Some Encouragement

A friend of mine encouraged me to join a new blog hop today. (Her blog is Giggles and Grimaces) I find that I am rarely on my own blog but do enjoy writing sometimes. :) The blog she thought I would like is An Ordinary Mom. And while i'm not really a mom yet, I do play mommy to my 2 little dachshunds :)

Here are some pictures of them from recently....

Mya in her Halloween costume. She would like me to tell you that she absolutely loathes playing dress up, but she tolerates it once a year so I can get a picture.

Riley (my baby) loves playing with her ball!

Riley again, in her new shirt. She really is a "Toy-Minator" much to her sisters dismay. She destroys all the new toys that I get them. It's become a rarity that I will spend $ on toys for that reason. I started buying toys from the dollar store.....

Thanks Giggles and Grimaces for the encouragment :)

Getting Healthy...

It's no secret that loosing weight is HARD! One of the best things I learned at an early age is that skinny girls aren't just born skinny.... A lot goes into it. Diet, exercise, and a little genetics :) Even though I know all of this, I have struggled with my weight since highschool. It started when I could no longer play sports competitively due to having shoulder surgery twice. Instead I chose to ride horses, which is hard work, but not nearly as physically challenging as volleyball, cheerleading or swimming. (at least not at the beginner level) I slowly gained about 10 pounds before the end of highschool. Depressing, but I wasn't by any means heavy or overweight. In college I gained even more and developed high blood pressure as well. I just attributed all of this to the fact that I was obessed with all you can eat salads and french fries every day in the dorm cafeteria :) So pack on another 20 to 25 pounds by the end of college.... Way Way depressing! I managed to loose 10 lbs after my freshman year but then put it back on after graduation when I moved in with my now husband.

Further more I have ignored the fact that I have high blood pressure for eh.... almost 6 years now... not good! I thought if I lost weight or worked out more it would go away. I mean 20 year olds just don't "have" high blood pressure. I made up lots of excuses as to why I had it - I'm terrified of the doctor and therefore my blood pressure spikes, which is true, but I would take it at home and it would still be high. I'm super stressed ALL the time. My family and friends know I don't relax often thus my blood pressue is high....I don't drink enough water....also true but I don't think it's going to make that big of a difference....you get the point. Enough excuses. I definitely work out more, but haven't lost the weight yet and I still can't get my blood pressure to go down. So I have to go to the doctor now. It's funny how when you get older you start to worry about your health a little more and things really get into perpective. Like the fact that I want kids. But deep down I know that starting a pregnacy even slighty overweight with high blood pressure can pose serious risks for me and my unborn child. So i'm on a new mission now....getting myself healthy before bugging hubby about kids.

It's going to be a long road. My short term goal is to get my blood pressure under control and to loose 15 lbs. Crossing my fingers and praying for patience, persistance and motivation to keep it up. :)

Children?

We've been married for almost 3 months and it's no secret that I want kids! Within the last year I've really wanted kids...bad! Poor Josh on the other hand does not...at least not yet. He says he still feels too young and not ready to take on another living being to care for. I can't argue with that honesty and truthfullness. And it's also selfless in a way - I wouldn't want to bring a child into this world with someone who just wasn't ready yet. I can respect that. I've also been going baby crazy just bit since my neighbor and friend has been pregnant and just delivered her 3rd beautiful baby girl! :) She brought her over tonight and she is so perfect.

So as much as I really do want to have a baby, when I really really think about the reality of it all I'm scared to death! For example, if I found out I was pregnant today, I can only imagine that I would start freaking out thinking about all that i've done lately (drinking, cleaning with "horrible for you" products because they work!) And I suddenly realize how much my life really would change, and Josh's as well. In a weird way Josh and I have become much closer since our wedding. I feel like we're best friends again and content on just hanging out talking all night (which we've done a lot recently) I would miss all of that because a baby would consume us. So as much as I hate to admit it (and I won't tell him...yet) He is right and our entire family will benefit from us waiting just a bit longer. :) I'm pretty sure I can convince him after a year anyways, which means I will still only be 25 and young enough - a year really isn't that long anyways.....

So for now, I get to enjoy my friend's baby once in awhile and enjoy her :)

I'm Back.....!

Wow it's been so long since my last post! I must admit, the month of June was pretty much a do nothing, barely get by kind of month. I needed to destress after that wedding. :)

As you may have guessed or perhaps you already know - our wedding was perfect!! I don't have to bore you with all of the details but I truely did marry my best friend and the day was great! Time flew by, but I seriously couldn't be more happier to be married. Many people have asked me if married life is any different. Before the wedding I would have told you that everything will remain the same and nothing will change. We practically were married for 2 years prior since we lived together and shared everything but a bank account (something I recommend for all couples by the way - living together, but def. not sharing a bank account or cosigning on bills/loans, but that is for a whole other post). Anyway, not much has changed between Josh and I since being married, but somethings have suprised me. Example: I actually panicked one day that this is permanent. Not that I actually want to break up, but it's much more serious now. Yes I knew that going in, but you can't grasp that concept until you have actually made that step and gotten married in my opinon. And of course the financial aspect is now different. We each have a say in how we spend our money and that will be our biggest challenge, like it is with almost all couples I'm sure. So things are a little different, but nothing we can't handle. It's just sometimes freaky how real it is - we both can't believe we started dating at 15 (actually I was 2 weeks away from 15). We remember sitting in Highschool together and sharing a locker. :)

Work has been crazy to say the least. I have had a new manager for about 5 months now and I think our whole team is still adjusting to the changes that our company has made within the last year. Times have been stressful and I have questioned my interest to stay in my job more than once now. But I truly think I am with a great company and I can't imagine leaving. I seem to have found some new movitivation this past week and I'm hoping it continues this way. I hate feeling like an unproductive careless employee. It's just not who I am, or even my work ethic.

Summer is almost over, depressing to say the least. I've been bummed that this year we never made it up north and I am starting to think it will be impossible to take a vacation until the September. Hopefully we'll at least make it to the beach and we have a few local activities planned....Tigers game, and Woodward Dream Cruise...woo hoo!

My Life is....

CRAZY!!! We are at the 9 day count day for our wedding and i'm ready to take from now until after the wedding off from my job because I feel like I have a million other things to do.

Today started out ok..... I was feeling a little stressed but somewhat in control until I went to call the ceremony musician and I couldn't find his number and then I started writing thank you cards to my parents but realized I was writing in the card that we got for Josh's parents.....ughhhh.

My caterer has not gotten back to me about drinks or cutting our cake, and my FI's mom is MIA and hasn't said anything about anything lately which is a little strange... and my own mother is stressed at her job and not available for venting.

When asked if i'm excited I find myself lying through my teeth that i'm thrilled when in reality I think i'll be most happy when i'm on a plane headed to Vegas.

End of Vent

Bad times come in three's right?

I'm not superstitious but I am beginning to wonder.

While I was in Florida for work last week, Josh called me to tell me that he had lost his job. The shop that he was working at went under and filed for bankruptcy. Oh joy, 3 weeks before we are getting married. We knew the shop was having issues, but Josh had been told that they were trying to sell it before it closed. Obviously that didn't happen and Josh was left without a job. I was scared and happy at the same time which is a weird feeling. Josh had been so stressed from his past job and worked for such little pay that I sometimes wondered if it was even worth it. So I was happy because he needed some time off. And this past weekend was fun, and he was light hearted and just all around fun. A side of Josh I haven't seen very often lately. But I was scared to be the only income for awhile. I wasn't worried about our house or our utilities since I made sure I could afford them all myself when we moved. But Josh has bills too, which I knew I could not afford myself - car loan, student loan, tool bills, ect. Josh had some money saved, but who knew how long it would take to get another job and how long would that money last....

Second bad thing (not so big compared to the first) Josh broke his cell phone the same day he lost his job. We don't have a phone line at home so cell phones are it. Luckily I had an old cell phone in a drawer that has been working great temporarily - crisis averted!

Third bad thing was just issues with my work, not any loosing of jobs, just jobs changing and not being entirely thrilled about it.

Here is the upside to all of it:
1. Josh got a new job today (5 days after loosing last job - woohoo!)
2. My Job is looking up and I have a new outlook
3. Josh is getting a new phone now that we will have 2 incomes again!

So if bad things come in threes, must be good things do too!

Planning a Wedding - things you wish you knew when you started

I'm tying all of the loose ends up for our wedding today - mailing last minute checks, sending last minute e-mails, finishing the ceremony program......the list goes on.....

Here is what I wish they told you BEFORE you got engaged, there should be a class in college or something serioulsy....

1. How much to "stipend" your minister, I still have no clue and apparently it varies religion to religion and even presbyterian to luthern to nazarene ect. It also varies by who pays (brides family vs. grooms family) As of right now it's me and Josh. Go figure I can't find info on that one.....

2. You won't have time to do anything yourself on your wedding day and you have to delegate which scares the crap out of me, and probably is a fault of mine - I know how I want things done so it's easier for me to just do it myself rather than explain.... I am a control freak apparently

3. People RSVP for your wedding who were not invited, and how to handle it?

4. You should spend money on a DOC (Day of Events Coordinator) to handle things since you cannot (see # 2)

5. Invitations and ceremony programs and bridal shower ettiquette......seriously what did people do without the internet..... I look things up and have managed to do somethings wrong.....

I keep saying "next time I'll do it this way...." and then I realize that there will not be a next time, unless we renew our vows in which case we are doing it alone and not planning any party :)

12 days and counting until the big day. I am learning to let go, and this is mostly because I have too, there are just certaint things I cannot change any further and the best qoute my old boss used to say "It is what it is.....".