Some Dingos ate My Gift!!!

Well, not really dingos. Just our two dogs. So, last weekend on Saturday my Mom and I had our bi-weekly ritual of breakfast and shopping. Now, don't go thinking I'm a big old shopaholic, 'cause I'm not! We often shop for groceries and go to Costco together! Anywho, this particular shopping trip I also needed to get a baby present and a birthday gift for this sweet boy.

So, I find the PERFECT gifts. I'm seriously so excited. I show Matt, he gives me some pretty good obligatory oooh's and aaah's, and I set about wrapping said gifts. Fast forward to the following day. We were going to a friends house to watch some football. A few times within the past week, we had left both dogs inside for a number of hours and they were fine. They had earned our trust. So, being that it was pretty drizzly outside, let again chose to leave them in the house. BIG MISTAKE! We came home to find my beautifully wrapped birthday presents destroyed. Completely trashed. I was so upset I couldn't even scold them (not that it would have done any good anyway, we didn't "catch" them in the act).

Even though we were pretty mad, I kept thinking to myself, "We are so fortunate. I was able to buy these gifts to begin with. I will be able to replace them. The dogs didn't hurt themselves (which wouldn't have surprised me!). Matt and I are both happy and healthy. In the grand scheme of things, this really isn't something to hyperfocus on." So, I got over it and went about my business. Being mad and beating our dog-kids would not have fixed the presents. So that is that!

Fortunately, I have the best Mom in the world. She was with me when I purchased the gifts and has the time to go and purchase replacements for me. THANK YOU MOMMA!

Besides that whole charade, things are good. Helen is coming over after work today to pull colors for our walls. I'm excited about that. Matt and I also went to Home Depot last weekend and picked out carpet that was much more reasonable in price, cutting the grand total in half! 

This weekend is Matt's birthday and we are super busy!!! I'm so excited to surprise him with his gift. I bought it back in October and have waited all this time, planned carefully, just in hopes that he'll be happy. I'll post an update after it all goes down.

Bullets & Pictures!

Because I can't figure out a "flow" for this blog, I'm using bullets. Deal with it.

• I started school this week. Tuesdays and Thursdays are not pretty or fun days for me. BUT, my first week is over and I only have to do it 17 more times. I think I can, I think I can......
• We got an alarm system installed yesterday. This makes be happy because my husband leaves me home alone overnight a lot. That is all.
• I think I'm going to try the Special K diet. Still no gym membership, but I'm thinking about going in and getting that free week long pass SOON.
• Matt's birthday is on the 31st. He will be 30. I have a special surprise planned for him. I am excited. Post and pictures with more detail to follow : )
• The carpet that we ordered for the third bedroom? Yeah, homeboy came out and measured and then called us with an estimate of............$970!!!! For ONE 13x12 bedroom!!! Seriously, did we pick out gold plated carpet or something? Soooooooo, once again, we are at a standstill with this 6 month long project. We WILL be going floor shopping again this weekend and there WILL be something other than cement for flooring in there by my birthday!

And because this post (reminiscent to all other posts that I make!) is pretty dull, here are some pictures to brighten it up a bit!

Our dogs

LOVE this one of me, Jordan & Lainey Bug.....just wish the Bug was looking at the camera!

Emmy & I sledding : ) 

Matt and I in Tahoe New Year's weekend. 

Random

My new favorite vegetable is bok choy. I think it's because it's not squash or asparagus or broccoli or carrots (the veggies that I normally cook as a side). Or, it could be because I doused the pan with butter to saute the bok choy in and promptly added bacon to the green veggie dish. Either way, it's darn tasty!

Happy Friday!

That is all.

Our Life

A little spotlight on what our schedules include....

Things change from week to week or even day to day, but on Mondays we try to have the evening at home. I make dinner, we do Matt's shot and most weeks I do a load or two of laundry. It's nice to have Monday night "stay at home" night after getting back into the work routine from the weekend.

Other weekly events range from boating in the summer to Matt taking a ski day in the winter. I am a professional student, so my life also revolves around homework and studying. At any given time we could have a birthday dinner or engagement party to attend. 

Every Friday afternoon, I keep my cousin's little baby Laine for roughly four hours. LOVE having that time with her and being her special Auntie : ) 

On the weekends, we're just plain crazy!! Ha! Not really though. To be honest, I try to pencil in at least three hours of "lazy" time every Saturday or Sunday. I am a junkie for my shows (thank goodness for DVR!) and I like to have a few hours every weekend to be by myself and watch them in my jammies. It's my me time and it's a necessity for my sanity!

Other events always seem to be present, whether it's having fight night with our group of friends or going to Sacramento to have dinner with Matt's Mom. 

All of this really doesn't sound like it's that much, but it is! Throw in the occasional weekend trip to Tahoe or the coast, trying to keep my house somewhat clean, spending time with our two dogs, grocery shopping, and maybe even a spin class now and then and I can start to feel pretty thinly spread REAL fast!! No complaints though, I love our crazy busy life because at the end of the day, we're together : )

This & That

I'm finding myself in a "funk" at work more and more lately. I don't hate my job, I'm just ready to be a nurse. A few more years.....

I know exactly what my "funk" is attributed to, and without going into too much detail I will say that it is my boss. He's not mean or condescending or anything of that sort. Just annoying. And I will leave it at that because overall I do like him and I appreciate who employs me. 

Today Matt and I are taking a big step. We are adding my name to his checking account so that our funds and bills will from now on be joint. Crazy that we've been married almost two years and this hasn't happened yet, right? I know. But really, it wasn't broken before (still isn't). I pay for groceries and stuff for the household and he takes care of the bills. But it's getting to the point where it's just kind of weird that we're a team and our finances are separate. It makes sense for us to have our money bulked together and for bills to be ours rather than his and hers. So, we are making the journey to our bank this afternoon to make it official. Exciting huh? It's about time!

I'm thinking about joining a gym. A Fitness 19 recently opened fairly close to my office and I have aspirations of bringing workout clothes with me two or three times per week and heading to work up a sweat before going home after work. Lucky for me, a dear friend of mine is employed by said gym and is willing to give me a week pass to "try before I buy". It's like $15 per month, which I can totally justify and even more, will not feel bad if I only go once every week. The down fall? No classes, just machines. Not that I'm a huge class person, and the monthly membership cost is totally resonable for them not having classes to offer. We'll see. I've decided I'm going to let my school semester start and get a feel for my work load before I make a decision.

Lastly....I want to go on vacation. Really. freaking. bad. I don't care where I go at this point, or for how long. I just want to be with Matt, away from every day life, enjoying a break. We'll see....

1.11.10

We were up in Tahoe for NYE, but just did a lot of lazing around. It was nice to have an understated December 31st for a change! Upon returning home, we took down Christmas. It was a relief to have that project taken care of, though Matt and I were commenting last night that the holiday season was not what it normally is for us. It seemed to zip past and I don't think we savored it as we should have. Chalk it up to Matt being sick for a week, Henry being on his way, or a million other things. Next year, it WILL be different : )

There are some upcoming trips that we have planned. Matt is taking two ski trips, one to Jackson Hole, WY that has become a yearly tradition with his Dad and one to a place called Revel Stokes in Canada. I'm going to NYC, Philidelphia, D.C. and Williamsberg. SO excited about this. I'm also very blessed that Matt and I are able to pull together the funds so that I can go. Though we're both completely stoked about our respective trips, we won't be going on any of them together. They are also all taking place within a two month span which means that we will be apart for a total of three weeks in an eight week period. Thank goodness the trips are spaced apart.....I'm gonna miss Matt like CRAZY! On the same note, I think it's wonderful that we have the opportunities that we do and that we have such a relationship that we are comfortable letting one another experience things!

My Spring semester for school begins on the 19th of this month. I'm taking Physiology and Microbiology. It will more than likely be a stretch to take these two classes at the same time as well as work 30+ hours per week, but I know that it will be well worth it come summertime when I have that much more under my belt. One year from now, I will have all pre-reqs finished and I will be applying to nursing schools!!! I think I may cry a little when the day comes! Another blessing that I count often.....being able to go to school to achieve the career that I yearn for, and having a husband that supports me financially, mentally, studiously, and in so many other ways through it! 

I've gotten a bug up my bottom to re-decorate our bedroom. I'm thinking "beachy", restful, peaceful-ish color tones. The rest of our house is very "warm" which I love, but I need a room that's a little different. This means at bare minimum to paint the walls and re-stain our furniture a darker color. I'm trying to keep costs down and stay with the duvet covers that I already own. OH, annnnnnd, drum roll please..............we FINALLY ordered carpet to have installed in the third bedroom!!!!! Yes folks, 6 months after beginning to paint, in a few short weeks we should finally have a useful space that will be known as the office. Very excited about that!

And because I'm lame and I like to plan out our meals and be able to see how often we eat what and what needs to be changed or added to the mix, Menu Plan for the week is.......

Sunday: French onion soup and salad

Monday: Mushroom parmesan and bok choy

Tuesday: Chicken breast stuff with pecans & blue cheese over rice and spinach

Wednesday: Matt's night

Thursday: Pick your poison night (Leftovers!!!!)