Man vs. Wedding Ring

Here is a question I want to put out there... do you care if your man wears his wedding ring?

The reason why I ask is because mine doesn't. Well, kinda... He wears his around his neck.

This was the only picture I could find where you can see the ring, because most of the time in tucked into his shirt.

Before the wedding, we debated if it was worth getting him a ring at all. He has allergies to most metals so we weren't sure what type of ring we could get him. After some research we found a metal that wouldn't be reactive to his skin (which happened to cost a lot more, but we decided to get it anyway.)

After the wedding, Sam tried to wear his ring like a good husband. However, it just didn't work for him. Between his hand swelling and shrinking which made the ring fit funny and him working in a restaurant where it got sticky and banged around- he was just not having this whole ring wearing thing. So finally one day Sam asked if I cared if he didn't wear it... and I did care.

I'm not sure why the thought of him not wearing it made me sad. Maybe it's because we spent so much money on the ring and I didn't want it sitting in a box in his dresser. Or maybe it was because I wanted him to wear it as a symbol of our relationship- our marriage.

 
He made the point that we had dated for 10 years with no ring on his finger and he was committed to our relationship as much then as his is now. But it still didn't sit well with me. So I came up with the necklace idea as a compromise.

The string just broke the other day. After over a year of 24/7 wear it was bound to happen. But other then re-string it every so often, the necklace compromise has worked out well. He wears the necklace all the time so he technically is wearing his ring, and his not going crazy because it's not on his hand. It works for us.

Question- Do you care if your man wears his wedding ring? I would love to hear so other options on the subject.

40 Day Countdown!

So it's been cold here is Chicago (yes, I understand that happens in winter) and I'm so ready for Spring weather. Lucky for me I have 40 days until we leave for warmer climates! Let the count down begin!

 

I'm so ready to get back on that boat and just relax. Enjoy the fresh air, the great food, and the best naps you have ever taken!

 

I'm also excited because I get to see these two girls. Both live far away and are a good time, so I'm excited they get to join us again!

I can believe it was only a year ago that photo was taken! It seems a lot longer, but I'm excited that we have started a tradition. Now I know that not every year we'll be able to go on these really nice vacations, but I really do want to try to have some type of getaway planned each year.

 

Here's to 40 days to until more fun in the sun! And to great friends and a great time!

Facebook Creeping

Happy Monday! For the lucky few of us, we got an extra day off because of MLK Day! I'm trying to take advantage of this extra day off to work on a never ending project... photo printing. Back in grad school I decide I wanted to print off pictures from my time in college.

 

I mean it's important to me to not forget the Halloween party that I was a bumble bee hanging out with Captain Morgan!

So when I started this project to collect my college memories and put them in print, the first place I went was Facebook. If it wasn't for Facebook 90% of my college memories wouldn't have been documented because I never took pictures of my own. So the only way for me to get the collection of photos I wanted was to Facebook creep on everyone photo pages. All and all it worked really well.  Here is a few of my favorites...

 

(Roommate fell off the couch)

(Don't forget your shorts... or this may happen)

 

(Aftermath of a banana fight. What- you mean you never had a banana fight?)

However since my after my first year of grad school (which was 2009) I haven't printed any more photos, which is a shame because so much has changed in my life. Well, I needed that to change. Lucky for me a few years ago after grad school, I yet again went through Facebook and finished pulling all my grad school photos- I just never got around to printing them. Believe it or not for one year (2009-2010) I was able to find a total 200+ photos to print.

 

During this project I realized that every photo I print doesn't have to have me in it. I wanted to have the pictures from other people's cameras that I may not have been able it get. I figured as long as I was there, it's not creepy (ok-not too creepy) to have pictures of my grad school friends I didn't take or wasn't in. I really want to remember everyone and the different things I did throughout my time in college. 

 

Now that my college years have been printed, I now need to work on gathering photos from the last 3 years and get those printed. There has been many milestones in my life since college- engagement, first really job, bridal shower, bachelorette party, wedding, honeymoon, buying our first house, and many other things in between. However, since college I have been better about taking my own photos but I still plan to Facebook creep to make sure I don't miss something good.

For example if I didn't creep my friend Lindsay's Facebook page I would have never seen this gem! Grant I didn't go to the bar with the boys before my wedding, but this is a memory I want save forever in my album. I know that Facebook doesn't seem like it's going away anytime soon, but there is something to be said about having the photos in a book filling my shelves with memories.

Questions- Do you still print photos? How do you preserve memories (other than blogging- I got that down already!)?

Long Weekend!

I hoping everyone had a great week. Mine was busy because school starts up this week, so there is always a big rush of students who want to get enrolled in school last minute that keeps me very busy. However, I have a three day weekend so I'm really enjoying this long weekend.

I really haven't done much this weekend and that's how I like it. Here is a picture that sums up my day yesterday.

 

However, I haven't been completely lame all weekend. Friday night we had people over. It wasn't a huge group, just 6 of us total but it was a good time. Somehow we a inherited this thing...  

It pours a perfect shot and then refills itself. It's kind of fun, but could become dangerous quickly. It can hold up to four different bottles, so you can have a range of shots to pick from. Oh, I love my friends that bring us crazy things they don't want any more.

Today, we haven't done much. I went to the store to buy food for the week, and Sam is going to cook us dinner. We're having a pork roast that Sam has put into a brine.

Oh my husband and his fancy cooking. The brine helps put flavor into the meat and then he'll be roasting it in the oven to cook it.

For tomorrow, I set up a dentist appointment in the morning. It's not the best way to spend my extra day off, but it will get me out of the house. I also hope to do a little more shopping with my gift cards, and work on some projects that I have started.

I hope everyone had a great weekend!  Have a good week!

Weekend Recap

I hope everyone weekend is going well. My weekend started off with a quick visit to check in on my Sammy cat. He looks a lot better without that big tumor on his face. He still needs to get the stitches out, but he's doing really good. 

 

Oh yeah, and my sister was there too. She is starting beauty school this week, so I'm excited for her and I hope this is something she really enjoys.

  

 After my visit home, I went to dinner with these lovely ladies! Most of the conversation had to do with Anna's wedding and our group cruise we'll be going on in March.

For Saturday, I did running around in the morning.  I started at the Secretary of State's office to change my car title and registration to my new last name. I think (I hope) that's the last think that really needed to get changed with my maiden name. After that I went shopping to spend some of the gift card money we got for Christmas. Little on things for the house and a little on myself.

 

Also, yesterday the Christmas decoration got put away. All and all a pretty lazy Saturday.

And my plans for today- I'm starting to feel a little under the weather so I plans are to keep warm, cuddle on my couch, and just relax. I thought it would be fun to watch our wedding video because it's been a while since I watched it.

What I thought was really funny is that Shamrock sat on the other couch and watch it too! He never pays any attention to the TV but I guess because he heard our voices that made him interested in what was goes on.

I hope everyone had a great weekend!

First Things First

So I'm totally stealing this idea from Allison blog (and she took it from someone else) but I thought it would be fun to do this survey. It's like junior high/ high school all over again!

First thing you do when you get up in the morning:

• Get out of bed & go pee. (Doesn't everyone?)

First thing reach for when you open the fridge:

• First thing in the morning- the milk for cereal 

 
First thing you do when you get to the gym:

• Swipe card, go to locker room, get on cardio machine. 

First thing you do when you get home from work:

•  Head down stairs to check on cat. 

 First car:

• Oldsmobile Alero (same car I'm still driving today)

 First accident/ traffic violation:

• I was 16 and it was in the parking lot of my first job. The other car hit my front tire/ front bumper. A cop saw the whole thing, I knew it wasn't my fault, but I still cried.

First thing you wanted to be when you grew up:

•  The hula hoop girl in the circus. I thought this would the coolest job ever!

 

 Source

 First choice beverage:

• Coke-Cola

First choice breakfast:

• I used to get this all the time as a kid with my grandparents- two eggs (over easy) with white toast, and bacon. 

First choice dessert:

• Ice cream- with out question!

 First song that comes to mind:

• "I'm Bring Sexy Back"- JT. I heard it on the way home tonight.

First major purchase:

• My education. My first semester of community college was the first time I ever spent over $1,000 in one shot.

 
First job:

• Banquet serving (which turned into a 8 year gig between two different banquet places)

First time you flew on a plane:

• I'm not really sure but I'm going to guess around 3 years old going to Orlando.

I hope everyone has a great weekend! 

Pet Parenting

By now everyone knows that I'm a pet parent. In my more recent posts I talked a lot about Shamrock who is the newest fur baby in my life. Shamrock is the first pet for Sam and I, but he wasn't my first fur baby. There is Sammy.

Sammy cat is my first fur baby. I got him on the 4th of July in 1998 from my grandpa's farm. He was the runt of the litter, and I just loved his mild manner from day one. He's just a sweet and laid back cat. Being that he's on the older side, I figured it would be best if I let him live out the rest of his life at my mom's because he's comfortable there.

From the first picture above and from the video below, you can see that my poor baby has a tumor growing from his nose. The picture was from over a year ago and the video is from the summer. As you can see from the video he is still very active and sweet. Also at the point the video was taken the tumor didn't seem to bother him at all.

This tumor has been around for a while, but being that he's 14 years old we didn't want to put him through the trauma of being put under to get it removed. Also, the cost of getting it removed isn't cheap.  However, the tumor has gotten so big that it's getting in his way when he eats and he keeps on scratching it open which just makes it worse. So come tomorrow my mom is going to take Sammy to the vet to get it removed.

I hope that my old baby can handle the surgery and come home without any complications. My hope for 2013 is that both my fur babies start feeling/ looking better and we get to enjoy more years with them.