch up. Hopefully things will be back to normal in no time. Whatever normal is.

Bleh

I keep wanting to blog, but it seems I have no drive to do anything these days. I don't feel like getting up in the morning, doing much of anything at work, working out after work, or really anything at all. I am not sure if all the planning, shopping, cleaning, prepping, entertaining of the housewarming (which was a huge success) took it out of me, or if there is something else going on.

Yesterday I felt like crap after the horrible lunch I ate (no, I don't want to talk about it). After I got back to work I had a stomachache and a headache to the point where I left work at 3pm. I got home around 4 and laid down in my cozy bed. JB was at work, so I actually had the house to myself for once. I read a bit of my current obsession and fell asleep around 5pm. Although I didn't really want to wake up at 6, I knew if I slept any longer I wouldn't be able to sleep that night, so after drifting in and out for another half hour, I started watching some DVR. Shortly after 7, JB called me to say he was on his way home so I got up to start dinner. I wasn't even hungry, but knew he would be and I should probably put something healthy in my body that day. I felt a little better after dinner, but still lazy/tired and retreated back to the cozy bed to clear out more of the DVR. I have a "no-tv after 11" policy in the bedroom, and since I didn't feel like sleeping just yet, I read some more and rubbed JB's back as he dozed off. I tossed and turned until about 1am and finally fell into a fitful sleep, waking up this morning unrested.

And the cycle starts all over again.

Although during my lunch today I finally went shopping to fill my fridge and desk drawers at work with healthy, protein-filled snacks to hopefully help get my eating back on track. Since we have been struggling to get a grasp on all the new bills, I have been hesitating spending any money and just bringing stuff from home and leftovers for lunch. This has led to low energy levels, headaches, and lack of motivation for post-work workouts. At least I am hoping that is what's going on. Maybe my body is just doing it's best to fight off whatever the other 209 people in my office have been sharing.

I'm off to the grocery store to stock up on things at home. I'll try to muster up some energy to blog about the housewarming.

Domestication at it's Finest

One of the best things about moving into a new home is all the friends and family you get to have over for dinner. Now that I have a full kitchen and most of the necessary utensils, making meals is a pleasure instead of a frustration. I have been finding lots of great recipes and the ones I have made so far have been big winners. Last week I made this Caribbean Honey Garlic Chicken recipe from the Safeway website. I put it over brown rice (one of the great finds in JB's boxes was a nice rice cooker) and made some Asparagus Parmesan to go with it. Everything turned out great! JB doesn't hesitate to help in the kitchen, but for the most part, I like to do everything myself.

Saturday after my comprehensive exam, JB and I cleaned the house because we were having his family over for dinner that evening to celebrate his and his mom's birthdays that occurred earlier in the week. I made my sister-in-law's lasagne recipe, but altered it to be a lower fat version using ground turkey, lowfat cottage cheese, and whole wheat pasta. I have made this recipe in the past. Since it was the weekend I had time to do all the prep work and get it in the oven before they got here. I'm one of those people that likes to clean as I go so the mess isn't so overwhelming when you are done with the meal. I threw together my staple salad and his mom brought some 5 cheese garlic bread. Delicious!!

Sunday night we had my brother and SIL over for dinner. It was nice to be able to return the favor since they have had us over quite a few times. She is an awesome cook and I was hoping my meal could compare to any of hers :) I have been wanting to try this meatloaf recipe from my Abs Diet recipe book for a while and I finally had my chance. Here it is if you would like to give it a try:

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Meat Lover's Meat Loaf

1/2 lb ground sirloin
1/2 lb ground turkey
2 eggs
1 cup whole wheat crackers, crushed
3/4 cup diced onion
1/2 cup BBQ sauce, plus extra
2 cloves of garlic, crushed (or 1 tsp. of the minced garlic in the jar)
1/2 tsp of dried oregano

Preheat oven to 350 degrees
Mix beef and turkey until well blended
Add eggs and remaining ingredients until well blended
Form meat into a loaf shape on a broiler pan (I used a cookie sheet but put foil over it and folded up the edges to keep the juices from flowing over)
Coat the outside with the extra BBQ sauce
Cook for 1 hour (double check internal temp with meat thermometer, should read 160 degrees)
Eat with mashed potatoes
Serves 4

Nutritional info, per serving: 366 calories, 32 g protein, 31 g carbs, 13 g total fat, 4 g sat fat, 581 mg sodium, 3 g fiber

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We made the mashed potatoes with it and some broccoli as well. It was soooooooo yummy! My brother couldn't stop raving about it. He told me it was the best meatloaf he had ever tasted. It was really moist and flavorful. JB chopped the onions for me, since we don't have our slap chop yet. He also peeled and cut up the potatoes. Such a good helper!

Today I stayed home from work because I woke up with a migraine which was probably due to the stress of the last week. I slept it off for a while, did a little work from home, and decided to try a new recipe in the crock pot from Spark People's Healthy Recipes app on my iPhone, Slow Cooker Salsa Chicken. My crock pot is newer and runs hot, so instead of cooking it on low for 6-8 hours, it only took 4. JB and I agree this was by far the best recipe I have tried yet. In fact, we ranked them:

1. Slow cooker Salsa Chicken
2. Meat Loaf
3. Caribbean Honey Garlic Chicken
4. Lasagne

I am loving this new found domestication. Cleaning and cooking don't even seem like a chore at this point, although I am sure that will change. If anyone has any recipes they would like to share, send them my way!

Back On Track and Sparky

I swore I wouldn't let it happen this year, but it happened. Not as bad as it has in the past, but still, I managed to let myself go during the holidays. It's like, the consumption of thousands of calories is one thing on it's own. Not working out is not a big deal if you are eating well. And drinking is fine in moderation. But add it all together:

Multiple high calorie intake opportunities
+ Christmas cocktails and Thanksgiving wine
+ No time to hit the gym because of said opportunities
= packing on the lbs

Not to mention the stress of the move. I was barely in the gym once a week, compared to the 3 days I am used to. I was eating with emotion so anything bad sounded like a great idea. Add to that my "trainer" bf who is really a fat kid in disguise, and you can send my motivation and ability for clean eating right out the window.

I am glad to say that I am back on track. Even JB is with me this time! I found another helpful aspect of fitness and weight loss - no money. I am forced to eat at home and bring my lunch. it's super easy not to spend money when you don't have any, which makes saying no to eating out and happy hours a lot easier. And thanks to my pal, K-Put, I have found the most amazing fitness and nutrition tracker/weight loss and health forum/social network, Spark People!

Back when I first started this whole thing in full force a little over a year ago, I was using the body bugg system, thanks to JB. They have since modified the device, but the one I was using was big and bulky and grey and people looked at me like I was a weirdo with an iPod on my arm all the time. It is a great way to track calories burned and steps taken (it gives you goals to hit each day based on your total weight loss goals) but you also have to use their website to enter your calories consumed each day. This is the most tedious task for me and their database and interface made this take way longer than it really needs to. The process is helpful for people who are not used to portion sizes or tracking calorie consumption. You never realize just how much you are taking in until you log your food. But after I got the hang of it, I kind of fell away from entering my food everyday.

With Spark People, tracking your food is so easy. They have a giant database of foods and you can also import foods or meals that other people have already entered, so the chances of you not being able to find something is slim. It tracks the calories, fat, carbs, and protein in each item and for each meal and at the end of the day, gives you a report and tips if you are too high or too low in certain areas. One of the things I like the most is that it doesn't give you a solid take it or leave it number. It gives you a RANGE. This range is based on your current body-mass index (BMI) and your weight loss goals. Mine is currently 1500-1829 calories per day. As long as I am in that range, I am good to go. It also gives you a range for the other categories too and tells you why too much of these things or not enough of them is bad and what you can do to increase or decrease your intake.

The site offers sample daily menus, which are realistic and easy foods that you find in real stores, and there is even an option at the bottom to print a shopping list for this menu plan. If you use the menu plan, you just put a check mark next to whatever you ate off the menu and it calculates your intake. The water tracker has you input the glasses of water you drink per day and informs you that 8 is the standard amount. Another awesome feature is the iPhone app, so you can still track everything when you are away from your computer.

The fitness tracker is a place to obviously track your fitness activities. They offer sample workouts with demonstrations and most of these things are doable at home with a stability ball and small hand weights. There are many different exercises to choose from to build your own 30 minute routines, and since they have already entered the general calorie burn for these items, it can give you a somewhat accurate account of what you are burning by doing them.

There is also a social networking aspect to the site, where you can build your "spark page" and have "spark friends" and join "spark teams". You can post pics and have a ticker for weight loss progress and leave comments for your friends. There is a "status" line for you to let everyone know what you are up to, and even a blog to post about your progress if you'd like.

There is a point tracker that allots points for doing certain things on the site. If you log in, you get a point, log your food, more points. Read a blog or article, post on a message board, make a recipe from their catalog, points points points!!! Speaking of recipes, they also have a Spark recipes app for your iPhone as well and there is some really yummy stuff on there. I plan to use it quite a bit and may post some here.

So yeah, basically Spark People should hire me to do PR or marketing for them. Anyone who knows me knows when I get into something, I am behind it 100%. And if something works for me, it could work for all my friends, so I want the whole world to know about it. It's free to join, so if you end up with a profile, let them know that breannez sent you and add me as your "spark friend". I love having people to motivate me!

Happy Sparking!

2009 Was Oh So Fine!

It would take a whole lot to top 2009 for me personally. This was by far the best year of my life. I didn't want to say anything before it was officially over for fear of having something go terribly wrong before it ended. But we are safely out of the woods and I can scream from the mountain tops. What was so great about 2009? Glad you asked.

January - As midnight struck, JB and I exchanged our first "I love you" in the middle of K Street, in downtown Sacramento....with the rest of the metropolitan area pushing by us. San Diego for JB's birthday and John Legend.

February - I moved back out of my parents' house and in with my two dear college buddies. I no longer lived in BFE and could have JB over more often. We had our first Valentine's Day together, which was spent with me in bed with the stomach flu, forced to watch NBA All-Star Weekend while drifting in and out of consciousness. We celebrated the following weekend with lunch at Melting Pot :)

March - I don't remember anything significant from this month really.

April - Had my first girls only trip to Vegas for Val's bachelorette party, which is always awesome. John and I started talking about moving in together in August. :)))

May - Ry and Val's Wedding

June - Callie's bachelorette party and wedding, Disneyland with April and Baylee, Maren moved back from NYC

July - The boot camp that got me in the best shape I have ever been in, Reno trip with fun friends, signed the purchase agreement for our new home!

August - Moved in together and celebrated our one year milestone (which was a big one for both of us) with a trip back to Vegas where it all started. It still blows my mind that I was 27 before I ever lived with a significant other.

September - One of my best friends foudn love and graduated from respiratory therapy school. I surprised JB with a group outing to the niners game. Oh yeah, and I FINALLY PAID OFF MY CREDIT CARD!

October - Participated in my first trail run, finally finished the coursework for my Masters, and survived, I mean, spent a weekend at a cabin bonding with my family.

November - SYTYCD and Kelly Clarkson shows are about it. Fun girls weekend.

December - My former roomies and dear college friends got engaged! We got the keys to our new home!!! I appreciated the holidays much differently this year and tried to soak in all of the time with my extended family.

Line by line it may not seem that significant to most, but I reached some serious goals and milestones this year. If every year from here on out is half as good as this one, I'll be just fine. And if it's not, I'll survive. I have a feeling 2010 is JB's year, which will make me just as happy.

Moving and Memories

I'm sure everyone is glad we have finally moved into our new home so they can stop hearing about it and seeing the pictures I post every 5 seconds on my facebook. Well, let me tell you, I am more ecstatic than anyone else that we have finally moved, because now I can get back to my life. The past six months have been spent stressing and planning and spending and waiting. It's finally over. We are, for the most part, settled in.

We got our keys on Wednesday morning, December 23rd. While we waited for some of our friends to show up to help us with the move, we had ourselves a little champagne toast, admired the stockings my mom left us and decorated the little tree she got us as well. What she did for us is totally something I would do and it just makes me realize how much like her I really am. Once the helpers arrived, we went over to my brother's house to pick up my couches I had been letting them borrow for the past year and a half. Not having anything to tie them down with, I stressed the whole 15 minutes back to our place that they might fly out of the back of the truck. They made it. And the guys maneuvered them upstairs to the loft without damaging the couches or the walls. I almost couldn't watch.

After that was all taken care of we headed up to my parents' house in Rescue to retrieve my belongings that have been stored there for the last 18 months. Two more of our friends followed us up there with their SUV, which made it possible to get everything but my BBQ without having to use the utility trailer. Thank goodness for my step-dad who is the ultimate puzzle person. He made everything fit in the back of Jeff's truck and secured it all so it wouldn't fly away. We all looked at each other in amazement knowing that we would never have been able to do that without him. Once we got back to the house, we unloaded everything as fast as we could since Jeff had to get home. We were able to get another truck to get to Grandma's house and get the matresses and the TVs. We needed somewhere to sleep and the Surewest guy was coming in the morning. After one more load and a trip to Wal-Mart, we called it a night.

Christmas Eve began with the Surewest guy ringing the doorbell. Shortly after, the guy showed up to install the blinds. Not long after that, our new couch arrived. That was about all we had time for before family Christmas festivities began, so we had to pick up where we left on Saturday.

More great friends and a moving truck made that day possible. We loaded up everything for JB's storage unit and either dropped it off at grandma's house, took it to goodwill, or brought it home. Everything gathered so much dust from being in there for two years, so we had to be sure to clean everything off and out before we took it in the house. When we got there, my dad and step-mom, along with my brother were waiting for us. Everyone got right to work moving and cleaning and hooking things up. It was amazing to know that so many people cared enough to help us out. Nobody likes moving, especially when it's someone else's stuff. I can't say thank you enough!

Having a dishwasher and a nice stove/oven and lots of pots and pans and dishes makes me want to stay home and cook all day! Laundry doesn't seem like such an ordeal now that we have a washer and dryer right in our home. And having a fridge that doesn't freeze the things in the fridge and thaw the things in the freezer is wonderful. Not to mention the ability to thaw frozen things in the microwave. What an upgrade!!!

We are still not able to park in the garage. There are a couple of furniture items and my BBQ in there and I am still trying to sort through my "memories". I had quite a few boxes up at my parents' that read "Breanne's Collectibles" and "Breanne's Memories". I have one box left to finish sorting through and then I need to organize them and pack what's left of them away. Some of the boxes are filled with my favorite books growing up, which I hope to one day pass down to my child or neice/nephew. One of them was filled with all of my Peter Rabbit and Benjamin Bunny ceramic collectible items that might actually be worth some money. I found lots of old notes from 7th and 8th grade, which were hilrious to go through, but definitely not necessary to keep.

The final box I am going through holds all of my memories from my high school days. Pictures, keepsakes, letters, yearbooks, albums, trinkets, journals. So much stuff. I put the yearbooks, 6th grade to senior year) on the book shelf in the office. It's always fun to go through those things every once in a while. I have read through the journals and threw one of them away. It was from 7th/8th grade and it was full of nonsense about boys and cussing at my parents. Pretty funny, but not worth keeping around. The one from high school is pretty significant, so I am thinking about keeping that one around, but definitely locked away.

It has been an emotionally exhausting process going through this box. I have practically re-lived, from start to finish, my 6.5 year relationship. It's interesting how it stirs nostalgia, but I am also numb to the whole thing at the same time. Even though I know it is me writing these journal entries or copies of letters to him and the things he wrote to me in cards or letters or whatever, it doesn't feel like it. It feels like I am reading about other people in another time. It's also weird to have a kind of sadness for those two people that it didn't work out for, knowing that I wouldn't change anything because of where it got me today. So, yeah, rollercoaster.

I have also re-lived the deaths of close friends of mine throughout the years. Gets me every time. Even though I can go day to day knowing they are gone and missing them often, looking at the pictures and reading the articles and funeral programs really takes me right back to that time and that pain. Not even beginning to fathom what it must be like for the parents and siblings of those people who have to face it on a daily basis. Terrible.

Hopefully this trip down memory lane will be over soon and packed neatly away. Except for all the exes who got tossed in the dumpster :). I can't wait to make new memories to go through if I ever have to move again...

The Journey

Somehow, I couldn't figure out before today, how to follow one of my followers. Someone I have known for years, but have not been very close to. Someone I share a bond with, but never really knew that much about. And to be honest, someone I have always kind of admired. I should be working right now, I will admit, but instead, I have been reading about the past year of her life. And the more I read, the more I come to respect this person, and find that we have so much more in common than I could ever know.

The first thing I noticed is that she is an amazing writer. The more I read, the more I felt inspired to write. The more I read, the more I reached back into my past and started thinking of that time 4.5 years ago, when as I was ending a realtionship and giving back a ring and starting my journey to find myself, she was just finding happiness with someone. Someone who was probably supposed to be forever, but alas did not work out. And now reading about her experience with that happiness coming to an end earlier this year, and her journey to find herself again, I cry. But the funny part is, the entire time she is speaking of the sadness, pain, and loneliness that come with the end of a long-term commitment to someone else, I do not cry. I remember the pain, but do not cry. The tears come when I read of her new butterflies for someone else.

I am not sure why this is the release point. Is it because as I am reading over the one, two, three months it takes her to start getting to a place where she can get through the day, the emotions are slowly building inside of me? And when I finally see that she has found happiness again, or thinks she might have, I am overwhelmed with joy for her? I have no idea. Maybe it's the hormones from my contraceptive.

I always feel the need to take her under my wing. Which is funny because we don't talk often, or really even hang out together for that matter. Group social gatherings are what have brought us together in the past, and she is usually one of my favorites, but now that she is no longer part of that group, and to be honest, neither am I, I do not see her or know much beyond what I read on facebook. But I always want to take her under my wing. Tell her that I too experienced the pain of losing someone I thought would be forever, and made it through the rough journey of finding myself without him. Part of that journey consisted of spending a lot of money, drinking a lot of booze and eating terribly delicious food late at night, and surrounding myself with other people that had those similar interests.

It also consisted of throwing myself into someone who should have never been more than a friend and making myself look pathetic and vulnerable in doing so. I became someone I didn't even recognize. The true emo side of me really came out there for a while. And through that rejection I ended up giving someone else a chance who didn't deserve a moment of my time, let alone 6 months...twice. Yikes. Of course there were a number of "victims" along my journey that I tried to let down easily, but never really succeeded in doing so. That really takes a toll on you mentally.

But all in all, I think the person I ended up finding is somewhat well-adjusted, determined, and hopeful. So I have to say that the journey was worth it. The so-called "end" has justified the means. Only being a little over a quarter of the way through my life, I know that it is nowhere near the end, but I am coming to a place that I have been working toward all this time. A place I never thought I would find again. And it's better than I could have ever imagined.

I think about how things are now, and I can't believe I almost settled for so much less. Not that the person was so much less, but the experience, the relationship, the love, was SO much less. There was less respect for each other and the relationship itself. There was less maturity in both of us, and I think we may have never grown from that if we had stayed together. I would be 2.5 years into a marriage, extremely unhappy, and probably nowhere near where I am in my career today. Instead, I have another degree under my belt and a love so different and so much better than anything I have ever known before.

So all I can say is, as hard as it was and as much as it hurt sometimes, the journey was definitely worth it. I can't wait for what's in store...

Random Rambling

I understand it has been over a month since my last post, but soon, this will not be an issue. I am convinced that once I have the space to sit on my couch and blog as I watch tv, or sitting at the bar drinking my coffee on a Saturday morning that you will hear much more from me ( I know those 5 of you who follow me can't wait!). Right now my computer sits on the small table in the kitchen and I spend most of my time while at home in the bedroom. One or both of the boys are in the living room with Larry, so I reside in the bedroom.

House Update:
We are two weeks away from closing on the house. We have the initial walk thru on the 17th and the final on the 23rd. I have the blinds scheduled to be installed on the afternoon of the 23rd and we can hopefully have the couch delivered that day as well. The satellite and phone and internet are being installed on the 28th. I am taking the week of Christmas and the week after off to get settled in. I have already reserved a Uhaul for the 22nd/23rd and am trying to corral some moving help from friends. This is tough because people are working during the middle of the day in the middle of the week.

I cannot stop buying things for the house. I have refrained quite a bit, but for everything I don't buy, I find one or two things more that we actually need. I am trying to wait until we get in there and find out what we really NEED, but there is so much cool stuff out there. The closet in the office right now is quickly filling with things for the new place. It started when I found the guest bath stuff I wanted at Walmart and just bought it all in one fell swoop. Then JB pointed out that he wanted our house to smell like B&BW, so we got a few wall flowers during a sale. Then we got a brita pitcher and some filter replacements at Target for a good price. And then I found a nice analon bakeware set at costco for a good price. And then cyber Monday brought a great deal on bedding (Cal King 10pc comforter set for $89) and a 20pc knife set for $26. Then I couldn't pass up the electric wine opener for $10. It's amazing, btw. Also, I found a set of 4 stemless wine glasses at walmart for $9! Crazy. So, yeah. That's why I keep buying things. I am convinced we need a spice rack, so I am looking for one of those. I have three coupons for Bed Bath and Beyond, each for 20% off one item. These will definitely come in handy. The only other thing we NEED is bar stools. I don't know why they are so expensive, but even the cheap ones at Walmart are more than I want to pay. The dishes I found are on back order until the 15th, and I am still waiting to hear if my dad and step-mom are going to be able to get them for Christmas. Otherwise, I need to get on there and get them ordered. We'll see.

School Update:
I have a little over a month before my comprehensive exam, which is the last thing I need to complete for my masters program. The exam is on January 16th. Maybe I can find some time in my two weeks off to get some preparation done, but I highly doubt it. Yikes! The study guide is 40 pages long. My plan is to take a couple of subjects home with me at a time to prep for so I am not trying to do it all at once. I'll let you know how that goes.

Holiday Madness:
It's almost time for the Christmas Tour! I hate to sound ungrateful for having so many people in my life to share the holidays with, but it sure is a pain! Especially now that I will have the keys to my home and will probably just want to roll around on the new carpet, or sink into my new couch or something.

Every year, the Saturday before Christmas is when we get together with my mom's side of the family. We do a name drawing gift exchange with a max limit of $25. To me, it seems really silly to even do gifts with a limit like this because you can't really get someone something all that great, so are you really just wasting $25? And if you just get them a gift card, it's kind of lame. I say we scrap gifts all together and just make it what the holidays are really about, which is food and family. I think we might discuss that option for next year.

Christmas Eve, I have two options. In Vacaville, my stepmom is responsible for her entire family's well-being on Christmas Eve. She has always been the one to host the party and do the entertaining. There are lots of friends and family of her and my dad, lots of food, and lots of booze. It's usually a pretty good time. A little further away, in Antioch, my dad's side of the family gathers every year. This is the Christmas Eve I grew up looking forward to and celebrating every year as I had many cousins close to my age to play with and many aunts and uncles to spend time with. As I got older, and through my relationship with Nick, I kind of stopped going to this function. Because it is farther away and most of the cousins grew up and got married and moved away. And for some reason, whether it was all in my head or not, I felt like an outcast in that group of people. And the longer I stayed away, the harder it was to go back. Thanks to Facebook, I am able to keep current on what everyone is up to and now it doesn't seem as awkward to go hang out with this side of my family because I can actually talk with them about the things in their life that are happening. JB and I will be going this year, and I am really excited for everyone to meet him.

Christmas Day starts off with a brunch with my step-dad's family. Their name drawing gift exchange is a little too rich for my blood, as the minimum is $75. This year I will not be participating. I am not missing out on the food though. My aunt makes monkey bread. Mmmmmmm. After either a matinee movie or a nap, we will head over to JB's parents' house for dinner.

I am already exhausted just thinking about it. And I feel that way as soon as I realize that Thanksgiving is here each year. It will all be over soon and I will be snuggled up with JB in our new home and looking forward to paying our ridiculous bills every month. Can it get any better?

Update

So, technically I wrote a Vegas blog, but I am waiting on a couple of pics from one of the trips from a friend, so it's not ready for posting. Otherwise it wouldn't have been over a month since I posted last. I guess it's time for an update:

First, I finally paid off my credit card!!!! I managed to pay down $11K in a little under a year. Pisses me off that I got myself into that into the first place, because I could have had that money in savings right now, but you live and you learn. To know the sacrifices I have made to pay that thing off makes me really proud. I also couldn't have done it without the help of my parents, who let me move in with them for a while, along with my friends Tiffany and DC for letting me move there when I was over living with my parents. The payoff wouldn't have been possible without the disgustingly low rent they allowed me to pay them. I didn't really make a huge deal about it because right before I made my final payment on my sole debt, John and I bought the couch. We should have it paid off before we get into the house, but now the debt is ours together and we are paying it off together. :)

I am semi-officially done with school. I took my last final on the 13th of October, so I am done with classes, but I have the comprehensive exam on January 16th. I have already downloaded the study guide, but now I have to actually study. There are 8 core classes in the program, so there are 8 topics that I can possibly be tested on, but I only have to answer 3 questions for the exam. According to one of the professors, since there has been a new Dean in town, there has been a higher success rate on the exam. I'll take it. Apparently they only have one graduation ceremony each year, which is the second Saturday in June, so that's when I will be walking. I might have a mini-celebration after I pass my comps, but we will have an official party in June. We might have a backyard by then :)

The house is definitely coming along. We have been visiting every week and have finished picking out all of our options and everything. We had a walk thru with the contractor last Friday to check out the framing. Our house is so smart! Lots of energy efficiency to lower our utility bills. One of my favorite features is the pest control system that is piped through the walls and connected to two boxes on opposite sides of the house. They come and spray every couple of months and hook up to the system and pump the walls with shoo-fly spray to make the bugs stay away. If you know how I feel about bugs and spiders, you know why this is my favorite feature.

I am trying not to get ahead of myself with all of the things we will still need to do/purchase. We already bought our couch, since it takes two months to come in. They should have it my the end of November and we will just need them to hold it for a few more weeks. The sales rep for Shea Homes told me that we should have our escrow dates in a couple of weeks. When we walked our home, the contractor also took us to the house two doors down which is ready for their final walk thru. They had the same color cabinets and granite, as well as the same appliances, so we got to see what our kitchen will look like. Here are a few pics of the current structure and the options we picked:

(side view)

I have been living with JB for over two months now. We hit a few bumps at first, which is completely normal, but things have seemed to settle down. I realized that it's much easier to be a control freak when you live by yourself and are the only one in your environment. I have learned to get past the fact that he can never seem to close the closet door all the way and he leaves water bottles and cups, along with empty yogurts and spoons on his nightstand. But now I just shake my head and smile and take them into the kitchen. Silly boy. I have also learned how to approach him to obtain the most effective results. He commends me when I do this and I appreciate that. Communication is key. In just a couple of months we will have a new home with a dishwasher and a washer/dryer and will look back on this time and I will be shocked that we made it through with flying colors.

I managed to lay low this summer. I only went out on the boat a few times and didn't really go on any trips besides Vegas for our anniversary. It seems as though all (or most anyway) of my friends are in healthy and stable relationships. Thus, we have all turned into old people that want to save our money and our livers. The few times I have actually ventured out into the nightlife, I have only lasted a couple of hours and ended up annoyed with the drunken public and my sore feet. Makes me happy that I don't have many reasons to do much of that anymore. The occasional birthday party here and there, but not every weekend like I used to. My weekends now consist of trips to Wal-Mart and Costco, doing chores and laundry, going to the gym and spending time with JB. Man, I got old really fast. LOL!

I am loving every minute of it though. Now that I am finished with school, I can get back to reading for pleasure instead of education. I can be caught up on my DVR before the weekend comes. I also have more time for my friends and family. Definitely not bad.