Frazzled Excitement

So, I have a long to-do list this week, and all of it is stuff I really want to do (not like cleaning or other chores), and sometimes I get the motivation to do this stuff, but I don’t know where to begin, or I feel really scattered with it.  This is my frazzled excitement. 

So far, I’ve at least started a few things.  As you can see, I added yet another new page to this blog – Photography.  There’s only four photos in it right now, but I definitely plan on adding more as I continue to watermark them.  There’s just a lot I want to add, so it will take me some time, but at least I have four to share with you so far.  Go peek at them, you know you’ve been waiting for it!   ;)  Well, I know you haven’t really been, but I hope you enjoy them anyway.   :)

I got my time and abilities sheet from my church a while back.  This is the sheet where you sign up for all the stuff you want to volunteer for.  I never fill mine out and send it back, especially considering I lived in NJ for 3 years, and the church is in PA (but they were still sending me stuff in NJ!).  I haven’t been to church at all since, let me think…my wedding day!  That was 3 years ago, and wasn’t even a church service.  I’m surprised they still send me stuff and haven’t ex-communicated me yet, lol.  But all kidding aside, I’m not an extremely religious person.  I do believe in God and Heaven and all that, but I don’t necessarily feel you have to go to a church every week, and give all your money to them (after all – God isn’t the one needing my money) in order to have your beliefs.  I apologize if I offended anyone here.  To each his own.  This time, however, instead of just throwing the form away, something made me look it over.  Now I’m thinking of signing up for a couple things.  I love working with kids – they are looking for vacation Bible school helpers (and I even just told my hubby the other night how much I used to like Bible school).  And who ever knew my church has or is starting a dance group?!  Obviously I love dance, I’m even trying to start my own dance business (which I offered classes to the church’s preschool, but was sadly declined), so definite check mark on that one!  However, in typical fashion of me, I am late in returning it.  So now I have to write a note to add to it apologizing for my tardiness, and find out what that dance stuff is all about.  Really?  Dance group in a church?  It also got me thinking maybe I should go to church more often, especially if I’m volunteering.  I’m not a morning person though, and I am not a fan of the long, drawn out services on a Sunday morning, so I’m thinking of attending some of the Saturday evening services.  Maybe I’ll go with my Grandmom.  Anyway, I filled out the sheet, now I just need to write the note, send it back, and see where to go from there.

We have new members to Thunderbolts, and I have been working with them a little.  I have been wanting to work on a routine or at least help out and collaborate with another instructor on one, and I mentioned this to the director.  I don’t want to step on anyone’s toes in the group, since they’ve been around all this time, and I went away for 3 years.  But last night I got asked to get together with one of the instructors to work on the new routine.  YAY!   :D  So I’m excited about that.  I even stayed up way too late last night listening to music and trying to find some good ideas with that twirling ear of mine.

I am thinking about starting a “Scrapbook Saturday” post on here.  It might not be every single week, since some Saturdays get busy with other activities.  I have a TON of scrapbooking stuff to work on from the wedding, bridal shower, honeymoon, etc., that I bought but then never got around to completing.  It’s still all here, and all of those events were 3 years ago!  It’s about time I get to it, and I thought some motivation might be to do a post on here.  I would plan to create at least one page (more if the creativity and time allows), and post it on here every Saturday (or every possible Saturday).  So, hopefully I’ll get started on that this week and you’ll see something by Saturday night (or “Scrapbook Sunday” if I only work on it Saturday and finish late).

So those are a few of the major things I’ve been thinking about, trying to start, or need to work on.  But those things, along with a never-ending to-do list of other things, makes me feel all frazzled.  I just don’t know where to begin, or I want to work on 3 different things at the same time because I’m excited to, and I get all “aaaahhhhh!”.  Ever feel like this?  I’m sure all you moms have…

Week #2 Ending and Catch Up, plus AWARDS!

I feel like I’m playing catch up now. My hubby came home on Saturday afternoon after his week away in NJ, and I really didn’t feel like spending more time with my computer. I enjoyed my weekend with him, and now I have a lot of bloggy stuff to catch up on!

Week #2, Full Day #5 – I hadn’t slept well all week, mainly because I would put off going to bed until I couldn’t keep my eyes open anymore since the bed was very lonely and empty. Friday morning I finally crashed. I didn’t get out of bed until 11:30am that day! Needless to say, I didn’t get that much accomplished on Friday before heading out to dinner with my parents, grandmother and uncle. After dinner we went to my grandmother and uncle’s house to play Wii games. That was pretty much the extent of my day.

Week #2, Homecoming! – Hubby came home Saturday afternoon at around 2:15pm. It was so nice to finally get a hug, and he even brought me a surprise:

The last time he came back, I also got flowers. Unfortunately, I don’t have any pictures of those. He always knows how to make me smile. :)

After he unpacked, we ended up getting pizza (I know, bad me – I was hungry and didn’t want what we had here, so pizza won the hunger battle…) and just spent time together watching TV and relaxing. :) It was a very nice day.

Sunday – We slept in that morning, relaxed a little in the afternoon, then went shopping for a few things and had my parents come over in the evening. My dad and hubby put our new grill together, which took a lot longer than expected, and we tested it out – grilled chicken with light BBQ sauce, veggie kabobs marinated in soy sauce, ham for my mom, and low-cal cucumber salad with cantaloupe for dessert – yummy! It was the first time I ever used a grill, and of course it got late, so I had to grill in the dark! I had some light from the rear yard spotlight, but I will definitely not be trying to grill in the dark again. Everything came out awesome and delicious! The chicken was cooked perfectly, the veggies were done just right, and now I have grilled ham to try later in the week for a leftover dinner. Clean up is a little time consuming, but the grill is great and may just become my new favorite way of cooking this summer! :) (Picture from Lowe's website - this is our grill)

I also found out on Sunday that I received my first TWO blog awards! The first is this (love it!):

The Rules:
•Thank the blogger who awarded it to you.
•Sum up your blogging philosophy, motivation, and experience using five (5) words.
•Pass it on to 10 other blogs which you feel have real substance.

I’d like to thank NYC Island Gal for this award – I was honored to receive it, thank you so much!!! If you haven’t seen her blog yet, please check it out, she has a beautiful blog, a great spirit, and is working her way from island life to NYC!

My blogging philosophy – not really sure what that would be…I began this blog to write about my life, share my creativity, and connect with other people. I’m still unsure of a lot of blogging stuff, but I’m working on it, and hope to continue this for a long time. I guess I just like sharing and talking…sometimes maybe too much! But I was supposed to only use 5 words, so I guess this would be them – creativity, sharing, friendship, fun, and slim (for the experience part). So now I pass this on to these bloggers:

• Army Wife Life
• Fake It Til You Make It
• Making Stuff is Fun…
• MannLand5
• The Crafty Hippo
• Newlywed Adventures
• Alabaster Cow
• The Glamorous Life of a Housewife
• The Very Best Housewife
• Little Miss Scatterbrained

Hope you all enjoy this award!

My next one was not specifically given directly to me, per say…but I will certainly take JoJo up on this!

She “broke the rules” a little by passing it on to all her followers instead of just the seven required, and as I am a follower of hers, I will certainly take it! :) The rules for this award are to list seven facts about myself and to pass this on to seven other beautiful bloggers.

1. I was terrified of dogs when I was little, didn’t matter how big or small. This all started when the little mini poodle down the street used to chase me on my big wheel (remember those?? mine was a Smurf one!), and knocked me off one day. Yes, a mini poodle knocked me off my big wheel… I am better with dogs now, small dogs are totally fine, big ones are ok for the most part, but sometimes they strike the fear in me a little again. I would even love to have a Pembroke Welsh Corgi someday, if I ever got a dog.
2. Sticking to the fear issue – I am also terrified of birds! Seagulls are the worst! I’m not sure how that started, but to this day, I dodge the birds on the boardwalk and freak out whenever one flies near. I know there’s a picture of me when I was about 3 or so with a bird sitting on my head at the shore – maybe that’s when it all began…
3. I loved high school, and miss it a lot sometimes. I hated college. For most people it’s the other way around.
4. I used to have an iguana, a hamster, guinea pigs, hermit crabs and a betta fish. Not necessarily all at once, but I’ve owned all of the above at some point in my life.
5. I used to play the clarinet. I wasn’t the best in the concert band, but I played from 4th grade to 12th grade. Haven’t touched it since…sometimes I wish I would have continued.
6. I played an island girl in my high school’s production of “South Pacific” when I was a sophomore. I have red hair, and they cast me as an island girl…then wanted me to die my hair black! The director would not allow wigs, and I was not about to turn goth, so they hid my hair with lots of flowers. There’s a pic of that somewhere too, but I’m not in possession of it right now. Hello! Where was your brain when you casted?!?
7. I used to love camping when I was little. A lot of my fond memories of my grandparents are from when I went camping with them. I slowly grew out of my love for camping, but when I was little I liked it a lot.

Now I pass this on to these lovely bloggers:

• Army Wife Life
• Fake It Til You Make It
• The Glamorous Life of a Housewife
• NYC Island Gal
• Josiah’s Nest
• Dear Lizzy
• Gerber Days

I hope everyone enjoys their awards, and sorry for the long post, but now I feel all caught up and should be able to continue with my regular stuff now! Have a great week!

Favorite Kitty Pic Friday!

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It’s Friday again! Hope you all had a great week and have a fun weekend planned! Welcome to my weekly Friday post. I started this post just to share my love of cats, my own kitties adorable and funny photos, or even just some others that I find amusing. I then decided to open it up with a linky, and try to get others to share as well! This is not strictly a means of getting more followers for me or those who link up (but if that happens, great!) – just a way for us all to share. So if you’d like to join in, here’s what you do:

If you have a blog of your own, grab the button above, put it in your own post, then pick one photo of your own kitty, a friend or family member’s kitty, or even one from the web that you just love. Photography skills do not matter – just a favorite picture. Put the photo in your post along with a little explanation about the photo, a story about the kitty, or just a fun cat fact. Then link up here with the linky below! Share with your friends and invite them to join as well. If you don’t have a blog of your own, but would still like to participate, you can leave a comment below with a link to your picture if it’s somewhere on the internet. I do this every Friday, so get those photos ready! :)

Here’s my choice for today:

Since I chose a photo of Dusty as a kitten last week, I thought I’d keep with that theme and go with one of Jasper. I can’t believe how small he was then – but look at those big paws, I knew he was going to get big! And I should have known then that he would have a problem with overeating…always licking his chops (with the food bowl right behind him…)! My hubby took this photo within the first couple days after bringing them home. :)

So, get ready, get set, and share! (Linky will be open all weekend, even though it’s a Friday post – seems to work better that way.)

Week #2 – Full Day #4

I am skipping my (becoming) regular Thursday Five post, because, well, I just wasn’t super happy this week.  With hubby gone I have been a little lonely (even with family around), and feeling kind of blah.  Hopefully next week is better, and maybe I’ll be able to make up for this week with extra “happies”.

I didn’t really accomplish anything today, but at the same time it was also a fairly busy day.  I did get one thing crossed off my list from yesterday though – I made my cucumber salad, and this time it came out really good.  A lot of times I make it lately, it is a little too strong with the vinegar, but still ok to eat and enjoy.  But this time, I think it might have come out perfect for my likings.  If you’re interested in how I make it, I will share with you, just let me know (and be warned – I have no set measurements when it comes to this particular side dish.  It’s all based on your personal tastes).

I did, however, get our goodbye card sent off to the old neighbors – here’s hoping it gets forwarded to them in Panama and doesn’t end up back in my mailbox!  I also did a little shopping for some necessities (groceries, new shower curtain, water sprinkler for the yard), and bought our canopied pergola for the future patio today!  Since we don’t have the patio even started yet, we won’t be able to put it together until that’s completed, but we really wanted to jump on Target’s clearance of it (saving us $180 off the regular price) while they still actually had some in stock.  My other patio dining set did not arrive today, as expected.  Instead, I got the replacement chair for the dented chair from the set of extra ones.  I didn’t expect that chair for another 2 weeks, but it got delivered today already by the most unpleasant miserable DHL driver (any delivery company driver, actually) that I ever met.  So, since the patio set was estimated to arrive on Monday at the latest, I will now have to call Target’s customer service tomorrow afternoon to find out where it is and when it will actually get here.  Not looking forward to doing that…

I ate dinner with my parents tonight at IHOP.  I really like it there, but haven’t gone in a very long time, especially with counting calories and trying to lose weight.  But I agreed to go today since the Wii Fit has been nice to me all week, and enjoy my meal.  Surprisingly, IHOP now has a “For Me” menu section where they have some options under 600 calories – I was thrilled to see that!  I enjoyed the Two x Two x Two For Me meal.  This combo included the egg substitution equivalent of 2 scrambled eggs, 2 slices of turkey bacon without any grease, and 2 buttermilk pancakes.  I did splurge a little and enjoyed the butter on them as well as the butter pecan syrup.  That stuff is the best syrup I’ve ever had!  Yummy….

We might have new neighbors very soon too.  Today I saw the for sale signs removed from the house next door, and this evening we saw a man with his son and daughter mowing the lawn.  It certainly was too fast for the house to actually sell and have settlement since the for sale signs were still in the yard yesterday, but the property did have a lease option, so I’m thinking that’s what happened with it.  Hopefully the old neighbors get to make a little profit from this whole uprooting if they really did lease it.  They seemed nice, so hopefully they really are and won’t start setting off fireworks or having loud parties.  That’s the one thing I fear with neighbors.  We thought we had it made with the neighbors we had, but with the family next door moving, it changes things and makes me nervous.  I specifically point out the fireworks and loud parties because we dealt with that at the apartment.  I am so afraid someone else is going to do something stupid and set my house on fire.  I guess we’ll find out soon enough!

Tomorrow I’m hoping to crack down and get a lot more accomplished.  I better tuck my motivation in a drawer before it runs off to play hide and seek again!  Favorite Kitty Pic Friday coming up – find your favorite kitty photo and join me in sharing!  (*Hint – if you don’t have your own furry feline family member, I Can Has Cheezbuger has codes under all the pictures to allow you to add it to your blog.  Those are acceptable too   :)  )

Week #2 – Full Day #3

Today I woke up really missing hubby. I just felt like curling up with him and getting a hug, but obviously no hubby, and the kitties were not having any of the cuddles. I felt like crying this morning, and really didn’t want to get out of bed.

Dusty was just as pesty today as yesterday, but he tried different tactics this time. Yeah, nice try Dust – those tactics only got you kicked off the bed and out of the room today! Instead of going for my head today, he went for my feet and our nice, not-so-cheap comforter that I wanted since we moved and finally got on sale just before winter (it’s still on the bed because it looks nice and I get chilly sometimes overnight with the AC on). He was digging incessantly at my feet, then tried biting my toe, and finally settled for attacking the comforter with his teeth and rear claws. I thought he was going to destroy it! And since I was in no mood to get out of bed this morning, he landed himself in the hallway behind a shut door.

When I finally did get up, the Wii fit was actually nice to me this morning – 0.9 pound difference from yesterday! After what I ate for dinner and how late I ate it last night, I really didn’t think there would be a good difference in my weight today. That was a nice surprise.

I had trouble finding my motivation again today. I have a lot I wanted to do this week, and really haven’t done any of it yet – I’ve been feeling blah, and that doesn’t make for a motivated me. I decided I needed to do something about it today though, so I wrote a list…..a fairly long list. I knew I wouldn’t accomplish everything on the list by the end of today, but at least I have a list now, and I thought that might be good motivation, since it feels great to me when I accomplish things and get to cross something off. I managed to cross off 4 things. Tomorrow’s another day, but I won’t have as much time to get things done due to going out and about with my parents.

I missed our patio furniture delivery today. I thought the stuff was going to come by Monday, and still wasn’t here as of yesterday. Today they decided to deliver it immediately after hopping in the shower, so now I signed their little slip and hopefully I’ll see it tomorrow. I’m going out with my parents tomorrow to purchase our canopied pergola. We will then be almost fully furnished for our patio – we just need the patio itself now! We bought almost all the stuff we wanted to put out there already, even though the patio hasn’t been started yet, because apparently the end of the season for the stuff is now already, and we were already starting to have trouble accumulating these items. The pergola is on clearance now at $180 off the regular price, so we’re getting while the getting is available. I’ll do a patio post another time though.

Tonight I watched the new “Fame” movie. When it first came out and I saw the previews, I wasn’t so sure I wanted to watch it at all. I just kept thinking it looked weird, and how could they screw up “Fame”. I was very wrong – I loved it! The music is awesome (my twirling and dancing ears were active throughout the entire movie!), and they kept the general concept of the original without simply just copying it. So, on that note – have any of you watched it? What do you think about it?

Week #2 – Full Day #2

I was very unmotivated again today. I got nothing accomplished, and felt pretty blah. I guess not having hubby around puts me in a slump. I don’t like it. I am hoping tomorrow is a new day and I will be more productive.

I went to bed extremely late last night, which means I got up fairly late today. The kitties didn’t pester me for food yesterday morning, but you better believe Dusty decided to let me know when I had enough sleep for his grumbly belly this morning. One or both of them usually can get pesty in the morning when they want food (“Tubs” is on a diet, so unfortunately for little Dusty, he follows the same feeding now, which usually means no free for all on the food overnight), but this morning Dusty was a whole new level of annoying. He decided to skip pawing my legs and go straight for the head today. Not sure exactly what he was after or trying to accomplish, but he kept standing at my head on my pillow and digging between the pillow under my head and the one propped up against the wall.

The rest of my early afternoon consisted of catching up on “Persons Unknown”. I watched the first three episodes now, and it’s a little slow moving and weird, but I am totally into it. I couldn’t stop from watching all 3 episodes on demand, and excited now to see the next episode. Any of you watching that show? What do you think about it?

I headed out to return my free movie from redbox, and make a quick Target stop. I managed to beat the horrendous thunderstorm to get to my car, but driving home was altogether different. My wipers were going double speed, and I still couldn’t see! The lightning was striking a little too close for comfort to my car, and the thunder was booming so loudly that it scared me! It looked like a waterfall outside. I managed to make it in the house when the rain slowed a tiny bit.

This evening I spent at baton practice, teaching some of the older but newer or newest members. It felt good to be doing something, since I don’t always have a “job” at every practice due to the number of instructors. They’re a good group of girls, and I would love to teach them a new routine, or at least collaborate on one with one of the other instructors. We shall see what becomes of that, however. My hope is to at least be able to collaborate.

The scale was nice to me today and yesterday, but I’m still not back at my lowest weight because this past week/weekend really did me in. I’m not sure how nice it will be to me tomorrow though, since we went somewhere to eat after practice that didn’t really have any great options for low calorie eating.

Now onto “hump day” – hopefully the days after that will go so quickly that I’ll wonder where the time has gone. Hopefully I will also be more motivated to get things accomplished tomorrow.

Week #2 – Full Day #1

My hubby is away this week, back in NJ for work, if you didn’t read earlier posts about it. This is the second week he’s gone since we moved into this house in PA, and today was the first full day home alone without him. My kitties are wondering where hubby is, Dusty hasn’t been eating as much, and Jasper hangs around me and cries even more than usual. Thankfully my parents live 5 minutes away, so I spend more time with them to not feel as lonely.

Today, after sleeping in a little (since when hubby is not here, I tend to put off going to bed as long as possible), I watched a little TV, cleaned up the dirty dishes, and went to get ready for the day. Once I was all ready, I went to my parents to go get the grill that is our anniversary present (thanks again Mom and Dad!), do some grocery shopping for dinner tonight, and pick up my FREE redbox movie. I was making my Taco Turkey Burgers for my dad (Mom is picky and hardly eats anything good, with flavor, at all!), and after dinner my mom picked “Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squekquel” to watch. I saw it in theaters already, but definitely wanted to watch it again. My parents loved it – they even stayed awake for the entire thing (which if you knew them personally, you would know is a major accomplishment)! My poor dad, who just had hernia surgery last week, was hurting himself while watching the movie – he couldn’t stop laughing, and then to make it worse, my mom decided to get comfy on the little sofa, and I laughed so hard I cried! If you would have seen her, and know how she usually sits, you would have been rolling on the floor too!

They left here about 10:30ish, and now the quiet aloneness sets in. Jaspy is finally done crying at me for the moment and is passed out in the doorway. Who knows where Dusty is now. I’ll be headed to bed shortly, but will most likely watch some TV again first. I’m thinking I’ll catch up on “Persons Unknown” since it’s on demand for free, and my dad piqued my interest in it. Anyone else watching it? Is it good?

I wasn’t very motivated today to get any crafting done, so hopefully tomorrow is better for that. Michaels has an awesome coupon this week (20% off entire purchase, including sale items, all week long), and even though I know I shouldn’t buy more craft supplies, I’m so tempted to with that great coupon. I have new ideas and projects I’d like to try (wood and decoupage are in there), but I also feel like I shouldn’t buy more when I wasn’t motivated to accomplish something with the stuff I already have here. Oh, what to do, what to do?!?

Anyway, I thought I would do my posts like this one this week, because I know my hubby reads this, so it’s my way of sharing my days with him while he’s gone. We do talk on the phone, but I want to do this too, and it’s my blog, so I can! Thanks for reading….this week is a little hard for me, and I still want to post, but as I said, I’m feeling unmotivated at the moment, so this is what you get. Maybe tomorrow something more exciting will happen – can’t imagine it getting any less exciting than today!

Happy Father’s Day (and other weekend stuff…)

I am skipping “Getting To Know You Sunday” this week because otherwise this post would be too much of a mish mosh of things, and probably very lengthy (already fairly so to begin with).  If you would like to participate though, head on over to MannLand5 for the questions and linky!

I am starting my week lonely.  Hubby went back to NJ for the week this morning to show his face in the office.  He left this morning and won’t be back until Saturday afternoon sometime.  So far we’ve only done this once before since we moved, and it wasn’t too bad (thankfully I live near my parents, other relatives, and participate in my baton twirling group now), but I still don’t like it and I am really hoping the week goes very fast.

So, yesterday we spent the day together, away from our computers, and enjoyed each other’s company.  We got a surprise call from my dad to let us know Lowe’s had their grills on sale this weekend and we should go meet them there to look at two, pick which one we wanted, and they would buy it for us for our anniversary present.  Awesome!  Especially because one of our choices was either the same one or very similar to the one we chose last year and never bought.  One less thing for us to worry about and purchase for our future patio.  We were also going to look at shades for the front porch, and totally drove right past the store forgetting we wanted to stop there.  I looked at them today, and didn’t really like them anyway, so the search for affordable shades will continue.  We ate dinner at On The Border, and we never get alcoholic drinks out in restaurants, but yesterday we decided to splurge a little.  Their red sangria is delicious!  Then we moved on to the mini golf course, and managed to totally tie each other with our scores.  Afterwards was a cool down treat of peanut butter frozen yogurt.  Needless to say, the Wii Fit was not happy with me this morning…hoping for a better week while I’m by myself.

Now – Happy Father’s Day!  (I must point out that it seems kind of backwards to me that I would be getting the grill on Father’s Day….but thanks again Dad!)  As I said in my Mother’s Day post, we’re not a real mushy/lovey family, so on here will be as mushy as I get with this.  I even got my dad a funny card this year:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I did write a nice note on the more serious side, thanking him for everything he has done for us in our new house and at our old apartment, and told him I am very lucky and grateful to have him as my dad.  I have always been closer to my dad than my mom.  I guess I’m definitely a “Daddy’s Little Girl” – but he and I were a lot more alike than me and my mom.  We have actual conversations, intelligent ones, and whenever I needed help with homework he was the one working out the problems with me, he was the one building and creating my dance recital backdrops, baton routine props, and always made sure to be at every show, recital, practice, etc.  Now that I’m older, I’m realizing more just how much he has done for me and is willing to give of himself.  So, if he doesn’t know by now, I hope he reads this post and finds out how much I appreciate having him for my dad.  Here is my favorite picture of us:

And since I wouldn’t be here without my grandfathers too, I celebrate Father’s Day in memory of them as well.  I never met my dad’s father since he died before I was even born, but I have been told I would have thought him great.  My mom says he cursed her though – she was never a fan of red hair, and before she was pregnant with me, he told her she was going to have a red head….and here I am!  It’s strictly genetics, but it’s still a cute story.  :) 

My other grandfather passed away 3 years ago, 3 months before my wedding.  He was the most generous and loving man I have ever met.  Here is what I had the pastor read at his funeral (there was no way I could read it myself…to be honest – this is the first time I’m re-reading it myself without the tears, which is why I felt I could share it now):

“I was asked for memories of my Pop Pop, but how can you put 25 years worth of memories into words?  There are too many of them to really share, some trivial, and some involving milestones in my life.  What I believe is most important to remember about him and take with me throughout my life is what kind of man he was.  I will always remember him for his kind and caring nature, his sense of humor, his generous heart, and above all, the great love he had for his family.  My Pop Pop had a great spirit that will live on with me for the rest of my life.  But if I had to pick just one specific thing, I guess it would be his hugs.  He always made me feel loved and secure.  I will miss him greatly.”  My Pop Pop… So, Happy Father’s Day to all you dads, soon-to-be dads, and grandfathers out there.  If you’re a woman reading this, I hope you are all as blessed as I am and was with great dads, husbands, and grandfathers.

Favorite Kitty Pic Friday!

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Here’s my choice for today:

Awww! My Dusty when he was still an “itteh bitteh kitteh” (if you like I Can Has Cheezburger, you know what I’m saying here!). Hubby took this photo when he was home with the kitties during the first few days after we brought them home. He was so adorable then…..and still is today!

Your turn – looking forward to seeing all your favorite kitties or kitty pics! Share with me and others below (this time I will leave the linky open all weekend).

Thursday Five!

My five “happy’s” for this week:

Happy

Grateful

Jubilant

Ecstatic

Thankful

1. Today is a beautiful day! The sun is shining, the humidity is lower, and there’s a good, cooler breeze going outside. I was able to turn off the AC and open the windows to keep the house cool.

2. I am grateful to live in such a nice neighborhood. My current neighbors are very friendly, and I’m glad to have them living next to us. However…..one neighbor family is moving today (not quite a happy thought), but in keeping the upbeat mood, I am hoping for new neighbors just as great as them.

3. My Topsy Turvy tree planter is coming along pretty well! I haven’t posted about it yet, and I plan to, but I saw my first tomato flower bud on it today – yay!

4. Still excited to get my patio built – we bought some chairs this week to match the outdoor dining set that is being delivered over the next few days. The patio still isn’t even started yet – we just got the cost for it 2 days ago and still waiting on another cost estimate for the second part of it, and it was somewhat higher than hubby expected, so we might have to cut back on something, but I am still excited to get it completed and have a party! (sorry for the excited rambling there…it tends to happen with me sometimes…)

5. Yesterday was my 3 year wedding anniversary, and I am so very thankful to have my hubby be my soul mate. The card I gave him said it all perfectly – I am so lucky to have him in my life and I truly don’t know where I would be or what my life would be like without him. :)

Each week since I started following along with this, I am afraid I won’t be able to participate – that I won’t find enough to be happy about. I am pleasantly surprised that so far it’s been fairly easy to come up with at least five things! :) Happy Thursday everyone!

My Married Life

So, I said today would be a very special post – today I am celebrating 3 years of marriage to my soul mate! :) I thought for today’s post I would reflect on how I met my hubby and my wedding day.

I met my hubby online, thanks to my best friend at the time. My family finally got connected to the internet the summer between my junior and senior year in high school, and she was helping me learn my way around the interwebs when she decided I should talk to this guy she talked to from NJ. We began talking online, daily, and really started to like each other just from conversation. We decided to meet in person the summer between my high school graduation and first year in college (talking online almost daily for a year now), so his whole family decided to take their week long vacation here in PA, we met face to face for the first time, and became a long distance couple by the end of the week (July 21st to be exact)! We made a long distance relationship work for 6 1/2 years, when he proposed the day after Christmas in 2005. We moved in together into an apartment in central NJ in August of 2006, and got married on June 16th, 2007. Three years later, we now own a house back in my old hometown area in PA.

Our wedding day was beautiful and went smoothly. I ended up with the first dress I saw in a magazine. It was an Alfred Angelo design, and so were the bridesmaid dresses and my mom’s outfit. The flower girl’s dress, however, was a totally different designer, but yet somehow matched perfectly to my dress! I loved their dresses, which I left the decision making up to them, and gave them their wedding day jewelry as their gifts during the rehearsal dinner.

I picked my colors based on hydrangeas, and the fact that I love the color periwinkle, as well as the blue and purple color combo. My bouquet turned out beautiful, full of white roses, purple lisianthus, and blue delphinium. The girls carried hydrangeas, but the flower girl was not allowed to drop flower petals in the church, so she carried a bouquet similar to mine in her basket.

Isn’t she adorable?!? Do you see the matching of our dresses? I loved it!

The church was kind of warm, since there was no AC and it was a beautifully hot day that day. Thankfully, no one passed out, and even though the ceremony seemed to take forever at the time, it was actually fairly short. We walked out of the church to a flurry of bubbles (rice was not allowed – but I didn’t really need to deal with pulling rice out of my hair and dress all day anyway). After pictures in the church, and my feet were killing me (my shoes were off for most of the church photos), we were whisked away by our slightly lost and confused limo driver to our outdoor photo location. The pictures came out beautiful, but getting into place was a little tricky as we had a lot of goose poop to maneuver around! As soon as I yelled out, “Watch out for the goose poop!”, the kids had fun with that little saying!

This one was tricky…we were precariously perched on those tree roots, with the water only a few inches away behind us!

The infamous “goose poop” walk!

The reception was Disney themed, since we love Disney and went there for our honeymoon (we did 4 days in the park, 3 days on the Disney Bahamian cruise, and one night/day at Universal Studios). The tables were given Disney names instead of numbers, and the name cards/favor cards had a clip art picture on it to match which table the guest was sitting at. The head table was “Magic Kingdom”, and other tables included “Mickey Mouse”, “Little Mermaid”, “Peter Pan”, “Jungle Book”, “Lion King”, “Finding Nemo”, “Pinocchio”, and more. Each table’s centerpiece was a mirror with a set of 3 different sized glass cylinders filled with water and a floating candle, surrounded by small votives. There was also a silver picture frame on each table, and instead of photos in them, I created a scrapbook style piece that used an appropriate piece of scrapbook paper as a background to match the stickers I found for each table theme. I arranged the stickers to almost look like a mini movie poster in each one. Sadly, I don’t have any pictures of any of these, at least not that I have found so far. We walked into the reception to Disney songs. My parents walked in to “Be Our Guest”, since they were paying for and hosting the party, his parents got “Bella Notte” from Lady and the Tramp because they are Italian and it’s the only Italian Disney song there is, the kids walked in to “Bibbidi Bobbidi Boo”, my MOH and BM got “Never Had a Friend Like Me”, the other 2 “couples” entered with “You’ve Got a Friend in Me”, and hubby and I chose “You’ll Be In My Heart”. We danced our first dance to Michael Buble’s version of “For Once In My Life”. I choreographed a foxtrot style dance for us! :) My dad and I danced to “In My Daughter’s Eyes” by Martina McBride,

and my hubby and his mom danced to “"My Wish” by Rascal Flatts. We had buffet style food, beer, wine and soda, and a fuzzy navel fountain (my favorite alcoholic drink!). Our cake was a simple chocolate and vanilla cake with buttercream icing, as I knew I could please everyone with that, and came out beautiful! We found that wonderful Precious Moments figure and had to use it as our cake topper, and my dad bought us the Lenox Sleeping Beauty castle found under the tiers (Cinderella’s castle would have been better, but we only found that in Disney World during our honeymooon, as it’s exclusive to there).

(Can you find the hidden Mickey’s?)

Overall, it was a success with a lot of fun had by all, but I regret to say that I didn’t enjoy it as much as I wanted to and should have. Due to the heat and stress of the day, I was becoming dehydrated (by the time we went on our honeymoon, I spent the first 2 days drinking as much water as possible, and almost passed out from the heat and dehydration while waiting in line the the Backlot Tour ride in what’s now called Hollywood Studios – it got much better after that!), I felt sick when it came time to eat, so I didn’t eat much at all, and the only alcohol I had all day and night was the champagne in the limo and the champagne toast at the reception – I didn’t even get a sip from my fuzzy navel fountain I wanted sooo badly! I was also so worried about mingling and talking to each table to show our appreciation for them coming, that I didn’t really get to relax and have fun dancing. Especially since a few guests also didn’t really know how to make small talk and keep a conversation short! I did participate in a few dances, but I do look back on the reception part with some regrets and wishes. Maybe someday, in the far future, we can re-create a reception or vowel renewal or something, and I would definitely allow myself to enjoy it more….that’s my wish…who knows if it will ever come true… ;)

(I warned you there would be pictures and a long post! Thank you for reading the whole thing – you’ll get my thank you if you actually got to this part and made it through such a long post - and sharing a review of my special day!)

*Photos courtesy of Photography by McDonough*

Hi, I am now a “Gleek”…

Well, I don’t know if I really am, but I just got into the show “Glee”.  I never really got totally into it when it first started last year, but I had seen a few snippets of it here and there, and I constantly hear about the show and the music from a lot of people I know, so I found out Fox is re-showing the season throughout the summer and thought I would give it a go.

I have watched the pilot episode and “Showmance” now so far, and I really enjoyed both episodes!  I look forward to hearing their versions of the songs, and now I even listen with my “twirling” ear.  I volunteer with a baton twirling and dance group, and I was a member of said group since the age of 5, so a lot of times when I hear music, I think about how it could be used for a routine, if it would even be good for one, and I even start to choreograph to it in my head sometimes.  I have started to do that with the music from “Glee”.  So far, I really like “Halo/Walking on Sunshine”.  I haven’t seen it in an episode yet, but I heard it and really like their version of those two songs and how they put them together.  It’s very upbeat and fun.  :)

I do not like Will’s wife, Terri.  Not one bit.  Did you ever have a character in a show or movie really get under your skin and rub you the wrong way, so much so that you even give the TV nasty looks when they come on screen?  Well, she does that to me.  The way she acts like she’s so entitled to everything, and manipulates Will the way she does really irritates me.  Now, I’ve only seen two episodes, so whether that changes or not, I don’t know.  But I dislike her a lot.

So, any of you reading this consider yourself a “Gleek”?  Who’s your favorite character, or what’s your favorite song?  I do have one request though – no episode spoilers!  I know season 1 has come to an end, but I’m a little slow and haven’t gotten past episode 2 yet, so please don’t spoil the fun for me.

*photo courtesy of Fox.com – it’s actually one of their free wallpaper downloads*

Sneak Peek at the Week

So, for today’s post, I thought I would give you a sneak peek into what posts I have planned for the rest of the week.  I wanted to post something today, and just couldn’t think of anything else to do.  Plus, Wednesday is a very special day for me, and I have a special post planned!   :)    That one is going to be left up to a surprise though…

Tuesday – if I post something this day, it will probably be related to TV, maybe a craft….if I even post tomorrow.

Wednesday – my very special, secret post!  It’s going back in time, and will include pictures, possibly making for a lengthy post.

Thursday – most likely Thursday Five from MannLand5, unless I become a very unhappy person as the week progresses.

Friday – my Favorite Kitty Pic Friday!  I’m going to leave the linky open into Saturday night this week, so I’m hoping more of you and your friends decide to join in the sharing this week.  Get your photos ready!  (Just pick one please – that way if you have a whole computer full of them like I do, you will be able to continue sharing week after week!)

Saturday – again, if I post anything on this day, it will either be related to TV, crafting, or my hubby’s upcoming week-long trip to his parents to go back to his actual office (he telecommutes, but has to go back once a quarter to show his face).  He leaves for that on Sunday…

Sunday (which I actually consider part of next week, but I thought I would just include it here anyway) – possibly 2 posts this day:  definitely a Father’s Day post, and depending on the questions this week, I might also post the Getting to Know You Sunday post (again, from MannLand5) as well.

Stay tuned….

(BTW – could I have used the word “post” just a few more times…?  Probably, but I thought I used it quite enough to begin with….not really going to edit this post to change that either)   ;)

Getting To Know You Sunday

The questions…

1. If you could have one of Superman's, powers which one would you want? Superhuman strength..Flight..Superhuman speed..X-Ray vision..etc

Probably X-Ray vision, cause even though I don’t like to admit it, I can get curious, sometimes nosy.  Flight would be awesome though too.

2. The best thing I ever won is....?

Um, not really sure….I don’t tend to win much, and the only thing that’s standing out in my mind at the moment is when I was 7 and won first place in my novice 2 baton category at NBTA Nationals in Notre Dame, IN – that felt awesome!

3. Have you ever skyped with a bloggy friend?

No, I’ve never skyped with anyone, since I don’t even really know what skype is or how to use it….Facebook can sometimes even be a challenge for me still!

4. What is your favorite Summer month?

July – you’ve got 4th of July fireworks and sometimes picnics, my birthday on the 17th, my hubby’s birthday on the 29th, and July 21st is when we officially became a couple almost 11 years ago (we met online almost a year before that, met in person that week, became a couple on the 21st, and have now been married for almost 3 years!)

5. Pool, Lake, or Ocean?

Definitely pool, ‘cause I always get a mouthful of saltwater in the ocean and can’t stand it, but I used to love the “lake” at one of the campgrounds we used to go to when I was really little.

6. One of my favorite Summer memories is.....?

Many favorite summer memories – every year I went with my baton group to Wildwood, NJ to perform on/off the boardwalk.  It’s something we looked forward to every summer, and they are definitely like my second family, and we have made so many great memories from those trips.  Sadly, we won’t be going this year.   :(

7. What's your favorite secret bargain?

Um, not really sure I have one.  I shop at Wal-Mart all the time, so right there most of everything I buy is a bargain compared to other stores.

8. Do you plan on or have you been watching the World Cup?

No – I used to be an Athletic Trainer, and got my fill of watching sports that way.  Not a fan of watching any sport on TV.

Favorite Kitty Pic Friday!

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It’s that time of the week again! I’m doing the linky again – last week I had one participant (may not seem like much, but still awesome to me!), so this week I’m looking for more! The point is to choose one photo of your kitties, a friend’s kitty, or even just a great kitty photo that you love (keep in mind copyrights and re-publishing rights), grab the button above, post it on your blog with an explanation of the photo or a cute/funny story about your favorite feline, and link that post up to the list below. Check out fellow bloggers kitties, share your own, and remember that this is a weekly thing, so get ready with those pics and participate as often as possible!
Here’s my choice today:

Jasper napping, yet again… You would think all my cats do is sleep, and well, in Jasper’s case, it’s true! It’s no surprise we call him “Tubs” or say he does the “fatty shuffle” when he tries to jog off somewhere. This was a nap from just this past week, and I just had to snap it – he looked so sweet!
Your turn….can’t wait to see!

Thursday Five and Other Things

My five “happy’s” for this week:

Jubilant

Giddy

Excited

Thankful

Stoked

1. I hit my lowest weight yet in my most recent weight loss endeavor! It’s not my overall lowest weight ever, but it is for this attempt! This attempt seems to be working….slowly….but still keeping motivated and now down about 24 pounds!

2. Watching “America’s Got Talent” with my hubby – he never really was a fan of the show and didn’t watch it with me much before, but now that Howie Mandel is a judge, he seems to be enjoying it more with me. I like when he gets into shows with me. :)

3. The baton twirling group I used to perform with, and now volunteer my time helping out and teaching will have their first show of the summer season tomorrow – they are performing a few new brand new routines for the first time, and I’m excited to see how they do!

4. I enjoyed the awesome weather here this afternoon and sat on my porch for a while. When we looked for a house, a front porch was a must have for me, and today I was thankful to have it and be able to enjoy it.

5. Still “stoked” about some possible new writing opportunities that might actually make me a little extra pocket money – I’m still doing my research on them, and figuring them all out, but I’m hoping for some good things to come out of it all.

Now onto the other things:

Jillian Michaels new show, “Losing It with Jillian Michaels'” literally makes me lose it every time! There have only been two episodes so far, but both made me bawl like a baby! She’s one tough cookie, and even just watching it motivates me to get up and do something. Today I did 20 minutes of free step and 10 minutes of free run on the Wii Fit. That equals 1600 steps through the step aerobics and 1.something miles for the run. I later took a long walk with my hubby around our neighborhood. I even stretched! So hopefully my legs won’t be yelling at me tomorrow and I’ll be able to do more.

I also made a new dinner tonight, and I must credit my hubby for the idea, because it came out very yummy. I made a “Taco Turkey Burger” if you must give it a name (and I like the sound of it!). I took extra lean ground turkey and mixed taco seasoning into it, grilled the patties on the Foreman grill, placed them on a wheat hamburger bun and topped them with fat free shredded cheddar cheese and salsa. It was delicious!

Hope you all have a happy Friday tomorrow – I will be doing my “Favorite Kitty Pic Friday” link up again. One person participated last week, which still felt great and I loved seeing her kitties, but I’m hoping for some more this week! If you’re reading this and would like join in, check back tomorrow for it!

Under Construction – Part 2

Well, I was at least able to revert back to my old design with my hubby’s help (thank you hun, you’re my hero!).  :)    I’m back to the drawing board with a new design for this blog though, but with the issues I had, I have learned a little from my mistakes, and will have to do some more research and learning before I can really make some changes.  I don’t want to be someone who changes my blog design constantly (even though I sometimes tire of things easily, and that might be fun…) because I feel your blog layout/design is how you’re recognized, sort of a signature.  So, even though change may be necessary every now and again with it, I’d like to keep those changes to a minimal number of times.  So for now, here it is again, even if it is a little drab.  I still like it better than how my attempt came out.  It will change someday though – keep an eye out for it!

Under Construction

Bear with me – I am attempting to create a new look for my blog! I created a new background all by myself, and I loved the look of it without the blog part, but when I applied it to my blog, it didn’t exactly come out as I expected. So, as I said before, I am new to all of this stuff, especially this part of it, please bear with me through my changes! It’s late now and I can’t mess with it much more at the moment, so I will have to work on it more tomorrow. Unfortunately, I also don’t quite know how to revert back to my most recent template, since it was a freebie I found online, can’t remember where I found it, and made enough changes that I don’t think I can simply “undo” to get back to it. :( Hopefully I’ll figure it all out and am happy with what I end up creating or choosing from someone else’s creativity. Any pointers or suggestions of great, FREE, blog designs, please share with me!

Getting to Know You Sunday

I found out about this “blog carnival” through another friend’s blog, and thought I would give it a go this week!

If you are reading this and like this kind of post, check out the originator (love her blog! she does a few of these kinds of posts) and join in!

First off – my hubby should be very proud of me for this; it’s the first time I incorporated someone else’s button and used the code correctly all on my own without his help and tutorials! I’m not a computer savvy person, and have needed his help numerous times with my blogging, since I am still fairly new and still learning. On to the questions:

1. If a person has a booger in their nose. and you can see it, do you tell them? – Only if it’s my hubby or my parents, otherwise I just try not to to stare or look grossed out!
2. What are you passionate about? – dancing and baton twirling…I started baton when I was 5 and dance when I was 7, and nowadays I love teaching both!
3. How long have you been blogging? – I started a different blog to share creative ideas for special occasions (weddings, baby showers, birthday parties, bridal showers, etc.) back in 2008, but I didn’t do much with it so far, so serious blogging has been since April – still fairly new
4. What is your favorite "summer" drink? – iced tea and as for alcoholic, it doesn’t really change from season to season and depends on what I’m thirsty for: fuzzy navel, Malibu and Coke, sour melon, or sometimes a Bahama Mama…as long as it’s typically sweet and fruity!
5. What is your favorite type of music? – no favorites really, but not a big fan of country or hardcore rap….right now my favorite song to hear has been “Hey Soul Sister” by Train
6. Something I do before I go to bed is......? – watch TV, even though they say it’s bad for your quality of sleep, but most of the time it helps me clear my mind and become sleepy
7. My Summer vacation plans are...? – none at the moment, really….day trip to Bethany Beach with my twirling group if there’s enough seats on the bus, but other than that we haven’t decided on anything yet, and with having a new outdoor space built, we might not be able to afford any type of real vacation anywhere
8. My favorite must have, can't live without, beauty product is? – I hardly ever wear makeup (only when I dress up for special occasions), so everyday product that I would still consider in the beauty category would be my hairspray and detangler spray.

Now I better link this up before it’s too late!