25 Things You Don't Know About Me

So I'm completely stealing this post idea from another blog I read. (Thanks Chelsey!) I'm no celebrity, and I'm not sure how many people will really care, but I figure it would be fun to do anyway. For all my friends who read this blog, you may know most things on here- so feel free to stop reading now. 

So here we go....


1. The soon-to-be husband and my cat are both named Sam. (This fact is also found on the "About Me" tab- so you may already knew that.)

2. I'm still driving the same car I drove in high school. (I bought it off my parents, after having a bad accident with the first car I bought- so lets just pretend I never had that other car.)

3. I have always bitten my nails. (I know it's gross, but a habit 20+ years in the making- it's hard to break)

4. I love to use parentheses! ( Like you couldn't tell.)

5. I love a good surf and turf dinner. (with crab instead of lobster- please and thank you)

6. I've been in an ambulance 3 times. (Twice because of pool related accidents.)

7. I own all the seasons of "Newlyweds: Nick & Jessica" (Don't judge me. Ok, you can judge. Just don't stop reading my blog because of it.)

8. All my dishes I currently own were bought at the dollar store. (The plus side- I never care if they get broken)

9. The only pets I've ever had have been cats. (You could call me a cat person.)

10. I love ham on my pizza! (I think it's a Michigan thing, because no one in Chicago eats ham on pizza.)

11. For many years, I always ate Chinese food on Sundays. (I miss that tradition. But I haven't found a good take-out place around here yet.)

12. I'm double jointed in my hips. (It's always made dancing a little more fun.)

13.I don't like roller coasters. (I can do heights and I can do speed- but not together.)

14. I like to paint. (But I'm really not good at it.)

15. I wanted to be in the school musical in seventh grade, but only got an understudy part & did stage hand work. (I'll leave my singing to the shower or the car.)

16. I love hockey. I'll never turn down going to a game. (This also could be a Michigan thing.)

17. I hate basketball. (Working for a basketball team completely turn me off from the sport.)

18. Oh yeah- I worked for a basketball team. (The worst experience ever!! I'm glad that chapter of my life was short lived.)

19. I love ice cream!! (Chocolate Cookies & Cream is the best, but hard to find.)

20. When I was younger I wanted to be a dolphin trainer. (I guess that's not going to happen.)

21. I always have at least one stuffed animal on my bed. (They are good to snuggle with.)

22. I love shoes! (Some girls like clothes, others like makeup, other have purses- I'm all about shoes.)

23. I never make my bed. (1- Sam is always still in it when I get up & 2- It will just get messy again. I don't see the point.)

24. I've been living out of a suitcase for over a year. (I can't wait to get into our own place, so I can finally have all my clothes in one place.)

25. I have some of the greatest friends in the world. I don't know what I would do without them.


Questions: What's is something that most people don't know about you?

Indecisive Bride - Veils

To Veil or Not to Veil....that is the question.

Am I a bad bride because I'm still not sold on the whole veil thing? Currently I'm veil-less and I'm really having a hard time finding veils I like. However I do know one thing- I'm not spending $100+ on a hair accessory!

One day it dawned on me to try looking on e-bay for a veil. I have to say that was a good idea. I think I'm down to two that I like. However they are very different from each other, which is why it's hard to pick.

To see more pictures and info on each of the veils click on the "source" link.

1.

Source

2. 

Source

Question: Which one do you like best? Do know of any other places to buy cheap veils from?

I got a "Big Girl" job!

This last week has been hard... to say the least. I want to thank anyone who had my friend in their thoughts and prays. Time won't change what happened, but hopefully time will heal the sadness that all my close friends are feeling right now.

On a lighter and better note: I was offered my first time full-time job in my field of study! An it's not just any job, but a job that I really wanted for many years. I'm going to be an academic advisor!

My current job is coming to a close anyway, so the timing of this new job really couldn't be much better. However, I won't have much of a chance to miss my current college because I'm also going to be teaching a class there this up coming fall semester. I guess I'm like my mom, I can never just have one job.

I'm excited to be off the job hunt for a awhile. I'm also excited to be getting an upgrade from my current cubicle to a real office with walls and door.

I'm also excited because with the new job comes more income to pay for the wedding. (We have less than 3 months to go!) However, I'm a little sad to be leaving the dentist office. I started working there when I was in high school and it was nice to be back for a little while. I may still help out here and there, but for the most part- I'll be retiring my scrubs.

I have to say I can rock a dress and heels a lot better then drawstring pants and gym shoes.

I'm excited to see what this next chapter in my life will bring.... first the "big girl" job, next a wedding & marriage, then ???

Question: How should one celebrate getting their first full-time job? Shopping spree? Spa day? Other ideas?

Going to Unplug for Awhile

I just want to give the few people who follow my blog a heads up that I'll be off line for a next few days or so.

One of my groomsmen has had a true tragedy happen in his life yesterday. We have rounded up our friends to support him and are doing what we can.

This is going to be a hard and long weekend for all over us.We are a close group of friends. When one of us hurts; we all hurt.

Prays and good thoughts are needed.

Thanks.

Wedding Workout / Weight Loss - Part 2

When I go to the gym, I almost never step on the scale. I try to measure my success more by how I feel and how my clothes fit then what the number on the scale reads.

I started my "Wedding Workout" two weeks ago (if you missed that post- read it here) and I feel like it's going pretty good. Could I have worked out more? Yes. Could I have worked out harder when I was at the gym? Yep. But in the last 14 days I've worked out 8 of them. So that's a start.

With that said... the weight in....
So when I walk into the gym I got on the scale it read- 178.6
When I got done with my workout the scale read- 179.0
Odd?
So I got off the scale and stepped right back on, it read- 178.8

The scale isn't consistent with its measurements (awesome); so for the sake of the weight loss tracking, I'll go with the middle reading- so I'm down almost 1.5 pounds. Like I said, it's a start.

 (Picture from our high school prom- in our skinnier day. I hope we look this good in our wedding photos.)

I know if I plan on really losing some pounds before the wedding I need to average more then 4 days a week. So the plan for these next two weeks is to kick up the workouts when I'm there.

Today I did...

• 32 minutes on the elliptical -which is the length of the "Weight Loss" workout setting
• 25 minutes on the StairMaster - I mixed that up by adding leg lifts while I stepped
• 3 sets of 50 crunches

and a few other random exercises for the arms and abs

Yeah- almost an hour of cardio! Now just got to keep this up.

What is your favorite thing to do at the gym? 
(Me-I love me some cardio. It's a great mindless workout)

Making the List, and Checking it Twice

The shower invitation are out and the RSVPs are starting to come in. So now, I've been given the green light to start getting the wedding invitations out. However, my guest list is getting looked over one more time before the ink hits the paper.

Sam's grandma and aunt are writing the names and addresses on the invitation because they both are calligraphers. With that said, they need the guest list to be very detailed with all the names of everyone we are inviting. That sounds like it would be an easy enough job, but it's taking a lot longer then I originally thought. Making sure everyone's name is spelling right, making sure I have to most current addresses, and making sure we didn't forget to invite anyone.

I hope these invites will do done in the next week or so. Wish me luck!

Family Time and More Family Time

Being away from the blog for a full week seems like a really long time. If you missed me, I apologize for being gone but my real life has just been pretty busy these last 7 days.

Here what you missed...

Thursday: I worked both of my jobs. Got to love the double life.

Friday: I went to two floral appointments for the wedding.

Currently, I'm still on the hunt to find the right price for my flowers. The two florists I meet on Friday, for similar arrangements- one quoted me $900ish and the other $685. May I add, these where just on the flowers for myself, my girls, the guys, and the key family members. If I want centerpieces for the reception, that will be at least additional $1,000. Needless to say, my search continues. I have another appointment set for Sunday, so we'll see how that goes.

Saturday: My soon-to-be brother in-law's 8th grade graduation party.

It's strange because when I first started dating Sam, his brother Jimmy was only 4 years old. I can't believe he'll be in high school in a month from now.

It was nice to see Sam's whole family and neighbors. Almost everyone who was at the party will be invited to the wedding, so now I maybe able to place some more faces and names together when the wedding comes around.

Sunday: My mom's family reunion- in Michigan.

I really do enjoy going to my mom's family reunion. This year was no different. I got to visit with cousins and enjoy good country food.

When I say country... I mean it. Look at the view we got while we had our lunch.

I would hate to be those guys bailing hay in the 90+ degree heat.

Also my mom, my sister and I went and spent some time with my grandma from my dad's side of the family. If you drive 3 hours to Michigan and 3 hours home, you better believe we try to squeeze in as much as we can into that one day.

Monday, Tuesday, & Wednesday: Work and work related stuff.

Got to love job hunting... not. Job searching can easily become a second (or in my case third) job. However, I'm trying not to stress out too much. Things have a way of working themselves out. (Or at least I'm trying to tell myself that.)

Question: Does your family have "Family Reunions"?

- I think that maybe also be a "country" thing. I don't know many other families that have them. Heck, our family reunion even elects a "President" and a "Secretary",  then they holds a "business" meeting. In the meeting they mostly talk about births, deaths, and marriages; but they still make sure that they keep records of all that information.