I completely forgot (probably on purpose) to tell you what happened in pilates class on Monday. The room was pretty full. I put my mats down and then got this ring contraption that we use, along with a little ball we use. I start stretching. Then the instructor comes in and tells us to start out standing up with the ring contraption. We start stretching using this, and soon she asks us to slowly bend over while pushing on this ring. As I was going down and pushing, it happened. I farted. Outloud. I quickly pretended like the ring had gotten stuck on the floor. Luckily, it was while everyone was putting the ring on the floor, so I'm thinking it just blended in. But I was SO worried the rest of the class so I didn't put my full effort into that class. And it did make me feel better that I think the pregnant lady in the class farted outloud as well. Although her excuse is much more understandable - she's carrying a human inside of her. Anyways - I was happy that the girls I normally know in pilates were not there this week - how embarrassing!
I had a girls night last night with law school ladies and had a blast. Today, I am busy doing work and then need to cook some pasta dinner for Ian. He needs the carbs for his 20 mile run tomorrow. Then, when he gets home, we're pumpkin carving! We've never done this together, and I'm not sure if he has ever done this at all (you know, the whole not growing up in the U.S. means he's not used to these traditions). I will be sure to take some pictures.
Saturday we are spending halloween the way we did last year - Ian gets takeout while I sit on our front steps with candy for the kids, glass of wine for me. I just love seeing all the kiddies in their cute costumes.
Also, this weekend marks the start of National Blog Posting Month. And for the first time, I am going to try to participate. For you non-bloggers, NaBloPoMo means that I will be blogging every single day in November. 30 days, 30 posts. This will be tough for me, because honestly, I'm not sure if I have 30 posts in 30 days worth to say. But we'll see. Let me know if any of you other bloggers are doing it this year!
Have a fabulous weekend!
Friday, October 30, 2009
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Social Networks: Friend or Foe
I belong to facebook, along with just about everyone I know. I love certain things about facebook. Being able to see pictures of my closest friends most recent outings and festivities makes me feel like I can keep up with people who don't live closeby. Also, I can catch up with old friends and see how they're doing. Also, on occasion, I can stalk people just to see what they're doing.
But then, recently, there's been a downside to it. There are plenty of people who I really don't want to catch up with, or people I do not want to see my photos or what I'm doing in my life. Also, professors are now on facebook. Even my mom and mother-in-law are on facebook.
And do you get random friend requests from people? I do, and then I have to sit and search the person's profile to figure out how the hell they got to me. Do we have mutual friends? Do I recognize the person in pictures? Do I know the bf/gf/wife/husband/fiance of the person? Has the person changed her name and I'm just not recognizing him/her? ANNOYING!
And then there are friend requests from blasts from the past who I REALLY do not want to accept. But am I so mean so as to reject them? I certainly have realized when a person hasn't accepted my friend request. And it's amazing how something so stupid can send me into a roll of questioning: what did I do, why don't they want to be friends with me.
And what is up with the friend suggestions? Hello, doesn't FB realize that most of the people suggested either I have no freaking clue who they are, or I am purposely not friends with?
Well one recent friend suggestion has gotten to me big time. We have mutual friends. But I do not care to even allow this person to know I am on facebook. Luckily in privacy settings, you can block people from even searching your name, which I will do today. But now, I do not even want to comment on the wall/photo of any of our mutual friends. Ahh, the joys and pitfalls of social networks - it makes it far too easy for people to find you when the last thing you want is for that person to be able to do so. Sometimes, I just want to hide everything on there and go on a hiatus from it.
But then, recently, there's been a downside to it. There are plenty of people who I really don't want to catch up with, or people I do not want to see my photos or what I'm doing in my life. Also, professors are now on facebook. Even my mom and mother-in-law are on facebook.
And do you get random friend requests from people? I do, and then I have to sit and search the person's profile to figure out how the hell they got to me. Do we have mutual friends? Do I recognize the person in pictures? Do I know the bf/gf/wife/husband/fiance of the person? Has the person changed her name and I'm just not recognizing him/her? ANNOYING!
And then there are friend requests from blasts from the past who I REALLY do not want to accept. But am I so mean so as to reject them? I certainly have realized when a person hasn't accepted my friend request. And it's amazing how something so stupid can send me into a roll of questioning: what did I do, why don't they want to be friends with me.
And what is up with the friend suggestions? Hello, doesn't FB realize that most of the people suggested either I have no freaking clue who they are, or I am purposely not friends with?
Well one recent friend suggestion has gotten to me big time. We have mutual friends. But I do not care to even allow this person to know I am on facebook. Luckily in privacy settings, you can block people from even searching your name, which I will do today. But now, I do not even want to comment on the wall/photo of any of our mutual friends. Ahh, the joys and pitfalls of social networks - it makes it far too easy for people to find you when the last thing you want is for that person to be able to do so. Sometimes, I just want to hide everything on there and go on a hiatus from it.
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Spinner
I remember playing this game growing up. My family were huge game people, or rather, my mom was so therefore we all were. But this particular game is not common, but one of my favorites. I remember playing this with my grandma in Texas when I was young, and seeing my normally calm and reserved grandma become a little rowdy.
It's called Spinner. During the summers in college, it was kind of a ritual with a few of my bests to play this game at my parent's house, drink way too much, and eat steak-ums until 1, 2, 3, 4 in the morn. We've introduced this game to Ian's parents, Kim and Jeremy, and countless others. I played it when I went to visit my brother while he was in college and I was still in high school. That was quite a scene. About 6 college soccer players, and me (15 years old at the time), all sitting and playing a game.
I don't know what it is about this game. It's a bit more lengthy than other games (about an hour for 4 people to play one entire game). It brings out tons of different angry emotions (I won't repeat what Ian's mom called me when I messed up her next move). Normally, everyone starts out calmly, almost like we're bored. But within a few minutes, people start livening up and getting into the game.
Funny how I cannot even remember who introduced us to this game. I may not be able to pinpoint what specifically is so fantastic about this game, but I do know that I love it, and that all of the memories I have of playing this game revolve around laughter and talking with friends.
It's called Spinner. During the summers in college, it was kind of a ritual with a few of my bests to play this game at my parent's house, drink way too much, and eat steak-ums until 1, 2, 3, 4 in the morn. We've introduced this game to Ian's parents, Kim and Jeremy, and countless others. I played it when I went to visit my brother while he was in college and I was still in high school. That was quite a scene. About 6 college soccer players, and me (15 years old at the time), all sitting and playing a game.
I don't know what it is about this game. It's a bit more lengthy than other games (about an hour for 4 people to play one entire game). It brings out tons of different angry emotions (I won't repeat what Ian's mom called me when I messed up her next move). Normally, everyone starts out calmly, almost like we're bored. But within a few minutes, people start livening up and getting into the game.
Funny how I cannot even remember who introduced us to this game. I may not be able to pinpoint what specifically is so fantastic about this game, but I do know that I love it, and that all of the memories I have of playing this game revolve around laughter and talking with friends.
Monday, October 26, 2009
Waiting
Well, luckily Friday's mishap was not an indication of the way my weekend would turn out. I sulked most of Friday until Ian got home and cheered me up. Then, we got ready and headed to Fells Point for a law school friend's birthday dinner. We partied it up with those people, then headed home by 11.
Saturday, we cleaned like maniacs and realized we need to a thorough cleaning more often. We cleaned for over 4 hours - all because we were having Kim and Jeremy over for dinner on Saturday. It made us realize we need to have people over for dinner more often in order to keep our house clean! We had a lovely dinner, yummy organic wine (thanks K&J for bringing it!) and played a round of our favorite game after dinner (Spinner - describing this game this is probably a whole other post in itself).
Sunday, we slept in and then made breakfast together. The weather was absolutely beautiful, so we finally decided to head to the pumpkin patch after weeks of me begging to go. We went to North Run Farm in the afternoon. I was disappointed with this pumpkin patch. First, you have to pay $7 per person just to walk into the place. I think that's fine if you have kids who are going to be doing the maze or playing any of the games. But for us adults, just coming to buy a few pumpkins - I think that's a little crazy. Then the pumpkins - you had to walk for forever just to get to any decent ones, and there really weren't many decent ones. I will say that driving to this one is a beautiful fall drive, but otherwise I will not go back to this one.
And we only managed to find one good pumpkin to carve, so we headed to Weber's Farm on our way back. I liked this one much better - although I would've liked to actually pick my pumpkin from the patch, not from barrels like you do at Weber's. But, you can't get everything I suppose. I loved that this one has preserves and a bakery and fresh vegetables and apples. Ian picked up a pumpkin loaf that is almost gone - it is that good.
And to add to my (almost) fabulous weekend, I won for the 6th week in a row in fantasy football league.
Before I post pictures from the pumpkin patch, I'll let you know that I have not heard from the owner of the car from Friday's incident. I'll keep you posted if I do hear.
Saturday, we cleaned like maniacs and realized we need to a thorough cleaning more often. We cleaned for over 4 hours - all because we were having Kim and Jeremy over for dinner on Saturday. It made us realize we need to have people over for dinner more often in order to keep our house clean! We had a lovely dinner, yummy organic wine (thanks K&J for bringing it!) and played a round of our favorite game after dinner (Spinner - describing this game this is probably a whole other post in itself).
Sunday, we slept in and then made breakfast together. The weather was absolutely beautiful, so we finally decided to head to the pumpkin patch after weeks of me begging to go. We went to North Run Farm in the afternoon. I was disappointed with this pumpkin patch. First, you have to pay $7 per person just to walk into the place. I think that's fine if you have kids who are going to be doing the maze or playing any of the games. But for us adults, just coming to buy a few pumpkins - I think that's a little crazy. Then the pumpkins - you had to walk for forever just to get to any decent ones, and there really weren't many decent ones. I will say that driving to this one is a beautiful fall drive, but otherwise I will not go back to this one.
And we only managed to find one good pumpkin to carve, so we headed to Weber's Farm on our way back. I liked this one much better - although I would've liked to actually pick my pumpkin from the patch, not from barrels like you do at Weber's. But, you can't get everything I suppose. I loved that this one has preserves and a bakery and fresh vegetables and apples. Ian picked up a pumpkin loaf that is almost gone - it is that good.
And to add to my (almost) fabulous weekend, I won for the 6th week in a row in fantasy football league.
Before I post pictures from the pumpkin patch, I'll let you know that I have not heard from the owner of the car from Friday's incident. I'll keep you posted if I do hear.
The goat on the right bit Ian's finger - serves him right for not reading the sign that said to not put fingers in the fence.
Friday, October 23, 2009
It isn't always easy to do what's right
Not a good afternoon people. Not good. I had a big workout and then went to leave a tiny parallel parking spot and felt a bump. I didn't see the car behind me move, so I thought I had bumped the curb. Just to be sure, I got out and checked the car behind me. Nope, I definitely bumped the car. And unfortunately, because of my car being high, it created a lot of damage to the short car behind me.
Instead of driving away like most assholes do (and are the reason I have a ton of dings on my car), I got out a piece of paper and wrote a note saying how sorry I was and giving them ways to get in touch with me.
I called Ian right away, and he told me that accidents happen and that's why we have insurance. But still, I am super upset. Something so stupid. And literally, I literally just tapped their car. And to think that that little tap caused such damage pisses me off.
I ended up waiting around for about 45 minutes, took pictures of the damage to their car and wrote down their car information so I can have Ian look at the pics and give an estimate as to what the damage will cost to fix. It was raining and I was worried the ink on my note would run and they wouldn't have a way to get in touch with me. But they never came out while I was there. So I left the note and came home and have been sulking since. Ugh. And of all times, when money is already extremely tight, to have this happen is nothing close to ideal.
I think I'll feel better once I talk to the owner. I am hoping they'll be nice on the phone. If they give me any attitude, Ian will have to take over because I already feel like crap about the situation, and did the right thing by leaving a note. And you know, doing the right thing, like leaving a note, isn't so easy. It's embarrassing especially as all these people passed me and were staring. Ugh, what a way to start the weekend.
Instead of driving away like most assholes do (and are the reason I have a ton of dings on my car), I got out a piece of paper and wrote a note saying how sorry I was and giving them ways to get in touch with me.
I called Ian right away, and he told me that accidents happen and that's why we have insurance. But still, I am super upset. Something so stupid. And literally, I literally just tapped their car. And to think that that little tap caused such damage pisses me off.
I ended up waiting around for about 45 minutes, took pictures of the damage to their car and wrote down their car information so I can have Ian look at the pics and give an estimate as to what the damage will cost to fix. It was raining and I was worried the ink on my note would run and they wouldn't have a way to get in touch with me. But they never came out while I was there. So I left the note and came home and have been sulking since. Ugh. And of all times, when money is already extremely tight, to have this happen is nothing close to ideal.
I think I'll feel better once I talk to the owner. I am hoping they'll be nice on the phone. If they give me any attitude, Ian will have to take over because I already feel like crap about the situation, and did the right thing by leaving a note. And you know, doing the right thing, like leaving a note, isn't so easy. It's embarrassing especially as all these people passed me and were staring. Ugh, what a way to start the weekend.
Random Friday Thoughts
I have hesitated to say anything for fear of jinxing myself - but I am down 3 lbs since stopping the asthma medicine. I'll take it! And honestly, it just inspires me to work out even harder. Like yesterday, I burned 700-800 calories in my hour long workout. And I hope I can push just as hard today when I go to the gym. I'll continue to keep you updated on the health progress!
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Yesterday, I had just had a killer work-out (ummm, my butt is SO sore today), and was feeling exhausted but relieved that my school week was over. I had won a starbucks gift card on Tuesday night, so stopped by and picked up a pumpkin spice latte. Driving home, I saw the mailman and realized I had missed the mail going out, so turned around to go give him a birthday card to go out. I went to pick up my coffee and realized as the entire cup spilled all over my car that the starbucks person hadn't put the top on properly. I spent the next 45 minutes cleaning up ORANGE latte out of my car. I'm not really sure what smell to expect when I get in my car. It could be really bad or really good. Cinnamon spice smelling, or sour milk smelling? Let's hope for the former.
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Also at Starbucks, I picked up their new instant coffee packets. I figured I'd give them a try, especially since I had a coupon for it. I tried it this morning - fan-freaking-tastic. Tastes like a fresh cup of coffee.
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Last night, Ian politely asked that I keep him company in the kitchen while he did the dishes after dinner. I got caught up with other stuff and left him hanging. He rarely gets irritated with me (because I'm just so freaking perfect you know - errrr, or he's just really laid back and puts up with a lot of my crap), but this was one of the rare times he did. I have a very rough time apologizing. I feel extremely ashamed and like absolute crap if I ever have to apologize. Nevertheless, I sucked it up, and apologized. But being that he rarely gets the opportunity to be mad at me, he ended up dragging it into this huge thing. Then I ended up mad. Just because he was still mad at me. I know - it's crazy and ridiculous. But I can't help it. He knew that it took a lot to apologize. But he finally admitted that he doesn't know how it happens, but when I should be apologizing more, he ends up being the one apologizing. At this moment, we both bursted out laughing.
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Random weekend plans:
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Yesterday, I had just had a killer work-out (ummm, my butt is SO sore today), and was feeling exhausted but relieved that my school week was over. I had won a starbucks gift card on Tuesday night, so stopped by and picked up a pumpkin spice latte. Driving home, I saw the mailman and realized I had missed the mail going out, so turned around to go give him a birthday card to go out. I went to pick up my coffee and realized as the entire cup spilled all over my car that the starbucks person hadn't put the top on properly. I spent the next 45 minutes cleaning up ORANGE latte out of my car. I'm not really sure what smell to expect when I get in my car. It could be really bad or really good. Cinnamon spice smelling, or sour milk smelling? Let's hope for the former.
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Also at Starbucks, I picked up their new instant coffee packets. I figured I'd give them a try, especially since I had a coupon for it. I tried it this morning - fan-freaking-tastic. Tastes like a fresh cup of coffee.
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Last night, Ian politely asked that I keep him company in the kitchen while he did the dishes after dinner. I got caught up with other stuff and left him hanging. He rarely gets irritated with me (because I'm just so freaking perfect you know - errrr, or he's just really laid back and puts up with a lot of my crap), but this was one of the rare times he did. I have a very rough time apologizing. I feel extremely ashamed and like absolute crap if I ever have to apologize. Nevertheless, I sucked it up, and apologized. But being that he rarely gets the opportunity to be mad at me, he ended up dragging it into this huge thing. Then I ended up mad. Just because he was still mad at me. I know - it's crazy and ridiculous. But I can't help it. He knew that it took a lot to apologize. But he finally admitted that he doesn't know how it happens, but when I should be apologizing more, he ends up being the one apologizing. At this moment, we both bursted out laughing.
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Random weekend plans:
- birthday celebration for a law school friend this evening in Fells Point
- Pumpkin Patch (yes, I did try to go the past 2 weekends - but the weather simply did not cooperate with us)
- Kim and Jeremy are coming over for dinner
- Ian and I are going browsing at some stores for me to show him some things I want for my birthday
Thursday, October 22, 2009
Tessa Thursday
I'm swamped trying to get reading done for my 1pm class (and still haven't showered and am sitting in my pj's - oy). This means the following picture will have to do until I get home later to write more than a couple sentences. This is Tessa, demonstrating her ability to do "right paw" (this is a newer trick of hers - she can differentiate between right paw and left paw). I'm a proud mommy.
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Another One Bites the Dust
Thanks to Annie for her suggestions in yesterday's post! I think I may have to have more guest bloggers post after their weddings or other life-changing events.
Onto today's post. I remember sitting around at my mom's house with my high school girlfriends talking about who we thought would get married first and last out of our group. This conversation probably took place 5-6 years ago. It was guessed that I would be last - I don't think this was in a mean way, but more in a, I'm prone to be overly cautious way.
It's interesting how things work out in reality. I was #2 to get married out of the 6 of us. And now, 3 of us are married. 2 of the others are now engaged.
It makes me wonder - when did we all grow up? Most of my law school friends are not married or engaged. Maybe because most of my law school friends waited a few years to go to law school after college. Or maybe just a coincidence. I'm not sure.
And I can hardly believe that the next big stage for most of us is having babies. Amazing how things change in 5-6 years. 6 years ago, I was in a relationship that should've been over the first time we broke up (there were about 3 breakups I think in the 5 years I was with the guy). At this exact time 6 years ago, I was studying abroad in Spain (take me back pleasssee), drinking way too much, traveling all over the place and making some amazing friends (two of my bridesmaids!). It almost seems like a lifetime ago. But in other respects, I feel like I was just there.
With 5 weddings on our schedule next year already, I'm super excited to watch as 5 dear friends take the next big step in their lives. And if things have changed this much in the past 6 years, I can hardly imagine where we'll all be 6 years from now. But I'm excited to see.
Onto today's post. I remember sitting around at my mom's house with my high school girlfriends talking about who we thought would get married first and last out of our group. This conversation probably took place 5-6 years ago. It was guessed that I would be last - I don't think this was in a mean way, but more in a, I'm prone to be overly cautious way.
It's interesting how things work out in reality. I was #2 to get married out of the 6 of us. And now, 3 of us are married. 2 of the others are now engaged.
It makes me wonder - when did we all grow up? Most of my law school friends are not married or engaged. Maybe because most of my law school friends waited a few years to go to law school after college. Or maybe just a coincidence. I'm not sure.
And I can hardly believe that the next big stage for most of us is having babies. Amazing how things change in 5-6 years. 6 years ago, I was in a relationship that should've been over the first time we broke up (there were about 3 breakups I think in the 5 years I was with the guy). At this exact time 6 years ago, I was studying abroad in Spain (take me back pleasssee), drinking way too much, traveling all over the place and making some amazing friends (two of my bridesmaids!). It almost seems like a lifetime ago. But in other respects, I feel like I was just there.
With 5 weddings on our schedule next year already, I'm super excited to watch as 5 dear friends take the next big step in their lives. And if things have changed this much in the past 6 years, I can hardly imagine where we'll all be 6 years from now. But I'm excited to see.
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Wedding Tips 101
Hello readers. As a friend of Katie's, I was asked to write as a guest blogger and jumped at the chance to write about some things I learned from my recent wedding last month. So for any readers who are engaged and planning a wedding, or planning one sometime in the future... just keep reading :) For all those who could care less about weddings, maybe you'll find some of my tips interesting one day! First (random side note) I can't believe it's already been a month since my big day. Here it is almost the end of October, freezing outside, and the holidays are just around the corner. How did that happen?!? What happened to summer....Did we even have a summer? Anyway, I'll get back on track to the wedding. I was married in September on the Eastern Shore in Maryland. It was the happiest and most wonderful day of my life. Daily I find myself reliving the day: reminiscing memories, looking at every one's wedding photos on Facebook, and wishing it was possible to hit a replay button. Over the course of the past few weeks, I've thought a lot about what I would or wouldn't do differently and how some (little) things that I learned from my wedding might help others plan for their special day.
So, here are a few Wedding Tips 101 that I hope you will find helpful.
1). The week before the wedding, as I'm sure you've heard, is just about the craziest time of your life. You are on an emotional high and so excited for the biggest day of your life that is just days away. My advice is to not leave anything at work to be completed during that last week. Your head isn't on straight, and honestly, you think nothing at work really matters because you are about to get married and all of your coworkers should just expect for you to not get anything done. WRONG! This is where I messed up. I had a list of Wedding To-Do's at home and a never ending list of To-Do's at work. My colleagues actually made me take off an extra day then I had originally planned, as they thought I might have an emotional meltdown at work. I was stressed with the wedding, and stressed at work. With me being the procrastinator that I am, I kept a lot of important stuff at work for the last minute. Get my point? Get your stuff at work completed before the last week of work so you can put all of your energy into the wedding during that final week without getting bogged down.
2). Soak in the moment. Sure, everyone tells you this. But the wedding day goes by SO fast that you honestly forget to take that step back and take everything in. I made sure to do this. It was at the cocktail hour. The ceremony had ended and it was the first time to see all my family and friends. I looked around - it was the most beautiful perfect sunny day. I had this moment where I thought... WOW... is this really all for me? Are all these people really here for me? Believe it or not, whenever I think back to the wedding, I always refer back to that particular moment when I stepped back and took everything in. It was at that exact moment that I felt so lucky and so thankful that so many people had traveled from all over to celebrate this occassion with me and my husband.
3). Avoid 'the blues' after the wedding. This goes hand and hand with #2. I find myself thinking back to that moment at the cocktail hour and reminiscing over the wedding and I start to feel a little down because I know all of those friends and family will never be together again and this ONE day that I planned for so long is suddenly over. It's easy to feel like this. You are on this constant high for months and months and suddenly it comes to an end. Anytime I start to feel this way, I attempt to turn these feelings into positive feelings. I look at all those photos again, I relive those special moments, and I force myself to feel happy and fortunate that I was lucky to have all those people at the wedding. Try to turn your sadness about the wedding being over into happiness for all that you have.
4). When it comes to packing for your honeymoon - pack ALL medications. I went to Europe for my honeymoon and sure enough, on my flight there, I got sick. The head closed up, the nosed closed up, I got a sore throat, and it was official - I had the worst head cold and was sick for the first 3 days of the honeymoon (and had NO meds!) You see, I packed all the basics - Advil, Tums, Immodium, Pepto, etc. I didnt think about the not-so-obvious stuff.... Sudafed, Nyquil, Vitamin C, etc. We got to the airport in Europe and all they had were "herbal supplements" for 14 euro... which is about twenty-some-dollars. Riiiiiiiight. I suffered for a few days until the cold eventually ran its course. And it sucked. So my advice is to pack every kind of med that you could ever possibly need. Avoid any kind of sickness that might come your way, as your immune system is typically down and your body is on overdrive.
So ladies, there you have it. These are just a few of my wedding tips and little lessons that I learned from my wedding day. Enjoy.every.moment. Your wedding day is one of the most wonderful days of your life, yet at the same time, it's a whirlwind, so remember....cherish everything.
So, here are a few Wedding Tips 101 that I hope you will find helpful.
1). The week before the wedding, as I'm sure you've heard, is just about the craziest time of your life. You are on an emotional high and so excited for the biggest day of your life that is just days away. My advice is to not leave anything at work to be completed during that last week. Your head isn't on straight, and honestly, you think nothing at work really matters because you are about to get married and all of your coworkers should just expect for you to not get anything done. WRONG! This is where I messed up. I had a list of Wedding To-Do's at home and a never ending list of To-Do's at work. My colleagues actually made me take off an extra day then I had originally planned, as they thought I might have an emotional meltdown at work. I was stressed with the wedding, and stressed at work. With me being the procrastinator that I am, I kept a lot of important stuff at work for the last minute. Get my point? Get your stuff at work completed before the last week of work so you can put all of your energy into the wedding during that final week without getting bogged down.
2). Soak in the moment. Sure, everyone tells you this. But the wedding day goes by SO fast that you honestly forget to take that step back and take everything in. I made sure to do this. It was at the cocktail hour. The ceremony had ended and it was the first time to see all my family and friends. I looked around - it was the most beautiful perfect sunny day. I had this moment where I thought... WOW... is this really all for me? Are all these people really here for me? Believe it or not, whenever I think back to the wedding, I always refer back to that particular moment when I stepped back and took everything in. It was at that exact moment that I felt so lucky and so thankful that so many people had traveled from all over to celebrate this occassion with me and my husband.
3). Avoid 'the blues' after the wedding. This goes hand and hand with #2. I find myself thinking back to that moment at the cocktail hour and reminiscing over the wedding and I start to feel a little down because I know all of those friends and family will never be together again and this ONE day that I planned for so long is suddenly over. It's easy to feel like this. You are on this constant high for months and months and suddenly it comes to an end. Anytime I start to feel this way, I attempt to turn these feelings into positive feelings. I look at all those photos again, I relive those special moments, and I force myself to feel happy and fortunate that I was lucky to have all those people at the wedding. Try to turn your sadness about the wedding being over into happiness for all that you have.
4). When it comes to packing for your honeymoon - pack ALL medications. I went to Europe for my honeymoon and sure enough, on my flight there, I got sick. The head closed up, the nosed closed up, I got a sore throat, and it was official - I had the worst head cold and was sick for the first 3 days of the honeymoon (and had NO meds!) You see, I packed all the basics - Advil, Tums, Immodium, Pepto, etc. I didnt think about the not-so-obvious stuff.... Sudafed, Nyquil, Vitamin C, etc. We got to the airport in Europe and all they had were "herbal supplements" for 14 euro... which is about twenty-some-dollars. Riiiiiiiight. I suffered for a few days until the cold eventually ran its course. And it sucked. So my advice is to pack every kind of med that you could ever possibly need. Avoid any kind of sickness that might come your way, as your immune system is typically down and your body is on overdrive.
So ladies, there you have it. These are just a few of my wedding tips and little lessons that I learned from my wedding day. Enjoy.every.moment. Your wedding day is one of the most wonderful days of your life, yet at the same time, it's a whirlwind, so remember....cherish everything.
Monday, October 19, 2009
300th Post
Wow! Thanks to all of you readers for sticking around and reading my blog. Can't believe this is my 300th post - I only wish it was going to be a super duper exciting one. Going back to why I started this blog, it was to talk about planning my wedding. Coming up in the next couple days, I will have a guest blogger who recently got married so she can share her wedding planning experience and advice. This is happening because I still love talking/hearing about weddings, and I think its really useful for future brides out there. Going back to the roots of this blog, if you will. I will see how this whole guest blogging goes and may try to do this more often in the future.
Our weekend was pretty boring. It rained and was cold and we spent the weekend huddled on the couch under a blanket. We watched The Godfather (for the first time) and loved it. We also watched The Proposal, which we didn't love quite as much. It was cute, but nothing spectacular.
I slept a ton. This coming off of that asthma medicine business is making me SLEEPY! 10 hours of sleep still isn't enough. I'm hoping this is just a temporary symptom of coming off the medicine.
I also cooked a lot. I love coming across new food blogs and trying out new recipes. A law school friend forwarded me the blog, Always Order Dessert. I tried out three recipes from her blog this weekend to see her style: Potato Parmentier (amazing), Buttermilk Pancakes (amazing), and Pecan Milk (this did not come out how I wanted it - it came out kind of watery and not blended well - not sure what to do with all of it now). I will definitely be using more of her recipes. And the best part is that we have leftovers for the week!
Do you have any favorite food blogs you'd like to share?
Our weekend was pretty boring. It rained and was cold and we spent the weekend huddled on the couch under a blanket. We watched The Godfather (for the first time) and loved it. We also watched The Proposal, which we didn't love quite as much. It was cute, but nothing spectacular.
I slept a ton. This coming off of that asthma medicine business is making me SLEEPY! 10 hours of sleep still isn't enough. I'm hoping this is just a temporary symptom of coming off the medicine.
I also cooked a lot. I love coming across new food blogs and trying out new recipes. A law school friend forwarded me the blog, Always Order Dessert. I tried out three recipes from her blog this weekend to see her style: Potato Parmentier (amazing), Buttermilk Pancakes (amazing), and Pecan Milk (this did not come out how I wanted it - it came out kind of watery and not blended well - not sure what to do with all of it now). I will definitely be using more of her recipes. And the best part is that we have leftovers for the week!
Do you have any favorite food blogs you'd like to share?
Friday, October 16, 2009
Where did this cold come from?
Brrrrr - it's cold outside! Why is it we just kind of skipped over the fall weather quickly? And why is it raining April showers in October? Hmmm, come back mild weather. I'd rather not go from turning off the AC a couple weeks ago to needing to turn on the heat!
Anywayssss. We ventured out for dinner last night at Woodberry Kitchen, which is also where we went for Ian's birthday a month ago. But this time we met up with my oldest friend (as in we've been friends since we were 1 or 2, not that she's really old in age) Trish, and her hubby. Ian had never really gotten a chance to get to know Trish, so I was super excited that we finally got together now that we're both in Baltimore. We had a delicious dinner over wine and shared some old, funny stories. I wish I had taken a picture, but we just got too caught up in catching up.
This weekend, after Ian runs his 19 miles, we're planning on getting some household things taken care of. I also am hoping for better weather so we can do one of my favorite fall activities: going to the pumpkin patch and orchard! I found several within 20 minutes of us, so we'll probably check out at least one.
Should the weather not cooperate, I think we're planning on having a relaxing weekend snuggling with Tessa and watching movies. I'll take either option - both sound like a weekend full of just what I need - relaxing with hubby!
Anywayssss. We ventured out for dinner last night at Woodberry Kitchen, which is also where we went for Ian's birthday a month ago. But this time we met up with my oldest friend (as in we've been friends since we were 1 or 2, not that she's really old in age) Trish, and her hubby. Ian had never really gotten a chance to get to know Trish, so I was super excited that we finally got together now that we're both in Baltimore. We had a delicious dinner over wine and shared some old, funny stories. I wish I had taken a picture, but we just got too caught up in catching up.
This weekend, after Ian runs his 19 miles, we're planning on getting some household things taken care of. I also am hoping for better weather so we can do one of my favorite fall activities: going to the pumpkin patch and orchard! I found several within 20 minutes of us, so we'll probably check out at least one.
Should the weather not cooperate, I think we're planning on having a relaxing weekend snuggling with Tessa and watching movies. I'll take either option - both sound like a weekend full of just what I need - relaxing with hubby!
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Priorities
I think I've made it very clear that I cannot wait to have babies. Ian is more than ready as well. But this little thing called law school is getting in the way. That, and the lack of money (because of school). We've accepted learned to live with the fact that we need to wait to have kids until I'm finished with school. But we still can't help but be anxious and excited at the prospect.
I am not on birth control anymore. This leads an anxious person to be anxious every. single. month. We certainly are not trying to get pregnant right now, but we've both realized that if I got pregnant, we'd be thrilled.
But each month when I get reassurance that I am not pregnant, I can't help but feel disappointed. Ian admittedly feels the same way. So what does this all mean? Do we really want to wait? Is it the right thing to wait another two freaking years to start having a family? I really do not know. We know we want at least 2, preferably 3-4 children. And if we wait another 2 years, I'll be 29 when we start having babies - that does not give us a lot of time to pop out 3-4 kids if I want to be finished being pregnant by the time I'm 35. And that's if we're so lucky to get pregnant right away.
Ugh - this ticking time bomb is crazy. Men in my law school who are married have started families, or are getting ready to start families while in school. They say it's the best time. But I'm not sure being the woman carrying the baby, while attending classes and studying for exams, and let's not forget about getting a job at a law firm while pregnant - all of that is not so easy.
And let's not forget that we haven't bought a house yet. Do we start moving forward with this now? That way we'll be in a house in time to start trying in a couple years. And also, the prices are probably the best possible right about now.
We have a lot of decisions to make - and the thought of all of them makes me excited, exhausted, nervous and emotional all at once. I am so glad I have Ian as my husband to make these decisions with. We'll be talking and thinking a lot about our priorities in the near future. Who knows what our future holds!
I am not on birth control anymore. This leads an anxious person to be anxious every. single. month. We certainly are not trying to get pregnant right now, but we've both realized that if I got pregnant, we'd be thrilled.
But each month when I get reassurance that I am not pregnant, I can't help but feel disappointed. Ian admittedly feels the same way. So what does this all mean? Do we really want to wait? Is it the right thing to wait another two freaking years to start having a family? I really do not know. We know we want at least 2, preferably 3-4 children. And if we wait another 2 years, I'll be 29 when we start having babies - that does not give us a lot of time to pop out 3-4 kids if I want to be finished being pregnant by the time I'm 35. And that's if we're so lucky to get pregnant right away.
Ugh - this ticking time bomb is crazy. Men in my law school who are married have started families, or are getting ready to start families while in school. They say it's the best time. But I'm not sure being the woman carrying the baby, while attending classes and studying for exams, and let's not forget about getting a job at a law firm while pregnant - all of that is not so easy.
And let's not forget that we haven't bought a house yet. Do we start moving forward with this now? That way we'll be in a house in time to start trying in a couple years. And also, the prices are probably the best possible right about now.
We have a lot of decisions to make - and the thought of all of them makes me excited, exhausted, nervous and emotional all at once. I am so glad I have Ian as my husband to make these decisions with. We'll be talking and thinking a lot about our priorities in the near future. Who knows what our future holds!
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Chocolate-Mint Bars
Wow. I get the Cooking Light magazine every month and often try some of their recipes. I was looking through one of them and found a recipe for Chocolate Mint Bars and had to try it. There's something about chocolate and mint together that I find so refreshing. This recipe did not disappoint me - I honestly could eat the whole tray. But having just a square gets rid of the craving and seems like just the right amount. Go here for the recipe. These also would be great for parties because you can make them a day or two in advance and refrigerate them. I think they also would be good frozen!
* I would like to add that mine did not come out very pretty so there's no picture. I guess the cake wasn't cool enough because the chocolate kind of got swirled around into the mint layer. So I ended up purposely swirling the top two layers to make a marble look. Again not pretty, but pretty freaking delicious.
* I would like to add that mine did not come out very pretty so there's no picture. I guess the cake wasn't cool enough because the chocolate kind of got swirled around into the mint layer. So I ended up purposely swirling the top two layers to make a marble look. Again not pretty, but pretty freaking delicious.
I heart my doctor
If you've missed it or are new, I've written about some health issues and you can catch up here, here, and here.
Through all of the recent tests and various doctors I've had to see, my regular family doctor has been my biggest supporter. He has believed me when I've told him how much I've been working out, and about what I eat, as opposed to some of the other doctors who have just told me to work harder in controlling my weight (a-holes). He has continued to listen to my concerns. Well Monday I woke up with a horrible sore throat. I went to him and determined I have strep throat. But we also took the chance to review my weight issues and for him to look over the results from my trip to the endocrinologist. I eventually ended up crying and spilling the beans as to how negatively the weight is affecting my mood and self-esteem. He patiently listened and talked with me about all of it. He talked through all the tests I've gone through over the past year.
He finally started asking me some other questions. Am I hypoglycemic? Yes. What happens when I have one of those episodes? I become a cranky bitch like the switch of a light. Where have I gained most of the weight? Stomach. Have I always had these issues? No. He then told me that one of the asthma medications I have been on for over 10 years has an extremely low dose of cortisol in it (that's a steroid). The asthma medicine in question is called Advair, and is an inhaled medicine that helps prevent asthma attacks. Normally, it does not affect anyone like normal oral steroids do. However, he is suspecting that maybe my body is negatively reacting to it because the cortisol may have built up over the years. It can also trigger hypoglycemia, and cortisol can make you gain weight in the stomach.
So for now, I'm off of advair and he is monitoring my asthma closely. I go back to see him in 1 month to see if my weight has changed at all. In the meantime, I am to continue my healthy eating habits, journaling everything I eat, and working out using the routine my trainer set up for me.
As I've said before, I'm truly willing to try anything to determine what is causing this horrible self-esteem issue. 26 lbs and counting. I'll keep you updated! I would be thrilled if my asthma could be controlled in another way and the weight would vanish away. And to think that it could be fixed by something so simple as stopping a medicine sounds amazing. I am trying not to get my hopes up in case this is not the answer and it leads to more disappointment. But I am somewhat hopeful - I have to be.
Through all of the recent tests and various doctors I've had to see, my regular family doctor has been my biggest supporter. He has believed me when I've told him how much I've been working out, and about what I eat, as opposed to some of the other doctors who have just told me to work harder in controlling my weight (a-holes). He has continued to listen to my concerns. Well Monday I woke up with a horrible sore throat. I went to him and determined I have strep throat. But we also took the chance to review my weight issues and for him to look over the results from my trip to the endocrinologist. I eventually ended up crying and spilling the beans as to how negatively the weight is affecting my mood and self-esteem. He patiently listened and talked with me about all of it. He talked through all the tests I've gone through over the past year.
He finally started asking me some other questions. Am I hypoglycemic? Yes. What happens when I have one of those episodes? I become a cranky bitch like the switch of a light. Where have I gained most of the weight? Stomach. Have I always had these issues? No. He then told me that one of the asthma medications I have been on for over 10 years has an extremely low dose of cortisol in it (that's a steroid). The asthma medicine in question is called Advair, and is an inhaled medicine that helps prevent asthma attacks. Normally, it does not affect anyone like normal oral steroids do. However, he is suspecting that maybe my body is negatively reacting to it because the cortisol may have built up over the years. It can also trigger hypoglycemia, and cortisol can make you gain weight in the stomach.
So for now, I'm off of advair and he is monitoring my asthma closely. I go back to see him in 1 month to see if my weight has changed at all. In the meantime, I am to continue my healthy eating habits, journaling everything I eat, and working out using the routine my trainer set up for me.
As I've said before, I'm truly willing to try anything to determine what is causing this horrible self-esteem issue. 26 lbs and counting. I'll keep you updated! I would be thrilled if my asthma could be controlled in another way and the weight would vanish away. And to think that it could be fixed by something so simple as stopping a medicine sounds amazing. I am trying not to get my hopes up in case this is not the answer and it leads to more disappointment. But I am somewhat hopeful - I have to be.
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Bagby's Pizza
*Today leads me to thinking about this exact day a few years ago. I wrote about it last year, and I'll remember that cute face much of today.
As we drove home from our day's festivities on Saturday night, we passed by a new pizza place. We decided to check it out so we quickly parked and headed over there. It was their first weekend open, and I was really impressed. It's super cute inside, and seems like a great place to split a bottle of wine in comfortable clothes, and eat a quick bite. I created my own pizza with ricotta, onions and olives, and Ian ordered the meat pizza. All of it cost us about $25. The crusts are thin and crispy and the toppings are fresh and tasty. We definitely will be heading back there.
As we drove home from our day's festivities on Saturday night, we passed by a new pizza place. We decided to check it out so we quickly parked and headed over there. It was their first weekend open, and I was really impressed. It's super cute inside, and seems like a great place to split a bottle of wine in comfortable clothes, and eat a quick bite. I created my own pizza with ricotta, onions and olives, and Ian ordered the meat pizza. All of it cost us about $25. The crusts are thin and crispy and the toppings are fresh and tasty. We definitely will be heading back there.
Monday, October 12, 2009
Motivation
This is a long ass post.
I love fall weekends. The past couple weeks, I've been enjoying having the AC off, opening the windows, and letting the breeze come through our house. I pulled out our fall smelling candles and lit them on Sunday - with scents like cranberry cinnamon and pumpkin spice.
This fall weekend was also full of inspiring moments and laughs with family. Friday night, I made a big carb dinner for Ian and we went to sleep early to prepare for Ian's half marathon on Saturday morning. He has run 13 miles multiple times during his training, since his ultimate goal is to run the Philly marathon on November 22nd (God willing - so long as he stays healthy). But this time was different for him - it was his first official race. He was extremely nervous in the morning before we left and once we got there. The whole city of Baltimore essentially shuts down for this event, so we parked in Little Italy, knowing we'd be walking quite a bit.
Rain was called for, so I packed a backpack with a rain coat and the day's essentials: a book to read while I camped out waiting for him at the finish line, snacks and water, advil in case he got a headache, and map of the course. We got there early and immediately felt the energy of the event. With over 20,000 runners expected and even more spectators, the band playing - Ian became excited and I was inspired.
I took some pictures, then after Ian and Jeremy lined up, I headed off to the finish line area and set up shop for the next couple hours. It started raining, but I was content with my rain coat as I watched the frontrunners of the full marathon come in to finish the race. Everyone - almost all of them strangers to the runners - cheered wildly for the strength and motivation each of these people clearly possess. While I waited, I also witnessed a fight between a street vendor and police. He was determined to make money next to the finish line, but did not have a license to do so at the race. He pushed and shoved and everyone around him stared. It was some action that made the wait a little less boring.
Ian's parents finally made it downtown and stood with me. Finally, it was about time for us to start looking for Ian. Shortly after Jeremy ran by, I saw Ian in a big group of people coming and I was overwhelmed with excitement for him. I took a picture and then cheered for him loudly. I was worried he wouldn't see us since there are so many people, but luckily he heard us. He looked comfortable still after 13 miles.
He described the experience as inspirational and has motivated him even more for the Philly marathon. He also said it was quite emotional coming towards the finish line and seeing us cheer for him.
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Afterwards, we went to have a big lunch with Ian's parents and my mom at The Corner Stable. A-mazing ribs. Seriously. We laughed hysterically over poop talk (seriously, we cannot make it through a visit with Ian's family without talking about poop or farts).
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I love fall weekends. The past couple weeks, I've been enjoying having the AC off, opening the windows, and letting the breeze come through our house. I pulled out our fall smelling candles and lit them on Sunday - with scents like cranberry cinnamon and pumpkin spice.
This fall weekend was also full of inspiring moments and laughs with family. Friday night, I made a big carb dinner for Ian and we went to sleep early to prepare for Ian's half marathon on Saturday morning. He has run 13 miles multiple times during his training, since his ultimate goal is to run the Philly marathon on November 22nd (God willing - so long as he stays healthy). But this time was different for him - it was his first official race. He was extremely nervous in the morning before we left and once we got there. The whole city of Baltimore essentially shuts down for this event, so we parked in Little Italy, knowing we'd be walking quite a bit.
Rain was called for, so I packed a backpack with a rain coat and the day's essentials: a book to read while I camped out waiting for him at the finish line, snacks and water, advil in case he got a headache, and map of the course. We got there early and immediately felt the energy of the event. With over 20,000 runners expected and even more spectators, the band playing - Ian became excited and I was inspired.
I took some pictures, then after Ian and Jeremy lined up, I headed off to the finish line area and set up shop for the next couple hours. It started raining, but I was content with my rain coat as I watched the frontrunners of the full marathon come in to finish the race. Everyone - almost all of them strangers to the runners - cheered wildly for the strength and motivation each of these people clearly possess. While I waited, I also witnessed a fight between a street vendor and police. He was determined to make money next to the finish line, but did not have a license to do so at the race. He pushed and shoved and everyone around him stared. It was some action that made the wait a little less boring.
Ian's parents finally made it downtown and stood with me. Finally, it was about time for us to start looking for Ian. Shortly after Jeremy ran by, I saw Ian in a big group of people coming and I was overwhelmed with excitement for him. I took a picture and then cheered for him loudly. I was worried he wouldn't see us since there are so many people, but luckily he heard us. He looked comfortable still after 13 miles.
He described the experience as inspirational and has motivated him even more for the Philly marathon. He also said it was quite emotional coming towards the finish line and seeing us cheer for him.
Afterwards, we went to have a big lunch with Ian's parents and my mom at The Corner Stable. A-mazing ribs. Seriously. We laughed hysterically over poop talk (seriously, we cannot make it through a visit with Ian's family without talking about poop or farts).
After lunch, we went and got a new radio system put into my car since my old one stopped working the past couple weeks. We also stopped by Ian's parents and picked up his birthday present from them, and discussed our upcoming trip to England to figure out the details. Of course the conversation once again turned to poop/fart talk.
Sunday, we spent the day watching football, relaxing and cleaning up the house. It was a weekend filled with
fall fun and laughs about poop. It was a much needed weekend.
Friday, October 9, 2009
Right on
I wrote about my bra shopping issues, and I think this blogger couldn't explain it any better. Check out her blog for some laughs!
Happy it's Friday
It's Friday and I'm tired - this means it's a bullet-point day.
- I have still kind of been down since my post a few days ago about the weight issues. But instead of sitting and dwelling on it, I've been trying to use that frustration to motivate me to make my workouts more worthwhile. After being sick a couple weeks ago, I hadn't been as good about getting in my 5 workouts. So this week I made a point to get to the gym 4 days. At each workout, I did at least 30 minutes of cardio on a machine that makes me burn about 400-500 calories in those 30 minutes. Then I do core/weight/circuit training for 30 minutes. I'm not sure how many calories this amounts to in total - but I imagine it's between 500-600 calories. I also spoke with the trainer I had previously been working with. He wanted to see how my workouts were and if I'd noticed any differences in my body. After explaining that I hadn't, and I haven't lost a single pound, he switched up my routine to get more weight/circuit training in. So my new workout schedule will be 1 less day per week, but more intensity each time. Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, Fridays I have to do cardio/weights/circuit. We'll see if this makes a difference!
- I had a girl's night last night, and Ian was coming home late, so Tessa had to come with me to dinner and then went with me to the bar afterwards (otherwise she would have been left for about 12 hours at home). We sat outside at the bar and she was the perfect pup. She eventually fell asleep on the sidewalk at the bar and I realized it was probably time to go home.
- Tomorrow, Ian is running Baltimore's Half Marathon. I'll be wandering around the Inner Harbor area while he runs, so let me know if you'll be there as well and we can meet up!
- We are planning on eating at The Corner Stable sometime after the race to try out their famous ribs and crabcakes.
- I am officially obsessed with The Biggest Loser for the first time. However, it makes me sob like a little baby. I don't know what it is - but their stories make me cry. And I want Jillian Michael's to come and kick my ass into shape. It also has made me really want the BodyBugg. But I looked them up and they are expensive! Holy crap! Not sure I really want to ask for that for my upcoming birthday.
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
Something to look forward to
Ian and I booked our next trip. We have a wedding in England on December 19th and decided to make a trip of it. I don't really think there will be as much exploring and sightseeing as I would like because Ian has a lot of family we have to catch up with. Ian's parents are also going, and Ian's brother will be meeting us there (he lives in France). We'll be visiting both of his nan's and seeing all of his cousins, along with many family friends. I'm super excited but also slightly nervous to meet all of these people all at once, being the only American among them.
We were originally going to come home before Christmas so we could be home for the holiday and see my family. But we decided we probably won't want to do Christmas in England after we have kids, so we should take advantage of it while we can. We also do not go to England, and the opportunity for our flights to be taken care of by Ian's parents, so we decided to come home after Christmas.
Ian's family has already started with the "oh we can do this all together, and let's go here all together." Ian's brother even suggested that he will be stealing him from me for the majority of the trip. I had to QUICKLY put a squash on some of those ideas. Don't get me wrong - we are going there to visit his family and I so look forward to finally spending more than a few hours with them. But we will be there 9 days. 9 days of family time. We will be staying at various family member's houses (possibly in twin beds for part of it), with all of his other family members there as well. I love his family, but 9 full days together - but being with my family for that many days without any alone time with Ian would drive me crazy. So I quicklysuggested demanded that we have 1-2 days to go explore without his family with us. And I don't mean we'll go and spend 2 full days at a hotel. I mean we'll still spend dinners with his family, but take the day time to go explore London, visit where Ian grew up, and see other places. For my sanity, I need some time away to just be with my hubby. I think we'll be going on lots of walks to have some quiet time from the madness (read: drinking fest) that I'm sure will occur. After all, this is my vacation and Christmas too!
I have only been to London twice - the first time was for a long weekend while I was studying abroad in Spain, and the second was on our way home from our honeymoon in Greece and we stayed a total of 12 hours. But I am not sure if Ian has really ever done the touristy thing there, so it'll be fun for us to do that together.
Once we figure out the details in terms of whose house we'll be staying at, Ian and I will schedule in the two days we're spending just the two of us. But I also have to start planning Christmas gifts. I'll have to take them with us I think, which will make packinginteresting a disaster. And it also means that we will likely have to get some little presents for extended family - people we don't really know that well and normally don't get presents for. This will be interesting. What the hell have I gotten myself into?
We were originally going to come home before Christmas so we could be home for the holiday and see my family. But we decided we probably won't want to do Christmas in England after we have kids, so we should take advantage of it while we can. We also do not go to England, and the opportunity for our flights to be taken care of by Ian's parents, so we decided to come home after Christmas.
Ian's family has already started with the "oh we can do this all together, and let's go here all together." Ian's brother even suggested that he will be stealing him from me for the majority of the trip. I had to QUICKLY put a squash on some of those ideas. Don't get me wrong - we are going there to visit his family and I so look forward to finally spending more than a few hours with them. But we will be there 9 days. 9 days of family time. We will be staying at various family member's houses (possibly in twin beds for part of it), with all of his other family members there as well. I love his family, but 9 full days together - but being with my family for that many days without any alone time with Ian would drive me crazy. So I quickly
I have only been to London twice - the first time was for a long weekend while I was studying abroad in Spain, and the second was on our way home from our honeymoon in Greece and we stayed a total of 12 hours. But I am not sure if Ian has really ever done the touristy thing there, so it'll be fun for us to do that together.
Once we figure out the details in terms of whose house we'll be staying at, Ian and I will schedule in the two days we're spending just the two of us. But I also have to start planning Christmas gifts. I'll have to take them with us I think, which will make packing
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
Beyond Frustrated
*This is a post about my recent health issues and contains a lot of bitching on my part - if you don't feel like hearing about it, come back tomorrow!
Awhile back I explained my frustration with my weight gain. I went to an endocrinologist and he decided to run a few tests even though he suspected he would not find anything. I was not thrilled with my experience with this particular endocrinologist but gave him a chance since he was running some tests. But today, when he called and gave me the results, I realized that I need to seek a second opinion.
Everything came back normal - which is good and bad. The good is that nothing is seriously wrong. The bad is that I still have no answers. I continue to work out. I continue to eat well. And I continue to gain weight. And the other horrible thing that has occurred simultaneously with the weight gain is acne. I never even had acne when I was a teenager so I'm not sure why I have it so badly now. And the weight gain seems to mostly have affected my stomach and upper body. This is very weird as well since I always had been very pear shaped and always had a little waist.
When the doctor called to give me the results, it went a little like this:
Yes hi Katie. I have your lab results and everything looks normal. This is good news because it means nothing is wrong. I know you're already active, so just keep working at it. Have a good day, bye.
I quickly responded that I have a question, but he had already hung up. My question was that he mentioned the lab results looked well, but he told me nothing about the ultrasound they took of my thyroid (because he felt a nodule). And to leave me with nothing but a recommendation to keep doing what I'm doing? That left me hysterically crying. What I'm doing? Is gaining more weight.
I am beyond frustrated. I feel like I am screaming for help from doctors and nobody can give me any answers. I am so sick of being treated like I sit on my ass and eat junk food all day, like they don't believe I really am taking care of myself. Something is wrong, and I wish someone would figure out what it is.
I feel like shit about myself everyday. And I'm tired of that. I'm tired of nothing fitting. I'm tired of all of it.
Awhile back I explained my frustration with my weight gain. I went to an endocrinologist and he decided to run a few tests even though he suspected he would not find anything. I was not thrilled with my experience with this particular endocrinologist but gave him a chance since he was running some tests. But today, when he called and gave me the results, I realized that I need to seek a second opinion.
Everything came back normal - which is good and bad. The good is that nothing is seriously wrong. The bad is that I still have no answers. I continue to work out. I continue to eat well. And I continue to gain weight. And the other horrible thing that has occurred simultaneously with the weight gain is acne. I never even had acne when I was a teenager so I'm not sure why I have it so badly now. And the weight gain seems to mostly have affected my stomach and upper body. This is very weird as well since I always had been very pear shaped and always had a little waist.
When the doctor called to give me the results, it went a little like this:
Yes hi Katie. I have your lab results and everything looks normal. This is good news because it means nothing is wrong. I know you're already active, so just keep working at it. Have a good day, bye.
I quickly responded that I have a question, but he had already hung up. My question was that he mentioned the lab results looked well, but he told me nothing about the ultrasound they took of my thyroid (because he felt a nodule). And to leave me with nothing but a recommendation to keep doing what I'm doing? That left me hysterically crying. What I'm doing? Is gaining more weight.
I am beyond frustrated. I feel like I am screaming for help from doctors and nobody can give me any answers. I am so sick of being treated like I sit on my ass and eat junk food all day, like they don't believe I really am taking care of myself. Something is wrong, and I wish someone would figure out what it is.
I feel like shit about myself everyday. And I'm tired of that. I'm tired of nothing fitting. I'm tired of all of it.
Monday, October 5, 2009
Trip to New England
We are back from our trip to New England to visit my great aunt! After her recent health scare and amazing recovery, I wanted to be sure we'd visit with her since it's been so long, and since she's never met Ian.
Thursday afternoon, I got a call from my Mom informing us that my aunt was back in the hospital with extremely high blood pressure. We figured we would go and visit her whether she was in the hospital or at home again.
Friday
We left bright and early on Friday and drove to one of my cousin's houses to drop off our things. I had never met their youngest child so we met him and then off we went to the little beach down their street with their youngest (he's 4 and so freaking cute) racing us there on his tricycle.
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Before I could stop him, the little guy ran ahead of us towards the beach and tore off his shoes and socks and dug them into the sand, throwing his body all around to get sand anywhere and everywhere. Great. I've just met the kid and I can only imagine how thrilled his mother will be when I bring him back to the house covered in sand.
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We fell in love with the area they live in - beautiful! Very old time feel to it in terms of the friendliness of the people there and the style of homes. Ian loved the view.
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We got back to the house and were relieved that my cousin just laughed when she saw how dirty he had gotten in the sand. We had a quick bite to eat for lunch and then checked in to see if my aunt had been released from the hospital yet. She had, so then my mom's cousin came by and picked up me and Ian and headed to my aunt's assisted living community.
We walked in and were immediately greeted by a huge smile on Cyrilla's face. A little bit about her: she's incredibly blunt, and is said to have my mom's family's sense of humor (dry - and you have to get used to being poked fun at if you ever want to be around the cousins and Cyrilla). She also is not all warm and fuzzy - she's a complete smart-ass, very smart, and doesn't like hugs. She's mellowed out a bit through the years and doesn't mind hugs from me and the other cousins anymore - but I wouldn't go so far as to say she likes the affection. She has photos of all of us all over her room - on the walls, next to her calendar, up and down the windowsill. I think she gives everyone grief, pretending like she doesn't care, but deep down she loves all of us unbelievably and even loves the attention/affection we show her. Back to the story. After a hug and kiss, I went to introduce Ian to her and she points to him and says "Ian, I need you to fix my blinds." No hello, no introduction, just an order to help her. SO much like her. Glad Ian didn't take offense and just responded with "oh, well, hello to you to!" which only made her laugh. Glad he was able to fix her blinds - he would've never heard the end of it if he hadn't.
She seemed tired - like she wasn't feeling well still. And she didn't have her hearing aid in, which meant we had to speak up for her to hear. And she's way too thin - I told her she needed to fatten up a bit and she just laughed. But for 88, she's amazingly with it - coming out with jokes and carrying on with conversations. She talked sports with Ian even though he's a Baltimore fan.
After a couple hours there, we decided it was time to leave her so she could get some sleep after a hellish 24 hours in the hospital. We went back to my cousin Michael's house and played with the little guy, and his older brother before dinner. We even went on their zipline in the backyard. Sorry - no picture of that. We ate a big dinner with their family and my mom's cousin and soon realized that the little guy wanted nothing to do with anyone but me. Where should I sit - next to him. What should I do after dinner? Read to or play with him. (These were his instructions). He even agreed to take a picture with me.
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After Michael and Eileen put the kids to bed, we sat up and caught up for awhile. But alas, we were exhausted from the travel and were in bed at 9.
Saturday
We woke up early on Saturday to heavy downpours. Unfortunately, Ian still had to go run his 18 miles - he can't stop training even if we're away. So off he went in the pouring rain, while I stayed inside and hung out with the cousins. We played trains and leggos before I decided I would go meet Ian for his last mile or so. It was still pouring, so I put on my workout clothes and started walking/running to meet him. He was exhausted and soaked from the rain, so we walked/ran the last part of his run.
After showers and some lunch, we headed back out to visit with Cyrilla. She looked much better than Friday - more rested and had just had a haircut. We spent much of the time catching up, then took many pictures.
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Then, we went to mass with her, where Ian proceeded to get a case of the giggles because one of the residents sitting behind us must not have known the tempo/words of some of the songs. There would be a break in the song, and that resident would still be singing the last verse, or would have started the next one. Hilarious.
After mass, we gave Cyrilla lots of hugs (her fave) and she even got one from Ian. We said our good-byes to cousin Chris and my mom's cousin Judy. On our way back to Michael and Eileen's house, we stopped by Vienna Bakery - seriously I would be at this bakery everyday if it were located near us in Baltimore. Does Baltimore have any good bakeries??
Back to the story - we then headed back to Michael and Eileen's (Chris and Michael are brothers and are the sons of Judy) to play with the kids before their bedtimes. We were originally supposed to grab dinner with friends Sarah and Carlton who live about an hour from Michael and Eileen's. But we were hoping to have an early dinner with them since Ian ran 18 miles that morning and we were heading out so early on Sunday morning, but sadly, Sarah had a work event so we missed seeing them. And since Michael and Eileen had a fancy cocktail party to head to, Ian and I decided to explore the town a bit and find a place to eat. We decided on this place which was super cute and had very good food. Ian was excited to have Stella Artois.
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While I was excited to have a glass of wine.
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Afterwards, we met up with Michael and Eileen for some dessert at Newport Creamery where I had amazing chocolate peanut butter frozen yogurt (it tasted like normal ice cream - so good). We headed home and were exhausted from such a fun day with family.
Sunday
We were up bright and early again and were on the road by 6:40a.m. I slept most of the way (thanks honey) and we made it home just in time to watch the Ravens and Redskins play. I also won week 3 in a row for my fantasy football team (YAY!). We got our grocery shopping done and booked a trip online last night (I will talk more about this soon).
We had a fantastic weekend filled with family and laughs. I can only hope to go visit again soon and have the opportunity to spend more time with Cyrilla. She's so full of life and laughs. Love her.
Thursday afternoon, I got a call from my Mom informing us that my aunt was back in the hospital with extremely high blood pressure. We figured we would go and visit her whether she was in the hospital or at home again.
Friday
We left bright and early on Friday and drove to one of my cousin's houses to drop off our things. I had never met their youngest child so we met him and then off we went to the little beach down their street with their youngest (he's 4 and so freaking cute) racing us there on his tricycle.
Before I could stop him, the little guy ran ahead of us towards the beach and tore off his shoes and socks and dug them into the sand, throwing his body all around to get sand anywhere and everywhere. Great. I've just met the kid and I can only imagine how thrilled his mother will be when I bring him back to the house covered in sand.
We fell in love with the area they live in - beautiful! Very old time feel to it in terms of the friendliness of the people there and the style of homes. Ian loved the view.
We got back to the house and were relieved that my cousin just laughed when she saw how dirty he had gotten in the sand. We had a quick bite to eat for lunch and then checked in to see if my aunt had been released from the hospital yet. She had, so then my mom's cousin came by and picked up me and Ian and headed to my aunt's assisted living community.
We walked in and were immediately greeted by a huge smile on Cyrilla's face. A little bit about her: she's incredibly blunt, and is said to have my mom's family's sense of humor (dry - and you have to get used to being poked fun at if you ever want to be around the cousins and Cyrilla). She also is not all warm and fuzzy - she's a complete smart-ass, very smart, and doesn't like hugs. She's mellowed out a bit through the years and doesn't mind hugs from me and the other cousins anymore - but I wouldn't go so far as to say she likes the affection. She has photos of all of us all over her room - on the walls, next to her calendar, up and down the windowsill. I think she gives everyone grief, pretending like she doesn't care, but deep down she loves all of us unbelievably and even loves the attention/affection we show her. Back to the story. After a hug and kiss, I went to introduce Ian to her and she points to him and says "Ian, I need you to fix my blinds." No hello, no introduction, just an order to help her. SO much like her. Glad Ian didn't take offense and just responded with "oh, well, hello to you to!" which only made her laugh. Glad he was able to fix her blinds - he would've never heard the end of it if he hadn't.
She seemed tired - like she wasn't feeling well still. And she didn't have her hearing aid in, which meant we had to speak up for her to hear. And she's way too thin - I told her she needed to fatten up a bit and she just laughed. But for 88, she's amazingly with it - coming out with jokes and carrying on with conversations. She talked sports with Ian even though he's a Baltimore fan.
After a couple hours there, we decided it was time to leave her so she could get some sleep after a hellish 24 hours in the hospital. We went back to my cousin Michael's house and played with the little guy, and his older brother before dinner. We even went on their zipline in the backyard. Sorry - no picture of that. We ate a big dinner with their family and my mom's cousin and soon realized that the little guy wanted nothing to do with anyone but me. Where should I sit - next to him. What should I do after dinner? Read to or play with him. (These were his instructions). He even agreed to take a picture with me.
After Michael and Eileen put the kids to bed, we sat up and caught up for awhile. But alas, we were exhausted from the travel and were in bed at 9.
Saturday
We woke up early on Saturday to heavy downpours. Unfortunately, Ian still had to go run his 18 miles - he can't stop training even if we're away. So off he went in the pouring rain, while I stayed inside and hung out with the cousins. We played trains and leggos before I decided I would go meet Ian for his last mile or so. It was still pouring, so I put on my workout clothes and started walking/running to meet him. He was exhausted and soaked from the rain, so we walked/ran the last part of his run.
After showers and some lunch, we headed back out to visit with Cyrilla. She looked much better than Friday - more rested and had just had a haircut. We spent much of the time catching up, then took many pictures.
After mass, we gave Cyrilla lots of hugs (her fave) and she even got one from Ian. We said our good-byes to cousin Chris and my mom's cousin Judy. On our way back to Michael and Eileen's house, we stopped by Vienna Bakery - seriously I would be at this bakery everyday if it were located near us in Baltimore. Does Baltimore have any good bakeries??
Back to the story - we then headed back to Michael and Eileen's (Chris and Michael are brothers and are the sons of Judy) to play with the kids before their bedtimes. We were originally supposed to grab dinner with friends Sarah and Carlton who live about an hour from Michael and Eileen's. But we were hoping to have an early dinner with them since Ian ran 18 miles that morning and we were heading out so early on Sunday morning, but sadly, Sarah had a work event so we missed seeing them. And since Michael and Eileen had a fancy cocktail party to head to, Ian and I decided to explore the town a bit and find a place to eat. We decided on this place which was super cute and had very good food. Ian was excited to have Stella Artois.
While I was excited to have a glass of wine.
Afterwards, we met up with Michael and Eileen for some dessert at Newport Creamery where I had amazing chocolate peanut butter frozen yogurt (it tasted like normal ice cream - so good). We headed home and were exhausted from such a fun day with family.
Sunday
We were up bright and early again and were on the road by 6:40a.m. I slept most of the way (thanks honey) and we made it home just in time to watch the Ravens and Redskins play. I also won week 3 in a row for my fantasy football team (YAY!). We got our grocery shopping done and booked a trip online last night (I will talk more about this soon).
We had a fantastic weekend filled with family and laughs. I can only hope to go visit again soon and have the opportunity to spend more time with Cyrilla. She's so full of life and laughs. Love her.
Thursday, October 1, 2009
Comforts
So often, we take things for granted. We take people in our lives for granted, opportunities, time, money, happiness. Then suddenly, we lose one of those people or things, and we realize how amazing it was to have that person/thing in our lives. We constantly see others lose these things, or lose a loved one, and try to use it as a reminder to be grateful, while secretly thinking we're immune from that happening to us.
Often, I take Tessa for granted. I complain about her barking or pestering when she's excited to play, or that she needs to be walked at an inopportune time for me, or that she rips up a piece of newspaper when we're gone. She's eaten the blinds before and she costs us a lot of money to repair things like that, along with costing a lot at the vet.
This morning I woke up very early and took my car to get an oil change and countless other tune-up items done to my car. I came home, excited to see her little face when I walked through the door. I opened it and called her name, and realized how stupid I was to do that. I knew Ian was taking her with him this morning for her to visit her grandma for the weekend. But I realized then and there how much I take her for granted.
I am now sitting here writing before I read some more for school, and I can't help but feel the emptiness in the house now that she's not here. Normally, we drop her off on our way out of town so I never am home without her. But just now, as I heard something behind our house, I felt scared without her here to go investigate the source of the noise with me. She provides such comfort, safety, and love. She constantly greets me with the same level of excitement whether I've been gone for 5 minutes or 5 hours. When I was sick the last week, she took naps with me and would just come and lay next to me, knowing that something wasn't quite right. And tonight, when I go to sleep, I'll remember just how lucky we are to have her in our lives - (almost) always bringing a smile to our faces. And on Monday when she comes back home from her vacation at Grandma's, I'll be thrilled to have her home! How pitiful, that dog has us wrapped around her paw!
Often, I take Tessa for granted. I complain about her barking or pestering when she's excited to play, or that she needs to be walked at an inopportune time for me, or that she rips up a piece of newspaper when we're gone. She's eaten the blinds before and she costs us a lot of money to repair things like that, along with costing a lot at the vet.
This morning I woke up very early and took my car to get an oil change and countless other tune-up items done to my car. I came home, excited to see her little face when I walked through the door. I opened it and called her name, and realized how stupid I was to do that. I knew Ian was taking her with him this morning for her to visit her grandma for the weekend. But I realized then and there how much I take her for granted.
I am now sitting here writing before I read some more for school, and I can't help but feel the emptiness in the house now that she's not here. Normally, we drop her off on our way out of town so I never am home without her. But just now, as I heard something behind our house, I felt scared without her here to go investigate the source of the noise with me. She provides such comfort, safety, and love. She constantly greets me with the same level of excitement whether I've been gone for 5 minutes or 5 hours. When I was sick the last week, she took naps with me and would just come and lay next to me, knowing that something wasn't quite right. And tonight, when I go to sleep, I'll remember just how lucky we are to have her in our lives - (almost) always bringing a smile to our faces. And on Monday when she comes back home from her vacation at Grandma's, I'll be thrilled to have her home! How pitiful, that dog has us wrapped around her paw!
Here are a couple of really old pictures of us - we had had her for just 2 days!
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