Caution Tape

Ok...so this post is going to be a little, well....out there.  DISCLAIMER:  If you are too cool to talk about poop, please visit the blog at another time to avoid the embarrassment of us both.  The ideas that make up this post are not typical of me but have caused paranoia in mind.  Read, ponder and then tell me if I'm crazy.

I love my husband and I love his family and friends- the reason I love them so is because we can talk, and therefore laugh, about anything!  Even poop.  The second worst p word.  Twice now during a visit to Dallas our conversation has somehow come to the point where we were talking about "poop stories" - hilariously funny yet heinously embarrassing poop stories.  As I sat and listened I became convinced that everyone in the world has some sort of poop story...EXCEPT ME!  Should this be encouraging or does this mean that my moment is yet to come?  If it is still lurking out there to get me, should I just hurry up and get it over with or should I try to prolong it as much as possible?  I can't go on.  Not with this hanging over my head.  I am now convinced that someday, in the worst possible situation, I will poop in my pants or worse.  Questions?  Comments?  Concerns?  

Ok...now I can honestly vow that I will never mention "poop" again within this blog.  Maybe.

Converted!

If your hair requires a flat iron like mine does, you have to check out the Paul Mitchell version. I know, I know - the Chi rules all but this my friends, is truly a miracle product for me! Now I don't want to offend any Chi lovers (especially since I have never had anthing but one) but the Paul Mitchell is where it's at. The temperature adjusts which comes in handy if you are just doing a touch up and don't want to scorch your hair any more than you already have to. It also has a more rounded edge so if you want to avoid the stick straight look you can actually curl under the ends a little without busting out the curling iron. Combine this nifty tool with the PM "Skinny" collection and you will never look back. Do it - because Paul Mitchell says so!

Keep it up!

I have been thinking long and hard about what my goals should be for 2009 – I thought I would eventually think of something really inspiring and unique but is just isn’t happening. I was trying to avoid the usuals like lose weight, stick to a budget, etc. but these happen to fit me just right so I will roll with it.

#1. Letters – My sweet grandma lives in Washington now so I rarely get to see her. She is also reaching the age that makes it difficult to talk to her on the phone so I will do the next best thing…write letters! My first goal is to write at least one letter every other week. Some of them might be short little notes on cute cards but she always looks forward to checking the mail to see if she got anything!

#2. Get Organized (or attempt to) – AHHHHHHH! This one will get the best of me I can already tell. This is not to say that I won’t do it, but I am sure I will struggle with this one. I am a very clean person but not a very organized person. I vow to go through every closet, under every sink and get rid of anything that Drew and I don’t use. This will just make more room for all the stuff that I love at Pottery Barn! ;)

#3. Down with Credit Cards – Drew and I have decided to pay off the credit cards and then get rid of them all (except for the American Express). We don’t really have all that much debt but it would be really nice to pay everything off and then just use the American Express for small expenses that can be paid off quickly. All this for dreams of a house!!

#4. Weight Watchers – I have been a WW dropout over the holidays and should be punished. Luckily, it is a new year and it is time to get back with the program. The good news is that I don’t have far to go to get back to my goal weight (10 pounds away) but then it will be a matter of sticking with it to maintain. Drew and I work out at Lifetime and it is fabulous so that will help get us to our fitness goals. Drew is lucky in the sense that he is naturally slim and in shape – oh, to be a man. ;) For a reminder of what started it all read this!

Well, there they are. Goals for 2009. I know I had said there would be five but I am making the fifth goal to keep all of the above going throughout the year. I will post updates on some of these once in a while – hopefully, there won’t be any reason for me to be on the bad list.

XOXO

You're gonna miss this...

Goodbye 2008, hello 2009!  Tonight is the night that we get a fresh start for a new year. 2008 was such a special year for me; it is hard to see it go in some ways.  It was the first whole year as husband and wife for Drew and I and for that alone, I am most thankful.  We celebrated our very first wedding anniversary, moved into a beautiful apartment and have so much to be thankful for.  

I have heard several people over the last few weeks say "I hope 2009 is way better than 2008."   Their 401k was cut in half (or worse), the economy is bad, gas is up and down.  While I fully admit that all of things can be worrisome, why focus on things that for the most part are out of our control?  We live in such a blessed country and are afforded opportunities that most are not.  I have high hopes for 2009 but 2008 will be hard to beat!  I will now step off of my soap box...

On another note, why does blogger hate me lately?  I upload my pictures in a precise manner and all it does is turn around and put them any place it desires!  Whatev I guess.  :)  I have ATTEMPTED to include some pictures of my fave things from 2008 but I assume I am at the mercy of blogger - we will see once this is posted.  Some of the pictures may seem strange but trust me, there is always a perfectly hilarious story to go along with them.  Others are just "things" that I fell in love with.

UPDATE:  Blogger got me again...looks like the pictures are at the top despite all of my hard work.

As I mentioned before, I will be posting my goals for 2009 - stay tuned and keep me in check!  I hope everyone has a fabulous New Year's Eve and stay safe!  Talk to you on the flip side!  Enjoy the Champagne.

Cheers to '09

XOXO

Oh, and one more thing...

I have ashamedly ordered my very own personalized stationary. I know, I know but they had so many cute designs to choose from and I couldn’t pass them up! Now I just need to actually sit down and write some letters! You should check it out… RockPaperScissors.

Monday is here so I guess it is back to reality and back to work! I had a fabulous four days away from work so I can’t complain but it always so difficult to peel myself out of the bed and get to work after a holiday. (It is especially hard when my hair refuses to look right, my clothes instantly wrinkle and I don’t have anything to bring for lunch.) Drew and I spent the weekend in Grapevine with his family for another Christmas celebration and had a ton of fun as usual. Everyone in his family is so fun to be around and we shared a lot of laughs which is always a good thing. If there is one thing everyone should know about me by now it is that I LOVE to laugh!

My sister-in-law turned me on to a website that I really want everyone to check out if they get the chance. It is an awesome website where people share how they have overcome struggles in their lives – you will hear from athletes, musicians, actors, you name it. It really is worth looking at if you can! Iamsecond.com

Can you believe it is almost 2009?? What the heck is going on? Sometimes it feels like life gets going way too fast and I wish I could slow it down – but then again it reminds me just how precious every day is. I love spending time with my family and Drew’s family and I treasure every minute with Drew. I hate that feeling that creeps up that makes me think that I am going to run out of time with Drew – but that just makes me appreciate each day that I get with him. I am excited for all that 2009 will bring…every year I tell myself that I am going to set at least five goals for the upcoming year and every year I forget to actually do it. Not this year! Not only am I going to write down five goals, I am going to put them on the blog so that more people will hold me accountable…I am doing it!

Speaking of 2009, Drew and I are lucky enough to be spending New Year’s Eve in Austin this year with some of our best friends! I am so excited and cannot wait until Wednesday night – I promise to take pictures this time since I have am proud to report that I have located both my camera and the charger. This reminds me…I should most definitely incorporate organization into my goals for 2009.

I hope everyone has a wonderful day and week – I will be seeing some of you VERY SOON! Yay!

XOXO

Merry Christmas and a Pink Martini!

I can't believe that Christmas has already come and gone...time flies waaaay too fast!  Christmas was wonderful this year and again, I feel overly blessed.  We went to an AWESOME Christmas Eve church service at RiverPointe on Wednesday - and I really do mean awesome!  They have the best music and we had a really fun time.  My family does things a little differently when it comes to opening presents.  On Christmas Eve we open our stockings - which reminds me that every year we get scratch off lottery tickets and every year I convince myself that I am going to win big.  Soooo...2008 was not my year, maybe 2009!  Anyway, I did end up winning $1 and Drew won $4 but the most hilarious thing ever is that my mom's best friend's son (who is 5 years old) won $2000!  We couldn't get over it...they decided to take a family trip with his winnings.  After our stockings were open, Drew and I headed back to our apartment to gear up for Christmas Day.  I can't believe that we have already spent two Christmases (not sure if that is really a word) as husband and wife - Drew is by far my greatest gift ever and I have never felt more lucky than to have him in my life.  

On Christmas morning, Drew and I opened our gifts to each other.  Out of all he beautiful things he gave me, my favorite has to be my fabulous martini set!  I love martini's of all flavors and of all the kitchen things I have already accumulated, I was missing martini glasses.  Kitchen completed!  I have two favorites that you really should try if you like fruity drinks...both are pretty tangy but I can't get enough of them.  Oh and you have to like vodka!  ;)

Flirtini

Lemon Drop

Then we headed over to my mom's house for breakfast, mimosas and more gift exchanging...I LOVE more than anything to watch people open gifts - they always look so happy.

So now it is off to Dallas for Christmas with Drew's family.  We are really looking forward to seeing everyone and I know that it will be tons of fun.  I am sure there will be more delicious food which really is the LAST thing I need but hey, my goal is to gain as much weight as possible before New Year's so that when I start getting back in shape it will be far more noticable!  Not really...but it sure is a good excuse!  ;)  

I hope all of you had the most fabulous Christmas and I wish you a wonderful start to 2009!

XOXO

Merry Christmas!

A short note since I don't have much time to write at the moment...but I hope everyone has a very Merry Christmas! We are all so blessed and tomorrow is the perfect time to relax with friends and family. I will update after Christmas and hopefully, I will have some pictures to share. It all depends on if I can dig out my camera. I can't wait to hear about everyone's Christmas eve/morning!

Always remember the TRUE reason for the season.

XOXO

December is here!

I hope everyone had a super wonderful Thanksgiving...I certainly did! My stomach is just now recovering from the massive amounts of food that were consumed…it will take my waist line a while longer I am afraid. Anyway, I really enjoyed some extra time away from work which meant extra time to spend with Drew and the fam (and extra time away from my fax machine that always has “paper jams”). As mentioned in my last post (I think) my brother brought his girlfriend down from Wisconsin for her first trip to beautiful TEXAS! She was so sweet and was up for all the crazy things my family likes to do. It was crazy to see my little brother interact with a girl but we could all tell that he really likes her so that makes me feel happy and old at the same time! Speaking of old, my birthday was yesterday and I am now officially a quarter of a century…that is right, the big 2-5. If Thanksgiving wasn’t enough to make me feel like the luckiest girl in the world, my birthday sure sent it over the top. My sweet Drew got me a “beautimous” purse that I have really been wanting and my mom went way overboard as usual. I totally don’t deserve all of this and in fact I felt guilty after receiving such nice things. I will try to make it up to them at Christmas time!

I have CHRISTMAS on the brain! Drew and I helped my mom and step-dad decorate their house for the holidays…they live in an area of town that is known for tons and tons of decorations and it is by far the best place to take a look at Christmas lights. This brings to mind a hilarious story from this past weekend…

My step-dad was in the attic bringing down the Christmas lights when all of a sudden, he fell through the ceiling! He was OK at first but after a few minutes his body just shut down and it caused him to have a small seizure. SOOOO, we had to call the old 911. They came and checked him out and deemed him alright. After all of that, I think his ego was bruised more than anything else! Good times.

But back to Christmas decorations…I can’t wait to decorate our apartment. The only problem is that it will have to wait at least another week because we are moving this weekend (sigh). I am overly excited about moving but can’t stand the thought of physically moving all of our stuff. Luckily, Drew’s parents, as well as mine, have kindly volunteered to help! I will try to stay relaxed but I am ready to have it over with. For those of you that know me rather well, my relaxed equals most peoples’ nervous. Like I said, I will TRY to stay relaxed. The good news is that a week from now we will hopefully have at least a Christmas tree and our stockings put up. For now, I will have to settle for decorating the blog. There are so many cute blog templates (or whatever they are called, I am not cool) that I can’t decide which one to keep…this will give me the opportunity to change them often! Just like always. I can’t make up my mind.

XOXO

Santa - Please RSVP

Thanksgiving is only 2 days away and I cannot wait! I am so excited to spend time with Drew and our families over the holiday season - I am so blessed to have such a loving husband and family. As I type this, I am watching "Charlie Brown's Thanksgiving" which is pretty lame for me to admit but I love crazy holiday themed TV shows. It is important to note that I have always thought that the Snoopy/Woodstock combination was pretty hilarious - deep down you do too. :)

OK, so I have to vent for just a moment...I am almost completely responsible for planning the corporate Christmas party and it has been a challenge. Let me take a step back - I am responsible for planning the corporate "holiday party". It makes me sick that I cannot refer to it by its proper name but I guess the world is becoming more PC by the minute. I have had to go so far as to request that the hotel that is hosting the party not display any Christmas themed decoration in the ball room we are using for the event. This has been particularly difficult considering the hotel I have chosen is a prominent hotel in the Galleria area which is known for their beautiful decorations. I have even been instructed not to use any combination of red and green together. (???) Do you know what I want to do? I want to invite Santa himself to this party - I will ask him to bring every Christmas decoration, toy and item that has ever been made and if the guests don't like it, they can leave. Just kidding, but that is what I would like to do! If you ask me, America needs to get back to the basics and remember the REAL reason for the season. I will let you know how the party goes in a few weeks.

I hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving with their families and loved ones. We are all blessed in so many ways and I hope that all of you have a day full of memories that will last a lifetime!

XOXO

The past three months...

Soooo...as promised I am back on the blog scene! So much has happened since the last time I posted (September 10). I am not sure where to start so this particular post will have to be a condensed version to get it all in.

#1. So there was a hurricane. Having lived in this area for most of my life, it was easy to take the very real threats of a direct hit and dismiss them as another opportunity for the local news channels to hype it all up for ratings. Not the case!! For some reason or another, Drew and I thought it would be a good idea to brave the storm from our 3rd floor apartment...I still laugh thinking about this. Everything was fine until the power went out and the winds rolled in and I, having previously vowed that I would not get scared if we stayed, went into panic mode. Not only were the winds so strong that they were snapping fences and bending trees to the ground, it was jet black outside. I won't go into any more ridiculous details but I will NEVER AGAIN repeat this decision for fear that I will wind up in the Emerald City. (If I did, I would want to be the lion).

#2. All of a sudden it was October. My department at work was deemed responsible for the Halloween activities and we were given permission to have a "work appropriate costume contest" - I still don't know exactly what this means but anyway, we did it and it was fun. I came up with the idea to be Rainbow Brite and as soon as I showed up to work on October 31, I realized I may have had an error in judgement. NO ONE knew who I was...I got everything from Roller Girl to Olivia Newton John and someone even went as far as the "Creepy Saturday Morning Clown." Now, since when has Rainbow Brite been creepy? I will admit that I loved her as a child and even had a room decorated with her and the sprites. I know someone out there loves her too...keep the dream alive!

#3. November rolled in. I can't believe that a year ago I was wearing my wedding dress and preparing for the happiest moment in my life. Drew took me on a wonderful anniversary date that I still don't believe that I deserved - he took me shopping for a dress to wear on our date, gave me the most beautiful birthstone ring, took me to my favorite restaurant (Maggiano's) and then we stayed in a beautiful hotel for the night. I felt then and still feel that I am the most blessed woman on the earth. So to Drew - thank you for the most fulfilling and happy year of my life. You are my best friend and the love of my life! I love you!

That brings us up to speed a bit. We will be moving in TWO weeks and I have so much work to do to get ready. This weekend will be spent packing and cleaning which is not exactly what I had in mind but it will feel good to get it done! I am anxiously awaiting Thanksgiving (yum!) especially because my brother is bringing a girl home with him!!!!!!! It can't be possible that I am old enough for that to occur but I guess I will be 25 soon. He has never even mentioned a girl before so this is a momentous occasion that I am very much looking forward to!

Ah! I am back. I can't remember what made me stop blogging but it won't happen again. I hope all of you have an amazing weekend and if you are anywhere around me, enjoy the beautiful weather!

XOXO

I am Ridiculous...

I am officially the WORST blogger ever seeing as how I haven't posted in many months. In fact, I am so ashamed I can't even bring myself to write a post just yet. Tomorrow is D-day...I will be back on the blog scene!