Good Bye 2013 - Hello 2014!

As another year has come to a close, I reflect back on 2013 and think of it as the year of "Cruise Control" because we just really got to enjoy life. It was a year of fun-

A year filled with good friends-

And a year of big personal accomplishment for me-

 

Under 160!!! Over 30 pounds loss since March!
And for 2014, I hope for more of the same.

 Here's a preview of some the fun to come- in 60 days, we will be meeting up with these lovely ladies (and Joel) for some more fun in sun in Mexico! Maybe I'll even buy a bikini to show off my hard work.

Also, I'm excited to be a bridesmaid for Anna and Angel's wedding. It will be fun to be in a wedding party that isn't my own.

 

Past that, we'll just see what else this year will have in store, but I have a feeling it's going to be another great year! Happy New Years (Eve)!

Merry Christmas Eve!

It's Christmas time and I'm finally finding my holiday spirit. Yesterday I found myself enjoying some holiday music, baking, and some hot spiced wine. It was a great night!

Note to self: Taking hot cupcakes out of the pan can lead to cupcakes looking like this-

I'm excited for all the holiday plans that are in store for the next few days. This includes time with my family, time with Sam's family, time with friends, and maybe even a road trip to see the newest addition to my extended family-

I hope everyone has a Merry Christmas and a wonderful New Year!

The First Day of My 28th Year!

Yesterday I turned the big 2-8! And for my 28th birthday I was greeted with this wonderful sight.

The enjoys of a winter birthday. However, knowing that I didn't have to clean off that car to go to work was pretty nice. As I'm getting older, I'm trying to enjoy the vacation time I get, so why not take a day off in the middle of the week for your birthday- I mean it sounds like a great reason to me!

It was strange when I went to the gym and it asked my age and I had to type in 28. That will take sometime to get use to.

For my birthday, I decided to treat myself to some "self care" in the form of an hour and half message. It was so glorious!

 

Sam also decided to take the day off. It was nice because we got to spend a lot of quality time together, which included making cookies because his work was having a cookie exchange. He decided he wanted to make "Ninja Bread Men".

 

It was an interesting experience especially because we had to use a wine bottle as a rolling pin (that is what happens when you leave your rolling pin at your in-laws house). However, for you first try- I think they turned out pretty well.

  All and all- it was a good relaxing birthday and I'm excited to see what this year will bring!

My Sister's Final Exam

What can be better than taking a random Tuesday off of work? Answer: Adding a free make over complements of your sister! Being that Karen is in beauty school, I got to be her "final exam".

 

There was some requirements to her exam- she must cut at least 2 inches, color the hair, style the hair, and do make up. Also, we had to do "before" and "after" photos because the make over was treated as a contest between the students. So here is my "before"-

You got to love the just rolled out of bed, and didn't even brush my hair look. I figure it would make for a more dramatic "before" look. And here is the "after"-

I think she did a good job even if you can't really see the color- I got red low lights underneath. I know that having a sister who can do hair is going to keep coming in handy for many years to come.

How is it December already?

Can someone tell me how in the heck it's December already? I always have mixed feeling about December. I do enjoy the holidays and the extra time off of work, but I hate the winter weather that happens in Chicago. Oh well, I have no plans on moving so I just got to learn to deal with the weather (but I don't have to be happy about it).

So to start of December, I decided to make a warm tasty breakfast of chocolate chip banana pancakes. It was just a box mix, but they were very yummy!

 

Shamrock was a little confused on what was going happening because we never eat breakfast at the kitchen table. But he used it as an opportunity to get some extra attention from his daddy.

How cute are my boys?

Also, with December comes many family birthdays- mine included (but that isn't until next week). Today we  celebrated Sam's brother Jimmy's birthday. He will be 17 tomorrow. It's also hard for me to believe that Jimmy was only 4 years old when I first met him (that just makes me feel really old). 

So we enjoyed great  family dinner, chocolate cake, and the boys picking on the birthday boy. I don't know what it is but it's doesn't matter how old these guys get, if you put them in a room together, rough housing will ensue. You're never too old to pick on your little brother- Happy Birthday Jimmy!

Crazy Weather = Sunday at Home

If you live in Chicago area or even in the midwest, you know that today has been full of crazy weather. Being that I knew this weather was coming, I got up early to get to the gym and do my weekly food shopping. I got home just after 11:00am, and it was good timing because the weather got crazy just after noon.

This is the first time Sam and I have been in a tornado warning at our house. Being that we have a split level house, the only room in our house without windows is our downstairs closet. So into the closet we went once those sirens went off.

Shamrock wasn't really pleased about being locked in a closet but he relaxed after bit. We had left our TV on so we could hear what was going on with the weather. And as soon as we heard that there was a tornado spotted in out town, our cell phones started ringing from our friends and family checking to make sure we were ok. 

About 1:30pm, the storm had past and we left the closet to see what damage was done. Lucky for us we had put all our outside stuff into the garage and we have no trees on our property, so we were in good shape. However, our backyard neighbors giant evergreen tree wasn't so lucky.

It's hard to see in this picture but the tree is hanging on the power lines and into part of our yard. Also you can see that the top of the tree is hanging on the top line- it looks like an upside down Christmas tree. Our neighbor has called ComEd and the fire department, and it will be remove in the next day or two but for now we'll just be avoiding the backyard for a while.

With the crazy weather, today has been one of those stay indoors, watch the football game, take a nap, and eat some chili kind of days. With all the news reports, I know many other people weren't nearly as lucky as us and they have my prayers in this hard time.

More Adventures in Pet Parenting

Mr. Shamrock found himself at his favorite place again tonight- the vet.

 

Doesn't he look happy?  This is his "I'm not amused" face.

Anyway, it seems that our very sweet, but dumb cat managed to some how get a cut in his month/ on his lip and now it's infected. 

Awesome. With our pocket book $100+ lighter, I think I need to start charging this cat rent. If not rent, the least he can do while he's home all day is clean up the place. A girl can dream, right?

Anyway, out of all the different things I was worried it could have been, this is the best case scenario. So now we get to shove antibiotics down his throat for the next seven days and hope that does the trick. The vet said if it's not better in a week, we'll need to come back.  

Oh, the things we'll do for our fur babies. He's lucky we love him. If we didn't, I really would change his "Rocky" because of his big lip/droopy face that makes it look like he just got out of a fight. It's seems like a fitting name if you ask me.