Five on Friday

Happy Friday, peeps!  I am so excited this wonderful day is finally hear.  And I happen to have Monday off from work.  Double score!  Well, as long as we don't get the ice storm they are predicting.  If we do, there's a strong possibility I won't leave my house on Monday. We'll see!?

1.  Tonight, thanks to my awesome former advisor at my Graduate University, I will be meeting with Temple Grandin for a small group Q&A session.  Don't know who she is?  Google her!  She's a fascinating woman.  They even made a movie about her starring Claire Danes.  It's a great film.  anyways...the session is supposed to be for current students, but she knew how interested I'd be, so she got me a seat.  Then, we will hear her speak later in the evening.  I am so stoked!

2.  Tomorrow, I talked a friend into going to a girls' night out exercise class at a local studio. . It's called "Stiletto Sculpt."  I understand I'm not "sexy" in any way, and I'm sure my skills will be quite comical, but it just sounds so fun!  Plus, I need to reach out to my inner girly-girl.  She's been absent a while.  I basically begged everyone I know to go, and only got one lonely victim taker.  I'm sure we'll have a blast, though.

3.  Speaking of girly things, I spontaneously booked a weekend away is Seattle for June with a friend of mine.  Joel's been a hundred times, but I never had, and I'm in serious need of some time away.  Joel's always my preferred travel buddy, but I'm really looking forward to the trip.  My friend lives in Denver, and even though we've known each other for years, we have never met.  The internet's a crazy thing.  She was in the military, and that's how we made the connection.  Funny enough, she lived in Chicago until about a month before we moved to STL.  With this move to Korea, we realized it was probably now or never.  Now, I just have to figure out what to do!

4.  I'm still trying to come to terms with this move.  We have the tentative Command Sponsorship (which is what allows me to go with my husband), so now I have medical exams and mental health exams to take to ensure I'm not crazy or dying.  I wonder if they give those same exams when we leave Korea?!  Because I may be certifiable if I don't find employment ASAP.  I'm looking at teaching on base (which isn't likely because I am only licensed to teach special education, which they have minimal positions for), English as a Second Language (ESL) to the Koreans (and I have no idea where to start), or being an adjunct professor at one of the local Universities (which I'm not sure I have a good shot at).  I'd also be very interested in finding a similar government position, but there has not been one opening since I have started looking.

5.  Lastly...less than a month until my cruise.  Eek!  Mexico, here I come!

Holy disappearing February!

Man, where did February go?  And January, for that matter?  Is it really almost March?  Oy...I had such grandiose plans for this year, and haven't really done anything.  In my defense, I have been struggling with these crazy headaches, which have zapped my energy and my mood, but I need to do my bets to work past them, and try to actually enjoy life again.  We have our crazy coming up in a month, and I hope that the sunshine and travel will help get my priorities straight.  Life can't all be about puppy cuddles and tv, right?  Although that does sound pretty divine...

So, in honor of Lent coming upon us and the realization that I have been wasting these few precious months of my 20s, I am going to jot a few things down that I would like to work on for the month of March.  I always see these ideas, and think man, maybe that would help.  Right?  Anything would help, at this point.

1.  Try at least one (hopefully two) new recipes.  I have been quite lazy in the kitchen lately, which is a bummer because I actually do like cooking.  I've bought the fixins to make a new bolognese recipe this weekend, but I'd like to find at least one more new thing to try out.  Maybe that will also help me cook healthier, rather than just eating easy fatty things I throw in the oven...

2.  And on that note...work on being healthier!  Less fast food and more exercise.  I actually signed up for a Couch to 5K running program where you run with a group of newbies, rather than yourself.  I love the C25K program, and hopefully running with a group will keep me motivated and help me to follow through.  So, on that note, I have to run three times a week to keep on that plan, plus I'd like to do one fun class a week at the gym (yoga, Zumba, whatever).  I want to only eat out once a week, too.  Even though I love going out to eat, it doesn't help that waistline to disappear...

3.  I miss reading, but it's so hard to do with my constant headaches and tiredness.  I am hoping that the above will help, but I want to set a goal to read at least one new book (from start to finish) in March.  It used to be nothing to do one a week, but baby steps.  I wish this wasn't so hard, because I really really do like reading.  But between working all day and being exhausted all the time, my eyes just aren't in the mood.

Easy, peasy...right?  I feel like these aren't lofty goals, but I want to start small so that I actually accomplish them.  Fingers crossed that the arctic winter we have had this year in the MidWest is on its way out.  Not freezing all day, every day would probably help the "getting off the couch" goal.

Weekend Update

Hello, and happy Monday once again!  I had a fun filled weekend, and one gorgeous spring day before the cold struck again, and it was great!  I'm exhausted this morning again, as usual, but it was so worth it.

Not much happened on Friday.  I found out that I was selected as a nominee for my University's Honors Convocation celebrating academic excellence for my work during my MAED, so that was pretty exciting.  We didn't do much to celebrate, but we did go out to a local Oriental Buffet at Joel's request.  No pictures, as it was just ok, but man...it did have some pretty delicious fried bananas.

Saturday we started our day off at the gym.  I'm still not supposed to be doing much, but I did work up a bit of a sweat walking an incline program on the treadmill.  I didn't walk far, but man...a 30% incline is no joke.  I am still feeling that in my legs today!  I also started tanning for the cruise, much to Joel's dismay.  We have a tanning place attached to the gym, so it makes things super convenient.

I also had a coupon for a 2 for 1 breakfast sandwich deal at Starbucks, which is also conveniently down the street from the gym.  It was a beautiful day, and we actually got up to about 63 degrees!  We decided a little al fresco action was in order, because just as soon as the nice warm weather came, it went away.  Boo!

Sunday was a spectacular day!  Since this is probably our last year in STL, we just knew we had to go to the Barkus Beggin Strips Mardi Gras Pet Parade.  If I am remembering it correctly, it is the largest pet parade in the world!  It was fantastic, with furry friends dressed up everywhere.  We left our old man Pugsley at home with our foster, and juts took Gomez, because we didn't know what to expect.  We bundled him up, and off we went!  His Chewbacca costume was a hit, and he had such a good time.  He was so well behaved, we were super proud of him.  It is a must see event if you are ever in the area.  Andy Cohen was the MC, and there was a free concert from the Barenaked Ladies.  Too fun!

It was such a blast!  I had such a good time bonding with Gomez.  We don't get one on one time very often, so it was a nice little treat.  Plus, he got a nacho, so I think his year was pretty much made.

Five on Friday!

Hallelujah, it's finally Friday!  I need this week to be over so badly.  Just 8-ish hours stands between me and my weekend starting.  Can we say yay???

Linking up!

1.  It is now less than one month until I am on my way to the MIA for a little fun in the sun and our cruise.  It seriously can't get here soon enough.  We've pre-booked a cute place in Miami for the night, as well as our excursions and entertainment on the cruise.  I don't want to think about a thing once I step foot out of St. Louis except about where the next tasty cocktail is coming from.

2.  I have had a heck of a week, physically.  My doctor put me on new meds for my migraines, which worked pretty well (yay!), but caused severe insomnia.  I stopped functioning like a normal human being, so I stopped taking them.  Today I have to go in for a thyroid test and a test for a possible mass that may be releasing adrenaline unnecessarily in my body.  Fun?!

3.  I remember back in Indiana having girlfriends that would just stop by (or vice-versa) for girl chat, to watch one of our favorite shows, or to make dinner together.  I miss having that kind of friend dearly, and lately I've been wondering if I will ever find that again.  Joel makes a pretty good substitute, and I do have friends in the area, but not ones that stop by every Thursday to gossip and watch Scandal, you know??

4.  I am still in the "I don't want to move" phase.  Denial, I think it's called?!  Anyways, I think I am starting to drive Joel nuts with my attitude about this.  Of course I'll move, and I'm sure it will be fine, but I'm really bummed out about the whole thing.  We finally got our tentative command sponsorship, and were told that we have to live on base (my nightmare), but even having some finality on things isn't making me feel better.

5.  I think my goad this weekend is to sleep as long as humanly possible.  I have a lot of stuff I want to do, but I think I ma going to worry about numero uno, and that's my comfy bed.  Maybe I can lure Joel with sweets to take care of the dogs this weekend and let me sleep in.  He's pretty good about being bribed.

I'm the kind of girl who...

I'm the kind of girl who...



*  tries to enjoy the silly side of life.

*  probably knows more about football than you do.

*  wants to be a girly girl, too, but is clueless with all things make-up/hair.

*  will never get her fill of seeing the world.

*  is a jack of all trades, but a master of none.

*  knows exactly what she wants to do, but has no idea how to get there.

*  wishes she could be a professional intellectual, always learning new things.

*  could spend all day in bed reading.

*  would adopt every animal she could.

*  believes her dogs are sadly better behaved than most children nowadays.

*  worries all the time about everything.

*  is punctual to a fault, and judges others who aren't.

*  wants to see the best in people, but often sees the opposite.

*  cries as the drop of a hat, but at the same time loves a good cry sesh.

*  has control issues and has to have everything planned, and has major panic attacks when things don't go as planned (AKA anything with the military).

What kind of girl are you?  Link up below!

Love Is All You Need

I am so on love with "love."  I'm a hopeless romantic, and single or taken, I've always been a big fan of Valentine's Day.  Sadly, I married a man that thinks it's nothing more than a Hallmark Holiday.  I say, "so what" to that, as just about every holiday has become about cards and gifts nowadays, rather than its true meaning.  But, we've compromised, and decided that we won't do anything big, but we will always take time out for "us" and at least plan a dinner out or something else that's simple.

Friday I planned a quick drive to Indiana to drop my sister off, and then pop right back in plenty of time to make our dinner reservations.  I was off of work thanks to my wonderful compressed schedule, and thought it would be a good use for my time off.  Right?  Well, old man winter didn't think so.

About halfway there, it started to snow.  It wasn't supposed to start until 2pm, It started, oh...around 10am-ish.  Indy expected 1 to 3 inches, but had at least 3 or 4 by the time I started back.  It was slushy and icy, and people were being reckless.  I saw, once I started counting, 26 cars on the side of the road.  My car was literally in park on the interstate on the way back for at least 90 minutes.  My 3 and 1/2 hour drive coming back took over six hours, plus the extra time it took to drive there.  We missed our dinner reservation, and I was so bummed. 

Joel had quite the nice surprise for me, however.  He got a tiny bouquet of flowers, the cutest card and sign ever, and made me dessert (an inside joke from our first date.  It was perfect.  We had a simple dinner at home, and went to bed early.  It was simple, but ended up being a wonderful Valentine's Day.  We ended up going out to dinner on Sunday and avoiding the crowds.  Sometimes, I really just love this man.

Pets are people, too!

I couldn't resist linking up for this, and I will leave you with one picture that indeed proves that pets are people, too: a sneak peek at our dogs' 2014Halloween costumes.

First World Problems

Folks, I have a legitimate issue here.  I know this post is all fun and games (right?), but I'm halfway serious here.  I have an addiction, and that force is strong within me.  It's called: shopping.

I am a sales addict.  I have an e-mail address just for all of those e-mails I get for sales and specials.  I get the Sunday paper, and the first thing I do is look at the ads.  I have said both in January and February this month that I will not shop for anything I don't need this month (groceries, gas, etc.) and have failed miserably both months.  I keep saying that I refuse to buy any more "fat clothes" because I'm pretty unhappy at my current weight, but then I get an ad for an awesome sale and buy clothes a size too small because, of course, I will fit into them soon enough.  Right?  Wrong.  And don't ask my how many pairs of boots I have.  I keep saying "just one more pair," but I have a four tiered show shelf filled, and still have boots leftover.  All because I got an incredible deal.

And you know what?  I don't even like "stuff."  I am constantly pitching things that we have because I hate clutter.  But, for some reason I love to collect clothes, shoes, and books.  I have a walk-in closet filled with just my clothes and I still can't fit everything in there.  And I know I don't need 20 gazillion cardigans for work.  But, when I see a great sale, it's pretty hard to ignore it...

So what can I do?  How can I control myself?  We aren't broke by any means, because I hardly ever pay full price for anything, but I know I can spend my money better elsewhere.  What are your trips on how to control/curb shopping?  The bad part, I know, is that coming up, winter clothes are going to be crazy marked down, but I just have to learn to say "no, I don't need a tenth pink/purple sweater."  I think I can manage, but I don't know how I'll ever say no to something in leopard...

Monday, Monday

Did this weekend go by way too quickly for anyone else?  Wow, Not only the weekend, but where in the world did January go?  Oh, and my youth?  (I kid, I kid...kind of.)

We had a jam packed weekend.  First, a recap of the delicious Mexican place we ate it.  It just opened last week, and we are desperate for good Mexican.  It is fairly close to the base, and is called La Casa Mexicana.  They have a location established in Edwardsville, IL (that we've never been to), but we went to their O'Fallon, IL one.  It was delicious.  Not to spicy, but it had a ton of flavor.  There was a wait, which was expected since they were so new, but it was definitely worth the wait.  And on top of their delicious food, they had one of the best daiquiris that I have ever had.  Yum!

Saturday, my sister wanted to go and play mini golf, and just her luck there was a place in Chesterfield, MO called CHesterfield Sports Fusion that had indoor putt-putt, laser tag, dodgeball, video games...basically a kid's paradise.  It was fun to act like we were in our tweens again, and of course I had to stop by my favorite BBQ place in the area, PM BBQ.  It was amazing, per usual.

Oh!  And on Saturday morning, Joel ran a 6K across a new bridge that was set to open to traffic for the first time the following day.  I was supposed to run, too, but didn't on Doctor's orders.  Man, I am going to be so far back by the time I can run again.  It was cold and windy, but he got his best 6k time ever.  He is turning into a racing fool!

Sunday was, you guessed it...the Olympics!  We had a marathon day of watching the events, to include the Opening Ceremony which we DVRed.  It always makes me cry to see such unity, especially when countries like Israel are followed by places like Iran, and done so peacefully and respectfully.  If only for that moment.  I love the graphics of the world that made the athletes look like they were coming out of their country on a map.  So cool!  Plus, since this is our first Sunday sans football (a moment of silence, please), we needed a sports fix.  Score!

It's Freaking Friday

You know, I know it's winter.  I truly do.  But, I am so tired of the cold, and the ice, and the snow.  I mean...come on.  Really?

But, it's Friday.  Another week has come and gone.  I'm starting to have a little relief with my headaches, and it's been magical, quite frankly.  I've still felt pretty sluggish because of the exercise restrictions, but man... I could really use a day without pain.  Oh, and Air Force?  A warmer climate after Korea would be great with me.  Pleaseandthankyou.

Anywho, my sister is in town!  I went and "kidnapped" her from my parents house, and boy am I glad that she's here visiting.  I love my sister to the moon and back.  I tend to hibernate when the winter is this bad, but she never really gets to venture out due to my mother's lack of activity, so she likes to paint the town when she's here.  And I love it.  We tried a new Mexican place last night, and who knows what's up for this weekend.  Can't wait to see what she has in mind for us.

P.S. Also, because I am so tired of seeing beautiful old dogs dumped, here is a personal PSA.
 

Exhausted

Well, it's officially February, and can I just say that January was an exhausting month?  So far, February isn't looking much better.  I appreciate all of the good thoughts and prayers concerning my Uncle.  He was so young at 47, and no one saw this coming.  Take care of yourselves, people.

Last Friday, I started seeing a chiropractor.  I am not sure how much I have shared on this blog, but I suffer from chronic tension headaches and migraines.  Yes, both of them.  It's super fun.  I have tried medication after medication, and everything stops working after a certain point.  My doctor has recommended a chiropractor for some time, but our awesome military health insurance does not cover chiropractic care, so I've been hesitant.  Well, these headaches have started to happen every day and they have started to affect pretty much all aspects of my life, so I thought I would give it a try.  Heck, I'll try anything at this point.  He took some x-rays, and it turns out my collarbone is out of alignment by, like...a lot, which is causing a lot of inflammation,, which is causing the tension headaches.  We agreed on a course of action, and I had my first adjustment on Friday.

Well, my Chiropractor either really knows what he is doing or he really doesn't, because I have had a pretty constant headache since Friday.  I have been in a lot of pain, and have had an ice pack on and off my constantly.  I can't exercise for a few weeks, which puts a real damper on my running, I can't take baths, which are my best way of relaxing in the evenings, and I've put on the few pounds that I've lost due to everything.  I feel like a hot mess.  I am just way to young to feel like this, right?

Hopefully this is all for something.  Hopefully this helps bring some sort of relief.  I also have a follow-up with my doctor next week to discuss this all with her.  I just feel like I'm at the end of the road of this doesn't work.  If anyone has any advice, I would definitely welcome it.  It's hard just making it through the day here at work.