It's been a while

Last week was really busy. My boss is opening another daycare across town and I've been going over there after work a couple of days a week to help get it painted/ready. Plus I helped out with Preschool Graduation last Friday. It was fun and the kids were so cute! I can't believe that it's already a quarter of the way through June now! I feel like May just ended!

I've been racking up all of the comp time that I can get to help out with the time I'll need to take off for the wedding/planning. That's been taking up a lot of time and making the weeks fly by. The 4 1/2 months til the wedding is going to blow by me and it'll be here before I know it. That makes me feel a little panicky, ha ha!

Finally!

Our landlord came today and replaced our AC unit in the living room! It's brand new and it even has a remote! Awesome! It's been so incredibly stuffy and hot in the apartment for the last week. It now feels like a freezer, but I have to say that I love it! Bring on the summer weather, baby! We're ready for it!

Re-(or Free-)cycled Mason jars

I'm trying to locate some used/cheap Mason jars for the wedding and I'm not really sure where I should look for the best results? I was trying to look on freecycle.org, but I guess you have to be a member and I don't feel like signing up for it right now, so I'm going to ask my Mom if she can search that for me this weekend. But other than craigslist (which yielded no results in my area), I don't know where to check next. Any suggestions? TIA!

Neat finds on Pinterest

I've been seeing some really cool pictures on Pinterest lately, but i have to say that some of the most amazing ones are different nail-painting techniques/looks. Some of the things that people can do with their nails/nail polish is just amazing to me!

Source: heynicenails.com via Angel on Pinterest

Like this marbling effect. That's just crazy. Who thinks of this stuff? It looks super cool, though.

But my favorite technique/look that I've seen so far would have to be this one:

Source: iknowhair.com via Jen on Pinterest

This is just so awesome! I love it and wish that I had the patience to do this on my nails!

Success!

Last night I was finally able to do a decent French braid (at least, I think it's a French braid)! I've never been able to figure out how to do it and I watched someone else do one the other day and I kinda mimicked what I saw her do and I think I did it! At least, it's good enough for me!

My hair is too fine for regular braids. It just falls right out. So hopefully this French braid thing helps me keep it braided so I can continue to grow it out. :)

It's (technically) Friday!

Now I just have to get through work and it's the weekend! I've been trying to get all of the addresses together to send out our Save-the-Dates, but that's proving to be a challenge. I still need to get almost everyone from my Dad's side of the family still. I just hope that we have enough of the Save-the-Dates to send to all of our out-of-town/state guests!

It's May already

I was walking around Walmart yesterday on my break when I realized "Hey, it's April 30th...that means tomorrow is May 1st and we have the bulletin board at work for May...Oh crap!" Thankfully I already had an idea of what we could do, but I still had to run it past the infant teacher and we had to get started. Thankfully the "footprint butterflies" have turned out to be easier to do than anticipated, so that's fortunate.

They look kinda like this but some are just 1 solid color instead of 2 and they just have a circle at the top with the antenna coming out instead of a "body". But overall, they are super cute and I'm so glad that we were able to get most of them up on time!

I painted the "title" up yesterday. It reads "Fluttering into May". And all I have to do is paint "Infants & Wobblers" and then put the names of the kids under their "footerflies" (just made that up because it was easier than typing it out). So glad we only have to do the bulletin board 3 times a year! Whew!

Cowards on Facebook

I really hate how people post things on Facebook complaining about the posts that others have made, yet they are too chicken to actually confront that person about their posts. What cowards. It's even worse when these people happen to be a family member of yours.

It's been a busy week/weekend!

Wednesday morning, I went into work at 5:00 am (to be there by 5:30 am) and worked until 1:30 pm so that my boss and I could get on the road to Columbus at a decent time. We left probably about 1:45 pm and made it to the hotel around 3:30 pm. I was so beat by the time we got there that I figured I'd take my bag up to my room and crash. Well, my boss wanted to check out the Convention Center and find out where the workshops were going to be held, so we did that. Afterward, I went back to my room with the intention of sleeping, but I guess I was too tired at that point because a nap didn't happen. So, I got my shoes on and went in search of some grub. Found a Subway in the food court, grabbed a sub and went back to the room.

Thursday night, Jessica came and rescued me after she got off work and we went over to David's Bridal and picked up one of my bridesmaids' dress. While we were there, we looked around at all of the dresses in the store and Jess decided to torment her boyfriend a little by sending him pictures, ha ha ha! After the dress perusing, we popped over to Easton and had dinner at Max & Erma's. It was my first time eating there and it was really good. I especially enjoyed their pickle chips!

I finished up my workshops on Friday and my boss and I headed back to Lima around 4:30/4:45 pm. Got back around 6:30, so we made pretty good time. It would have been a nice, relaxing "weekend" (Wednesday-Friday) had it not been for having to attend the workshops, ha ha! Actually, the workshops weren't bad. The 2 morning ones that I had scheduled were actually really good, but the 2 afternoon ones were a little boring to me. Overall, the Educational Conference was a good experience and I'm looking forward to attending again hopefully next year or the year after.

On Saturday, I attempted to donate plasma, but since I have fainted in the past after giving blood, the nurses thought it would be best to consult their doctor on Monday to see what he thought before they told me that I couldn't donate. So that was kind of a flop, but hopefully I find out that I can at least try to donate.

Today, I went to my cousin's daughter's baptism. It was a really nice service and I was glad to finally meet my little cousin, but it was so frigid today that Mom and I weren't able to stay long. I'm glad that we made it for the service and the party, though. :)

Not looking forward to Monday and work, but I guess it's going to come around again whether I like it or not. I just wish that the weeks didn't seem to drag by while the weekends fly by so fast!

Ohio needs to make up it's mind...

because it's getting really hard to dress myself each day. I have no idea if I should wear long or short sleeves, or bring a jacket with me. It feels like Winter in the morning but can warm up to a decent Spring temp by the late afternoon. It's so frustrating! Good thing I haven't put any of my Winter clothes away yet, I guess.

(pseudo)Second job

I got an ad in the mail from Biolife in Lima about a special deal where I can earn $100 for 2 plasma donations (if completed within their time requirements). So, I made an appointment for next Saturday, hoping that I'll be feeling better by then and I can get the 1st donation done.

I've found out that I can donate up to 2 times in a 7-day period, so this could very well be like a 2nd job for me. I didn't like the idea of having to commit all of my free-time to an actual job, so this would give me some supplemental income while only spending a couple hours of my time to earn it. It would also give me a way to help another person/other people.

200 days

We only have 200 days left until our wedding! I'm so excited and so nervous at the same time! We still have so much to get done before everything is ready. Hopefully it will all come together in the end though right now it all seems disconnected/disjointed!

Also, tomorrow I leave for my mini-vacation/trip to Florida for my friend's wedding! I'm excited about being there but I'm not looking forward to the drive! But, the beach is definitely calling my name!

One more day...

of work and then I get a mini-vacation! I'm not excited about how much this trip is going to cost me, but I'm definitely looking forward to it and seeing some friends again. And also for getting a break from work! Woo!

Still feeling yucky...

I've taken 4 doses of 24-hour allergy meds and I still feel lousy. I do feel a little better than I did earlier this week, but now my throat is being irritated with the drainage from my nose and I keep coughing and that's making my throat raw. I hope this sh*t clears up before next Wednesday, otherwise I'm going to be miserable on my trip.

Darn weather

It's making my allergies/sinuses act all crazy! I felt really yucky yesterday and didn't sleep for beans last night, but today I'm actually feeling a little better. The allergy meds that I bought yesterday might actually be working. Who'da thunk it?

8 days...

until my trip to Florida for my friend's wedding! I'm glad that my Mom's going to be able to make the trip with me! It's been so long since she's taken a vacation and I know it'll be good for her to see her friends down there again! I'm looking forward to warm weather and a wedding on the beach!

Surprise!

We're going to pick up Jake's wedding band today! He has no idea that I already ordered it, or that that's why we're actually making a trip to Lima today (I'm luring him there under the pretense of eating IHOP for lunch - which we will be doing ;p). He had already picked it out and everything, so it's not a total surprise for him, but I'm excited to see what it looks like!

Zumba

So, I've played my Zumba game a couple of times since I got it last Friday and I have to say that I enjoy it, but I'm sure I look dumb doing it, hahaha! I hope I can start doing it about every other day so that I can burn some major calories, but for now I'm trying to ease myself into it. I did take a 3+ mile walk yesterday, though, and I took 3 walks/jogs around the block (1 with each of the 3 dogs that were at Mom's) on Tuesday, so I'm not a complete slacker! ;p

It's back!

Our internet is finally up and running again after a little over a week of limited or no connectivity! I'm so excited to be able to get on Facebook and Blogger and TheKnot again! Woo!

In other exciting news, I bought the Zumba Fitness 2 game for the Wii today! I'm excited to try it out and (with any luck) start losing weight and having fun doing it!

Thinking Spring

Besides the gusty wind, today was actually a very nice day. It got me yearning for the warmer weather and sunshine again. So, I decided to do some "Spring cleaning" on my blog and freshen it up a bit. I really like the flowery background and the new colors.

Simon's Cat 'Let Me In!'

Haha! Love this video!

Woah...

It's March already?! Where did February go?

March is going to be a busy month, too. I'm hoping that I have some time for fun stuff this month!

Happy Leap Day!

Or what's left of it! This month seemed to go really, really fast! I know that it's a "short" month, but it still seemed to fly by. I'm kinda hoping that the next 7 months don't go by as quickly because there's a lot that I want to do/get done between now and October (not all wedding-related things) and I would like to be able to sit back and enjoy some of them!

Back to the Leap Day thing: it's weird to think that people who are born on or get married on Leap Day only actually get to celebrate a "real" birthday or anniversary every 4 years. I know that each year still counts, but it would be weird to have a 16-year-old tell me that they're 4, or something like that. I wonder if they get asked the same questions whenever someone new discovers that they're a Leap Day baby?

So far, so good

5 days into Lent and I haven't had any pop/soda and I've only had fast food once, but that was just come Captain D's on Friday since I couldn't have meat & didn't feel like cooking or eating another tuna sub from Subway. I allow myself to get Captain  D's during Lent because I don't eat it very often (usually only once or twice during the whole of Lent) and since it's fish, I don't really enjoy it, haha!

I'm hoping that giving up fast food and pop/soda now will help me to at least cut it mostly out of my diet until after the wedding. Hopefully I won't really crave it after the next 35 days or so are over, anyways. That would be helpful, too!

Lent season

It's Lent time again. This year, I'm giving up pop/soda and fast food again. I'm hoping that once I make it through Lent without these things, it will make it easier for me to abstain from them until after the wedding, possibly even longer than that!

Broken car...

So, last night my tie rod breaks on my way home from Family Video (thankfully it's only a short distance from home!). But I couldn't get my car back home, so I had to have it towed to an auto shop. Well, that guy never got back with my Mom when she called his cell/sent him a text, so I called another shop first thing this morning.

When I heard back from him, he told me that when they looked at it, they discovered that not only was the tie rod busted, but also the ball joint (or something like that). So, that adds a few more $$ to my estimated total. When he called me back to tell me the estimate on the part (I guess they have to replace the whole arm? or something), he told me it would be $500 before tax for a used part and around $700 before tax for new...that doesn't include labor costs.

I guess that when Edith decides to be "sick", she goes all out! So, probably a good-sized chunk of my tax return will be going to that now. I really didn't need any help figuring out what to spend it on this year, I swear. But apparently someone thought they would give me a hand with that, haha!

Ohio Early Care & Education Conference 2012

I'm attending the OEC&E Conference this April. I'm excited to attend the workshops (unfortunately I can't attend all of the ones I was interested in because the times overlap) and hopefully come away from it knowing more than I did before (which should be easily accomplished because I'm planning to attend workshops on things I don't know much about yet). I'm really hoping that I can learn some new techniques for planning/classroom management so that I can feel more organized and prepared each day! Overall, this conference is going to be a good thing. I just hope that I've picked workshops that will pertain to my age/group.

Oh, and while I'm in Columbus for those 2 days, I plan on taking advantage of being in a big city! It won't be an "all business" trip!

Valentine's Day!

I was totally surprised by a beautiful bouquet of flowers at work today! I was totally not expecting them but they brightened up my day! Jake knows me so well! I didn't get a single rose, but I did get lilies, irises, carnations and daisies! Love it!

Don't wanna go back...

to work. I feel like the weekends are always too short lately. I wish that the work week was only 4 days long. That would be awesome! We technically have next Monday off, but we have a mandatory in-service training to attend from 8-2, so it's not a full, work-free day. And after that, I don't think we have another day off until May! Yikes! Thankfully I'm taking a mini-vacation down to Florida the 1st weekend of April for a friend's wedding, so I'll get a small break. It would be great if we had a 3-day weekend every month, though, to make the weeks a little easier to handle.

Bella Gourmet

That's the name of the company who's schpeel we had to sit through in order to get the 3 day/2 night hotel stay. We didn't actually get a meal, as I had thought we would, but we did get to taste some food that was prepared right in front of us. Jake and I ended up orderings some pots/pans & knives from them. We're hoping to get them in the next couple of weeks!

Presentation

Tomorrow's the day of the 90-minute cookware presentation that Jake and I have to sit through in order to get our vacation package. I've heard that they cook for you during the "show" so at least that's something. I'm just not looking forward to giving up an hour and a half of my evening on a work night. I like to come home and relax after work. But, at least we don't have to worry about making dinner that late.

Went pseudo-antiquing...

And found some cute stuff! We went to Casa Chic downtown so that Jake could show me the writing desk that he put on layaway there. While we were in the store, we decided to look around for some bird figurines to use for our cake topper and we found a set of really cute ones. Jake's mom is going to add a little bit of red to the breast of the "boy" since they're supposed to be robins. Other than that, they're perfect!



I also found this really cute basket to decorate for the flower girl. I'm going to get some pretty ribbon and some sort of fall decor (leaves, acorns, pinecones, etc) to put on the handle. Other than that, I think it looks really nice and it won't need too much decoration.

I was so glad that we found the birds because I was afraid that we would have to go to Hobby Lobby or something like that and end up spending a bunch of money just for the figurines. We got both birds and the basket for what I was expecting to pay just for the cake topper! I think that's a great deal!

I actually won something?

I got a call this past Wednesday (and Thursday) about having won a vacation package from Bella Bridal Network (I signed up for this at the Lima Bride on January 8th and forgot all about it). I found out that I have to sit through this 90-minute presentation on some cookware and then we get a 3-day, 2-night trip out of the deal. If we were going somewhere outside of the U.S., it would be an "all expenses paid" trip, but we're looking for something inside the States, so they would only cover the hotel (apparently it's illegal for them to offer "all expenses paid" trips in the U.S.?). But still, if we could have the hotel/cabin/whatever paid for, that would knock off a significant chunk of our honeymoon cost and we could afford to go somewhere a little nicer. So, I think we'll be sitting through the presentation on Tuesday so we can get some more info on the trip and where all they will let us go. :)

Only a few minutes left...

and I still can't believe that January is almost over! Crazy!

Um...

Where did January go? I swear the month just started a week ago! It seems like this year is going to fly by. I would actually prefer that it didn't go so quickly as we still have a TON of stuff to get done for the wedding.

Healthy foods

Why are they so much more expensive that the unhealthy ones? I really want to change my diet and lifestyle so that Jake and I can eat healthier and feel better, but it's just so dang expensive to do it! I wish that stores offered some sort of money-saving incentive for the customers that buy the healthy foods. That would be awesome!

The doldrums

doldrums (definition)

 

1.

a. A period of stagnation or slump.

b. A period of depression or unhappy listlessness.

 

I feel like over the last week, I have hit a slump. I feel like I'm in the doldrums. I can't really say why I'm feeling this way, but I can say that I'm tired of it and would like to find some way to escape it. I tried to start a workout DVD today, but found that I can't do that when I haven't eaten anything yet that day. So that was a no-go. But there are plans for weight-loss in the near future. I'm tired of carrying around this extra weight and it's about time that something was done about it. So Jake and I will be starting to eat healthier and we're going to do more cardio exercise (outside if the weather permits). We got a Bowflex from a friend and I'm going to look up some different exercises online (since the thing didn't come with a workout book or anything). We have a plan to change our lives and lifestyles. I just hope that we stick to this plan so that we can escape our doldrums.

I think I need a 2nd job...

to pay for all of this wedding stuff! Why is everything so EXPENSIVE?! I don't want the fanciest stuff out there but I want my things to be nice. I'd really rather not pay an arm and a leg for everything!

Venue...CHECK!

We signed the contract for the ceremony/reception venue on Saturday & paid the deposit. We didn't get to do the food/cake tasting, but we will be scheduling that sometime in the next month or so. I'm so glad to have this taken care of! Now I feel like the only major thing we need to do is get the guest list finished and then (hopefully) everything should fall into place! Only 8 months, 3 weeks and 5 days (from tomorrow) to go!

Food tasting!

We're set up to meet with a possible venue on Saturday and hopefully we'll get to taste test the food and the cake! I'm so excited! What's even better is that I can actually taste things now!

Bride video

"Sh*t Brides Say"
This is HILARIOUS! It had me cracking up the whole time!

281 days to go...?!?!?!

Wow, I never thought that number would get under 300! Now it's dwindling so fast! We still have so much to do before the "Big Day" but it seems like we'll never have enough time or money to get it all done! I don't understand how people can afford to drop tens of thousands of dollars on their weddings. I mean, it would be great to have thousands of dollars to spend on things, but at the end of the day, you are married and that's all that really matters to me. Oh, and the PARTY afterwards! That's where most of our budget is going. Food and drinks! I'm really looking forward to it!

Adding a goal for the New Year

I would really like to get our apartment cleaned and organized this year! We'll be having more and more wedding stuff coming into our tiny home this year and none of it will be going anywhere until October, so I really need to be on top of organization so that it doesn't take over our place! I'm not really sure what I'll need in order to achieve this goal, but I have more motivation to do it than just finding a spot for the wedding stuff. We bought a Bowflex machine off of a friend and now have to clean/reorganize our spare bedroom in order to accommodate it. I'm hoping that that will kick of the (early) Spring Cleaning mode and get me into the habit of keeping things picked up when I bring new stuff in!

It's a New Year

It's hard to believe that 2011 went by as quickly as it did. I would say that, overall, it was a good year, but I'm hoping that 2012 will be a GREAT year! I have a lot to look forward to this year.

I'm not really setting any resolutions for this year, but I do have some goals that I would like to accomplish:

• lose 25+ lbs
• plan my wedding while maintaining my sanity ;p
• organize my closet
• cook more/eat out less
• cut way back on pop consumption

Some of my goals are related, so hopefully if I start working on/towards one, it'll make the others a little easier to accomplish.