Allow Me to Introduce...

Meet Carly.

 aka Carly Dog, Bubba, Bubby, Pumpkin, Pumpkin Pants

Isn't she the cutest thing that you ever did see?  I thought so.

Carly is our six year old golden retriever mix.  What she's mixed with, I'm not quite sure.  We adopted her from a rescue when she was three.  We've had her for three years, and I really can't remember what life was like before her.

 

Carly is the sweetest most well behaved dog I've ever met.  When we brought her home, there was really no adjustment period.  It was like she had lived here her entire life.  She fit in right away and learned her routine easy.  She's smart and serious.  All we have to say is, "Go to your house" and she runs up the stairs to the bedroom we keep her in when we are away.  She's also fun and playful.  Her hobbies include watching TV, chewing on cow hooves, looking out the window, playing fetch and licking her paws.

 

For all of Carly's wonderful qualities, she does have a flaw.  She is afraid of thunderstorms.  She feels them coming and she starts to pace.  When it starts she wants to be a close to you as possible.  Last night as I was getting ready for bed, thunder started to roll and she wedged herself in between me and the bathroom cabinet I was standing in front of.  Normally, I don't mind her neurotic tendency because Lord knows I've got some of my own.  The only time this is a pain is when we are in bed.  She insists on climbing into bed.  Again not a problem, except she doesn't want to cuddle.  She wants to sit.  And pant. And shake. Which in turn shakes the entire bed.

After panting for a few minutes last night, she laid down and gave me these sad nervous eyes.  Could she look any more pathetic adorable?

Luckily the storm didn't last long and she eventually grew tired of the photo shoot.

What are you going to do?

Confessions of a Twitter Convert

Not long ago, I scoffed at Twitter.  What in the world was it?  Who cared about giving status updates?  Who cared what other people were doing?  Couldn't you just do that on Facebook?  In short, I didn't understand the point. 

Then I joined because my husband had joined and he would tell me about funny tweets from celebrities and friends.  It seemed like an inside joke and if there is one thing I can't stand it's to not be in on inside jokes.  So I joined.  I started off with just a few people I was following.  Nothing crazy.  My husband, some friends, a few celebrities like Jeremy Piven (because why wouldn't I - have you seen him?)(sorry husband).  I checked it occasionally and every now and then would tweet something.

Then before I knew it, I was checking more and more.  Every time I would get a free minute I would be checking it... obsessively.  If someone tweets me, I have to tweet them back.  I didn't really know why I had become so addicted to it and in such a short amount of time.  I daresay, I almost prefer it over Facebook.  And here are the two main reasons:

1. Facebook has become too mainstream and has become too bogged down with Farmville, Sorority Life, Causes, etc, etc, etc.  I don't care how you spend your time on Facebook.  There is no need to fill my news feed with that nonsense.  And for goodness sakes, my mother is my friend on Facebook.  I remember when it first started and it was only college kids and it was this fun way to spend time, catching up with people you hadn't seen since high school.  Now it's just different.
2. The celebrities.  I'm not one who buys tabloids or checks celebrity gossip websites, but they do fascinate me which I hate to admit.  By following them, I feel like I get a glimpse into their everyday life - which celebrity gossip doesn't give you.  I love when they post a new picture because again it's a glimpse into their life - it makes you feel like you really are getting to know them.  And I love finding celebrities that I liked when I was younger and had totally forgot about.  Of course I follow them immediately.  

 So yeah, I totally just wrote a whole post about Twitter.   What's funny is I just asked my husband if I should be embarrassed about what I write on my blog - I think this DOES qualify as being embarrassing, but I don't care.  I like Twitter and I don't care who knows it!!!

Checking In

I've been working on a post - actually a few, that aren't quite ready yet.  I'm hoping they will be ready sometime next week.  I'm hoping they'll be as cool on the blog as they are in my head.  Do you ever do that?  Plan something out that you think is totally cool only to realize it that in actuality it's kinda lame?

In other news, the C-A-T-S, CATS, CATS, CATS play the Buckeyes tomorrow.

They HAVE to win.  They really don't have a choice in the matter.  Sorry Ohio State, but I'd really like to see some OSU fans put in their place (no OSU blogger fans of course). It would really make the entire month of March worthwhile.

Award Winning

This past weekend, blogger Lyndsay at SimplyLyndsay was kind enough to award little old me with my first blog award!  Thanks Lyndsay!

I've always seen blogs that get awards and I've always wanted to play along.  Now I get to!  So without further ado, here are my seven facts:

1  I sleep with a fan on every night  Even in the dead of winter.  I use it for the noise.  I have to have it in order to sleep  I even take it with me when I travel  If I don't have it, well, let's just say I become a nasty person, and no one is sleeping.  Sorry husband.

2.  I have an addiction  To purses.  I realize that addictions are nothing to laugh at, but seriously, it's a little out of control.  Have a look...

 Exhibit A - Box o' purses that resides in the guest bedroom closet.  I use some of them on a semi-regular basis

These are my "fancy" purses that get a special little place in my closet  Because they cost more than a few dollars I try to take a little better care of them.  Special things to note: the red purse is a Kate Spade from my awesome MIL two Christmases ago.  She knows her daughter in law well.  See the pink/orange one sitting on the brown Coach?  That's a Longchamp I bought at Saks in NYC on our honeymoon.  It was on super discount.  Even the salesperson didn't believe it was that cheap.  That's my "steal".

3.  I have an irrational phobia to throwing up  This means I worry about getting sick and I worry about others getting sick around me.  I don't wan to see it, and if you're sick then you might get me sick.  I'm also really superstitious about it.  I would tell you the last time I actually got sick, but I don't want to jinx myself. 

4.  I spend an obscene amount of time watching YouTube Beauty Guru videos.  They fascinate me and sometimes irritate me all at the same time.  I seem to like things that irritate me.  I keep people my friends on FB just so I can be irritated by them.  Does anyone else do this?

5.  I'm not a confrontation person, but I tend to suffer from road rage.  Things that irritate me:

• When I'm going 20 MPH OVER the speed limit and people still ride my bumper and then speed off in a hurry around me.  Seriously?  If I were going 20 under, then by all means ride my bumper and pass away.  But over?  You're just asking me to slam on my brakes.  It happened to me today.  Some girl got right up on my bumper and I was going 80 in a 65.  She then got over and as soon as she did I speed up aaaand she had to get right back behind me because the person in the other lane was going too slow.  Then I slowed down.  I saw her put her hands up in frustration.  I got a little joy from seeing this.
• When people weave in and out of traffic or try to pass me quickly.  I typically find these people up the road sitting in the same traffic I'm in, one car ahead of me.  I'm glad they were in such a hurry to get one car in front of me
• When people ride a lane that is ending all the way out and then try to cut you off.  Sorry buddy get behind me.  I obeyed the rules and now you will too.
• People that DON'T yield.

6.  When I come home from work, unless I have somewhere to go, I get right into my sweats or PJs  I don't understand how people come home and put on jeans.  What's the point?  I want to be comfortable.

7.  Although I have no children, and no control over anything, I already have certain plans - like  want twins.  When I go to the fertility doctor I'm going to tell him to find a way to get me twins.  Hopefully it will be a boy and a girl because I already have names picked out  I'd share, but I don't want to jinx or have anyone steal  Ok, I'll give you middle names.  For a boy - Philip for my deceased father in law.  For a girl - June.  My dad always called me June/June Bug growing up.  I can think of no better way to honor my father or my childhood than by giving it to my daughter. 

That was fun, and kind of hard to come up with random facts!  I"m now supposed to tag people, but because I'm not really familiar with a lot of bloggers yet, I'm tagging anyone who reads this.  Lame?  Yes.  Do I care?  Kind of, but I'm ok with it 

Confession Session

They say that confession is good for the soul (trust me, I'm Catholic.  I know these things).  With that I have a confession to make, oddly enough about a Catholic tradition - sacrifice during Lent.  I'm sure you are aware that during for the 40 days before Lent Catholics tend to give something up in order to remember the sacrifice that Jesus made for us.  By forgoing something, we are reminded each time we are tempted to do that thing we have given up of the sacrifice of Jesus.

Well, ladies,  I must confess that I.am.struggling. with what I have up this year - senseless spending.  Meaning, the only things I am buying are food and products that I already use.  For example, it's perfectly acceptable for me to buy shampoo because I use that on a regular basis.  It's ok to buy foundation/mascara/eyeliner if I run out since I use it everyday.  What's NOT acceptable is buying more eyeshadow (because I have a lot) or nail polish (because I have plenty to choose from).  This of course goes beyond makeup to include clothing, shoes, accessories - you get the picture.

In the short time that I have been doing this, I realized something.

It's hard. 

I'm pathetic.

I'd like to say that this experience is drawing me close to God, but really I'm just kicking myself every time I see something I want to buy.  But I'm sticking with it and maybe every time I feel tempted I should say a prayer.  Maybe that will help me, but it's so hard when I want to buy:

Essie - Topless and Barefoot

Rose Rings from LizHutnick on Etsy

 

Heritage Cardigans from Land's End Canvas

(One in every color preferably)

NARS blush in Orgasm

 

Marc Jacobs Daisy

They tease, they wink, they beckon...

And really that's only scratching the surface.  Oh Easter, please hurry up and get here quickly so that I can buy myself something from this list!  

St. Patrick's Day Musings

This morning I was "driving" into work (I use the term driving loosely here as it was more like sitting in bumper to bumper traffic) when I noticed the car in front of me.  It happened to be an Oldsmobile Eighty-Eight.  For those of you who are not familiar with this type of car, I will show you what I'm talking about:

via here

(Please note, this is not the exact car that I saw, just the model)

Said car was in front me and I noticed it was a particular hideous shade of green.  Like Kelly Green, which is pretty on it's own, but on a car?  No.  Clearly it was not it's natural paint color.  

But what drew me to the car was NOT it's hideous green color.  No.  I could tell that there was something on the trunk.  See the picture above?  See how the trunk is flat?  On the truck there was something attached.  I inched closer and upon further inspection I noticed:

via here

Yes, wooden letters that you would find at a Michael's Craft Store.  These letters were affixed to the trunk of the car with what I can only imagine to be glue.  Inching ever closer I saw that the trunk said:

Do you like my rendition?  It looked just like this only imagine an ugly green background of the trunk of the car.

Which is an Irish saying that means, "Ireland Forever".  Needless to say this car intrigued me and brought on many questions including:

• Is this car the driver's main  mode of transportation?
• Is this car only pulled out once a year for St. Patrick's Day?
• Is St. Patrick's Day really that important to this person that they feel it deserves it's own special car?
• Where was the person headed?  Work?  A bar?
• Was there more to the car that I was missing?

This last question was most important.  I wanted to get around the car to get a good look, but I didn't want to give up my lane position in traffic (we were in a lane that was actually moving so to get over would have cost me time and I wouldn't have really been able to see anyway).  Finally, I HAD to get over and I caught the briefest of glimpses of the side.  In my quick glance I believe what I saw was the Irish flag spray painted on the back end of the side of the car.  I don't believe that a car has ever brought me that much entertainment on my way to work.


_____________________________________________________

In other news, what's better than a KENTUCKY win?

A LOUISVILLE loss!

(I'm not sure where this picture came from, but suffice to say, it is not mine, so credit goes to whoever it is!!)

I hope that the team you are rooting for was just as lucky in the first round on this St. Patrick's Day!

It's Everywhere that you Go

For some reason I feel like a lot of TV shows/movies that I like have a plot line about a couple that is having infertility issues.  Let me first explain that I do not pick these shows because of the plot line.  Generally, I watch the show/movie and then this plot line comes out of nowhere, but that's ok.  I enjoy seeing Hollywood's take on it. 

Most recently the show that has been featuring it that we have been watching is Mad Men (we're only on season 2 so don't ruin anything for me if you watch it!).  One of the characters and his wife have been trying to have a baby and they haven't been able to.  For various reasons we know it's her and not him (I don't want to give too much way!).  The most recent episode that we watched featured the woman wanting to adopt and the man not wanting to have any part of it because those babies are the "rejects".  All I can say is thank GOD I do not live in the 60's or that my husband is not a giant you know what.

So long story short... it got me curious about adoption.  There is a very real chance that adoption will be one of our only options and it's high time I got myself acquainted with the process.  We are most interested in going through Catholic Social Services and per their local website here are some FAQ's that really answered some of my questions I had. 

Q: What are the eligibility requirements to adopt through Catholic Charities of Northern Kentucky?
A: We work with couples who are experiencing infertility, have been married at least three years, are residents of the Diocese of Covington and between the ages of 25 and 45. Couples must be in good health, have a normal life expectancy, and have the physical, financial and emotional resources to attend to the needs of a growing child. Couples of all faiths are welcome to apply. Q: How much does it cost?

A: Our fees are based on a sliding scale according to income. The total expenses usually run between $11,000 and $17,000 before the $11,650 Federal Adoption Tax Credit, which can reduce the total paid to less than $6,000.

Q: How long is the wait?

A: After the home study is completed, the average wait for a placement is between twelve and eighteen months.

Q: Can I choose between a closed and open adoption?

A: Yes. Adoptive parents and birth parents are encouraged to design the adoption plan best suited to their needs and the needs of their child.

Q: What is the typical birth mother like?

A: She is a young woman of considerable maturity and courage. She sees the benefits of counseling and is invested in making the right decision for herself and her child.

Q: How old are the children placed for adoption?

A: Almost all children placed through our adoption program are newborns and are generally placed directly from the hospital.

All looks good, but I'm nervous about the money.  If we are serious about adoption, I think my next step is to research ways to make this a financial option.  One way or another, I will have a child!

Oh Yeah, I Have a Blog

If by some miracle you are still following this blog or reading, I congratulate you and thank you.  This might be popping up in your reader and you might be wondering, who is this blogger?

Ugh.

This is what makes sporadic blogging so hard.  The "coming back".  I really do want to write to more.  I know I say that all the time, but I really mean it.  It's a hobby that I enjoy and I love reading other blogs.  I just get lazy about it.  I know lazy about a habit.  What are you going to do?

So to make the ease back into blogging a bit easier, I'm going to link up with Jamie for a What I'm Loving Wednesday. 

I love that in a few short weeks, we will be heading for the Smokey Mountains/Gatlinburg for a weekend getaway.  I could not be more excited.  I'm so ready for a getaway and this place is perfect.  It's only a few hours away and it's a fairly cheap trip.  Also it has such great memories for me and the husband.  I can't wait!

I love that tomorrow we are going to reach temperatures in the 70's!  This is amazing.  I'm so ready for spring and summer weather.  I can handle fall, but I have absolutely no use for winter.  None.  I do not ski.  I do not ice skate.  I do not sled.  Warm weather will be much appreciated in these parts.

I love that my husband came and met me for lunch today!  I got to show him around my new office and he got to meet all of new co-workers.  It was nice to see him in the middle of the day and share my work life with him.

I love that March is here and the NCAA tournament is underway.  I'm hoping for big Kentucky wins especially against West Virginia and Ohio State.  A win against Ohio State would be perfection.  While I'm hoping for a Kentucky win, I'm hoping for Cincinnati and Louisville losses.  Mostly because I want the people I'm friends with on FB and follow on Twitter to shut it.  Nothing like a little "friendly" competition!

 via here

I love that on Saturday I get to celebrate with my friend and her family the fact that her father is cancer free!  About a year ago a good friend of mine's father was diagnosed with leukemia.  He needed a bone marrow transplant and my friend was lucky enough to be a match and ended up saving his life.  I'm happy that I get to share in the special celebration with them! 

I confess...

I confess that I enjoy hearing other people's stories of infertility.  Well, I guess "enjoy" really isn't the right word for the situation.  It's interesting to see and hear how others deal with the situation.  I've never really watched the show about Giuliana and Bill Rancic, but I am aware of their struggles to start a family.  I found this link today and I teared up reading it - especially the video  (Pathetic, I know).  It's nothing crazy special, but it was nice to see someone else say that their marriage is better and stronger because of their struggle.  I wholeheartedly believe that mine and my husband's marriage is stronger because of our journey which is important because so so many couples who struggle with infertility end in divorce.  I hope that their marriage continues to grow stronger in the face of adversity, just like ours has.

Video via Us Weekly

Perspective

This past weekend, the husband and I had some interesting conversations/revelations.  It is no secret that I want children.  I want to experience pregnancy (although not the morning sickness).  I want to know what it's like to have a baby growing inside of me and feel the baby move.  I want to look down and every week see my belly getting bigger (and no getting fat would not suffice). While I want to experience all those things, I am however not opposed to adoption.  If that is the path the leads us to parenthood then I'm all for it, as is the husband.  I can think of no better way to serve God and help a child in need than to adopt.  In some ways, I feel like it is what I was put on this earth to do, but there is still a lot of planning, prayer and thinking that needs to be done in order for any of that to become a reality. 

It's hard to make a move in any one direction though. 

I really like the way that my life is right now.  And so does my husband.

Don't get us wrong.  If I found out tomorrow I was expecting, we would be over the moon about it.  There is no doubt in my mind that we both want to be parents and that we would make good parents. 

It's just... we like the way life is right now.  We can go to work, come home and just veg out if we want.  We can decide last minute to run out to the mall or go to the movies.  We can take day trips up in Ohio to go shopping and spend our money on things we want.  We can plan a weekend trip only two weeks in advance.  We can sleep in late or stay up super late.  We can sit around the house all day long and not do a darn thing.  We are free to do just about whatever we want (within reason, obviously).

All that would change, drastically, if we were to have a baby.  Even though we have had nearly four years of this freedom, we don't know if we are quite ready to give that up just yet. 

Friday night we went to see a play with another married couple.  We left right after work and went to dinner and then to the show.  As we were leaving the husband and I got talking about the rest of the plans and somehow the topic of children got brought up.  We had watched our niece earlier in the week, and while we love spending time with her, we both agreed it was nice to send her home.  We could relax and just be with each other.  We didn't have to entertain anyone else or put anyone to bed.  We were responsible for no one but ourselves.  As we got talking about our Saturday we were both excited to be able to sleep in and then go out to breakfast.  Things that would not be impossible with children, but definitely not easy. 

While we were out to breakfast, we noticed a man and woman with twins.  They got served their food and then both had to cut up food and what not for the kids before they could ever even eat.  We both agreed that we were perfectly fine to be sitting there sans children and able to enjoy our food when it was served.

So what's the point in all this rambling?  It's all about perspective.  I often get jealous when people are pregnant or talk about their babies because I want that in my life.  I want to have the absolute surprise of taking a pregnancy test and finding a plus sign or two double lines or what have you.  However, I'm not 100% read to give up my current life.  I sometimes like the way things are!   I can sit here and say I'm so jealous that so and so is pregnant, but at the same time I like I can be selfish or just spend time with my husband. 

I am getting scared though.  I'm getting scared that I'm getting too comfortable with the way my life is that I'll never make the move to explore our options with fertility or adoption.  While I know that I want to have a family, it's hard to make the commitment to starting a family because I know that my life will change and it will change forever.  How will I know when I'm ready to let most of my freedoms go? 

I'm not writing this to rub it anyone's face that I can do whatever, and I'm not saying that it must suck to have children.  I'm just saying that for me, it's hard to make the commitment when I'm pretty happy with the way things are right now.  Is that so bad?

I'm Sorry, Sir! I Have an Addiction!

Hi, my name is MrsBill and I have an addiction.  That addiction is buying beauty products.  I.cannot.stop.  I understand that this is not something that new or groundbreaking as I'm sure most other ladies feel the same way.  While I don't spend a ton of money on any one individual product I try to be smart about what I do buy.  I hate to take a risk and buy something only to not like it.  If I'm going to buy something, I want to be sure that I'll use what I'm buying.  I just hate to waste.  That's why YouTube has been very helpful.  If you've ever watched any YouTube Beauty videos, you have seen that they often do "current loves" or "monthly favorites".  So since I'm currently trying all kinds of new items, I thought I would do something similar here on the ole' blog so here are my current favorites:

Nail Polishes - Sally Hansen's "Commander in Chic" and OPI's "Lincoln Park after Dark"

There are two colors that I'm really loving right now.  Currently I am wearing Lincoln Park after Dark and it's the first time I've worn it.  There is just something I like about black nails.  My husband asks if I'm feeling goth and like no one loves me.  I happen to think they look chic.  Commander in Chic is a great grey-ish purple color.  I love both formulas too, but I'm thinking I may like the Sally Hansen just a bit better.  Plus the brush is a bit angled and at first I hated it, but now I've found that I love it.  You should try it out if you haven't already.

St. Ives Naturally Clear Apricot Scrub

I have been using this product for about a week now, and I think I can say that I'm officially in love.  Is it wrong to be in love with a beauty product?  Don't answer that.  I feel like since I was a teenager I have been trying to find a good face cleanser that will keep my skin clear.  So far this has been working wonderfully.  It's like a pimple will pop up over night and by the next day the thing has reduced dramatically.  I always swore by another product but it really doesn't even compare to this.  And the best part?  I only paid $3.50 for it at Wal-Mart.  I.am.in.love and I don't care who knows it!

 

Cover Girl Shimmering Sands Trio

This is really by far one of my favorite eye shadows and it's by Cover Girl.  I like that it gives a nice neutral eye look and isn't too shimmery or overpowering.  It blends perfectly and the colors are really pigmented.  This picture was taken with a flash so that last color looks more white, but in person it's a bit more pink.  I like to use that color on my inner corner and as my highlight.  It really is a great drugstore find.

E.L.F Eye Shadow Brush

For being $1.00 this brush is amazing.  I use it everyday and it really packs the color on.  I feel like it puts a lot of color on and places it on nicely.  I hate when it seems like the brush just soaks up all the products and you left with a slight dusting on your face.  This doesn't do that at all and you really can't beat a dollar!

So there you have my current favorite products.  As always, no one paid me to say these nice things I just felt like saying them because they're all true!

Blog Stalking

Is it bad that when I hear the word "stalking" the only thing I can think of is Pauly from Jersey Shore talking about his stalker and how she, "stalked his whole entire life"?  Methinks this is a sign that I watch too much Jersey Shore...  At least that's the only MTV show that I watch.  That makes me feel a little better about my TV preferences but not really by much. 

But I digress...

The real point of this post is blog stalking.  I do it.  I admit, my name is MrsBill and I'm a blog stalker.  I try to comment on posts that I read, but sometimes I'm too busy or the post already has a million comments that I feel mine will get lost in the mumbo jumbo (sidenote: I do find it very nice when I comment on someone's post that has tons of comments and they respond to mine through email... I really would like to start doing that!).  Sometimes I just don't know what to write.  I love finding blogs that I enjoy reading and I like to go through them and read a lot of their posts.  It's hard to get the gist of someone's blogging style from just one post.  The point it, I blog stalk and I know that others do too. 

When I got started blogging I wanted to remain annonymous, well as annonymous as I could whilst posting pictures and the such.  I don't use my real name because I don't want someone to be able to Google me and find the blog.  I think this is perfectly acceptable.  I just didn't know about friends or family reading the blog.  Obviously, I'm not stupid and I realized that it quite the possibility that people I know "in real life" would find the blog.  Over the weekend my husband's aunt (hi, Gina!!) told me that she reads the old blog.  At first, I was embarrassed.  Does anyone else feel this way about blogging?  I felt like suddenly all my secrets were exposed!  But really?  I'm writing these "secrets" for the world to see.  Clearly these aren't secrets! 

So I had to wonder, why am I blogging if I'm so embarrassed about it?  The whole reason for starting this blog in particular was to write about my struggles with infertility.  I needed an outlet because a lot of time I have found that it's hard to share my feelings about the journey.  I don't want to hurt anyone's feelings and I don't want to make anyone uncomfortable, so sometimes it's hard to discuss it with people I'm close to.  I wanted to mind support (not that I don't get any from my family and friends) and find people that were like me - and not just in the sense of infertility.  Ultimately though I wanted to share my story and I felt like blogging was a good way to do it.  It is my own little corner of the world where I don't have to apologize all the time for being jealous or sad or being happy about certain things.  I can just be me. 

And so, I guess my whole point is that I have accepted that people I know may read the blog.  People I don't know read the blog, and I'm okay with both.  Not that I'm going to run out and tell everyone I have a blog, but you get the picture.

So what I'm asking is if you read this blog regularly or just happen upon it, say hi!  I would love to know who's out there and I would love to connect with you. 

And as always I am happy to share this little part of my life with you!

So Where Have I Been?

In my absence, I have been uber busy.  Okay.  Not really.  I pretend like I'm beyond busy, but I'm really not - at least through the week.  In an average week, I'm busy on Monday nights teaching CCD, but any other night I'm pretty much doing laundry, blog stalking, watching TV or hanging out with the husband.  Fun, right?  The weekend though can be somewhat hectic, like last weekend.  Friday night we had a game night with some other couples, Saturday we had homecoming all.day.long and Sunday we had brunch with my family.  It really felt like we did not stop, but we had such a good time.  Especially with Homecoming.

The college that my husband and I went to is a smaller state school that does not have a football team, so Homecoming is held during basketball season.  There are several events throughout the week for the students and then the weekend is dedicated to several alumni events.  We participated in the the Saturday events starting with the alumni chili cook off.  The husband and I participated with our good friends from college.  We knew we had to really step up our game and not just make good chili because a chili cook off is rarely about the chili itself.

 

Our setup

The setup was nice enough.  We had crackers and cheese and individually wrapped pieces of cornbread.  We even had a personalized bobble head.  The other contestants were wary, but then we pulled out the secret weapon ... and then they were shaking in their boots.

Personalized.Aprons.

Yeah, that's right.  Personalized aprons.  They were key for many reasons.  One they were handmade and personalized and just overall awesome.  Second, they had our names and graduation years on them.  We are standing in reverse order, but starting with the guy on the end he graduation in 2004, his wife graduated in 2005, I graduated in 2006 and my husband graduated in 2007.  Third, they had our Greek organizations on them.  This was absolute key because the current students who were in the organizations automatically voted for us.  

The result for all of our hard work?  We won.  Oh yeah.  You are currently reading the blog of an award winning chili chef.  You are honored, I'm sure.  

After the cookoff it was time for the game, which we of course won.  We were lucky enough to enjoy the second half of the game from the University President's suite.  We're kind of a big deal.  People know us.  (Not really, more like we know other people).

The night ended with an alumni reception and my husband and I both won door prizes.  

Overall, I'm saying this year's Homecoming was an absolute success.  Next year we plan on coming back to defend our chili trophy.  I see a dynasty in my future...

Hanging My Head in Shame

Tonight, I'm channeling Chandler Bing...  could I BE any worse as a blogger?

Wait.

Don't answer that.

If there were a contest for the worst bloggers, I'm pretty sure I would be in the top five.  Okay, but not top five.  But surely top ten. 

If the name FailBlog weren't already taken, I'd name my site that.

Why do I have such low blogger-esteem?  Well for starters, I'm a sporadic writer.  I love writing and when I'm not blogging I continually look at situations and think, "that would be great to blog about!!"  Unfortunately (actually probably fortunately as some things I think that are funny and interesting aren't nearly as funny or interesting to others as they are to me) I rarely write about those things.  I get distracted and then it's hard to "make a comeback" if you will. 

Second, people comment on my entries which I love, but then I can't respond to them.  I click on their names to email them and then it want Outlook to send the email and I don't have Outlook and then I try to email from Yahoo and it's just a big old mess.  Then I feel guilty.  I promise though, if you have left a comment, I have seen it and I'm not ignoring you.  Promise!  I usually try to visit your blog and comment on something you've written, but I never feel as though this suffices.  I'm trying to figure out a solution which is probably super simple, and I'm over-thinking it.

Third, I remembered this week that I had an email address set up for this site and that when I leave comments on people's blogs they respond to me there.  So if you have emailed me and  I haven't responded, that's why.

Lord, do you think I could have any more excuses?

Then there is the matter of my computer being what I like to call a hooker and she contracted an STD and was out of commission for most of this week.  Seriously.  She needs to learn to protect herself out there on the interwebs.  What is most annoying is she wasn't even doing anything terribly wrong.  She was helping me find scarf tying techniques.  Dirty.

So I'm making an effort.  I will do my best to be a better blogger.  Promise.

Overwhelmed

"I know you can be overwhelmed, and you can be underwhelmed, but can you ever just be whelmed?" 

I am definitely feeling overwhelmed at the moment.  With starting a new job you would think this would be perfectly acceptable, only I'm not feeling overwhelmed by my job at all (which is a nice change of pace).  So what is causing my state of angst?  

I am on pregnancy over.load. 

First, no, I'm NOT pregnant.  I really hate that any time I mention the "p" word, I feel the need to add this disclaimer, but I just feel that we should all be on the same page here.  I do realize that I'm kind of rambling here, but I want to write this entry and say something without saying something.  Am I making the least bit of sense here?  

Anyway, someone I have just met has recently disclosed that they are pregnant.  Normally news like this causes me a great deal of angst, but because I hardly know this person I'm not all that hung up about it.  I'm not jealous or sad, I'm just... whelmed, if you will.  I spent a good part of last week talking about pregnancy and sharing some of my infertility trials and tribulations (I make sound like I've been to war, but sometimes I do feel like I am at war with my body).  As we all know, I'm not really secretive about my infertility (hello, I blog about it to strangers, I think we past the point of secrets) so I don't mind sharing my experience.  All is find and dandy.  

Over the weekend though a friend asked how everything was going and if there was anything new and I really appreciated that.  I feel like we spend a lot of time talking about friends kids (which I understand and I don't begrudge them) so to have someone come out and ask makes me happy and lets me know they care.  Afterwards, on our way home though, I felt incredibly sad and frustrated.  It was not anything the friend said or did, I just think after a week of pregnancy talk, talking about friends kids and then my infertility, I just felt like a boulder was sitting on me.  That's what it feels like sometimes.  Like you just.can't.breathe.  I really can't explain it.   

I think I'm just having a "moment" as I'm wont to do.  Sometimes it's all fine and then we go through a period where everything is baby, baby, BABY and I'm like an ADD child on sensory overload.  For the most part I can handle baby and pregnancy talk, but sometimes it gets to be a bit too much for me and I need to take some time to myself.  I don't think that's too much to ask is it?

Oh, the Places You'll Go

I like to travel.  I like to see new places and I like to see places that I have been to before.  I'm not the type of person that has to do a big vacation every year and it has to be somewhere new.  I'm fine with going on just a short weekend trip or taking a week.  Last year our big vacation was a family vacation to the Florida panhandle.  I have been there a few times before, but I still enjoy it each time I go.  The year before that we did a trip to Mackinaw Island and Sacramento/San Francisco.

This year, we will probably stick to smaller vacations since I have just started a new job and don't have that many days off, plus we are really working on trying to save money for fertility purposes and for bigger trips in the future.  There are two trips that I have in mind, now I just have to find times that work and figure out if we make them group trips or just us.

First on the list is Gatlinburg.  Anyone from this area probably has been in the Gatlinburg before and you know it's not... fancy.  But I don't care.  I just love Gatlinburg.  I'm not sure why.  Maybe because it's close so it's easy to get away for a weekend and not spend a ton of money.  For those who are not in the area and have never been, I'm not really sure how to describe it.  It's right on the edge of the National Park, The Smokey Mountains.  There are hiking trails and driving trails and some really pretty scenery.  There are chalets and humongous cabins to stay in the mountains.  For example:

This is the last cabin we stayed in.  We went with a group of our friends and we stayed in this monster.  What awesome about these cabins are they are all really nice on the inside and typically have hot tubs, pool tables, bars, etc.  Then there is Gatlinburg itself.  The only way I can describe it is a small "city" full of touristy goodness.

The Gatlinburg strip during a winter night

There is a main drag or "strip" that is full of souvenier shops, candy shops, restaurants, and silly attractions.  It's tacky and fabulous all at the same time.  Where else can you play Hillbilly Golf on the side of a mountain?

So I really want to go sometime in the spring/summer when the trees and grass are green and it's not dreary like these pictures which were taken in early January.  I think I really want to do this a group trip as I think it would be a lot of fun to go off on an adult only weekend and just relax and have fun.  Now it's just making everyone's schedules work.

The second place I want to visit is Chicago.  I have been there several times before and I'm feeling the itch to go there again.  I'm thinking summer/fall and going with another couple. The only things I really have planned for this vacation is to shop and see the "beach":

I also want to try another Chicago style pizza as I've had Giordano's several times before.  Finally, I'm hopping to get a tour of the United Center in as I know someone who could make that happen.  I just think my husband the guy we are planning on going with would really enjoy it.

I know these aren't major trips, but they're what we are trying to plan for this year.  The following year I'm hoping for a big trip to NYC to celebrate our 5 year anniversary.  I can't wait!

What I Really Meant to Say

Does anyone else write a blog entry and then keep thinking, I hope no one takes that the wrong way?  Or, I hope they don't think _____________ about me?  Or should I file this way of thinking into the "am I the only one" drawer? 

After I wrote yesterdays post, I couldn't stop thinking:

"I hope that no one take offense to what I said about spending money on expensive makeup products."

and

"I hope no one thinks that I'm totally cheap and broke because I'm worrying over $18."

Because I really didn't mean either of those two things.  Thus the need to write a second blog entry titled,

What I REALLY meant to say

With regards to the first statement, what I really meant to say, was that I personally have a hard time justifying spending X amount of dollars on a MAC product.  Simply because I look at it as makeup.  I look it as it as a fun item to buy that you put on your face and may or may not use all of.  Plus, I'd hate to spend that much on a product and then hardly use it because I'm not in love.  Now, what I do spend my extra money on, is purses.  I LOVE purses.  I want to buy one right now.  It's on super sale, but I'm trying to hold out for even super-er sale in order to be a little more frugal.  So moral of the story?  I don't like to spend my extra $ on makeup, but I love purses.  I don't judge people who buy lots of makeup because I?  I have a  lot of purses.

With regards to the second statement, what I really meant to say, was that $18 is not a lot of money in the grand ol' scheme of things.  $18 won't buy you a tank of gas and hardly buys a meal for two out to eat.  I know I mentioned in the entry that my new job won't produce a paycheck until the first of February and that means that my last paycheck received was December 31st.  I feel guilty spending money and non-necessary items when I'm not really contributing this month.  I also feel guilty when I've been on a spending binge and bought a few items from Forever 21 and this (which I LOVE btw):

via here

It makes it harder to justify spending that money when I've already spent a few dollars on myself already this month.  I think that part of sharing finances with someone means respecting them and not spending a bajillion dollars on myself.  Know what I mean?  So moral of the story?  I'm trying to be frugal and it's not really working.

So there's my explanation that was probably totally unnecessary, but boy do I feel better getting that off my chest!

(And let's ignore the fact that this entry totally negates the fact that the previous entry was supposed to be in jest and all in good fun!)

What to Do?

I hereby dedicate this entry to my wonderful husband (also known as my number one blog fan) who often asks that I post more and then complains when I post (too much) about things like the snow.  Well today dear husband, enjoy this entry and let me know what you think!

As I have said before, I have a new found love for YouTube beauty gurus.  I absolutely love watching the videos and learning how to do techniques, especially using products that I already own.  The down side to watching these videos, is that I often find myself wanting to buy everything under the sun (within reason).  While I am growing my love for all things makeup, I'm trying to be reasonable about it.  Would MAC makeup be better quality vs. other brands?  Yes, probably.  Do I have money to run out every other day and buy these products every time a guru raves about them?  No, I do not.  Possibly because I have to be "adult" and pay things like the "mortgage" and "bills".  And I know that these products will last longer because they are of better quality, etc, etc.  I just can't bring myself to spend big bucks on these products either.  (And as a side note, I am NOT judging people who buy these things.  Some people probably would not spend the money I do on purses.  It's just your preferences).  I believe that I can find great deals on drugstore items that work just as well or are good dupes for more expensive things. 

With that in mind, I visited the e.l.f. website tonight.  Which, ok.  That was a mistake.  I started looking around and finding items that I have seen reviewed or mentioned on YouTube.  I decided to put things in my shopping bag just to see how much everything would be.  When I hit checkout, I noticed they were running a deal on their makeup brushes - 50% off.  50% off people!!!  Do you know how much that is?!  That's half off!  So now, I'm sitting here torn.  I have a shopping bag full of 9 items that is totaling out at $18.95 (which includes shipping) and I just don't know if I should pull the trigger.  I don't know why I'm being so batty about it.  That's less than a dollar per item - for makeup!  I know it's not the best quality, but for less than a dollar an item, that's hard to pass up!  There's some cute things in there like this lipstick (shade is Nicely Nude):

via here

I know I sounds like a lunatic worrying about $18, but keep in mind that I started a new job and I won't get paid until February.  So that's a whole loooooooong month.  But this is a sale.  A 50% off sale.  Did I mention that?  Because it's definitely worth mentioning. 

So what say you, husband?  Should I take advantage of this awesome deal that ends on the 17th and who knows when it will ever come around again?  Or should I save my pennies like a good little girl?

And just so we're clear, I'm raving about this sale/products because I want to.  No one paid me or gave me anything.  From what I understand it's a big deal if you don't disclose this or if we don't disclose that you got paid, but because I don't want any scary government agencies coming after me, I'm just going to throw that out there!

Snow, Snow Go Away

And DON'T come again another day.  Please for the love of God, don't come again.

Yeah, I know that's a loooong shot.  If I want that to happen, I should probably pack my bags and move to South Florida. 

It's January and I'm already sick and tired of winter weather.  The "snow" from Friday is all but gone, but another large(r) storm is moving in over the night and during the day tomorrow.  Ok, here's my issue Mother Nature.  If you are going to INSIST on making snow, please just dump it all over night.  Don't dust the ground for the morning (making all Cincinnatians forget how to drive) and then dump it all during the day making the ride home a nightmare.  If it snows during the night, I have a better chance of having the day off, so please Mother Nature, take care of your children and grant this one request.

Quite honestly, I would prefer that this whole thing just pass us by.  I don't mind going to work.  Don't get me wrong, I would like a day off, but I'm not going to pray for snow so that I can have a day off.  Call me crazy, but I'm really enjoying the new job so far. 

In other news, I'm really angry at this dog right here:

Yeah, don't let her cuteness fool you.  She left me a "cute" little present in the room that she stays in while we are gone.  In a way, as her mommy I am partly to blame.  The husband and I left our house around 7 this morning and I just got home at 8:30 this evening.  However, we can't shoulder all the blame as my husband did stop by the house at 5 to let her out before he had to leave again.  She's got to accept some responsibility on her end.  I've been "punishing" her by not petting her and now looking at this picture of her, I can feel my resolve melting.  Darn those puppy dog eyes.

Alright, I'm off.  Please pray that the snow comes tonight rather than tomorrow.  I really don't feel like dealing with the headache. 

Am I the Only One?

The other night while I was sitting in my car for 2+ hours, I had a lot of time to think, which is bad for me because my mind tends to wander is various directions.  Anyway, I was listening to Pandora (the Taylor Swift channel, as if you had to ask) and Rascal Flats came on, more than once.  And each time that whiny singing started I groaned loudly and switched it to the next song as soon as possible.  This got me thinking.  I know they are a fairly popular country music group, so am I the only one that cannot STAND them?  I don't know what it is.  I think it's the lead singer's voice.  It's so whiny, and I don't know what.  It just really grates on my nerves.  And the more I type about it, the more annoyed I get!  The funny thing is, I used to like them.  So what changed?  I don't know, maybe my hearing changed and I just can't handle that sound.

So then this lead me to think of other things that people to tend to LOVE and I generally have no tolerance for.  Case in point - Grey's Anatomy.  For years, I have heard people go on and on about how wonderful and amazing this show is.  I have seen maybe 2 episodes ever and I really just don't get it.  Isn't it just ER with some different characters?  For real.  I just don't get the idea of having one show concept and 50 different shows.  Like all the vampire shows.  It's like someone has one good idea and everyone and their brother has to jump on the bandwagon.  I like new and original things for the most part.  So if maybe someone could explain to me what is so different and wonderful about this show, maybe I could understand why it's so popular.

While I'm on the subject of Vampire things, let's look at the original fad that started the whole thing, Twilight.  I gave into the hype, I read the books.  And...  yeah.  They were decent enough.  I read them all and read them pretty quickly, but in the end, I could have done without them.  I just didn't think they were the most wonderful things ever.  And Edward?  I think he's a douche.  Yeah, you read that right.  I totally just called him a douche.  Whatever.  I don't find the whole vampire thing exciting or attractive.  I find Edward himself to be overbearing and possessive.  Ladies, generally these are not attractive qualities in a man, so why does everyone swoon over Edward?  Don't even get me started on those movies.  Because my left foot could do a better job of acting than Kristen Stewart. 

So am I the only one that does not like things.  Surely there has got to be someone out there who feels the same... right?

Are there popular fads out there that you feel like you're the only one who doesn't like them?  I'd love to know!

An Open Letter

To the Greater Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky Area:

Learn to salt a road for the love of all that is Holy.  When the weatherman is predicting snow for a particular day perhaps you should be on your game and have your crews on alert.  True, weathermen are wrong something like 90% of the time, but 10% percent of the time, they do their job correctly.  All you have to do is think, "Hmmm, snow is predicted for Friday afternoon, better get the boys on alert and watch the radar."  Now here's the tricky part.  And I mean, you better listen closely because this gets incredibly difficult.  When that blue mass on the radar appears to be heading right for the tri-state area, you get the boys out on the road and have them salt those things up.  Because what happens is you get a dusting between 4:00 and 5:00, temperatures drop and the highway becomes an ice rink.  Seriously, Cincinnati?  The whole Northern part of the country is laughing at you right now because of situations like this.  A dusting does not a blizzard make.  There is absolutely no reason why my 30 minute commute should suddenly become two hours.  For real, can you imagine any other part of the country that would nearly stop because of this:

You can't see the road in my subdivision, but there's no snow or ice.  Why?  Because they salted this morning!  At least someone in my county has a brain!

And before you say, "California" in answer to my question above, I'm just going to stop you right there.  Because this is the midwest and we get snow here.  Sure it's not the likes of Minnesota, but we get snow.  In fact, we spent most of December covered in snow, so that excuse is as flimsy as gauze.  Try again, Cincinnati. 

Get your act together, Cincinnati/NKY.  Because the situation you've got going on right now is uncalled for.

Signed,
An Angry Concerned Citizen. 

Grab Bag

This week has been crazy since I have started my NEW JOB!!!  I just love saying that.  It makes me feel a special and warm and fuzzy.  Lame, I know, but that's just me.  So since not much has gone on this week, I thought I would just share some random odds and ends.

The J-O-B

First of all, I really like it so far.  I won't go as far as to say that I love it because I don't want to be one of those girls who goes too fast and gets all giddy in love before the relationship has fully formed.  However, I will say that so far, so good.  I don't want to divulge too much information about what I do because these here are the interwebs and you really can never be too careful, but I'm happy with it.  It is a good marriage of a lot of my interests and my talents.  There is a lot to learn, but it's manageable.  I don't look it and have this feeling that I'll never learn it.  The people are wonderful so far.  Everyone is so nice and welcoming.  You know how every group seems to have at least one Scrooge?  I haven't found one yet, and I've met everyone - which wasn't hard since it's a very small company.

Make-up/Beauty

Yeah, I'm going to be lame and write about this.  As I mentioned previously, I have a new interest in watching YouTube Beauty Guru's.  I know that people have probably been watching these videos for years, but I just found them, so to me, they are brand spankin' new.  I now have an interest in using makeup in different ways and trying new products.  While all this fun, I feel like my skin in taking a beating.  I have never had good skin.  Actually I feel like as a teenager, I had decent skin, but as I've gotten older it's gotten worse.  I have been trying to find some affordable products that will help, but along the way I have found aspirin masks.  Now again, there are probably some of you reading this that know all about them, but to me they are new so I'm going to share.  

Basically you just take some aspirin, crush them, mix a few drops of water, a dollop of honey and mix together.  It makes a paste that you smear on your face and leave it there for about twenty minutes.  I just tried it tonight so I can't tell you if it's helped my skin or not, but I can tell you that it has left my skin feeling soft and smooth.  I would show you a picture, but I'm not brave enough for that!

Droid

The husband and I are super cool and finally entered the world of Android and Apps.  We got the LG Optimus from Sprint and I think the best part of getting it was, it was free.

via here

So if you have a Droid or know of some good apps that I have to have, let me know!

Weekend

I'm so ready for the weekend.  While I am liking(loving) the new job, I am ready for the weekend.  We have no major plans yet, which are the best kinds of weekends.  The husband does have a basketball game to coach tomorrow night so I am having some girls over for a girls night.  I'm so excited about this, as I rarely do things like this.  We plan on watching a movie, ordering pizza, calling boys, fixing each other's hair and playing light as a feather stiff as a board.  Ok, we're not really doing all those things.  I'll let you figure out which are real and which are fake.

Anyway, I hope everyone else is having a great week and I hope to actually write something of substance soon!

Wishin' and Hopin'

I wish...

• I were a hairstylist so I could go to the "supply store" and buy things at cost.
• God's plan for me would become a little more clear.
• my first week at my new job goes extremely well.
• all the laundry were already done.
• that I would actually accomplish some items at my 30 before 30 list.
• I had enough money to finish my basement and decorate it.
• it would be May so that spring would be here and CCD would be over!
• my new phone would get here.
• there was an Ulta closer to me.
• that UK would win the National Championship this year so the haters would keep on hatin'.
• I could go on a cruise this summer.
• this friends trip to Gatlinburg we have been discussing actually happens!
• that I could still work with the same people I used to.
• that all my wishes come true!

What do you wish for?

Today is Never Too Late to be Brand New

My goodness, it has been a bit since I have written.  I have wanted to write, especially after my husband scolded me for not writing, but once you step away for even a minute its hard to get to it sometimes.  You know what I mean?  Since we last spoke, there has been a lot going on.  You know there was that little thing known as the holidays and oh yeah, I quit my job.  Don't worry.  I didn't go crazy and quit so that I could find myself or the meaning of life and happiness (although that doesn't sound all that terrible).  I quit because I found a new job!!!  This is exciting to me on so many levels.  It's one of those things that I never thought would happen so I am extremely happy that I found a job that suits me.  While I miss everyone I worked with, it was beyond necessary to get a new job.  Last Thursday was my last day and it was incredibly hard.  I love my (ex)boss and saying goodbye to my first job was difficult, but I'm excited to start this new year on a new foot.  It's like I have a new lease on life. 

My sad looking cubie on my last day.  I wish I would have taken a before picture because it was much cuter before.  However, I do believe in my new job I'll be upgrading to an office.  Movin' on up!!

 

 

 

 

Besides leaving my job of 3+ years, the husband I celebrated the holidays.  We both had a fantastic Christmas in which I got pretty much everything I wanted.  Ok, I just re-read that last statement, and can you say spoiled much?  I really didn't mean for it to come off that way.  Probably my most favorite gift was my Pandora charm bracelet. 

 

For Christmas I received the bracelet, the two stoppers and the pink dangle charm which is for my birth month.  I added the turtle for Delta Zeta and the glass charm for my new job.

Some other items I was patiently awaiting to get were Fancy by Jessica Simpson (don't judge), a gray blazer from Kohl's and some make up brushes.  

Christmas Eve/Christmas Day my husband I spent traveling all over God's creation.  We try and fit both our families in on both days and somehow we make it work.   

The whole fam damily.  This is my mom's side of the family.  She is one of seven - six girls and 1 boy.  I'm in the back center with the gray sweater.

For New Year's Eve, the husband and I laid low and just had a few people over to the house.  Neither of us is huge for NYE.  To me, it's just another day and you get the day off work.  We had a great time though:

And in my free time between quitting my job and celebrating the holidays, I have grown a new obsession with You Tube Makeup Guru's - because I'm awesome like that.  Has anyone else ever watched these videos?  I have learned so much, and at the same time want to buy all kinds of thing, which isn't good for the old wallet, but I'm obsessed!  It's so much fun to watch.  If you've never seen any check out LolaMarie7 or Makeupbytiffanyd.  They are my favorite so far.

So I suppose for right now, that's a good catch up, right?  I'm really trying to write a lot more in the new year.  I guess I will have to count on my husband to help keep me on track!