Finally... Home Sweet Home

Baby steps...

2012-01-17T11:37:00.001-05:00

No, not A BABY. I know what you guys are thinking! You know who you are!

This is about baby STEPS... and I'm referring to starting on my craft room. I usually do things in leaps and bounds, but I'm having shoulder surgery and have been ordered to take it easy (what the hell is THAT?), so we're moving slooooooow for the first few stages of the update.

If you need a refresher, here are some of my ideas for my craft room (and a post I did about them!):

Love this color...

(source)

And cabinets like these...

(source)

So anyway, I went and bought the paint on Saturday, and ended up with Valspar's "Aqua Ocean" from Lowe's.

I'm hoping it's not too dark, but I think with all of the cabinets being white, the counters being light, and the light carpet in the room, it'll tone it down a bit!

I'm also close to ordering these cabinets from Lowe's as well, it's just going to take some driving around town to get all of the pieces that I need. Ugh.

But here's the BEST part... we're also thinking of doing stuff like this:

The kitties will LOVE it!! And it'll be so much fun!

Anyway, that's all for now... will hopefully get some painting done this week before surgery, but if not, Chuck said he'd do it... we'll see, he hates painting!

A few Christmas decor pics!

2012-01-02T08:00:00.000-05:00

Ok so I don't have a fancy schmancy camera, nor do I know how to make the lighting natural and perfect, so just bear with me and my continuous use of the flash!

It was interesting decorating the new house for Christmas for the first time. I think I like where I've placed things, but I know it needs some tweaking and I need to add a few things here and there. But isn't that ALWAYS the case?

Thanksgiving table

2012-01-01T12:06:00.000-05:00

Still very much a work in progress - the placemats were a little much, but all I had on hand at the time (hey, this is my first real dining room table, never had a reason to stock up on placemats before! HA!). And once again, we got to use my grandma's beautiful china.

Happy Holidays!

2011-12-21T10:53:00.001-05:00

Lagging... and a recipe!

2011-11-30T10:43:00.001-05:00

I've totally sucked when it comes to crafting these past 2 weeks, so that means my blog has totally sucked, too. Nothing done around the house/crafting = nothing really to post about! And the reason behind my lack of crafts? I'm dealing with a shoulder issue that gets aggravated by painting/stripping paint & stain/staining/sanding, etc. I've been having the issue for about 5+ months now, and have been through physical therapy, A.R.T. (Active Release Technique = HURTS LIKE HELL), and I finally gave in to a cortisone injection on Monday. I'm waiting with baited breath to see if it finally fixes the issue (it takes 48-72 hrs for you to really know). So far, I'm about 50% better... but we'll see.

Anyway, what I *have* been doing is trying some new recipes, especially with the huge amount of leftover honey baked ham from Thanksgiving! Here's one we tried last night, and we REALLY liked it. I think you could substitute chicken (rotisserie chicken would be good!) or even go meatless since it has beans in it.

Ham-It-Up White Bean Soup

Estimated Times

Preparation Time: 5 mins
Cooking Time: 15 mins

Servings: 6 servings (1 cup each)

Ingredients

1 tablespoon olive oil

1/2 small onion, chopped

2 garlic cloves, finely chopped

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

1 can (12 fl. oz.) NESTLÉ® CARNATION® Evaporated Milk

1 can (14.5 fl. oz.) reduced-sodium chicken broth

1 1/2 cups (about 6 oz.) cooked ham, cut into 1/2-inch pieces

1 can (15.5 oz.) cannellini (white kidney) beans, undrained

1/2 cup frozen peas (I used mixed vegetables - so green beans, carrots, corn, & peas - turned out awesome!)

Ground black pepper (optional)

Directions

HEAT oil in medium saucepan over medium heat.
Add onion and garlic; cook, stirring occasionally, for 1 to 2 minutes or until onion is tender.
Stir in flour.
Gradually stir in evaporated milk and broth.
Cook, stirring constantly, until mixture comes to a boil.
Add ham, beans and peas. Heat through.
Season to taste with pepper.

(source - Nestle Meals)

New Kitchen Shelf - from 1 to 2

2011-11-16T20:50:00.001-05:00

Yes, singular shelf. Change of plans. Lemme explain.

When I first saw our kitchen and the long empty wall above a row of cabinets, I knew right away that I wanted to fill that blank space with 2 cafe shelves, something like these:

(source)

So Chuck bought all of the supplies (8' MDF boards and 6 corbels) and I got to priming and painting.

The color I used for the final coats is "Horseradish" by Olympic mixed as Valspar paint at Lowes, and is the color we picked out for the kitchen cabinet makeover. It's a creamy white and think it'll look great with our dark counters and black appliances eventually!

I used a mini foam roller for the boards to give them a good even coat with no brush marks, and then used some cheapo foam brushes for the corbels (which were a PITA to paint, let me tell you! Drip city!).

So I got 2 coats of primer and 2 coats of paint on everything, sanding lightly in between, and when it was time to put them up in the kitchen, we hit a snafu. We had measured length, but we had never really measured the height of the space. We had just assumed that 2 shelves would fit. What we forgot about is the soffitt that's above the space, lowering the ceiling a noticeable amount. Oops. So after measuring and finding the studs (which turned out to be in odd spots...?), we ended up only mounting 1 shelf. I was pretty bummed as I had primed and sanded and painted everything (and just about lost my mind in the process!), and could've saved myself some time (and $! The corbels were $8/each!).

Anyway, so here's the final product :)

Before... blank wall and "catch all" on the counter:

And after!

(notice the paint chip taped to the cabinet below - that's "Horseradish" and how it will look with everything!)

I'm still working on tweaking what's up on the shelf and the placement of everything, but so far, so good! And due to the placement of the studs on the wall, and me wanting everything "even Steven" on both sides, we ended up with 2 corbels in the middle of the shelf instead of 1, but I think it works! And disregard the ugly beat up switch plates, etc. Those will be history eventually, swapped out with something nicer once we figure out our backsplash!

My first Pinterest Party!

2011-11-14T09:00:00.000-05:00

Please tell me you all know what Pinterest is so I don't have to explain it? Ok, good :) (If you need an invite - please send me an email!)

Anyway, so a good friend of mine heard about hosting a "Pinterest Party" and decided it sounded fun. She picked a craft for us to try that she had pinned on Pinterest, gathered all of the supplies we'd need, and we all chipped in some $ to cover the cost.

(source)

She picked the infamous yarn wreath:

(source)

(I apologize for the tutorial and pics - I didn't take the best pics at the party and ended up not finishing my wreath there - so I also have pics from when I finished it at home - bear with me!)

Supplies needed:

Foam wreath form - any size/color
Scissors
Glue gun
Yarn - any color/texture
Felt - any color/texture
Floral pins (optional)

We started out with a foam wreath form purchased at the craft store.

We all chose the color yarn we wanted to use, and began wrapping the wreath form in yarn. To start, you can either tie a knot, or hot glue the yarn to the form to give you an "anchor." When you're wrapping, don't be TOO concerned with keeping it all straight and beautiful, or else it'll take FOR.EV.ER. Keep it as neat as you can while still keeping a good pace.

If you run out of yarn (unless you have the whole skein to yourself), just find a good place (hopefully around the back of the wreath) to tie on a new piece of yarn and keep going. Wrap until you've covered the whole wreath form.

Ok and here's where my pics get wonky. I added flowers to mine at the party, but didn't take any pics of HOW I made them, so I'm going to use pics of the last 2 flowers I made here at home to show you how.

This is where the scissors, felt, and glue gun come in.

Cut a strip of felt (length-wise) about 3-4 inches wide (wider depending on the size of the flower you'd like to make).

Add a line of hot glue length-wise near the edge of the felt.

Fold the felt over and seal the glue - don't burn your fingers!

Take the scissors and begin cutting the felt (but not all of the way through the glue) at the folded side.

Cut the whole length of felt like this. Feel free to vary the widths between your cuts - for either skinny or chunkier "petals."

Starting at one side, roll the felt, hot gluing every so often as you go along.

And eventually you'll have this!

Like I mentioned before, my wreath was just about done when I made this flower, so you'll just have to make a few in varying sizes and position them on the wreath.

That being said, when you decide where you'd like them on the wreath, you have 2 options to secure them to it - either with the glue gun, or in case you'd ever like to switch the flowers out (maybe for different seasons?), you can use floral pins, which is what I did.

(before I added the last flower)

And with the addition of the last flower.

I had help with this project, of course :)

In the pipeline

2011-11-12T09:00:00.000-05:00

So here's what I'm working on right now...

1. Stripping and staining these bad boys (china cabinets!):

2. Priming and painting everything forest green on this for my craft room...

3. Priming and painting my new kitchen shelves...

What are you guys up to?

Keeping it real

2011-11-10T09:00:00.000-05:00

I was fortunate enough to inherit a small china cabinet that belonged to my paternal Grandparents when they were married and was passed on to my Dad when I was young (my Grandparents got divorced and my Grandma wanted a fresh start, I guess!). It's been sitting in my Dad's living room, waiting for the day I had the room in my own home for it. Well, that time has come, so a few weeks ago Chuck and I drove to Cincinnati and loaded it up and brought it home.

It needed some TLC, but it's a special case. It has colored wood inlays in the doors, preventing me from slapping a couple of coats of paint on it to freshen it up. Plus, I grew up with this cabinet - how could I change it from what I had always remembered?

Here's a bad pic of it - you really can't see how dry and damaged the wood is in this pic.

Even worse was the painted inside... all chipped and dirty.

Yah, it was pretty bad.

What you can't see is the smell. My Dad is a smoker, and so the poor cabinet had been soaking up cigarette smoke for 30+ years. Lovely.

I wanted to clean up the outside without changing the finish of the cabinet, and was deathly afraid of trying to sand it (some of the inlays were chipped, etc.), so I found something to try online. I read where someone used a mixture of white vinegar and olive oil to nourish the wood and it brought the piece of furniture back to life.

So I mixed up the vinegar and oil, and after the initial craving for a salad, I began to wipe down every inch of wood on the cabinet and watch the color and depth come back to it. It was awesome! A bonus is the vinegar also got rid of the cigarette smell!

I let the cabinet continue to soak of the oil and vinegar and air out in the garage, and Chuck encouraged me to give it one last wipe down with linseed oil to give it a great finish and an even better smell (no croutons needed).

To address the inside of the cabinet, as much as I wanted to match the original green, I thought I may be able to come up with my own shade of green using the paint that I used on the garage stairs, mixed with some white from other projects. And I just so happened to have some leftover contact paper from the kitchen cabinets that was a similar shade of green with a pretty white pattern on it. So I gave it a shot!

I'm really happy with how it turned out! We just moved it into the house today, but it's going to sit empty for a while - I have 2 other small china cabinets to refinish (with stain - they are a mess) that we found on Craigslist, and I want to wait till all 3 are in the house before I start to divvy everything up and fill them up! I will be posting about refinishing them soon!

Easy makeover

2011-11-09T14:00:00.000-05:00

This isn't a huge transformation, nor did I do a step by step (Ooh baby, gonna get to you giiiiiiiirl... Oh oops. Sorry for the NKOTB interruption) DIY instruction for this project. It's just that simple, but I wanted to highlight the ease of giving a piece of furniture or a cabinet a whole new lease on life with just a fresh coat of paint.

The first victim in the new house? The orange-y oak (and beat up) vanity in our small 1/2 bath on our first floor.

It's hard to tell in this pic, but the mirror above the vanity is actually black and that's what gave me the idea to give the vanity a face lift!

So I bought a quart of "Kettle Black" by Valspar and gave the vanity 2 coats of Kilz primer and 2 good coats of paint, along with spray painting the brass hinges (that are visible from the outside of the cabinet) with Satin Nickel spray paint (LOVE that stuff!).

What do you think?

I may add some knobs to the doors as well, but haven't decided yet.

In case you're wondering, here's the other side of the bathroom. Black framed scrapbook paper, and a black basket (that was brown in it's former life!) on top of the toilet. Ahhh, harmony!

Fancying up the garage - Part 2

2011-11-08T20:22:00.000-05:00

Ok, well a 1 week project turned into... well, a month. But, I finally have the end result pictures!

Let me first say that although painting high-traffic stairs sounded like a good idea, little did I know that no matter how much I primed and no matter how many coats of Polycrylic I coated them with, one scuff of a boot or a heel was enough to knock some paint loose. To me, being the perfectionist that I am, it was MADDENING. To everyone else, the stairs still look much better than before and see it as an improvement. I just need to live and let go and enjoy my cheery stairs minus the chip or two!

So here is my reveal! (Disregard the crap sitting on the garbage can to the left. It's now my catch-all as my work table is covered in my next project!)

In case you forgot what they looked like to begin with...

Pretty beat up, eh?

Here's after 2 coats of primer, already looking better!

I plan on adding a fun, bright wreath to the door as well, but haven't had the time to do the one I want. But I think they turned out OK!

Happy early birthday & Christmas to ME!

2011-11-01T09:15:00.003-04:00

So with Chuck's blessing, I ordered a Silhouette Cameo as my birthday & Christmas present from him this morning! He told me he'd rather me have it sooner than later since I've been chomping at the bit to use one. Plus he said he's now alleviated of the pressure to find me the "perfect gift" twice in 1.5 months!

If you don't know what a Silhouette is, it's just like a Cricut. If you don't know what a Cricut is...

"The Silhouette CAMEO™ is an electronic cutting tool for personal use. Like a home printer, it plugs into your PC or Mac® with a simple USB cable. However, instead of printing it uses a small blade to cut paper, cardstock, vinyl, fabric and more up to 12" wide and 10 feet long. The machine also boasts a quiet motor and the ability to register and cut printed materials."

Silhouette Cameo

I can't wait to start making things like this...

(source)

And this...

(source)

And stuff like this...

(source)

I'm so damn excited!! YAY!!!

Sharing: 150 Stocking Stuffer Ideas

2011-10-28T10:20:00.004-04:00

I saw this on Pinterest (where else?) and thought I'd share!

Recipe to try

2011-10-20T09:00:00.000-04:00

I saw this recipe at Love Veggies & Yoga and about keeled over they sounded SO good, so I thought I'd share!

Pumpkin Peanut Butter Oatmeal Bars!!!! ZOMG!!!

MUST.TRY.NOW.

Homegoods GC giveaway @ TT&J!

2011-10-19T14:16:00.001-04:00

I'm a little late in sharing this, 'cause the giveaway ends tomorrow (10/20/11), but Jen @ Tater Tots & Jello (LOVE!) is giving away two $50 Homegoods gift cards!

Check it out!

First real shot at vinyl lettering

2011-10-18T19:38:00.000-04:00

This craft took a little longer for me to finish than I had anticipated... actually what took the longest is getting it hung up so I could take a final picture of it. Ah well.

My inspiration for this craft came from this:

(source)

I narrowed down where it came from - Homegoods, of course, and searched at a few local locations to no avail. One of the drawbacks of Homegoods, it's a shot in the dark finding something when you REALLY want it. So I decided I was going to try making my own, with my own twist (using the same wording, though).

My idea was a mix of the Homegoods version and something like this:

I don't yet own a vinyl cutting machine such as a Cricut or a Silhouette (although I'm about to pre-order the new Silhouette Cameo!), so I contacted a friend who has a small business specializing in vinyl, sent her my idea, and asked if she could help me out. Of course she could, so I sent her the file that I made using Illustrator, for her to cut out in removable vinyl.

Chuck helped me pick out a pre-sanded unfinished pine shelf board from Lowes, and I grabbed 2 cans of spray paint - Heirloom White (off-white) and Colonial Red (almost like a barn red).

First step was to sand the board - even though it said it was already sanded, there were a few rough edges, so I took a 300-grit sandpaper on a sanding block to it and just smoothed it over. I also gave the rest of the board a light sand so it would take the primer better.

As I mentioned, the next step was primer. I used a foam roller and gave it 2 good coats of primer, letting it dry completely before moving on to my next step.

What I wanted was white letters on a red background, and so I spray painted the whole board with Heirloom White (just the front, not the sides or anything). I gave it 2-3 good even coats and let it dry completely overnight.

The next day I applied the vinyl lettering, using some tips from my friend - taping the whole piece of transfer paper down the side of the board, cutting across each line of text, and applying it 1 line at a time.

I *thought* I had it straight going across, as I was measuring the space between each line, but turns out in the end I wasn't careful enough. Unfortunately I didn't notice this till after it was on the wall... ugh.
Note to self - next time measure for each line and draw a faint pencil line for each as a guideline.

After applying all of the vinyl letters, making sure they were all attached well, I spray painted the whole board (including the sides/top/bottom) with Colonial Red, covering the vinyl letters completely and evenly.

I let this dry for a few hours, but not TOO long as I didn't want to pull the paint up with the letters when I removed them. I'm not sure I let it dry enough as the red paint smeared in a few places. I carefully pulled up each letter with my fingernails (bad idea, use tweezers!).

I then went back with a small art paint brush and a puddle of the Heirloom White and a puddle of the Colonial Red on some cardboard, and touched up any place there was a smear or where the paint leaked under the vinyl letters.

And here is the finished product! I'm really happy with it, despite the lettering being crooked the first few lines, but hey, it was my first foray and for that, I am pretty darn pleased!

(this is our breakfast nook)

I can't wait to get my own vinyl cutting machine as I have a TON more ideas like this one I'd like to try!

Fancying up the garage - Part 1

2011-10-08T09:00:00.000-04:00

Pinterest is going to be the bane of my existence. Why? Because I'm actually going to paint the stairs in my garage leading into my house and pretty up the entry way. Half the people I've told about this were like "Uhh... it's the GARAGE." Well yah, I know, but... no one uses our front door - so the entry they see is this one! Why not make it inviting, too?

All because of this... one of my very first pins!

(source)

Here's what I started with:

I know, nothing horrible or hideous. Just plain. And worn.

Chuck wasn't sold on me stenciling on the stairs, so I decided to add the words to the door instead, and ordered simple vinyl lettering from Etsy.

I'm in love with spring green right now, and had an old doormat that wasn't being used that I drew my color inspiration from.

I went to Home Depot and picked up some Behr exterior satin paint in "Pepper Grass" and some non-slip paint additive to give the stairs some texture so no one slips and falls (my luck it would be ME!).

This weekend, I'll be priming and painting the stairs and hopefully posting the final pictures next week! Stay tuned!

Kitchen Message Center

2011-10-07T13:00:00.000-04:00

Well, I found my digital camera and finally downloaded all of the pictures from it! So I finally have some progress/project pictures to share!

First project that I'd like to share is based off of a pin on Pinterest, of course! Chuck and I both have a bad habit of leaving our keys wherever they land when we get home, and then not being able to find them. I'm also a "list" person and seem to have them all over the place, and of course, Chuck disregards them. My solution? A "message center" for our kitchen.

My initial inspiration comes from Etsy seller "TheDoorStop":

(this is made from an old cabinet door!)

And also from Pottery Barn:

I love the wall pockets, the hooks, and the organization, and I hate that our kitchen counters (and junk drawer) fill up with junk we bring home with us everyday. Drives me bonkers!

So, after consulting with Chuck, I made a trip to Crazy Scotty's (yes, that's the name!), a discount building supplies store in Marysville that I had no idea even existed. They sell unfinished cabinet doors of every size for $10. Score!

I forgot to take a picture before I went crazy with painting, but here's the back of the cabinet - unfinished. I wanted plain and simple, with the most space for writing on the chalkboard.

I gave the cabinet a light sand, and then 2 light coats of black Krylon "Dual" (with primer) satin spray paint. I didn't want it glossy, and the satin has just enough sheen.

After letting it all dry for a day, I then taped off the edges with blue painter's tape, and used Rust-Oleum's Chalkboard spray paint that I found at Home Depot (I think it was less than $5/can). There is also regular chalkboard paint sold at Lowes, but it's $$ and I'm all about the ease of spray paint (which I couldn't find at Lowes, btw).

I gave it a few light coats per the directions and let it dry overnight.

Before actually writing on your newly created chalkboard surface, you're supposed to take a piece of chalk and completely cover the board in chalk, and then erase - prepping the surface. I did this and then tried it out!

We're good to go!

And following the lead of my initial inspiration, I purchased a drawer pull (Lowes) and 2 hooks for our keys (Target of all places!). Chuck attached them for me, and also added hooks to hang it on the wall, and we were in business!

But, I wasn't finished! I wanted a place to store all of our take-out/delivery menus, coupons and stuff we get, and our mail. I found a tutorial to DIY the wooden wall file boxes shown in the Pottery Barn picture above, but wasn't really wanting to get that crazy with it. So I hit up Target, of course, and found this for $10:

(file folders from Staples - $4-5 for 6)

(those are Chuck's keys hanging on the hook!)

So, not quite as fancy-schmancy as my inspiration pictures above, but so far, so good! I think in total I spent $40 on both the chalkboard and the hanging wall file & folders. Not too shabby!

Project 3: My craft space

2011-10-06T09:03:00.000-04:00

So I know I showed you pictures of what I hope to use as my craft space, the other half of the finished basement:

The current color is light gray, and there are 2 windows, so it gets some good light during the day, which I appreciate!

I think I'm going to change up the color to something bright and cheery. The wood trim in the room is minimal, so it may get painted white to make the wall color pop.

Here's the color I'm thinking of:

And then I'm picturing a long counter across the back wall, with some cabinets below and a few cabinets above with some lighting under them.

Like this, but with cabinets above instead of fabric, etc.

I also love the cabinet/counter mid-way across the room, but I am thinking of finding an old dining room table on Craigslist, painting it white, and putting casters on the bottom, so I can either stand at it, sit on a stool, or move it around so others can join me!

Some other craft rooms I may pull some ideas from:

I have this feeling that although this space has been deemed mine, it'll turn into a play room (at least part of it) someday and I'll have to hide anything I don't want my kids to destroy!

Do any of you guys have a dedicated craft space?

Project 2: closet turned mudroom

2011-10-05T08:46:00.001-04:00

In my last post, I started down the road of all of the projects that are in our new home's future. Project #1 was the kitchen, which we hope to start soon while the weather stays decent.

Project #2 is transforming our hall closet into a mudroom.

In the hallway leading out to our garage, we have a large closet (double-door on the left) that currently houses our vacuum, and really not much else. The doors are a pain in the butt to open (tracks are old) and frankly, when thinking ahead to our future and having kids, I'd like a place for them to come in and take off their shoes and coats and put them away.

So, here are a few inspiration pictures!

A former closet turned mudroom, but I'm thinking more storage and less decorative pillows to get dirty!

So more like this - this too, was a closet!

Chuck is going to attempt to DIY this, and I'm thinking it's not going to be easy, but it won't be too hard, either. This project isn't a top priority, but since it seems like it won't take too terribly long to do, it may get moved up the project list once Chuck isn't working in the yard so much!

Ch-ch-ch-changes!

2011-10-03T10:00:00.000-04:00

As I mentioned before, Chuck and I both have plans for ways to update and tweak some of the spaces in our home to make it "ours." We've already started making some of those changes (and my camera is AWOL, so no pics yet - I will do a separate post for the things we've already started), but I thought I'd share some of our ideas!

1. The kitchen.

Currently:

Future:

We're going to keep the counters and black appliances, but paint the cabinets an off-white, and add bead board to the exposed backs/sides (like you see above beneath the sink area).

Sort of like this:

And see the long open wall on the left side of the current kitchen? Well, I'd like open shelving to display some of my dark orange and red dishes and serve ware. Like this:

We also plan on a neutral backsplash (since the counters are so busy), and I'm gravitating toward something like this (minus the area above the cooktop - we don't have room for something like that):

The flooring (currently vinyl) will get changed out to tile, but that's not in the cards just yet, as the kitchen ties into a breakfast area and a hallway containing a 1/2 bath and laundry room - all needing changed out, too.

Oh and the awesome box light has to go as well... am thinking just a track light will do! No ideas yet, though!

So there's the kitchen... Project #1!

(And thank you PINTEREST for even MORE ideas than I ever truly needed!)

Home Sweet Home

2011-10-02T10:00:00.000-04:00

As promised, here are a few pics (mostly from the listing, so with the seller's stuff - I will post some with our stuff next week once I have all of my fall decor out!). I know a lot of you have seen these already, so I won't post a ton.... just as a refresher :)

First, let me share with you our "wish list" used in our new home search:

Acreage (1.5+).
A barn/bldg/man-land OR room to build one.
Not too close to the street.
3+ bedrooms and 2+ bathrooms.
Basement (finished or finishable)
Dedicated laundry room.
Less than 25 miles to work each way.
Open kitchen/floor plan.

So, our lot is 2.7 acres (Wish #1, check!), and the whole backyard is fenced in. As you can see to the right of the house, is a "man-land", a finished separate garage for Chuck to house our mower, his tools, and for him to do projects and have his own space (Wish #2, check!). This pic is taken from near the street, so Wish #3, check!

This is the entryway right inside the front door. The door to the left that's open (and is now GONE), leads to the kitchen, there's a doorway to the right that leads to the office, and the photographer is standing in the hall to the living room.

Here is the office, looking out to the front yard. We're slowly making this our Buckeye Room. The color may or may not stay - I'm leaning towards gray for this room, but we'll see! The maroon may be hard to cover!

This is the living room (at least, part of it), and the funny part is, our furniture is SUPER similar and actually arranged in the exact same way as theirs!

We finally have a dedicated (albeit small) dining room, which makes me happy. I was able to inherit a family heirloom dining room table and it fits perfectly!

And voila, my kitchen - with lots of cabinets! It's not as open as I would have liked, so no looking in on the living room if we have guests over, etc. But, it does have a lot of counter and cabinet space, which makes me happy. There are some big changes coming for this room!

My dedicated laundry room! What you don't see in this pic is on the opposite wall from the washer and dryer is a nice big CLOSET! It is now serving as my pantry space for serving dishes, crockpots and other small appliances, and cleaning supplies. (Wish #6, check!)

Our finished basement! We plan on purchasing a sectional similar to this one and we can't WAIT! (Wish #5, check!)

The other side of the finished basement = my new craft space! I'm so excited to have a dedicated space to set up all of my stuff and be able to do all of the crafts I've been wanting to do but haven't had the space to do them!

I'll spare you the boring pics of the bedrooms and bathrooms - they aren't anything to write home about.

We love the new house but both have SO many ideas of little things to tweak and update to make it truly OURS, and I can't wait to start sharing that stuff with you guys (along with How To's in case you want to give it a shot as well!).

A condo, an apartment, and a HOUSE!

2011-10-01T08:00:00.000-04:00

At the end of May, Chuck and I finally felt ready to put the condo on the market. We had spruced everything up to the best of our ability (although there were still a few things we wanted to do - replace the kitchen counters (they were white laminate), and possibly replace the carpet), took a ton of pictures for the listing, and crossed our fingers.

Within the first 2 days of being on the market, we had 4 phone calls for showings. Holy cow! We got positive feedback, and a request for a 2nd showing later in the week. Our hopes were high and the stars must've been aligned because after 7 days of being on the market (and not at a rock bottom price at all), we had an offer. A real offer. We countered once, and 2 days later, we were in contract!

The next 30 days went like a whirlwind as we ordered a POD and scrambled to either find a house we wanted to buy or a short-term lease apartment while we continued our search.

We thought we had found a house for us, and even put in an offer on it, but it was bank-owned and the bank was being extremely unreasonable, so we let fate take the reigns and decided that if it was meant to be, it'd happen, and continued our search.

I'm really glad that we dodged the bullet with the first house - as it needed a lot of work and wasn't anywhere near ready to move into, plus, we wouldn't have found the house that we ended up buying and loving!

It was the week of the condo closing, and a new house came on the market (I was Johnny on the Spot with new listings - Chuck and I checked for updates multiple times a day - it was slim pickens' in our price range and the areas we were looking in, with the specs we hoped for), so we scheduled a showing for the next day. Saw it, loved it, wanted to sleep on it. The next day, another couple viewed the house and put in an offer. We panicked. The sellers welcomed an offer from us and we knew we had to come with our A-game and put it all out there, and after much thought and laying awake all night, we did. And they accepted! WAHOO! The very next day, we closed on the condo and life was GOOD!

So, do you want to see the house?

Tomorrow :)

So.... what's new?

2011-09-30T15:00:00.000-04:00

Well, I know what's new with me... seemingly EVERYTHING. What's new with you guys? Hope everyone is doing well and enjoying the cooler weather we've been having (minus the stupid rain!).

Anyway, since my last real post, way back at the end of April, I've:

Changed jobs.
Sold the condo (in 9 days!).
Moved into an apartment (for a month).
Bought our first home!

So things have been busy, lemme tell ya! I'm still adjusting to the new job and now the new commute (just so happens the new job is 10 minutes away from the condo... and then we moved 25 miles away! DOH!), and trying to make our new house our HOME.

I'm enjoying my new job so far, but am still trying to figure out where my newly-created position fits in to my department (IT). Things seem to be going well so far - I'm learning a lot, and also have been able to share some of my knowledge with my peers (and they UNDERSTAND!), which feels really good. Finally!

Anyway, this blog may start focusing more on my craftier side and doing projects around our home, but I'll be sure to continue posting about other life events, football, exercising (or my lack there of), and all of that jazz.

Next post... the new house!

Stay tuned!

Some catching up to do...

2011-09-30T10:55:00.001-04:00

So I've had all of these ideas of blog posts lately, but with moving into the new house, I've had zero time or energy to actually write them and post them!

I'm hopefully going to crank a few out today for your reading enjoyment :)

Wedding recap - Part 7

2011-04-29T09:00:00.000-04:00

The reception! Yay!

Our reception was going to be short and sweet, unfortunately, as they don't give you many options aboard the ship (it all had to be done before we set sail). So we had an hour with an open bar, DJ, and lots of food! We made the most of it by going non-traditional and skipping the first dance, garter toss (I wasn't even wearing one, shhhhh!!!), bouquet toss, etc. But we did cut the cake (which was SOOOOO good, by the way! Took me by surprise!) and did a champagne toast.

Waiting for our grand entrance...

Wahoo!!! Mr. and Mrs. Park!

As soon as we got served a few drinks, we went right into the champagne toast and cutting the cake. Surprisingly, some of our guests made toasts as well! (We didn't require this of the Best Man or Maid of Honor)

Then it was time to cut our yummy cake!

And then the rest of the hour was ours to mingle, eat, and dance!

Check out this spread of food!

And we danced...

And were pulled away again to sign our marriage license/certificate!

A few of the details... this was our guest book station, and also where we had the "welcome aboard" gift bags we gave everyone. The guest book was filled with pics from the different ports we were about to visit, and let me say that the alcohol was definitely flowing when some of our guests signed it!

The rest of the evening was spent causing trouble as we left port on our way to Grand Cayman Island!

So that ends my official wedding recaps... I may or may not add a few more posts about our awesome cruise... but until then, I'll leave you with this - a pic of our cabin door that we decorated!

Wedding Recap - Part 6

2011-04-28T17:00:00.003-04:00

Formal Pics!

This seemed to be a bit crazy and out of whack, but I think we got a few good ones!

Wedding Recap - Part 5

2011-04-28T14:00:00.000-04:00

I'm trying to break things up a bit for everyone, so it isn't wedding pic overload every post I make!

So here we are, and I'm giddy as a school girl. I love these 2 angles of me "cheesing" at Chuck's (and now my) nephew, Robert, sitting in the front row.

"On behalf of Chuck and Emily, I welcome you and thank you all for gathering here on this beautiful day to witness their marriage ceremony. The fact that you all have traveled such a great distance to be here today is a testament to the amazing amount of love and support they have. You have given them much happiness, love, warmth, and guidance through the various stages of their lives. Each of you, by your presence here today, is being called upon to uphold them in honoring and loving each other. Always stand beside them, never between them. Offer them your love and support, not your judgment. Encourage them with your kindness and loving hearts, and honor this marriage into which they have come to be joined today.

They would like to sincerely thank you all for being here to celebrate their big day. A special and respectful acknowledgment must also be made to those friends and family members who were unable to attend, or have passed on, but whose spirit remains alive and strong in all our hearts.

Marriage is perhaps the greatest and most challenging adventure of human relationships. No ceremony can create your marriage, only you can do that—through love and patience; through faithfulness and trust; through talking and listening, helping and supporting and believing in each other; through tenderness and laughter; through learning to forgive, learning to appreciate your differences, and by learning to make the important things matter, and to let go of all the rest. What this ceremony can do is to witness and affirm the choice you make to stand together as husband and wife.

Chuck and Emily, please face each other and join hands.
The hands you hold are young and strong and full of love, hands that are holding yours on your wedding day as you promise to love each other today, tomorrow and every day after.
These are the hands that will work alongside yours as you build your future, hands that will love you and cherish you through the years.
These are the hands that will hold yours when fear or grief comes your way, that will wipe the tears from your eyes—tears of sorrow and tears of joy.
These are the hands that will hold your children and give you support and encouragement to chase down your dreams.
These are the hands that will hold you as you struggle through difficult times, and will give you strength when you need it.
These are the hands that, even when wrinkled and old, will still be reaching for yours, giving you the same love you are filled with today."

"Chuck and Emily, the symbolic vows that you are about to make are a way of saying to one another, “You know all those things we’ve promised and hoped and dreamed—well, I meant it all, every word.” Look at one another and remember this moment in time. Before this moment you have been many things to one another—acquaintance, friend, companion, partner, and even teacher, for you have learned much from one another in the past years. Now you shall say a few words that take you across a threshold of life, and things will never quite be the same between you. For after these vows, you shall say to the world, this - is my husband, this - is my wife.

CHUCK/EMILY, please repeat after me.

I, CHUCK/EMILY, choose you, EMILY/CHUCK, to be none other than yourself, loving what I know of you, trusting what I do not yet know.
I will respect you as an individual, a partner, and as an equal.
I promise to laugh with you when times are good, and endure with you when they are bad. Whatever may come, I will always be there.
I will always adore, honor and encourage you. You are my best friend and I will love you always."

Oh yes, I was crying the whole way through my vows... And so was Wendy.

"Chuck and Emily, the promises which you have spoken to each other today are inscribed forever in your minds, and in your hearts. But words are fleeting, and so those who marry wear rings as visible, tangible symbols of their commitment and of their emotional and spiritual connection. These rings announce to the world that you have been found. They are a reminder and a celebration of the promises you have made today and in exchanging these bands you knit your two lives together as one.

CHUCK/EMILY, place your ring upon EMILY/CHUCK's finger and repeat after me.

CHUCK/EMILY, I give you this ring, that you may wear it as a symbol of the vows we have made this day. I pledge you my love and respect, my laughter and my tears. With all that I am, I honor you."

"This union has been made today and shall last for all time. Know that you have the pledge of your loved ones and friends to rely on and draw support from whenever it should be needed.

And so, Chuck and Emily, by the power vested in me by the great state of Florida, I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride."

Family, friends, may I present to you, for the very first time, Chuck and Emily Park!

And away we go!

Next up, formal pics!

Wedding Cruise recap - Part 4

2011-04-28T11:54:00.000-04:00

Ok, well, it's been a while! I guess it's time for me to finally finish these up before I forget the details!

I left off with a pic of me, ready to head to the ceremony...

Our photographer, Rico, showed up in time to take a few "glamor shots" of me before we headed out. He took quite a few, but this one really stood out:

So once we got to the floor where our ceremony location ("The Candlelight Lounge") was located, I got nervous. There were passengers walking around, gawking, smiling, taking pictures. It was a tad bit awkward. I tried to smile and pull it off, but I was getting so emotional!

Everyone was seated inside as I hid around a corner with my Dad so no one would see us before it was our turn.


My mom and mother in law

Then it was time... the instrumental/string version of "Bittersweet Symphony" began to play, and my future husband came down the aisle.

And took his place up front.

Followed by his Dad, Steve - his best man.

And Kevin, the groomsman.

Next up, the ladies!

Michele, my bridesmaid.

And Wendy, my maid of honor.

Unfortunately, the DJ in charge of the music messed up a bit, but... no biggie. He started playing MY intro music, Vitamin String Quartet's string version of U2 "All I Want Is You", for the bridal party, realized what he did about 10 seconds into it, then went back to "Bittersweet Symphony". Ugh. So anyway, my turn next!!

My Dad looks scared out of his MIND!

Next up, our vows!

Wedding Cruise recap - Part 3

2011-02-17T10:00:00.001-05:00

When we arrived at the cruise terminal, even though we were there early (they told us to be there about 2-3 hrs earlier than the rest of the passengers), the place was a bit chaotic. Not only did I not know where to go, but I had 30 dumbfounded people with a crap ton of luggage, looking at me for direction! Doh! Thankfully, the luggage porters came our way, took care of all of our bags, and pointed us in the right direction.

We finally found our way across the street (seemed so simple!) and to the right entrance, and were greeted by members of the wedding department - HALLELUJAH! They were able to take control (sort of!) and take some of the stress off of me! So we waited in line to start the boarding process, and my nerves were going INSANE! If it hadn't been so crazy, I would've taken pics, but I had no idea where my camera OR my phone were (everyone was helping me carry stuff at this point).

Boarding with a wedding group was a multi-stage process, the last being boarding the actual boat! We had to check in with our passports and get our Sign & Sail cards (room key/ID/charge card), have our pictures taken, go through security, and then a little bit of waiting while the ship was being prepped for the next round of passengers. A quick tidbit, turns out the sailing before ours had been chartered by KID ROCK, and the passengers had left more of a mess than usual. Ya THINK?! HAHAHA!After all of the waiting and meeting with our coordinator and wedding officiant (she was SO nice!), and them giving our guests the run down of what was going to happen once we boarded, we were set to go!

We were all headed to the Candlelight Lounge where our ceremony was going to take place for a quick rehearsal. So we marched through the ship in a big gaggle, oohing and ahhing at seeing the enormity of everything for the first time!

They had everything set up for the ceremony, but we made some changes. It was an easy decision to nix the cheap, dusty, OLD, tattered white flowers and the equally cheap and ugly pedestals they sat on. Oh, and the industrial-looking aisle runner got the nix as well.

Unfortunately, on most cruise ships, you won't find a wedding chapel or really any GOOD place to have a ceremony. And surprisingly none will let you have your ceremony outside on deck. I'm glad that it wasn't an option now, because I would've jumped at the chance, and the weather that day was NOT ideal - windy, spotty rain, and gray.

So after everyone was told where to meet back for the ceremony in 2 hours, we were dismissed. Michele and Wendy and I headed to my cabin (which was ready), to finish getting ready. We set up shop and put on our dresses and makeup.

I have to say, I'm not really a makeup kinda girl, and although I had a lesson from the gal at the MAC counter, and I had watched countless YouTube videos on how to make my eyes look perfect, that all pretty much went out the window when it came time to do it 30 minutes before my wedding! Although I was happy with the outcome, my nerves were so frazzled as I was applying it!

And here's the finished product!

Let's get married!

Wedding Cruise recap - Part 2

2011-02-16T15:15:00.012-05:00

So Sunday night, the night before the wedding, we went to bed nice and early. Not. Michele and I (who both stayed in Clearwater) had to get up at the crack of dawn (I was up at 4:30am) to make it over to the hotel near the airport where everyone else was staying, and where our hair & makeup stylist would be meeting us to make us purdy for the day. The boys, Chuck & Kevin, were getting picked up later on in the morning and were meeting us at the cruise port - LUCKY!

We arrived in Tampa to the most awesome La Quinta Inn Airport (note: sarcasm), at the ever so early hour of 5 freaking 30. Yes, that's what the alarm clock in the room said. Freaking.

Oh, and to top it off, it was chilly, so my whole plan of wearing a comfy skirt, my "Bride" tank top (a gift from my girls back in Columbus), and my jean jacket went out the window, so jeans and a fleece it was! Cute? Not really. Ah well.

Dena, our kick-ass gal from Michele Renee Hair & Makeup, arrived right after we got there, and started setting up shop. We all had to be ready to roll to the port by 9:15am at the latest, so it was time to get a move on!

Michele was first - and temporarily had a "Snooki" bump on top of her head, until we decided that the style she was going for wasn't going to work, but we had to take a pic of it anyway!

I was up next, note my awesome posture in the chair. Had I known I had some major belly rolls going on, I would've sat up straight! But Dena wasn't very tall, so I wanted her to be able to reach!

Wendy was next, and got the full curl treatment - a la Shirley Temple.

My mom was the only one getting her makeup done (but not her hair - but I really wish she'd had!), as we had all planned on doing our own once we boarded the ship and got closer to the ceremony time, so she was last with Dena. (See Wendy stuck in the corner? Yah, she had her uber cool camera and was taking pics - but I don't have them from her yet :( Boo hiss.)

A little back story here - we had a mini freak out/mishap while all of this was going on. My step-dad, Terry, had unexpected open heart surgery the week before the wedding cruise. I know what you're thinking, wait, isn't your MOM along? Yes, she came without him. But only after he made it through his surgery with flying colors and he insisted that she come. It was a game time decision, unfortunately, and if you know my mom, you know that she's a complete scatterbrain in normal life, but add some last minute pressure to her, and it just gets out of hand. So anyway, she discovers once landing in Tampa late Sunday night that she had forgotten ALL of her prescriptions at home. So Monday morning, instead of hanging out with me and having fun with us girls while getting ready, she was freaking out trying to get her doctor's office to call in refills to a Walgreen's 2 miles down the road (did I mention we had no cars?). It kind of ruffled some feathers with a few people, because her stress was stressing ME out, and that's the last thing I needed. Thank goodness for mimosas! Ugh. Anyway!

My dress was a bit wrinkly from traveling, and I had planned to use a steam iron on it while we were getting ready, but word to the wise "As Seen on TV" stuff, is usually crap, as I found out with my last minute steam iron purchase! (Hey, the dry cleaner wanted close to $200 to STEAM my dress! Uh, no!) So, we gingerly and very gently iron some of the vertical wrinkles out of it. Michele was pretty freaked out about taking an iron to my wedding dress, but it turned out perfect!Once we were all dolled up, we headed up to the lobby where our chariot awaited, aka Gio and Veteran's Limo service, who brought 2 big buses to carry all 30 of our guests to the cruise port together! Here's a random pic from one of our guests of everyone on one of the buses, all dressed and ready for the wedding!

And AWAY we GO!!!

Wedding Cruise recap - Part 1

2011-02-12T16:46:00.006-05:00

Well, it's been just over a month since our I Do's, and I think I'm finally ready to fill everyone in on our wedding cruise!

Our wedding was scheduled for Monday, January 10 at 1:30pm aboard the ship. We flew down to Florida on Saturday afternoon and met up with some friends to relax for the weekend before our big day. We all stayed on the beach in Clearwater, and although the weather was a little chilly, the sun came out and had a good time hanging out in the hot tub and sampling the local seafood fare.

The view from our room at the Hilton Clearwater Beach Resort.

Me, Jeremy, and Michele at dinner

Some of my future in-laws flew down with us on Saturday, but stayed in Tampa. They decided to drive out to Clearwater on Sunday to check out the beach and spend some time in the sun with us. Robert had a blast chasing a beach ball across the sand!

Robert playing with Uncle Chuck and Kevin

Flowers!

2011-01-20T10:00:00.001-05:00

I wanted to share the approval pictures of the flowers for the wedding. Yes, you'll see them in the actual wedding pictures, but I thought they deserved a post of their own.

They are "real touch" silk flowers, and they were designed and assembled by Angel's Accents - extremely sweet and talented ladies! They even smell nice! They look so real in person they fooled EVERYONE at the wedding (and a few TSA agents at the airport!)!

Anyway, these pics were sent to me by Angel, for my approval. I only made 1 change - and that was to the bridesmaid bouquets. I didn't care for the 1 big lilly - it looked lopsided. So she replaced it with a big pink gerbera daisy in each one.

My bouquet...

The bridesmaid bouquet...

The corsages...

And 1 of the bouts. Chuck's also had an orange rose in it.

I love the ribbon around the stems, and the pretty pink hat pins!

She did an AMAZING job and I couldn't recommend her more!

More pre-wedding stuff...

2011-01-19T18:52:00.000-05:00

Ok so I fell behind on blogging in the midst of wedding mania on top of the holidays!

So before I start my blog posts about the wedding and cruise, let me fill you in on the rest of my little DIY projects!

1. Wedding week survival kits!

Basically, a ziplock bag, with this label attached, filled with goodies such as sunscreen, aloe,hand sanitizer, ibuprofen, Shout wipes, band-aids, Immodium, and Pepto. All of the stuff you may need from partying too much!

2. Welcome Aboard bags!

We decided that instead of just gift bags filled with the cups, dry erase boards, and survival kits, we'd give reusable bags. So I ordered orange bags similar to the reusable grocery bags you can buy - but these were larger, with longer handles. Of course, the cats had to inspect them for defects :)

3. Blinged out cake topper

So my good friend Steph gifted me with a big shiny "P" cake topper - perfect to add some bling to! And by now you should know that I like to bedazzle just about anything!

4. Signs for the reception

1 for the guestbook table (I also made the guestbook using pics from around the net of the ports we were going to be stopping at, through Shutterfly). Frames from Ikea (2 for $4 I think?)

And 1 for the welcome bag table

5. Sign & Sail card holders

If you've never cruised, each person gets a card with their name on it, that acts as their room key and as a charge card, to charge stuff to your room. There's really no easy way to carry it around unless you always have pockets (and I never seem to need my purse on cruises...), so I got the idea from a wedding message board (imagine that!) to do a wrist coil with an ID badge holder attached to it! Worked like a charm!

I snagged the saying on the insert from the same message board - "I take you, to carry my key and tip money, for poolside or barstoool, for drunk or sober, in heat or humidity, until I depart."

6. Hangers for my girls

This was by far the hardest project I've done. So hard that I didn't make myself one after finishing the first 2, especially after I realized that it was doubtful that the cruise photographer would get a picture of my dress hanging on it anyway (turned out true!).

Looks like I forgot to take a picture of Wendy's... oops!

Ok, one last thing, for now... I was going to DIY this, but met a friend of a friend who does this as a side business and had the professional machine to make sure it stuck. I couldn't turn her down!

Oh yah, I had a bathing suit bottom bedazzled!! Love it!

Wedding project update! Part 1 of 2

2010-10-31T15:09:00.000-04:00

So I've been a busy bee over the past few weeks, finalizing a whole bunch of small (and not so small!) wedding craft project stuff! I just hope my hard work pays off, but for anyone who has tried to personalize their wedding, you all know that most of it goes unnoticed. Oh well, I still love it!

Most of my ideas have come from other brides on a destination wedding message board (Best Destination Wedding Forum), so thanks to all of the crafty girls there for their inspiration!

Project 1: Dry erase boards for cruise cabin door.

If you've ever been on a cruise, you'll know that 1. the ships are huge, 2. your cell phone doesn't work. So, to let others know where to find us and each other, I got the idea for dry erase boards to stick to our doors so we can say "Hey, we're at the pool on Lido deck", etc. I used printable peel and stick dry erase sheets, mounted on card stock, with a dry erase marker velcroed to the whole thing. Included in the package is a small bag of poster putty to use to mount the "board" on to the cabin door (some ships have magnetic doors, others don't).

They say "We're part of Chuck & Emily's Wedding Cruise!"

Project 2: Out of town bag name tags

We're putting most of the same things in each out of town bag (1 per couple, or 1 per single), but a few of them will have some custom stuff in them (for the kids, etc.), so I made some simple name tags.

Project 3: Invitations

Yes, we know who is coming, etc. but I thought it'd be nice to do something semi-traditional and send out actual invitations, minus the whole RSVP portion of it. I feel they are more to keep people "connected" to the trip/wedding, since this has been an 8-month ordeal!

We decided to do a "Boarding Pass" inspired invitation. (Blogger flipped this pic on it's side, no clue!)

There are 2 pages to the invite - the first page that you see above, and then a page with a few details about our wedding day (the timeline for the day, etc.) and our wedding website again.

The wording that I used for the invitation is a little different than normal. Like I said, we've already invited everyone, and they've already accepted (or not). So traditional wording wasn't going to work. So what I used is this:

"Because love should be celebrated...

Emily Elizabeth Kleier
and
Charles Robert Park

look forward to sharing with you
the sun, the sea, and the memories
of their wedding ceremony
Monday, the tenth of January
Two thousand eleven
aboard the Carnival Inspiration."

Making the belly bands for the "ticket jackets"

(Again Blogger flipped this pic...) the Stardream "Flame" envelopes and address label

I took the template from the address label wrap from our Save the Week/dates and made them larger to accomodate the #10 envelope I chose.

The finished product...

So.... I finished a HALF MARATHON!

2010-10-19T14:03:00.000-04:00

I won't make this too long, because honestly, most of the race is a blur to me. It took 3 hours, and at the time, it felt like time was standing still, but now when I look back on it, it was over pretty quick!

My "official" race time (by my chip) was 3:00:10, I put it in quotations because I'd like to use my "unofficial" race time (which was about 2:52:00 - I turned my heart-rate monitor/watch on before I crossed the start line, and didn't pause it when I should have) - which doesn't include a 8-9 minute wait in line at mile 5 to use the bathroom! UGH! I swear I peed before the race, but the minute we got out onto the crowded street and got into our corral (corral 4 - the most crowded!!), I had to go again, of course. I was told by other running friends that the first 4 miles worth of port o potties would have the longest lines, so I skipped them, holding it till mile 5, which of course, had a huge line, but it just couldn't wait any longer!! LOL! I stood in line and was so tempted to just get back on the course, but I was already alone and my group was out of sight, so I stuck to it cause I knew I'd be hurting if I didn't.

So by the time I was done, I had lost my group, and essentially, lost my momentum & mojo. I just couldn't find my pace or clear my head to get back in my groove, so it went downhill from there. Everything got to me - my feet were starting to get sore, my hair wouldn't stay put and whipped me in the eyes a few times... yah, I was NOT happy. So then I began to walk it out a bit, which was a bad idea, because I think it made the blisters that were forming on the balls of my feet even worse. I finally caught up to one of my group members, Sara, who had fallen behind as well, and she and I stuck together for a mile or two, but she was hurting, and I was doing my best to keep my feet moving, so I passed her and left her behind (SORRY SARA!!).

I huffed it and puffed it the rest of race the best I could, but I was fading fast. I'd see the race traffic way ahead of me passing me the next block over, heading toward the finish, and I wanted SO badly to cut through and join them!! LOL!

I saw Chuck on the corner at mile 12 and got his attention - he was texting Wendy, who had already finished and was wondering where I was, and he walked with me for a little bit, and then I got a little motivation and tried picking up the pace. But the blisters were throbbing full force - my feet were on FIRE, so walking fast was my only real option. I vowed that as soon as I got near the hill to turn left onto Nationwide, the last 1/10th of a mile or so, I'd run the best that I could and finish as fast as I could. And I did. Coming down the chute with hundreds of people lining the fences cheering us on was a great feeling. I even got a few "Go MiT!!!!" and that made me feel really good! Then I heard my name and spotted my friend Lori, who is SUPA FAST, by the way, and who waited for me for over an HOUR after she finished, cheering me on!! YAY!! THANK YOU LORI!!! I crossed the finish line and my legs were Jell-O, but I was DONE!! DONE DONE DONE!!

I quickly grabbed a water, got my medal (it's so purdy!), and headed to find Wendy and some food. A half of a banana, a Krispy Kreme, and a plain bagel later, I had my hands full and was off to find my group. My feet were a mess but I don't think I could feel it! It wasn't till I stood still for a little while that the pain caught up to me. I took off my shoes in the grass and the flood gates opened - my toes were a blistered mess, and the bottoms of my feet were GROSS. I'm still limping a bit today :(

Anyway, we went out to lunch, and then headed home - it had been a LONG day already. Chuck fell asleep, but I was still a bit pumped up, so I just relaxed and posted feverishly on Facebook and Daily Mile all afternoon.

Some things I learned:

- Super concentrated Gatorade tastes like ass. MORE WATER in the mix, guys!!
- Don't drink a ton of water before your race.
- Running alone sucks, but I need to learn how to cope with it better.
- I'm much stronger than I ever imagined, even if I didn't make my goal of running 10+ miles of the race.

Will I do it again? If you'd asked me at around mile 9 or 10 yesterday (when I was really hating life), I would've said HELL TO THE NO. But today? Well. Possibly. I definitely want to do some shorter races next year, and there MAY be another half in my future, but it'll be an off the wall/fun race (Which reminds me, I saw a sign at mile 1 or 2 that said "13.1 puts the 'F-U' in FUN!" LMAO!!) - like the Disney Princess Half Marathon - geared toward women, and you run through Walt Disney World, and you are encouraged to dress sort of Disney Princess-y! But that wouldn't be until February 2012. And who knows what'll be happening in my life by then! ;)

Anyway, I said this wouldn't be long, but I do have a few post-race pictures:

Here's Wendy and I, medals and all! She ended up besting her time from last year by a bunch! I'm very proud of her - she trained through a lot of injury issues and wasn't sure she'd even finish the race, and she ended up rocking it!

Lori (SUPA FAST!), my MiT pace coach, Duane (who may I add, is 66 years old and is running half AND full marathons!!), Wendy, and me.

Me and some of the MiT pace group girls doing our "Duane's Angels" pose. Our pace group was ALL female - poor Duane! :)

Will post my official race pics once they're done uploading them to the marathon's site!

I can't believe I ran 13.1 miles... holy shit!

(Non) Running update

2010-10-07T10:48:00.000-04:00

So I'm a little more than a week away from my big race (Columbus 1/2 Marathon), and I haven't blogged about it in ages. I feel the need to catch up. I just wish I could say that I have good news to share.

Now I'm not throwing in the towel, but this race is going to be much harder than I ever thought thanks to injury. Running has definitely taken it's toll on my legs and feet, and that came to a head about a month ago when after running a 1/4 marathon (at my normal pace - nothing fancy or out of the ordinary), I was so sore afterward that I could barely walk the 3 days following the race. I continued my training and still suffered more than ever before after every run.

I finally gave in and went to a sports med physician (he's the MiT team doctor as well), and he diagnosed me with a lower hamstring strain, and prescribed me some physical therapy. After 2 rounds of physical therapy, which included some ultrasound treatment, I had my longest training run ever, at 12 miles, and I suffered through it. I ran the first 6.5-7 miles, and then had to slow down - I couldn't pick up my left foot anymore, it felt like Jell-o. So I ran/walked the last 5.5-5 miles and made it back to our starting place in a decent time. But a good finish time isn't my goal for this race - running as much of it as I can, is. *sigh*

So back to the doctor I went, and this time he said I also have bursitis - an inflammation of the bursa sac under my hamstring. Lucky me, this required a Cortisone shot. I was hoping for some relief, and instead I got to endure "Cortisone flare" (soreness and pain around the area of the injection) for 2 days. I suffered through some light physical therapy and another round of ultrasound treatment and was given the OK to run yesterday/today. That didn't turn out so well, unfortunately, because here I am at work today with an ice pack on my leg and Aleve running through me. And that's only after 1.5 miles on the treadmill this morning, which is all I had time for, fortunately, I guess. Not sure how much worse off I'd be if I'd gone any longer.

I'm pretty upset and disappointed in all of this. Running 13.1 miles is hard enough as it is - and my goal was to run about 11 miles of it without walking, and now this. Like I needed another roadblock!

I'm hoping that the Cortisone just hasn't done it's thing yet and I'm still suffering the "flare" - because I have a 6 mile training run on Saturday morning and then I'm supposed to check in with the doc to see how I'm doing. I'm just really afraid it's not going to be good news :(

My very first...

2010-09-07T16:28:00.000-04:00

Blog award!!

YAY!!

Thank you, Lori, you're too sweet!

So cute!

So it looks like when you get this award, you have 3 things to do...

1. If you had a chance to go back and change one thing in your life, would you and what would it be?
Hmmm. Now that's a toughie. I actually fight with this a LOT, because I've been married before, and as much as I'd love to say that I wish I'd never met him, I also feel that everything happens for a reason, and all of that stuff, even the bad stuff, shapes who you are. If I'd never met the ex, never gotten married, never gotten divorced, I may not have ever met Chuck, and that makes me so very sad to even think about :(

2. The second thing you have to do is pick 6 people and give them this award. You then have to inform the person that they have gotten this award.
Let's see...

I'm choosing:
1. Simi @ Welcome to Insanity
2. Danica @ Happy Girl
3. Allison @ Bouncing Buckeye Baby
4. Liz @ Martelle-isms
5. Rhiannon @ Harper Makes Three
6. Andrea @ Tender Loving Lair

3. The third and final thing is, thank the person who gave you the award.
Thank you so much, Lori! You have the best sense of humor and I enjoy reading your blog and your Nestie posts! I'm glad we're friends - even if you smoke me running!! :)

Bathroom Pics - The final product!

2010-09-05T18:56:00.000-04:00

So the master bathroom remodel has been done for a few weeks now, and the pictures have been sitting on my camera - great place for them, right? Time to FINALLY share them!

So from this...

To this...

And this...

To this...

From this...

To this...

And this...

To this...

And a few other little details...

Shoe LUV

2010-08-20T08:55:00.000-04:00

I'm ready for fall.
Don't get me wrong, I love wearing open-toe shoes and the warm weather. But this 90+ degree and stupid humidity stuff is really ticking me off. So yah, I'm ready for fall. And fall brings fall clothes and fall SHOES!

Now I usually don't buy a whole lot of shoes. I usually have 3 pair of brown shoes (1 flat, 1 heel, 1 knee-high boot), and 3 pair of black shoes (1 flat, 1 heel, 1 knee-high boot), and that's that. Unless I see something fun & funky on uber-sale, I usually wear my 6 pair until they need replaced (worn out). Well, both my black & brown flats for the fall/winter are pretty much toast. They've lasted 3+ years and aren't in any condition to be worn to work anymore - I'll probably keep them to knock around town in, but they've seen better days.

Enter these lovelies...

Fossil's "Maddox" flat. I saw them at Macy's and never knew that Fossil made shoes! I love their purses and watches, but am pretty impressed by these! They are more than I'd usually spend (about $70) but I think they are the bee's knees! Oh and did I mention they come in super cute colors besides the brown?? Red, green, dark blue, a cream color, PINK, etc. all with a brown or black belt + buckle across the toes. http://www.zappos.com/fossil-maddox-flat-red

Love them!

Think I may have to splurge... now if it would only cool off so I can justify buying them NOW!

A few questions... and answers.

2010-08-16T14:00:00.000-04:00

Hi, my name is: Emily... but why did I start singing "Slim Shady!"?

I've never been to: New York City, but I'd really like to go someday!

I hate it when: I have to repeat myself to people over & over because they aren't paying attention. I really don't like to hear myself talk THAT much!

The one person who can drive me nuts is: Does it have to be ONE person?! LOL!
How about my whole family?!

When I'm nervous: I talk a lot. And my stomach gets upset. And my cheeks turn dark red. It's quite a scene!

The last song I listened to was: "Home" sung by Blake Shelton. I'd like to go home right now!

If I were to get married today my maid of honor/best man would: Well, I'm getting married in 4+ months and it's supposed to be Wendy - unless she gets hit by the beer truck between now and then!

My hair is: Getting more gray by the day. I think if I let it go color-wise, I'd be about 70% gray on the crown of my head. Yah, I'm not kidding!

When I was 5: Am I really supposed to remember back that far? Hmm. I remember camping out on my parents bedroom floor on hot nights because they had an air conditioner in their room. It may as well been a sleep over - I had way too much fun with it.

Last Christmas: Was Chuck's 1st Christmas with my family. Lucky him!

I should be: at home taking nap. I can't stop yawning today!

When I look down: I cringe - my feet are a mess due to 1/2 marathon training. Gross.

The happiest recent event was: My friend Rhiannon giving birth to her daughter - she's such a cutie and I'm so happy for them!

My current annoyance is: Work. Period.

I have a hard time understanding: How people can mistreat animals. It makes me so sad.

There's this girl that I know: who is hopefully going to get engaged this week while on vacation with her boyfriend of 4 years!! *crossing fingers*

The thing I want to buy is: A new house. Ready for more space and less neighbors! Condos suck!

If you visited the place I'm from: You'd have to make a stop at El Coyote for pork chops and a margarita!

Most recent thing I've bought myself: a super cute zebra print pencil skirt from Target! I love it!

Most recent thing someone else bought me was: Hmm I think Chuck bought me dinner @ Sonic the other night! LOL!

My middle name is: Elizabeth. So yes, right now my initials are "EEK" - great, eh?

Last night I was: watching the Bengals game with my cats on the couch. Perfect evening!

If I was an animal I'd be: a cat. No one ever questions why they lay around for 23.5 hrs out of every day! Oh and it's perfectly legal to get high on catnip whenever you want!

Tomorrow I am: At work. Duh. And then running. Joy.

Tonight I am: going to go the bed early, I'm beat!

As if...

2010-08-16T09:51:00.000-04:00

As if running in itself wasn't hard enough (at least for me), all of the ailments and side effects that go along with it really make it suck sometimes.

What am I bitching about now? ANOTHER "runner's toe" - aka, I'm losing another toenail. Oh yes, right in the middle of open-toe shoe/sandal season, and I have nasty pterodactyl feet.

The 2nd toe on my right foot has always been an issue for me, as this is the 2nd time I've gone through this since I started walking/running over a year ago. The first time around it was because my shoes were a 1/2 size too small, but now that I've gone up another size, I'm reading it could be from the swelling from the extreme heat, or just the pressure from the bottom of my toes from the actual running. So, no way around it any more. Joy. Did I mention it hurts?? And is covered in blisters? Oh yah. It's GORGEOUS.

So, running, you're not my friend right now.

Ok bathroom update with pics!

2010-08-13T11:31:00.000-04:00

Here are the pics I promised yesterday...

Like I said, it's not quite done (and still needs to be cleaned, so excuse the dust!!), but it's getting there! We both LOVE how it's turned out so far!

This is without the white shelf (which is sitting on the back of the toilet), installed above the toilet. Chuck put up the brackets for it, but TOO HIGH (GRRRRRRRRRRR) and so instead of moving them and having to patch and repaint the wall, I'm buying a 2nd shelf to go under it. Oy.

What do you guys think of the white medicine cabinet next to the bronzey-black mirror? We thought about painting the mirror white, too, but my Mom thought it'd be too much white. Thoughts?

Love our new vanity top/sink and faucet! We had to hunt around for a faucet to fit this top (it only takes a "widespread" faucet - which are $$$ - unless you find a steal on Overstock! Score!). This looks SO much better than our white laminate top! UGH!

We even switched out the switch plates around the light switches and plugs, new knobs on the vanity and linen closet, and all new towel hardware (this ring and then a new towel bar on the other wall). Satin nickel, yay!

Oh yah, and new bathmats. Which Hondo LOVES to do burnouts on!! (notice the shower door missing - it's in pieces in the garage!) And here's the new towel bar.

So what's left to do...

- baseboards. They are done drying, they just need to be installed.
- 2nd shelf above the toilet
- shower door reassembly and reinstallation
- deep cleaning!

Bathroom Update

2010-08-12T13:00:00.000-04:00

Unfortunately our bathroom remodel has stalled a bit.

Because of the heat and humidity, the baseboards that Chuck painted didn't want to dry, so they haven't been installed yet.

He disassembled the ugly-ass shower door to try to clean it and then install new seals around all of the glass and crevices (that was/is our major problem with it - it leaks - everywhere). We're doing this for now to save us the $300-400 for a new door. We're just waiting on the new sealing stuff to arrive in the mail - yah, no one in Columbus carries it! I guess we're the only looney tunes that have ever tried this in town!

I have yet to find the right tchotchkes to put on the new floating shelves above the toilet, and I still need to buy some dark brown towels for the updated towel rod and towel ring.

So! For now, that's where we're at. I'll post some "in-between" pics tonight!

Master bathroom remodel!

2010-07-29T11:53:00.001-04:00

Well, the project is finally underway! We've been planning and spec'ing stuff out for MONTHS, and we finally bit the bullet and now there's no turning back!

Here are some "before" pics:


The awesome laminate vanity, stained laminate top, and huge ass mirror and ugly medicine cabinet.


The toilet, linen closet, and part of the shower stall. You can't see, but the wall is damaged above the toilet from failed attempts at hanging various towel bars there (not Chuck).

The shower stall - tiny, isn't it?!


The stained vinyl floor - see the lovely purple spots up around the toilet? That was Chuck trying to fix the toilet and the stuff he was using stained the floors!! UGH!

So what the plan is, is to replace the floor with tile, replace the laminate vanity top/sink/faucet, paint the walls, replace the medicine cabinet, and replace the shower door with one with a less noticeable frame (aka - less spots for mold to hide in - GROSS!).

Here is Stage 1 - ripping out the floors and taking out the vanity & toilet:

Ta ta ugly vinyl floors!

Stage 2 - laying the new tile:


New tile! But no grout yet... I love it!

Stage 3 - Grouting the tile and testing out the paint we picked (Clair de Lune by Behr):


Love how the grout practically disappears!


Paint test in the corner...

We're not 100% sure on the paint - it's actually more yellow in person. There's a similar color at Lowes that has more tan but is still golden. And we'll be using semi-gloss, where this patch is flat paint. So I'm headed to Lowes on my lunch to buy paint so Chuck can paint tonight! YAHOO!

Next stage is to paint, buy new white baseboards (we had the plastic/vinyl cove base before - yuck!), install the vanity top and faucet (that I have not picked out yet - am looking at option 2 at Lowes on my lunch!), and then put the toilet back! The shower door is going to be a separate project as we haven't even remotely decided on what we want yet, and it can be done separate of the other stuff.

THEN, we get to do it all over again for the guest bath!

So... our engagement pics are here!

2010-07-26T14:50:00.000-04:00

Hooray!

I really love them - so many came out great! I'm not sure which ones I will have framed, etc.

Check them out!

http://www.ashleybegleyphotography.com

Click on "View your photos"

Then "Emily + Franklin ENGAGED!" (type-o!)

and the password is "germantown"

Here are a few of my favorites...

A poll...

2010-07-26T14:19:00.000-04:00

Little bit here, little bit there...

2010-07-21T22:00:00.000-04:00

I'm starting to get the "wedding pile" - you know, the pile of stuff that you accumulate as time goes on, that just keeps getting bigger and bigger.

That's my dress in the pink garment bag hanging on the back of the door!

The large box on the floor is the newest addition... It just arrived today and is full of custom plastic cups and lids to go into our "Out of Town Bags" that we'll be giving as gifts on the ship (the bags haven't arrived yet, but are orange tote bags that resemble the reusable grocery bags - same material, but these will have longer handles to throw over your shoulder to use as a beach bag!). If you've ever cruised, you know that the cups they give you for drinks are ridiculously small - so we're hoping these come in handy!

The one on the left is actually orange - it looks yellow! There's "C&E" by the starfish and then the ship name and cruise date at the bottom.

To go along with these cups are the "Rum Runner" flasks I purchased! What are these for, you ask? To smuggle some yummy alcohol onto the ship to make tasty drinks that don't cost $8 a piece! Thanks to cruisecritic.com's message boards for this idea! Shhhhh!! Don't tell Carnival! :)

Also in the "pile" is a fuchsia pink organza table overlay that I purchased to jazz up the cake table at our reception. If you remember, Carnival's wedding package is WHITE this and WHITE that, and I can't do much to customize it, so I thought this would bring some of our colors into it! Here's a pic from the seller's website:

There's plenty more in the bags and boxes, and plenty more to come!

Our rings

2010-07-20T22:00:00.001-04:00

Well I've been sitting on our rings for a few weeks now, and they've been locked away in Chuck's safe, so I finally got around to getting them out and taking a few pics!

Chuck's ring is titanium, 8mm in width, and is "satin finish" with the groove down the middle. It was made by Titanium Era and I think they did an AWESOME job. It's light weight and fits him perfectly! And it didn't hurt that they were running a huge sale and throw in free engraving and free shipping! Sold!

My ring was purchased from a dear friend. She's a fellow bride and is now starting a new life, too! So it was time for her to part with it - and it was too sparkly and pretty for me to pass up! I love the way it looks with my ring! The more bling, the better!

I can't wait to wear mine and see Chuck wearing his!! :)

Finally! My dress!

2010-07-19T21:26:00.000-04:00

So sorry for the lag in posts... been a little haywire here lately, but I promise I haven't forgotten!

Without further adieu, here are some very non-professional pics of me trying my dress on!

It definitely needs to be steamed/ironed/whatever, and also needs to have bra cups sewn in, hence the strapless bra strap you see behind the corset back of the dress. But I love the taffeta - it's very soft and silky and light weight!

Here's a close up of the bodice... (and the scattered pearl necklace I bought from Lia Sophia!)

And a close up of the back... disregard the bra strap... oh and the slight muffin top - I have a broad/big back/shoulders and my mom tied the corset a little tight!

And the whole kit & kaboodle... I plan on wearing my hair back - most likely in some sort of side chignon with a big bright flower in it (which I'm 50% done with - I ordered a big lilly from etsy, but I think it needs more! Will post a pic!).

And my shoes... yes, they are BRIGHT pink, and aren't your typical wedding shoe. But hey, this isn't your typical wedding! I wanted color and "beachy" and semi-comfortable (they are a wedge heel). Oh, and not a ton of $$$$$!

It's the little things...

2010-07-04T21:15:00.001-04:00

It truly is.

Long story short, I have uber sensitive skin. Always have. To the point where I changed everything - soap, lotion, laundry detergent, etc. Nothing helped. Not the expensive meds from my dermatologist, either. Finally got some relief (years later!) from a new lotion I found, and today I dared use a scented laundry detergent on a load of sheets. I opened the dryer and it smelled so good and fresh and clean!

You don't know how much you enjoy something small like that till you're stuck using scent-free detergent and your clothes smell like well, clothes. Not fresh and clean! I hope it lasts and my skin doesn't freak out again!

Anyway, my small joy of the day!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Engagement pic sneak peek!

2010-06-25T11:00:00.000-04:00

So last Sunday, Chuck and I traveled out to Germantown, Ohio (south-west of Dayton) to meet with Ashley Begley of Ashley Begley Photography to have our engagement pictures taken! We wanted more of a "rustic" feel to our pictures, and I love her use of natural lighting.

She posted a "sneak peek" of our session on her blog last night and I love them!

Take a look!

It's a love-hate thing.

2010-05-27T08:49:00.001-04:00

But not your traditional kinda love-hate (love to hate, etc.).

I hate running right now, but I hope that eventually I learn to love it.

See? I told you it's a little different.

So I'm on week 1 of Marathon in Training (1/2 marathon for me) or MiT. I had my first group session last Saturday, and have been trying to squeeze in all of my scheduled runs this week, but will miss 2 due to boot camp (more on that later - it's a new boot camp - sorry Nancy!).

I know it's only the first week, and I'm trying not to expect miracles, considering I've never run a full mile (like run the whole way) before in my life (why would I?! LOL!), but it hasn't been easy!

This hot & humid weather isn't making it any better, considering I don't even like being outside PERIOD when it's super humid and near 90 degrees, let alone huffing and puffing down Lazelle Road in it, wondering when my legs would fall off! But, that's what happens when you pick to train for a fall race! I'm not sure I'd be any happier training in the frigid weather, either. Hence the whole "hate" part of this.

So why in the hell am I doing it? Because it's another thing on my bucket list, and I want to prove to myself that I can do it. I want to be able to say "Yes, I've RUN a 1/2 marathon." I could probably walk it, sure... But I really want to run it, at least 90% of it. All 13.1 agonizing miles of it! (I just realized that I've posted about this a few times... I guess I'm just trying to continue convincing myself that I really want to do this!!! LOL!)

I will try to keep everyone posted here on how my training is coming along... 21 more weeks til race day! (October 17, 2010)

It's hip to be square... and sparkly!

2010-05-17T12:04:00.000-04:00

I've been meaning to do this for quite some time now, but just haven't gotten the chance to sit at my desktop at home and download pics, etc. to post here!

A few weeks back, Chuck made it "official" with a ring and a proposal. I posted a dark and very non-sparkly pic on Facebook - the best I could do at the time with my phone - swearing I'd post better pics once I got them! Well, without further ado, here's my "Precious" :)

She's a beautiful 3-stone ring (3 princess/square cut diamonds) set in white gold. I LOVE it!

The setting is called a "trellis" setting - as you can see from the side view here.

And then I tried to capture a little hand action in the sun in my car (I swear I was stopped at a red light!).

It was puppy love...

2010-05-14T10:23:00.000-04:00

With the other dress, I mean...

I thought I had found "the one" - but went round and round with bridal shops in a 3-state radius to find a sample to try on with no avail. So I cheated on that dress and went and tried on other dresses! And that's when I found it!

As always, the pics never seem to do any justice - the dress is total opposite of the first one - it's not really flowy, it's not chiffon (it's taffeta), and the "bling" is more pearly than sparkly (although it does have sparkles!), and it's more fitted, which I wasn't sure I'd like, but I LOVE IT! I have huge hips, and thought I should find a dress to hide them, but this dress flaunts them!

Here it is!

2 things about today...

2010-05-10T09:49:00.000-04:00

1 exciting, and 1 sad...

Sad first... 6 years ago today, my grandpa Davidson passed away from leukemia. Not a day goes by that I don't miss him and wish that when I call my grandma's house, he'd answer the phone (which wasn't often, he didn't like to answer the phone cause he was hard of hearing, but also hard-headed and wouldn't wear a hearing aid, so he couldn't hear us 1/2 the time anyway!). I was down in Cincinnati yesterday, and I still miss seeing him every time I visit my grandma. It's gotten easier, but I still tear up when I see something that reminds me of him (don't let me hear "When I Get Where I'm Going" by Brad Paisley, unless you have a large box of Puffs handy). So anyway, Papa, I miss you dearly! Wish you were here.

I hate sad anniversaries :( Another one is coming up, soon, too... May 18, 2009, my Pancake kitty had to be put to sleep :( That one hasn't gotten any easier. At all. I can still bawl my eyes out thinking of him. Sigh.

Anyway, on to the exciting news... well, actually, 2 pieces of exciting news :)

The time is FLYING by - 8 months from today we'll be getting married! My "to-do" list is coming along, but there's still plenty left on it! The planner in me would LOVE to just get it all done NOW, but unfortunately money doesn't grow on trees, so I cross stuff off as the pay days roll by! I'm so excited!!

And now I'm not the only one planning a wedding!! My good friend Danica got engaged, too!! I'm so happy for her! It sounds like a tropical destination wedding is in her future as well, and it sounds gorgeous! We have been telling each other that this was "our year" and it has definitely turned out that way!! YAY US!!!

I have a few pictures to share, but will have to save them for another post - I have work out the wazoo that is calling my name!

Hair!

2010-04-23T16:56:00.000-04:00

No, not that kind of hair. I'm talking wedding hair! I'm almost not looking forward to what's going to have to go into getting my hair looking 1/2 way decent for our big day. My hair is thick and straight, great, but is also super coarse and won't hold a curl worth crap. So there goes anything down/curly/romantic. I don't want the fancy schmancy princess up do like I had the first time around, tiara and all. So I'm thinking something more like this...

or this...

Kind of a messy/beachy look with a big fat flower (which I already purchased - a 4" dark orange and dark pink lily!). Here are a few more inspiration pics:

What do you guys think?

I hope it's not like this!

2010-04-10T07:50:00.000-04:00

I love this website - http://www.someecards.com/

Foot fetish

2010-04-09T23:03:00.000-04:00

I mean, SHOE fetish :)

So I'm non-chalantly perusing online shoe websites, looking for possibilities for the wedding ceremony, and I come across what I think may be "it." Since Carnival is insisting that everything be white (see previous post) - which I'm trying to change the best I can - I want my shoes to be my personal pop of color with my white dress. So I've been looking for dark pink strappy sandals/heels. I don't want anything TOO high, considering Chuck only has 2" on me, and I want something a little beachy (although I do love me some peep toe pumps!).

What do you guys think?

(it won't let me grab the pic)

http://www.dsw.com/dsw_shoes/catalog/product.jsp?productRef=SEARCH&category=&prodId=202576

(in pink)

Couch to 5k: Week 1, Day 2

2010-04-06T08:50:00.001-04:00

Well, I didn't get a chance to do Day 2 of 3 for Week 1 until yesterday (Monday). Between bootcamp on Saturday and walking with my coworker during lunch on Friday, I was wiped out.

But yesterday morning I was off and had some energy to burn off, so I headed across the street to the park that has a nice big 1 mile walking loop. I used the C25k podcast I used last week, did my 5 minute walk warmup, and then proceeded to jog/walk (60 seconds jog, 90 seconds walk) 3 miles in about 30 minutes! Love it! I was a hot mess afterward and walked my hot & sweaty ass home, but I felt good!

AND, I even went and walked the Sharon Woods 3.5 mile loop with my friend Amy last night before dinner! So I got plenty of walking/working out in yesterday! Thank goodness, cause we had beer brats, baked beans, and pasta salad for dinner :)

Couch to 5k: Week 1, Day 1

2010-03-31T13:35:00.001-04:00

So I've decided that I want to try to run a 1/2 marathon this fall. Not 100% sure what has possessed me to want to do this (hell, I'm not even sure I *want* to do it - I think it's more of a need, now), but 2 things come to mind: 1. it's on my bucket list, and 2. I have 10 lbs that I'd like to lose and I think I need to switch things up a bit and throw my body for a loop, 'cause it's holding on to these last 10 lbs for DEAR LIFE!

I'm joining Marathoners in Training (actually, 1/2 Marathoners in Training) in mid-May when they start training for the fall races, and was told that I need to have some sort of "base," so here I am!

Anyway, so today on my lunch break I decided to start the Couch to 5k program and found some GREAT podcasts with good music and cues to when to walk and jog. It's gorgeous outside (about 55-60 and full sun) and I brought my gear so I changed clothes completely, and even wore my heart rate monitor and took off! I successfully jogged each jogging interval without dying TOO much (although I started to get a stitch in my right shoulder - ugh), and even walked for 15 more minutes after the 25 minute program. So I'm supposed to do this 3x a week, so I'm planning on Friday and then maybe Sunday or Monday, depending on work. Then next Wednesday, I'll start Week 2! It's an 8 week program, so we'll see if I make it through!

I need to find some good stretches to do beforehand - my shins/lower legs felt tight, even after my 5 minute warmup walk - any ideas?

Chuck's duds

2010-03-25T11:35:00.000-04:00

So while not as glamorous as my dress hunt, I thought I'd give a peek of what ~~I'm making Chuck wear~~ Chuck is wearing.

I love the look of the light/khaki/linen suit with a white button down and brown shoes. I'd prefer that he wear a tie, but have decided to let it go, it's no big deal.

So here's the look we're going for:

Like this, but with an all-white shirt:

His "color" will be the pink & green bout he'll be wearing on his lapel.

For his BM and my Dad, I think I'm just going to have them wear the same color khakis as Chuck's suit, and a white polo shirt, tucked in with a brown belt and brown shoes. I thought about going the silk or linen "beachy" shirt like this:

But they tend to be $$ and I'm not sure my Dad will even wear something like that! LOL! I'm just hoping that the white polo and khakis are dressy enough - but I think they will be.

What do you guys think?

Fantastic voyage

2010-03-11T16:26:00.000-05:00

Sometimes just writing/blogging about the cruise and the wedding makes a crap-tastic day better, so that's what I'm doing - cruise-therapy :)

Wanted to share some more details about our itinerary, etc.

So we'll be on the Carnival Inspiration:

I've only ever been on one other cruise, and it was on the Carnival Liberty, a larger ship. The class of ship that the Inspiration belongs to is smaller, and older (but the Inspiration was very recently renovated from bow to stern), but I still think it's going to feel HUGE and we'll still have a blast!

Here's Lido deck - with the pools and waterslides:

And the adults-only "Serenity" area to lounge (ahhh heaven!):

And one of the main dining rooms:

Now I'm not 100% sure where our ceremony and reception are going to be held, due to our rather large party size (there's about 50 of us!), our ceremony could be in the main show/theater area (which I can't seem to snag a pic of), and our reception could be in the "Disco" - which I *really* hope it's not - kinda hokey/corny!! Oh well, we'll see!

And cruise cabins are NEVER anything to write home about, but here's an example:

We didn't opt for a suite - just because we don't plan on spending THAT much time in our room! We want to be out enjoying our family & friends and catching some rays! (Although Chuck will tell you different... lol! MEN!)

Fleurs...

2010-03-10T14:46:00.000-05:00

So Chuck and I purchased a wedding "package" through Carnival, which is all fine and dandy - it includes just about everything your little bride heart can desire, even flowers. Well me being the control freak that I am, I want to know (NOW) what type of "flowers" does this include and what do they look like? So I searched around on some of the cruise wedding forums, and found this:

Uhhh say what? And it's like $300 or something outrageous to upgrade them to something different (but probably equally as 80's and plain/blah/boring). No thanks. So, I'm not allowed to bring on real flowers (customs B.S.), so I've found a lot of girls are going silk. I'm usually NOT a huge fan at all, cause all I can picture is the dusty silk arrangements around my office, all faded and covered in finger prints. Not what I want to tote down the aisle! But review after review of happy brides have me convinced this is the right choice. I guess they have "real touch" silk flowers now - that are more life-like, and I checked a few out at Michael's (when I was feeling crafty and thinking I could make the bouquet & bouts myself - too bad Michael's doesn't have much of a selection and they are like $8 a stem. I'd need a hell of a lot of 40% off coupons!!), and they are pretty darn cool.

Anyway, so I've placed an order with what seems to be a reputable place online (read a TON of reviews, seen a TON of pics), and these are some of the inspiration pics I've sent them:

I love the green button mums (I think that's what they are) in the first bouquet, and then the mix of lillies and gerbera daisies and roses in the 2nd and 3rd pics. I LOVE the bright, tropical colors! I'm so excited to be using them in our wedding!

Here's an example of a bout that I like as well...

Unfortunately I don't have much say over the altar arrangements, and they are just as hideous as the bouquet above - all white flowers stuck in what looks like a white urn, and the flowers are going every which way, and they are perched on top of 2 white pillars - about elbow-height. Ugh. I may just forgo them all together! I really don't want them in my pics!

And last, but not least, they graciously provide you with a white paper doily and some MORE white plain flowers on top of your WHITE icing-cake (which you CANNOT change).

So I'm thinking of whipping up a table runner/overlay - maybe dark pink, and telling them to lose the crap on top of the cake. Should I do my own flowers to match the rest or should I do a bright colored bedazzled & silver "P" on top? Something like this?

I guess I could always bring along rose petals to make a little nest for it on top of the cake or something!

What do you guys think?

Sneaky Chuck... not so fast!

2010-03-10T09:06:00.000-05:00

No, this has nothing to do with a surprise proposal. I know, boo hiss!

No, instead, last night, he and I were sitting on the couch, just kinda decompressing our day, and he pipes up with "So I think I have the best idea for the bathrooms." (We are in the planning process of remodeling both of our bathrooms - they are both old/dingy white builder-spec laminate and vinyl) My ears perked up because it's been a LONG planning process and I'm ready to get on the ball and get going with it, so I ask him to go on, and he says "I think we should do the guest bathroom first." Huh, what? (Don't get me wrong, our guest bathroom needs some love, but our master bathroom is a total wreck. The vinyl floor has purple stains on it - don't ask, the glass shower door is a nasty mess, the WHITE LAMINATE counters are stained and gross, and there's holes in every wall from failed attempts at towel bars by previous owners.) So I asked "WHY?" and his answer?? "Cause it'll be easier." AH HA! Lazy butt! I nipped that in the bud REAL QUICK - telling him NO WAY, that if we do the guest bathroom first, and don't get around to the master bathroom (projects never seem to get finished at our house - I'm sure you're all nodding your heads in empathy!!), there's no way anyone will want to buy our place! It's OK if it ends up being vice verse. Our guest bathroom isn't horrible, but needs some updating.

I just love a man's way of thinking! Always the easy way out! Think twice, mister!! LOL!!

Dress crush

2010-03-09T13:59:00.000-05:00

(why oh why am I singing LL Cool J's "Hey Lover" in my head right now?? "Hey lover, hey lover, this is more than a crush..." HAHA Now you're singing it, too!!)

Anyway, I said I was going to share some of my planning stuff here on my blog, so I guess I should start out with my dress. At least, what I hope becomes MY dress.

So when I started this a month and half ago or so, I thought I had an idea of what I wanted. Something flowy, with some sort of sash or "tails." If you know me, clean lines and classic shapes/colors are "me."
So I tried a few on...

This one did me no favors... and it was hard because the sample was all turquoise, and like 4 sizes too big on me to begin with. So imagining it looking this nice on me was really hard.

And then this one... (in ivory)

Still nothing as far as "wow." Plus didn't look right in the "boobage" area.

There were a few others, and then I thought I found what I wanted...

Clean lines... beautiful tails that gave me a train, looked great on. So what held me back? It wasn't "tropical" or "beachy" or flowy... it was heavy, and hot. SO not what I want on a cruise or on the beach for pictures. Perfect for an Ohio wedding, but just not right for this. Very "me," though, so that made it hard. I kept it in mind, and left the store.

Anyway, I was perusing around online (imagine that) and came across some "Destination wedding" dresses, and then I saw it. My dress crush.

Watters "WToo" line, and it's name is "Inga." I love how it's flowy and fitted in all the right places (I love my small-ish waist but hate my curvy/bony hips). So I went to Cincinnati Bridal and Formal this past weekend with some friends to try it on and supposedly they had lent it out for a photo shoot for a month. WTH? They are supposed to be ordering another sample and are going to call me when it comes in so I can trudge back down there to try it on. I need to know if it's going to look like ass on me when I put it on, or if I just love it in the pic and on the hanger!

Outting myself... Sorta.

2010-03-08T10:39:00.000-05:00

Ok I can usually keep a secret pretty well. Maybe. Possibly. And I've kept this one for a little while now, and now I'm not really sure why it was a secret to begin with! I guess I can explain why.

So here it is... Chuck and I are getting married. I know, most of you are thinking "Well DUH. We knew that was coming." Why the secret? Well, because we've kinda done it bass-ackwards. No ring or proposal yet, but hell we have a date and I'm working on buying a dress!

Here's the back story... Chuck and I have been talking about getting hitched for some time now, and we've even looked at rings online together, and checked out a few reception places that might work for us. But he wants to pay for everything in cash (which is fine), and with the market right now, he just isn't making the $$$ he has in the past, so savings have been tight. So a ring just hasn't been a possibility. Unfortunately (and fortunately), his grandmother passed away last summer, leaving each grandkid a small inheritance. That money has now been earmarked for my ring, but we're A. not sure how much it's going to be, and B. not sure when it's coming. Ugh. So the type-A planner that I am is going nuts over this since he wants me to play a huge part in picking out my setting and stone.

Anyway, so my Mom is not-so-secretly wishing (demanding) a grandchild, and the pressure has been on for a while now. I've told her we want to wait till we get married, so when I gave her this answer again in late January, and told her we have to SAVE to pay for a wedding and it may be a while, she mentioned getting married on a cruise. Now I've always kinda been so-so on a destination wedding, just because I thought I'd rather have EVERYONE be able to attend, etc. And I figured Chuck would feel the same way. Well, I was wrong! The more we talked about it, the more it became the PERFECT solution for us. Much less expensive and our families were keen on it as well!

So that brings us back to the present. We are getting married aboard the Carnival Inspiration on embarkation day in the port of Tampa, on January 10, 2011 - which will be our 3rd dating anniversary. The ceremony and small reception will be on board before we set sail, and then we're headed for a 5 night western Caribbean cruise, stopping in Grand Cayman and Cozumel.

We are SO excited - one of the reasons I couldn't keep it a secret anymore. Now I'm not going to go publishing this all over Facebook, etc. until it's REALLY official (a girl needs some bling to show off, come ON!), but I will start using this blog as my sorta "planning" place - sharing my ideas and stuff, to keep all of my followers posted!

YAY!!

The ants go marching 1 by 1, hurrah, hurrah...

2010-01-06T15:53:00.000-05:00

Sonsabitches.

It's 10 below nitty outside and I have these itty bitty little ants marching around on my desk! Where in the hell did they materialize from? They do laps around my keyboard, they crawl across my mouse... I'm about ready to start doing laps with them!

Seriously though... I now have ant traps on my desk,

under my desk,

under my monitor stand...

RAID! And I've scoured my keyboard and mouse and desktop with Clorox wipes... what more can I do?? I'm tired of squishing them with Kleenex! But the suckers make me ITCH just thinking about them!!

GO AWAY!!

Ho x 3

2009-12-22T12:34:00.000-05:00

It's the week of Christmas, and I already have the crazy Christmas "itch" - you know, the giddiness of celebrating with your friends and family and watching them open their gifts, and all of the good food.

My Holiday Season started early this year, with my first Christmas party at the beginning of December. I didn't mind in the least - it was a blast! Then the very next night I had yet ANOTHER party with some of my closest friends and a Secret Santa exchange. I loved seeing my friend Liz open her gifts! Then the next week I had dinner with another great group of ladies (younger AND older!) and another gift exchange. So much fun!!!

Last night topped it off, though. Chuck and I went to a cookie & beer exchange where we took 12 dozen cookies! Yes, TWELVE FREAKING DOZEN! And I chose to make Mom's thumbprints filled with buttercream icing. Yummy, yes, a bit tedious, YES. Of course, what cookie isn't when you have to make 144 of them?! So I spent all day Sunday putting it all together and went to bed with a back ache! I seriously think I need one of those gel kitchen mats I keep seeing advertised everywhere!

Anyway, our dining room table is COVERED in bags and tins of cookies and I love it! Tonight when I get home, I'll be divvying them all up to take to work and to Cincinnati on Thursday for my family. YUM!

I have to work all of this week, so that isn't quite making me feel merry or anything, but hey, what can I do. Chuck has to work Christmas Eve (as do I, but I'm off @ 1pm), and it's up in the air as to when his store will close. Ugh. That just irks the hell out of the planner in me! Oh well, I just have to roll with it and make do. Anyway, Thursday night is reserved for celebrating with my Dad and his family. Friday (Christmas Day) is spent with my step-family and my Mom's family at their newly built house (in case you don't remember, it burned down on Black Friday 2008). It'll be a bit chaotic since they JUST moved in and haven't replaced everything yet, but it'll still be fun! I hope! LOL!

Anyway, so I'm keeping myself in the Christmas spirit, trying to get work done, and listening to my self-made Pandora Christmas station.

This post was scatter-brained... sorry!

Happy Holidays!!

They are lucky they are cute.

2009-12-16T14:33:00.000-05:00

If they weren't, I would've kicked some cat ass last night! (and the night before, and the night before, x infinity)

I wish that cat's sleep-wake cycles would coincide with ours. Life would be SO much easier. Nooooo, these boogers have to be up half the night, playing, running around, and fighting. Hondo, the newest member of the family (since May), loves to attack Audi. And although it's like karma catching up to her for what she used to do to poor Pancake, it's gotten REALLY old. Audi is vocal, and anytime Hondo comes near her in the "pounce" position, she wails and hisses and runs around and knocks stuff over. He doesn't really hurt her - he really just wants to play, but he weighs double her weight, so that poses a problem.

Anyway, their new "trick" is to act like they are STARVING (like Ethernopian-starving/Starvin' Marvin) at 3:30-4:00am and fight on/around/near my side of the bed to wake me up. This morning, Audi was perched on my night stand, while Hondo tried to bat at her from the floor, right next to my head. He'd miss, and claw the side of the bed, she'd wail and then I'd hear his claws detach from the mattress. I'm not usually a light sleeper, but for some reason, that noise is enough to wake me up (paired with her terrorized meow). Ugh. So I stumble out of bed, and both cats are running down the hall towards the laundry room where there food is, kind of like Lassie leading Paul to the well where the neighbor fell in. I pour some food in their bowls, they take a bite or two (crunch crunch), look around, and follow me back to bed!! ARRRRRGH!!

And during the time I've been gone (maybe a minute or two), Chuck has managed to roll over partly into my spot, rolled up in the covers like a burrito, and started snoring with his mouth open. Fat chance I'll fall back asleep before the "alarm of pain" starts to go off at 5:15am!

So is life.

Let it snow...

2009-12-10T09:51:00.001-05:00

The view from my desk...

Not the best pic, but it just snowed a bit and everything looks "frosted". So much prettier than the normal gloomy scene I usually stare at!

Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Man.

2009-12-09T16:42:00.000-05:00

This place is empty.

*crickets chirping*

I really need to post more! I'm sure you've all missed my wonderful insight on things, right? Hell, I haven't even posted about my Bengals and how well they are doing! WTH is wrong with me?? Busy, yes... a little bit uninterested, yes... Sorry, I know! Just haven't had the notion to spill my guts on here. Not even to rant/vent! I even have a Blogger app on my iPhone now! I have no excuses! Although, who wants to tap out a blog posting on an iPhone? Oy.

Anyway, Christmas is fast approaching, and the festivities are beginning. I have my first (and 2nd!) Christmas parties this weekend, Friday night AND Saturday night, and I couldn't be more excited! I can't wait to see my friends, eat yummy food, enjoy their GORGEOUS decorations (Rhiannon and Erin always outdo themselves!), and watch friends open gifts! My favorite! Of course, receiving gifts is always a good thing, too :) HA!!

Then next week, me and my coworkers are dropping off everything we've purchased for our Salvation Army Adopt a Family. We raised QUITE a bit of money thanks to the generosity of the company, and were able to spoil our family. I just wish we could see their faces when they open the boxes of loot that we're taking for them! I mean, we're talking 2 bikes, games, toys, the comforter set they asked for, clothes, FOOD, toiletries, you name it! I'm so excited for them. It makes me feel SO good to give!

That isn't the only charitable thing I've done/am doing over the holiday. I also participated in "Be a Santa to a Senior" here in Columbus, which puts trees at different CVS's and Walgreen's with wishes from folks in retirement homes that may not have anyone to buy them a gift, which makes my heart ache :( I "adopted" 2 ladies and gladly purchased what was on their wish ornaments. I hope they enjoy their gifts as well!

And to top it off, for the people in my life that tell me not to buy them anything because they don't NEED anything, my grandma and grandpa, I made a donation in each of their names to Best Friends Animal Sanctuary AND the ASPCA. They are both huge animals lovers like me, and I know that they will enjoy the fact they are helping animals in need across the US!

Wow, this "I need to post" - post turned into quite a damn post!! LOL!!

Ahh well, I'm tapped out for now.

Happy Holidays!!

Kittens out the yin yang!

2009-11-16T14:01:00.000-05:00

(First of a few posts to cover this weekend!)

Chuck and I went down to Cincinnati yesterday to visit with my Dad and his side of the family to celebrate his retirement from the Post Office and my birthday (which is this coming Wednesday). We went to Dad's first to watch the Bengals v. Steelers game and visit with his kittens. See, my Dad has become the Crazy Cat Man. I kid you not. It started with 1 black kitty named Monkey, who wasn't spayed in time and darted out the front door to get some lovin'. She had a litter of kittens and Dad kept one, a tortoiseshell named Lucy. Dad STILL didn't have Monkey spayed and guess what? She escaped one day around Christmas and got knocked up. She had 2 black kittens, which Dad kept, and named Lucky and Mustang Sally. So now he had 4. Lucy lived up to her name (LOOSE) and got out and got a piece of a$$ and had this current litter of kittens. Dad now has 8 cats in his house!!!

The newest members of the Kleier household!

2 gray kittens (no names), 1 fluffy black kitten (that looks JUST like our old kitty, Smokey!), and 1 fluffy gray and tan (muted Tortoiseshell) named Lilly (if she's a girl, we don't know!).

I would LOVE to bring one of them home, but we just don't have the room for a third cat. I've already made it clear to Chuck that when we have a bigger house with room for litterboxes, etc. we WILL have a third kitty! There's room in our family for at least 1 more!

I think Dad's friend may be taking Lilly home, and if that's the case, he may keep 1 of the other kittens, bringing his house total to 5 kitties! Ugh!

Welcome Robert Wallace Park!

2009-11-11T13:05:00.000-05:00

The newest member of Chuck's family was born Monday morning!

Let me introduce to you Robert Wallace Park :)

Born 11/9/09, 8lbs-10oz, and 22" long.

Congratulations to Sam & Melanie (Chuck's brother and SIL)! First grandchild in the family!

A little fall decor...

2009-10-03T11:23:00.002-04:00

Ok so I started writing this post over 3 weeks ago and just never got around to finishing it or posting it! Oops. Oh well. It's a start! Hell by the time I finish this, it'll be time for Christmas decorations!! LOL! Here ya go!

Thought I'd share the little bit of fall decorating that I've done around the living room & dining room. Plus it'll allow you to see our new couch (yes, another new one - long story!).

From the dining room area looking into the living room. New couch, with new art hanging above it. Painted the coffee table (after trying to strip/stain veneer = fail). Walls are painted, new chair (with fresh claw marks down the back thanks to the orange kitty who is peering at the camera from in front of it! BASTARD!! LOL!).

More of the chair, with my awesome pillow find from Burlington Coat Factory. I heart it!!

Couch head on with my candle ring of leaves (good cat toy, btw) and dish of dark chocolate Kisses. Yum!

Here's the mantle with my barn star from Chuck last Christmas, and my "go bucks" banner made by the ever so crafty "four munkees".

Close ups of the mantle.

One of the side tables.

And the other. With Buckeye stuff of course, including some AWESOME Ohio State coasters made by my good friend, Liz!

And the dining room. With new chandelier, new artwork on the walls, and a blah table cloth - only because I can't find exactly what I want. I think this blends in to the wall too much! Oh and disregard the towels on the chairs - Hondo likes to do burnouts on them and they are LEATHER (great gift from Chuck's mom, but not when there are kitty claws on the house!).

Date night

2009-09-10T08:15:00.003-04:00

Chuck and I went out with another couple last night (his buddy and his fiancee) and tried a new restaurant thanks to "Restaurant Week" - random weeks throughout the year when local restuarants do a "prix fixe" (fixed price) special menu usually with multiple courses, for $20 or $30 per person. And these are restaurants where the entree itself is usually $20 or $30! This was definitely the case last night - we went to The Top restaurant in Bexley. It's a steakhouse that's been around for ages (and the decor shows it - it's a little wild! And dark! And lots of mirrors! Creepy.)

Anyway, even though the decor may have been a little "off" the food was AWESOME! We each got 4 courses for $30.09. It is a tough act to beat, let me tell you! 1st course was a choice between escargot or french onion soup. Us girls got the soup, the boys tried the escargot - both were really good! The escargot was baked with lots of garlic and melted cheese - yum! And then we got a choice of salads, and then our main entree. The choices were surf & turf (lobster tail + filet), prime rib, or a crab stuff sole + bernaise & asparagus. I ALMOST got the sole, just because it sounded so good, but opted for the prime rib, and it was melt in your mouth good! Yum!

And our 4th and final course - dessert! Either creme brulee or a funnel cake w/ice cream and fresh strawberries. I was the odd man out choosing the creme brulee, but don't think I didn't steal some of Chuck's funnel cake!

SO glad we tried somewhere new and had a good night with a couple we don't get to see very often!

Dang it, now I'm hungry just thinking about dinner last night! LOL!

Starting early...

2009-09-10T08:13:00.002-04:00

So I normally wear scarlet and gray and my Buckeye bracelets and watch, etc. to work on Fridays during football season. But with a HUGE game coming up this weekend vs USC that I'm scared to DEATH of, I thought I'd start a day early and maybe get the good vibes going today! So I'm wearing all scarlet and gray and the bracelet and watch today - and hoping that it will give us a boost on Saturday night! Holy shit do we need it!!!

In rare form today...

2009-08-26T09:20:00.003-04:00

For some reason, I'm agitated today.

It may be because I woke up an hour early (5am) and couldn't fall back asleep... or when I did finally get up my stomach felt weird... who knows.

All I know is that every little thing is ticking me off this morning and that in itself, is ticking me off!

Some of the other things bothering me...

1. My coworker that sits next to me & helps answer the phone mispronounces our BOSS's last name, EVERY.TIME. He's your BOSS, get his fucking name right!!! It's not HARD!!

2. I had to have the "I don't want to be buds with your PSYCHO GIRLFRIEND" talk with my DAD last night. Sorry Dad, I know it upsets you that I don't want to hang out with the "woman" you've been dating/whatever off and on for the last 11 years - she has called me and every other person in our family every name in the book, has tried to fist fight me in YOUR HOME (and I'm not a fighter!!!!), and has come after you with a knife, and to defend yourself, you had to whack the bitch in the HEAD with a FUCKING GOLF CLUB. And you wonder WHY I don't want to hang out with her?!!! I'm sorry that you're lonely - really, I am, and I feel partly responsible for that, since you live 100 miles away, but COME THE FUCK ON, get a new girlfriend!! You can do 1000x better in your SLEEP if you just TRIED!!!

3. I hate being everyone's bitch at work. I have everyone else's grunt work stacked on my desk and YOU HAVE YOUR OWN GRUNTS to do it!!! DAMMIT!

I think I'm going to leave it at this... I'm getting more mad just writing this all down.

Must be PMS.

Skydiving - Jump #2 - 8/16/09

2009-08-18T11:36:00.005-04:00

So skydiving on Sunday was AWESOME!

(there's my recap!)

Just kidding.

Anyway, it was HOT AS HELL, even at 11am when we were jumping, and the
stupid jump suits didn't help. I'm so glad I wore a tank top and shorts this time! Last time I wore jeans and t-shirt and about died.

But anyway, we had a group of 4 of us (me, Karen (who I jumped with before), her friend Danielle, and my friend Wendy), and we told them it was Wendy's 30th birthday, so the instructors we had kinda relaxed a bit and we all had fun as a group - much different
than my first time! I think we weren't as anxious/scared this time around - more excited than anything!

I didn't have the same dreadlock dude (Thys) as my instructor, but he was in our group
- Karen jumped with him!

The guy I got (Dan), was SHORTER than me!! LOL! But he was SUPER cool and super nice.

Wendy jumped with a girl, Honey, and the guys on the plane were like "OH YEAH! Girl on girl action!!! YEE HA!!" the whole ride! LOL! And then we sang Happy Birthday to her on the plane and took a ton of pics :)

Dan let me bring my camera along, and he actually held it was we jumped, with it recording! I need to check out the video and post it on YouTube. Oh and we did a FLIP out of the plane! It was wild! I had my eyes sorta closed cause I was a bit freaked, but it was awesome none the less!

And then we opened the chute a little early so we could swoop through a big puffy cloud (that I THOUGHT I had video of, but looks like I only got pics. Grrr. Couldn't see the screen of my
camera due to the glare!).

The view below! WOOOOOOO!!!!

Anyway, Wendy's pics came out awesome - her photographer was 1000x
better than mine the first time around and got some great shots of them jumping out of the
plane - you could almost make a flip book with the pics he took! She had a GREAT time and we're all going again - most likely sometime this fall!

Grateful.

2009-08-12T14:34:00.003-04:00

Ok one more post to get me caught up for now...

Unfortunately, last week (Friday), Chuck's last grandparent, his maternal grandma, passed away. She was 94 and had been sick (heart issues and 2 strokes) and so the family knew it was coming, it was just when.

Chuck hadn't seen her in 2+ years and I know he felt bad about that, especially since we had tried to go visit her in May, but she lived in an itty bitty mining town in West Virginia, and they had flooding and the roads were closed to get to her, so we postponed it. I never got the chance to meet her, but by attending her funeral services, I learned a lot about her and how much she was loved and how she impacted SO many lives around her. She was a chemistry & physics teacher for 40+ years in the local high school and had both a BA and an MS from Marshall University - something women didn't normally do back then. What an inspiration she was!

Upside to this past weekend was I got to see where Chuck's mom's family is from (Delbarton, WVa - south of Charleston, WVa), and got to meet most of them as well - and they were all so nice and welcoming! I felt like part of the family already, and was included in family pictures.

The other reason for this post is to mention how grateful I am to still have most of my grandparents around (miss you, Grandpa). This summer, I took my maternal grandma to two concerts and I'm SO glad I got the chance to go with her! We saw 2 great shows and I knew that there was a chance it'd be now or never so I sprang for good tickets and we had a blast!

First we saw Keith Urban & Taylor Swift at USBank Arena in Cincinnati... (they were taking pics of people for free and then posting them on the concert website!)

And then 2 weeks later we saw Brad Paisley & Dierks Bentley at Riverbend. Both shows were just awesome and it was fun spending 1 on 1 time with her - like we used to when I was little. Love you, Grandma!

Jogging/walking/races/whatever...

2009-08-12T14:14:00.004-04:00

So I guess it's 5k/race season because it seems like every weekend (or hell, sometimes during the week) there's a race benefiting some charity/cause or another on every block of this town! I've participated in 2 so far, and may throw in 1 or 2 more as the season progresses.

The first one was the Pet Promise 5k Rescue Run, benefiting a cause I actually hold dear to my heart - finding forever homes for cats and dogs in shelters. So Wendy, her dog Max, and her mom and her dog Angel, all participated. Wendy and Max ran the course (Arena District) and I jogged/walked it by myself. It was humid but there was a good turnout and they raised a lot of money and most of all, awareness! I plan on trying to do this one every year - this was my 2nd year.

We also participated in the Dublin Irish Festival 4-miler ("Dub Dash"), kicking off the festival weekend. It was SO hot and humid that night, and getting ready to rain, and I wish it would have to clear the humidity, but it waited until after the race, unfortunately! This time around I decided to kick it into a higher gear and push myself to jog/run more than usual. The race started in downtown Dublin and ran down Dublin Road, along the river, up into 2 neighborhoods (hills! joy!) and then all of the way back. I completed the 4 mile race in my 3.5 mile time (I walk/jog a 3.5 mile track 1-3x a week) - so that made me REALLY happy! It's the little things ;)

There were a LOT of people participating and lots of photographers along the way, so I'm sharing some pics of Wendy and I!

Wendy is on the far right - the first gal in green w/black shorts

They caught me at one of the points I was walking my ass off (power walking, baby!) - that's me in red w/the white hat - duh.

LOTS of girl time!

2009-08-12T14:04:00.003-04:00

I just want to mention how nice it's been to have had so much girl time over the past few weeks!

From margarita night...

to a great concert...

to a cookout honoring an AWESOME couple...

to a get-together at Costco (plus a yummy lunch afterward!)...

to a great evening at a dinner party this past weekend...

and all of the girl time in between - it's been SO nice! I love you all and am SO thankful to have you all in my life!

Total hillbilly!

2009-08-12T13:47:00.005-04:00

Ok so a few weekends ago, Chuck & I, and our friends Kevin & Michele, and his buddy Bryce, all went out to Chuck's old stomping ground out in Champaign County to go watch the races at The Shadybowl Speedway - a 3/10 mile oval track out in the boonies. It was BYOB and BYOC (bring your own chair) and it was a really nice night.

We watched a few heats of cars do their thing...

This one became a favorite - "S&B Racing" - we cheered it on yelling "GO SHIT BISCUIT!!!"

And then came the highlight of the whole night... the "Trailer Races"!

Rules of the road:
- Your truck/car/van/camper, whatever must be pulling some sort of trailer behind it to win the race.
- It's last man standing, so the race goes till 1 car/truck/van/camper is left - WITH a trailer behind it!

Here are some of the entrants - all lined up! Yes, they are pulling campers & boats! Some guys had lawn mowers on wooden trailers, a seed spreader on a trailer, a chest freezer on a trailer, and all sorts of other wild shit!

This guy thought he was hot shit burning rubber before the race began.

This is the chaos after about 2 laps. There were boats and campers and wheels and tires laying out in the middle of the track on every turn, and if you couldn't avoid them, you just plowed right on through them and kept going!

By the end of the race, there were vans and cars and trucks ALL OVER THE PLACE!

The guy that ended up winning LOST his trailer at the beginning, got stuck in the mud in the infield, and then hooked his truck up to someone else's trailer that he found left behind, and pulled instead! LOL! The 3 trucks that made it to end were missing tires, missing trailers, all smashed up, and barely running, but they kept going - sparks flying all over the place!

It was some of the funniest shit I've ever seen. You couldn't take your eyes off of it for one second or else you'd miss something funny! A good wreck, a boat flying off a trailer, a car flipping over (oh yes, it happened) or pieces of camper sailing through the air!

We're going back at the end of the month, but sadly, it won't be a trailer race night - just cars! No fun. HAHA!

Another catching up post...

2009-08-12T13:22:00.009-04:00

Holy hell I've been a bad bad blogger this summer! I think I find myself posting on Facebook the things I would normally blog about on here! Doh. Too many places to vent my frustration, ramble about weird things, and share my pictures.

Anyway, so let's start this with the skydiving pics I promised I'd share... considering I'm going back for my 2nd jump this Sunday (August 16th), and I'm taking Wendy with me! It's her 30th birthday and she's decided to celebrate by jumping out of a plane at 12,500 feet! Why not?! I'm so freaking excited that my heart starts to race just THINKING about it! YEE HAW!

Just pulled the chute!

And the landing!

Let's see... what else? OH! Had a great 4th of July weekend!

Spent some time with friends at a picnic....

Saw some great fireworks....

And got to spend some time with family. Perfect weekend :)

Trying to catch up...

2009-06-24T09:58:00.006-04:00

Ok, so lots to post about... will try to make it short & sweet. Or not :)

1. They call him... Hondo.

We adopted a new kitty a few weeks ago, and Chuck has lovingly named him Hondo, after a John Wayne character/movie.

I don't see much resemblance, but hey, what do I know? Anyway, he's about a year old and is a pretty big boy, weighing in at about 16 lbs. We rescued him from a great rescue group here locally (Colony Cats Rescue) and although he still has a bit of kitten in him (he wants to rough & tumble play with Audi - who isn't having it!), he's a sweet heart and loves to be petted and have his tummy rubbed. I think he's a great addition to our family, although I still miss my Pancake every day, and always will.

For more pics of Hondo, visit my Shutterfly site.

2. I survived skydiving. Obviously ;) Although for some reason am having some technical difficulties/communication issues with getting my pictures from them! I have my video, which you can watch here (warning - LONG lead in with stunts and stuff I'll never be able to do - plus a super CHEESY interview with me that no one needs to see... AND a lovely shot of me stifling myself so I don't yak on film). All I can really say about it is that it was UNREAL. Take the most exhilarating roller coaster you've ever been on, and multiply it by 1000, and it still doesn't compare to the rush and the intensity of jumping out of a plane at 12,500 feet! My instructor, Thys, who I was strapped to, was great - even though he was a bit wild looking (big blond dread locks!) and took me for an awesome ride on the way down! I can see why he does this for a living! I would, too! Anyway, once I get some pics, I will post those as well. It was just amazing and guess what?? I'm going again in August to celebrate my friend Wendy's 30th birthday! What a way to ring in a new decade!! LOL!

3. My brother is in town! Hooray! He is home from Paris for almost 3 weeks and we got to hang out a bunch this past weekend. It's SO good to see him! I miss having him here in the States so I can text message him with silly stuff like we used to. And it's times like these that make me wish I lived closer so we can hang out more when he is home. He still hasn't met Chuck, so we'll be headed down this Sunday to make the introductions and hopefully hang out for the day! I know he reads this blog every so often, so I'll say MAX! I'm so proud of you!! Keep up the good work in school! I'm so jealous that you're at LA SORBONNE!!! *hugs*

Here's my Dad and brother @ River Downs (horse race track) on Father's Day this past Sunday. We bet on a few races and got some time to hang out and chat. Max is saying "Hooray 'RoyalewithCheese'!" - yes, that's a horse we bet on! Too bad we didn't win jack crap all day!

And here's a pic of my Dad and I enjoying a cold one or two on Saturday @ Newport on the Levy, right on the river in Newport, KY. The three of us had just seen the movie "Hangover" - too damn funny!

Crazy 8's

2009-06-24T09:45:00.002-04:00

The rules:

1. Mention the person who tagged me (Simi @ Welcome to Insanity)
2. Complete the lists of 8.
3. Tag 8 more people and tell them they've been tagged.

The lists:

Eight things I am looking forward to.
1. Spending more time with my brother this weekend.
2. A LOOONG weekend next weekend!
3. Getting over this sinus crap/cough I have.
4. The weather to get a little milder so I can sit outside and read. It's too hot.
5. Reading on my lunch break today.
6. Finishing up the living room/dining room updates.
7. Ohio State football season.
8. Marrying Chuck someday :) (had to throw that in there!)

Eight things I did yesterday.
1. Got to work early.
2. Went to water aerobics class.
3. Fixed dinner for Chuck and I.
4. Watched an episode of "John Adams."
5. Fell asleep pretty early.
6. Did laundry.
7. Cuddled with my kitties.
8. Cuddled with Chuck :)

Eight things I wish I could do.
1. Lose my last 5 lbs.
2. Get my Dad to live healthier (stop smoking & drinking so much)
3. Figure out what I want to be when I grow up.
4. Have more energy.
5. Save more money.
6. Be a better friend.
7. Adopt every kitty that needs a home :)
8. Focus on things till they were done rather then be jumping around doing 10 things all at once.

Eight shows I have enjoyed watching.
1. Greys
2. Say Yes to the Dress
3. The Bachelorette
4. Gossip Girl
5. Private Practice
6. So You Think You Can Dance
7. Desperate House Wives
8. Friends

Eight favorite fruits.
1. Apples
2. Strawberries
3. Kiwi
4. Mango
5. Grapes
6. Melon
7. Bananas
8. Pears

Eight places I'd like to travel.
1. France
2. Bora Bora/Tahiti
3. St. John
4. Aruba
5. Turks & Caicos
6. Australia
7. Rest of Europe
8. Western Canada (Vancouver etc) - already been a few times and want to go back :)

Eight places I've lived.
1. Cincinnati, OH
2. Columbus, OH
3. Livermore, CA
4. San Ramon, CA
5. Dublin, CA
6. Westerville, OH
7. Hilliard, OH
8. TBD!

Tagging:
1. Julie
2. Allison
3. Liz
4. Trisha
5. Colleen
6. Who else reads my blog that will see this? LOL
7.
8.

Skydiving: Take 2

2009-06-11T12:27:00.003-04:00

So I blogged last summer about taking a skydiving course @ Ohio State and was supposed to jump on June 28, 2008. I drove down with the rest of my class, went through the formal instruction, etc. and then waited. And waited. And waited. Why? Because it was threatening to rain and clouds = no jumpy. I must've waited around for 4+ hours before finally getting a rain check to use. No pun intended :) Anyway, I realized about 2 months ago that my rain check was about to expire at the end of June and quick started making plans to fulfill my skydiving adventure. Unfortunately, I was having trouble finding someone - ANYONE - to go with me. Imagine that ;) I really didn't want to ride in the plane alone (besides my instructor/tandem jumper), although I'm sure on a beautiful Sunday morning/afternoon I wouldn't be alone, I just wouldn't know anyone, and being scared/anxious alone SUCKS. So I finally found a crazy companion - my friend Karen, whose birthday is Friday, decided that she would jump out of a plane to celebrate! Rock on!

SO, Sunday, June 14th, around 11am, if you live near Lebanon, Ohio - watch the skies for 2 crazy ladies and their parachutes!! (Again, weather permitting! I don't want another rain check so keep your fingers crossed for me!!!)

Already a rant...

2009-06-11T12:03:00.002-04:00

My 2nd post "back" and I'm already ranting.

Sometimes I absolutely HATE my job. Today just happens to be one of those glorious days. My fellow Admin/coworker took this week off to go to Florida. Fine, well, and dandy - whatever. The problem is, I am expected to do her work while she's gone. Some of her stuff is "drop whatever you're doing, this is more important"-type BS and I hate it. I have my OWN work to do and on top of it, am really the only one answering the stupid phone (WHY can't we have an auto-attendant?! WHY?!). It's my same old song & dance. I HATE answering phones. HATE IT. It interrupts my train of thought so then it takes me even LONGER to get anything done! Plus lately we've been getting a LOT of hangups. Like I barely say "Thank you for calling " before I get a damn dial tone! WTH?! I'd say I get 5-10 hangups a day. And they seem to come at the worst time, too! Like I have to make a mad dash back to my desk from across the office, dive for the phone and then "CLICK!" ARGH! Or I'm rushing to get someone off the phone so I can answer another ringing line and "CLICK!" GEE THANKS ASSHOLE. I wish we had caller ID so I could call them back like WTF?! Quit calling here!

I could really use a drink or some majorly good chocolate today. Looks like I'm going to water aerobics and painting instead. Not exactly what I was looking for ;)

/rant.

Need to catch up...

2009-06-10T13:12:00.004-04:00

Haven't posted anything substantial in a while... although I've been wanting to, but just haven't had the nerve/heart/strength to do it, so I'll just make it quick and hopefully painless.

Monday, May 18, 2009 I had to have my dear sweet kitty Pancake put to sleep. He was thought to be about 11.5 years old, and graced my life for his last 6 years. He was FIV+ (feline HIV) and complications (kidney failure amongst other things) led to a point of no return and his well-being and happiness was at stake. He was very sick and there was nothing I could do - his immune system was gone. It was the hardest thing I've ever had to do. And this may sound awful, but it was harder than divorcing my ex-husband, and hurt more than laying my grandpa to rest. Hell, I'm crying writing this, and that's what I was afraid of. I wanted to just say "he's gone" and leave it, but there's so much more to it. I miss him every.single.day. And everything reminds me of him and his sweet furry self. He was a momma's boy and I loved that about him. Chuck and I laid him to rest in his favorite fleece blankets in a sunny spot out on Chuck's family's farm. Chuck will be moving a big rock to place next to him soon so I can go sit and visit him when we're out that way (Champaign County).

I believe in the Rainbow Bridge and hope that he'll be waiting there for me someday - exactly what I whispered in his ear as he slipped away.

Momma loves you forever, sweet boy.

Six unimportant things that make me happy!

2009-06-04T11:27:00.004-04:00

So I was tagged by Rhiannon to list 6 unimportant things that make me happy... I'm an easy to please/amuse kinda girl, so this should be easy :) And it seems as though Rhiannon and I think alike, cause I'm SO tempted to copy some of her answers, which I may - but not all of them :)

1. Watching my kitties sleep. So cute and peaceful.

2. Getting text messages from my friends or Chuck.

3. Reading a good book.

4. Dark chocolate.

5. The way I feel AFTER I work out (not necessarily DURING! LOL!).

6. Date night with Chuck.

Okay Tag you're it. I am tagging the following people!

Simi

Allison

Trisha

Jan

Smells bad...

2009-05-05T15:15:00.002-04:00

I just got an email from Yankee Candle with a coupon for their website. For a moment I got excited, then realized that unless I order something I either A. already like or B. is a boring run of the mill scent like "French Vanilla" which don't get me wrong, I like, I may order something that SOUNDS like it might smell nice, but once it arrives, smells like ass. For example, I think "Sun & Sand" sounds like it might smell nice... ever take a whiff? Not so much.

The funny thing is, this realization seems to apply to a lot of things in my life lately... something looks nice from afar, but then up close, it's awful. Or someone seems like they're nice or that they like you, or you're friends, but once you take a sniff/get to know them, they are just another stinky candle masquerading as a nice smelling scent.

Kinda like "Don't judge a book by it's cover" - which ironically, I do. I pick up books to read because they have a fun cover ALL OF THE TIME!

But like I said, lately, I've been uncovering duds across the board. Guess I need to be a little more finicky with the things and people in my life!

Crappy day.

2009-04-21T13:59:00.003-04:00

What an ugly day it is today... rainy, HAIL, windy, chilly. Blah. Makes me want to go home and curl up on the couch with Chuck (today is his day off)... but instead I'm going to torture myself tonight by going to TWO, yes, TWO fitness classes after work! First, water aerobics, and then a strength training class! Ugh. I won't get home till close to 9pm after running a quick errand afterward! Blah.

Spoke too soon.

2009-04-18T08:27:00.002-04:00

I knew I shouldn't have weighed myself at home, on my scale, mid-week. Ugh. I got my hopes up, saw an awesome number, and am now disappointed in myself. I weighed in @ WW this morning and GAINED from the last time! WTF?! The last weigh-in I was 161.2 and now I'm 161.4. Hello, my scale said 160.5 this morning, which kinda ticked me off, but jeez, it's off by almost a pound? Ugh.

Who knows. A little disenchanted, I guess. SO tired of trying to lose weight (been on this journey since last June - almost a year!). Guess I need to suck it up and keep at it. Thinking I was in the 150's was such a milestone for me, and now that it's not a reality, I'm just "eh."

Thank freaking goodness it's Friday.

2009-04-17T09:10:00.003-04:00

What a week. Between being sick (am STILL getting over a sinus infection I've had since last Wednesday), crappy weather, and everything going to hell at work as far as computer stuff goes, I've about had it with this week! I'm so glad it's almost over... too bad today is going to be a craptastic day as well and it's nice outside but I doubt I'll be able to enjoy it!

Anyway, just wanted to post about the one good thing from this week... I didn't weigh in @ Weight Watchers on Saturday because I was sick as a dog, and I haven't been weighing myself at home just because usually my scale is off compared to the calibrated scales they use to weigh me, but, I decided to see how much damage I had done by being sick but not necessarily losing my appetite. I stepped on the scale on Wednesday morning and BOOYA 158lbs!! Down from 161.2 4/4/09 (that morning I weighed myself on my scale right after they weighed me and they were the same). I'm in the 150's!!!!! YAHOO!!! My personal goal is 155 lbs, and I'm getting SO close!

Of course, once I hit that, I don't think I'm going to pull up on the reigns just yet - there's some cool classes I want to take at the rec center and I'm sure they will help me drop a few more lbs as well. That and I walked/jogged last night in the evening sun and it felt GREAT! Burned 700 calories in 52 minutes and was SO glad I got outside to do it!

Well, back to the grind... just gotta make it through the day and then BUNCO tonight! YAY!! Can't wait!