Gettin' it in Gear

Remember when the New Year began and I told myself I was going to get in shape?

Yea, well that lasted for all of TWO weeks.
I was doing really good, using my bender ball every day, doing ALL three of the workouts, not just one. I also got sick right around this time, and the medicine I was taking caused loss of appetite.
Lucky me, right?

Anyways, during that time, I was able to lose 5 lbs.
And then school started, and projects started, and stress started.
And then I stopped working out.

But then I saw this picture that my sister posted on her blog.......

I had almost forgotten about it.
Look how skinny I was!

This was not long after Aaron's 'quarter life' crisis, and we had broken up for a while.
I went through some sort of depression stage [I think?] and Nanny literally had to make me eat. I was around 120lbs here.
I want to get back to that...or atleast close.

So, I've decided to go running/walking 3 days a week, and do the bender ball at least 2 times a week.

Today I woke up [at 6 am--crazy, right?] and weighed myself.
Right now my goal is to lose 10 lbs.
I put Kami on the leash, and off we went.
I'm not sure exactly HOW far we walked, because the stupid pedometer I bought didn't end up working, but I know it had to be AT LEAST a mile. We were gone a good 30 minutes.

I'm not posting this because I think that you guys are interested in me losing weight, I just really need SOME sort of accountability.
I watched Lying to be Perfect the other night on Lifetime, and thought the whole Cinderella Pact was a cool idea...until I realized that I had absolutely no one to do it with.

So, Thanks sister for getting my butt in gear.
I hope I can really stay motivated this time!!

'Tis the season.......

Finals are over.......

kind of.

The only one I have left is sculpture...
AKA the one with the d-bag teacher.

So, since I'm pretty stress free, I've been in the 'Christmas Spirit'.
Which is kind of crazy, because I'm usually all 'bah hum bug' until Christmas Eve.
I was really excited about decorating our apartment this year, so I just wanted to share with you all my decorations, even though there aren't a lot.

I made my own wreath. Using these:
And a hot glue gun, I produced this:
Aaron helped me hang the lights
And here is our little Christmas tree. Isn't it cute?
I can't wait until we have a house and I can go allllllllll out!!

I also kind of suck at buying presents early.
For example...I got a REALLY good deal on a gps for Aaron for Christmas, and I definitely already gave it to him.
See....
And, I bought Matt a special gift for being part of the wedding.
And I just couldn't wait 8 more days to give it to him.
Oh well. :) Hope you all have a great weekend!

You pick me apart while I search for witty things to say

I lost my engagement ring last night.
You see, when my hands get cold, it slips right off. I was sitting on the couch, and I felt it slide off. I thought for sure when I stood up, it would just be laying on the cushion, but no. We looked for it for close to an hour, before Aaron finally gave up. I mean, we pulled the cushions off, he lifted it up so I could look under it, we shook out the blanket and everything. And as I was on the verge of tears, I decided to put myself in the rings position. AS CRAZY AS IT SOUNDS, it worked. I was basically upside down looking in every nook and cranny & I found it. It was wedged between two pieces of fabric in the bottom base of the couch, underneath all of the springs. Needless to say, we had to use tweezers to get it out, but LUCKILY I found it. Talk about almost having a panic attack!

Anyways,

A few of us art ed. majors are leaving this afternoon to head up to a school in Gordo, Alabama to teach art lessons for two days. It should be interesting, but I'm a little bit nervous. We're each going to have our own classes ALL day for two days [thursday & friday]....4th, 5th, and 6th graders.

I'm not even nervous about the teaching part...I'm nervous about the fact that we are supposed to be staying at random people's houses. People who we've never met before. People who are going to be in charge of making us meals, and driving us around. *sigh*

It should be nothing shy of interesting. Wish me luck!

What did you say?

I don't think I have ever told you all about my Uncle, but I guess it's about time.

He is pretty much one of the most embarrassing people in the whole entire world. He never forgets anything, and if it involved you, he won't let you forget it either.

For example.......
When I was pretty young, my Aunt found out she had a tumor. After surgery, she couldn't bathe herself, so my Uncle gave her sponge baths. To my [probably] 10 year old self, I thought that was the most disgusting thing I'd ever heard of.

Then again, I wasn't the child that liked to run around naked, either. I liked to be fully clothed from head to toe at all times. So, being young and naive, I said 'I'm never gonna let anyone see me naked.'

So, my Uncle calls me the other day. He saw my engagement pictures, and for some reason, guess what comes to his mind? That time that I proclaimed to never let anyone see me naked. Why? Because he is completely inappropriate.

Not only did HE remember it, he decided to call me and remind me.........
'So, what are you going to do about Aaron?'
What do you mean what am I going to do about Aaron?
'I mean, you said you weren't going to let anyone see you naked. Does Aaron know this?'
DEAD SILENCE on my end.
HYSTERICAL laughter on his end.

SEE WHAT I MEAN? Completely inappropriate.

Anyways, here are my engagement photos.
Happy Hump Day!

I break the rules so I don't care

It's finally cooling off here in good ol' Alabama, and my heart is very, very happy.

I cleaned my whole apartment and bought a bunch of pumpkin spice and mulled cider candles, because I want my house to smell like fall.
I've been dying to carve pumpkins, but Aaron had to work all weekend =\
Speaking of work.....his new job has pretty much taken over his life. On the weekends anyways.
I mean, obviously I'm glad because it pays the bills, but it just sucks that they literally give him all his hours on the weekends.
*sigh* Besides painting and making chili, this is what I did today...

a 'flower' centerpiece for my kitchen table.
[tutorial here, if you're interested]

Guess what I just got....

A 'sneak peek' proof for my engagement photos!
Just one, for now, though.



What do you guys think?

I also got this:



A packaged deal.
A flower girl basket, ring bearer's pillow, the guestbook, the matching pen, garter
ALL MATCHING!
for 40% off at Michael's. How exciting is that?

And these Thank You cards:



On sale at Target, to match my whole theme.

What a great start to the weekend :)

WW:Love is a battlefield

Engagement party pics!

doin' what we do best [fight]

♥

It's only half past the point of oblivion

Have I ever told you all how much I love loved Blender; The magazine?

I had a subscription to it for the longest time, and I always looked forward to new issues. It was like giving a kid some candy. Or giving a drug addict some heroin. Anyways..
A while back, they 'went under', so to speak. I guess they just didn't have the funds to make it through this whole recession thing, so they had to stop producing the magazine.
This really, really bothered me. I went through a mini-battle of depression about it, but like all things, I eventually got over it.

A few weeks ago, I went to Nanny's and saw that she had a Maxim magazine laying on the coffee table. For a second I just stood there shocked, wondering if I should say something or if I should just keep my mouth shut, but my curiosity got the best of me.

Me: Nanny, why do you have a Maxim?
Nanny: Oh, it came here for you.
[Long Pause/WTF? moment]

I pick up the magazine, and sure enough my name is on the front cover where the address goes. But there was also a note from the company saying that since I still had almost a full subscription of Blender left, they would just fill it with Maxim, because they are owned by the same company. Well, obviously I'M not interested in seeing naked girls and learning about man things, so I decided I would take it to Aaron. I mean, I've already paid for it, right.

Nanny: You don't need to look at it. You don't even need to tell Aaron about it. It has stuff about sex in there. Just throw it away.

--------------------------------------------------

Aaron and I made banana bread last night.
It's delicious....see:

If you want the recipe just let me know and I will post it [or email it to you]

No, there is no Odyssey. There's no Penelope.

Aaron got a job at the local movie theater!
This is good for two reasons.
1] A steady income never hurt anyone,
&
2] Someone said something about free movie showings...what?! ya!

It's days like today that I am really missing teacup. *sigh*
Here's my Sunday [not-so] secret, just to keep the tradition alive for one more week at least.



In other boring news, I spent four hours at the school today [ridiculous, I know] trying to catch up.

Did I mention that I got my outfit for our engagement photos? It's super cute. Now I just need someone to come dye my hair.

Hope you all have a great week!

Another big bang and you're down on the floor

I've noticed lately that quite a few of my blogger friends have kind of fallen off the radar, and I won't lie, it makes me a little sad.

But, I do realize that most people have a lot of stuff going on in their lives right now, so I am trying to over look it. It has forced me to go out and look for new people to read, so that is a good thing, right?

Anyways, I have so many things I could say at this point, but they are all complaints. Which is why I haven't blogged in a few days; because every time I feel like I want to blog lately, it is to complain, and I know you all get tired of reading about other people's shady situations, so moving on....

Today was just stressful, we'll leave it at that.
And, one of my favorite ways to release said stress is to cook!

So, I got my pizza dough recipe from Smitten Kitchen, and went to town [figuratively].

We wanted something other than your average tomato sauce, pepperoni, cheese pizza.
We came up with the combination of alfredo sauce, shrimp, and spinach pizza topped with mozzarella cheese.


Wa-La :)
It was so delicious!

Now, we are waiting for our tummies to settle so we can go get some ice cream!

We're Back!

Aaron and I left for King's Bay, Georgia on Friday.

It took us around 6 [long, very long] hours to get there, but it was well worth it.
But at least the weather was beautiful.
Aaron bought me some cotton candy to keep me occupied.
Saturday we went to the Cheese Cake Factory. It was so delicious. We went shopping at some ritzy shopping center in Jacksonville, and then decided to head back to Cassie's.
Sunday we decided to check out the local Catfish Festival. It was pretty interesting, to say the least, but it was very hot outside!
We tried Gator on a stick [whhhat?!] and fried pickles. They were...different.
The heat wore us all out, so we headed back home to relax.
So today, we had to drive back to Troy. It didn't seem to take as long as the trip down, but it was the same amount [obviously]. I dreaded coming back to reality. But that is life. The weekends always seem to pass by all too quickly. And here we are, at the start of another week, and it's almost time for the season finale of Secret Life HA!

I hope you all have a great one.

What is all the buzz about?

I'm terribly sorry for being too busy yesterday to be able to post the winner of the print!

So, here it is..........

The winner is Amber!
Just send me an email @ dhs_cg_chick@yahoo.com
and let me know what address you want the print [Forget me not, right?] sent to.

Ohhh man. This weekend has gone by way too quick. Friday my bridesmaids and I went shopping for their dresses. Surprisingly, it took us less than an hour.


Later on that night, my friends Danny and Emily came to Troy to hang out. We all went to Mikata's. It's amazing, in case you didn't know. Went to pick up some drinks, and then headed home to play rock band.


Everything was fine until Danny decided we needed to play some drinking game. It was pretty fun, but it lead to Danny and Aaron getting trashed, while Emily and I were barely buzzed. The rest of the night [or should I say morning] was really interesting.

Danny managed to pull all kinds of crazy antics, including knocking on my neighbor's door at 2 in the morning, calling an ex girlfriend and yelling at her voicemail, and crying for all kinds of nonsense reasons.

He tried to leave several times, but we kept convincing him to come back in, until we finally got tired of chasing him [around 5:30 in the morning] and let him go.

I will never let anyone get that drunk again on my watch.

Anyways, most of Saturday was spent sleeping, until Aaron and I finally decided to get up and go buy a new computer. It's super nice, but it has taken over my computer desk, which I'm not proud of. Aaron is hogging it, which means my good ol' laptop and I are stuck in random places all over the house, and it is very hard to do the work I need to do without my desk. *sigh*

I am hoping this week just flies by. Friday we are leaving to spend some quality time with my sister in Georgia, and next Monday we have the photo session for our Engagement pictures.

Hope you all have a great week!!

You are Manhattan in June

Today, I'm feeling not-so-hot, in a sense that I may throw up half way through this post, but I'm going to continue anyways.

This weekend was pretty much one of the best weekends that I have had in a long, long time.

Friday night, we went to see Inglorious Basterds. Well, I really loved it. I'm not going to review it, but Matt did, so read his :)

Saturday, Aaron, our friend Danny, and I went to Dothan to do a little shopping. Our day consisted of Michael's Arts & Crafts,
Icee's from Target,
too much time in Barnes & Noble,
spontaneity in the mall,
[getting my ears pierced]
and ended with dinner at TGI Friday's with my friend Emily.

See, just a few weeks ago, she was diagnosed with the swine flu.
Although, according to her doctor, she is no longer contagious..........
Now, I really, really hope that I am not really sick, but if I am, I will be pissssssssed that I decided to hang out with her.

Anyways, I'm off to do some homework, and then to bed. Hope you all have a lovely week!

Since it's the weekend, I decided to have a little drink. Aaron and I went to the class six [the military liquor store] while we were on post the other day and got a few things.

He got Sam Adam's Octoberfest, and I got these little ditties.
I'm not a big drinker, so when I saw these, I couldn't resist. I love margaritas, and they had all kinds of flavors. Of course, I played it safe, buying only the original flavor, and one mixed with pomegranate. But they are sooooooo good.

I encourage those of you who like margaritas to try them if you ever see them. They taste fresh, and it's cheaper than you having to buy the mix, buy the alcohol, and try to make it yourself. [They are only a little over a dollar per]

Plus, the makers of this product really had American's in mind when they made it....being that we're always on the go....HAHA
I seriously laughed out loud when I read the back of the bottle.

I wake up this morning to a message on myspace from a complete idiot ex-boyfriend saying:

Ummm, seriously? I don't have enough room on this page, or enough time in the day to sit down and tell you all the reasons why this is completely ignorant, and i would never, ever agree to this. He must have lost his mind.


Anyways, Aaron is up in Auburn hanging out with some friends that he hasn't seen since before he left for basic, and I got left behind because on the first week of school I was loaded down with way too much homework. My day will consist of lesson plans, research, and drawings of hands [lame]. But I will find time for a movie or two.

Hope you all are having a great weekend!!

Patience is a virtue

On Tuesday, Aaron and I were pretty determined to get a second car.
Mostly because we have such different schedules, it would be very hard for us to just share my car; especially if he decides to get a job. After the not so great news we received about a lack of funds, we had to sit down and really figure some stuff out.

Once we got our P’s & Q’s straight, we headed out. We started out by going to the lemon lot [a place on base where soldiers try to sell their cars when they get stationed over seas], because they usually have really nice cars for pretty reasonable prices. Of course we found a few that we really liked, but we decided that at this point in time, they were out of our price range. One of the cars was a Mazda3 Hatchback. It wasn’t the car that Aaron originally wanted, but when we saw it, we both really liked it. But, like I said, it was out of our league for the time being.

We were heading to Enterprise to see Aaron’s sister when I remembered there was a Mazda dealership in town. We stopped by, just to have a look, and we found the one we wanted! An ’06 Silver Mazda3 Hatchback with black and red interior with only 32,000 miles on it. We took it for a test drive, and Aaron really did fall in love! He wanted a stick shift [which I have no clue how to drive], but this car is an automatic, with the ‘bumping shift’ which means it can switch between being an automatic or a manual. HOW COOL IS THAT? I basically thought this car was made for us.

Then it came down to the credit check and yadda, yadda. We passed with flying colors, and got the lowest interest rate available, but then it took us FOUR hours to negotiate. I’ll just tell you right now, I was highly irritable. I hate being places like that for so long, but it was worth it. To begin with they wanted $3,000 deposit & then $380 payment each month for 4 years. When we left, we had talked them down to paying a $1,000 deposit & $265 payment each month for 5 years. We saved a little over $3,000 on the car just by not taking the crap they were throwing at us, and almost walking away. We knew how much the car was worth, and they wanted a lot more for it, so we just sat there until they gave us a good deal. Needless to say, we left a very, very happy couple.

Wednesday, they wanted Aaron to come back to finish signing the paper work [since it was so late when we finally left], so he did. He got all the way to the dealership [45 mins away!] just to find out that since he was only 21 he HAD to have a cosigner, or we would have to give the car back. My first thought was, WHY couldn't they have told us that the night before? They knew he was only 21 because they asked him on several occassions for his birthday. They also knew that he was driving almost an hour to get there, so you'd think they would have saved him a little bit of trouble, but no. He called his dad, and asked if he would co-sign, and UNSURPRISINGLY he said no. I knew the answer before he even asked. I started to get really bummed out, because his mom has NO credit, and we knew that from past experience, so we were kind of freaking out. But my Nanny saved the day.

She agreed to co-sign, because she said that even if Aaron defaulted on payments, she would just finish paying it off and give it to me! HA! Notttttt that he will do that, but if it happened, at least we have a back up plan. Thursday we went BACK to Enterprise to finish signing all the paper work.

After days of going back and forth with the dealership, and stressing out about finding a co-signer, we are now the proud owners of this lovely little car:

Not so terrific Tuesday...

Sorry for posting twice in one day, I just needed somewhere to go.

Sometimes I think I live in some kind of dream world, and then reality smacks me in the face, and I really wonder where I've been.

For those of you who know the military life, you know that nothing is ever certain.

Before Aaron left for basic, his recruiter told him that when he got back he'd be getting a bonus, as well as a pretty good pay check monthly [enough to where he wouldn't need to get a job], just for going to school/being in ROTC.

Today, we find out that he is indeed getting that bonus, but he will be getting the pay check MINUS about $700.oo per month.

In other words, all these hopes and dreams we've been having about getting a new car has just been washed straight down the drain. Of course we'll still HAVE to get a car, but more than likely a not so nice one. *sigh*

He was also told [before he went to basic] that he would only have TWO years left before he graduated. He was told today that it will take him THREE years, and maybe an extra semester to finish. UMM, SERIOUSLY?

The only reason that this frustrates me so much, is because we live in a crappy town where there is never anything to do. We've already been here two years, this will be our third, and I can't even wrap my head around having to be here THREE MORE YEARS. I hate this place and I'm ready to go, go, go.......

My 100th post!

And I couldn't think of anything clever to do. Sorry guys!!

But I do have a lot on my mind, so try to keep up ;)

I think I've decided to do a 'daily doodle' now that I have my new drawing pad for my computer. Or, maybe I'll just add a doodle to my blogs, since I don't post every single day. I guess I'll give it a shot and see how it goes!

I got an email yesterday from my adviser, telling me that I needed to enroll in this certain class THIS semester or else I won't be able to graduate on time. Did I mention that we start classes TOMORROW?! I was freaking out thinking that I wouldn't be able to get in this late. But, I got it. Now I'm just stressing about the fact that I will be taking 18 hours this semester. Ohhh well.

Good news, though!! Mommy of Many Faces gave me the 'One Lovely Blog' award! Thank you so much!


Now, It's my turn to hand it out to a few of you!

All you have to do is save the picture and add it to your blog, then give the award to 15 of your favorite bloggers. Be sure to comment on their posts to let them know they have an award!

I'm picking:

The girl [even though I know she has taken a break, she still deserves it]
Matt
Cassie
Rachel
Leah
Jessy
BlueBelle
Emma
For the love of Pictures
Jasmine
Abby
Melissa
Jeanette
Miss Peregrin
Jaime

Enjoy!

Have I mentioned how busy we have been lately? Or the fact that we currently only have one car, and have a million places to go [or so it seems]. Or the fact that school starts tomorrow. TOMORROW? Did I seriously just say that? It seems so unreal. *sigh* The weekend can't come soon enough. And I seriously hope we can buy a car asap! [Please keep your fingers crossed!]

We did take a little time for ourselves last night, just to relax. I made fried rice, egg rolls, and orange chicken. Okay, I cheated and bought the egg rolls, but still, I made the rest, and it was seriously delicious. If anyone wants the recipe, just let me know and I will post it [and the brownie recipe that I keep forgetting to post, sorry!]. Definitely AS good as take out and a heck of a lot cheaper. After dinner we watched Fast & Furious. It became my favorite one of the four. I am going to recommend it to you all. Let me know what you think ;)

Well, I am off to spend a little bit of time with my man before another busy, busy day. Hope you all are having a fantastic week!

Annnnnnnnnd here we go, another week begins.

I feel like I fell off the radar this weekend.
Saturday I went to pick up Aaron from the airport. I put on this super cute outfit, and was all excited about being there when he got off the plane. The airport is about 45 mins away from our apartment, so I left with just a few minutes to spare. I was jamming to some envy on the coast and drinking dr. pepper, when all of a sudden the can falls out of my hand and alllllllll over my brand new white blouse. I swear, for about 5 miles, I did nothing except cry. Yes, I'm a big baby, but I knew that my plan had been ruined. It took me a few minutes, but I had this brilliant idea to stop at a gas station and get one of those tide to go pens and fix myself up....but unCONVENIENTLY, gas stations apparently don't sell those. I know this because I stopped at pretty much every one I saw, and kept getting the same 'look'. Needless to say, I was late to pick him up, which means he had already landed, picked up his bags, and was waiting out front before I got there. Thanks a lot, Karma. What did I ever do to you?!

Well, I didn't let that ruin my day. As soon as we got to the mall, Aaron bought me a new shirt to put on, so I wouldn't keep getting looked at like I was some nasty girl who doesn't wash her clothes. And the rest of the day was pretty fantastic. I didn't realize until AFTER I put all my clothes away that I could have taken more pics to show you all, and then I was too lazy to do it, so I'll just tell you.

I got 2 dresses, a tank top, two more pairs of jeans, a purse, and 4 new shirts, allllll for just $109. Which, yes, I realize is not AS good of a deal as Friday's, but still :)

Sunday we went to Aaron's parents house. Enough said about that. Aaron got a new phone. It's the Samsung Eternity, it's a touch screen, and it is freakin sweeeeeeet. I'm so jealous ;)
But, I did get something pretty awesome from Aaron for my birthday......
A virtual drawing pad by Bamboo products.



In case you don't know what that is, it's a touch pad that plugs into your computer, and you can draw on it, and it draws onto your computer! Awesome, eh?

I'm going to leave you all with that, and well wishes for a great week!

Go ahead and sell me more

Yesterday was such a good birthday, I wasn't ready for it to end!

I went to work, where my boss threw me a party. It was sweet, and filled with cards, pizza, and cake. I obviously didn't get much accomplished, but oh well :)
That night, some of my friends took me out to dinner. TGI Friday's is the best. I had the gourmet mac-n-five cheese, and it was amazing. I also had some kind of berry margarita, which was also amazing. I would have pictures to show you all, but apparently our waitress couldn't figure out how to use my camera.

Today was my last day of work [well, atleast for a while], and I didn't feel sad at all. I was just excited to get off so that I could go shopping with a friend.

And because I love sharing my bargains with you all..............
This is what I got:


6 shirts, and two pairs of jeans, all for just..........

dun dun dunnnnnnnnnn






$67.00!!

If I were you, I would run to the nearest Wet Seal/JC Penny/Kohl's first thing in the morning.

Yep, this weekend is tax free weekend in Alabama. Not only were there sales galore, but minus tax, too, and I really did good.

Not to mention that Aaron said he was going to take me shopping tomorrow.

Speaking of which......TOMORROW!
Finally, our wait is over. Aaron is finally going to be home for GOOD. or...at least until next summer. How amazing is that?!

So get ready for some possible mushy gushy posts in the near future! HA!

Before I go I just want to thank you all again for all the birthday wishes! Ya'll are too kind :)