My Derriere, Tookus, Keister, Fanny, Bum, Caboose, Rear, Cheeks, Tush, Booty, Hinney = SORE

That's right folks. My bum is sore today. I started my 30 day workout again yesterday. I have used this workout a few times and this time I decided to up the intensity and change it to high instead of medium. It can't be that bad, right.... wrong. Well, while doing the exercises it wasn't that bad.... however, when I tried to sit on the toilet this morning for my morning purge.... I quickly realized how "bad" it really was. OUCH! I guess that means it is working.

My hubby and I have started our diets. Grocery shopping consisted of fresh fruits and veggies, low fat everything, lots of lettuce and healthy snacks. The last two nights for dinner we have had a 0 point vegetable soup ( weight watchers recipe) which is AMAZING and yet so good for you, fruit salad and water. For dinner last night we had a large salad with taco meat on top and fruit salad (consisting of pineapple, cantaloupe and strawberries). For lunch yesterday I had chicken salad on crackers and a fruit salad. And each night consists of me working out and then going on a walk with my cute hubby.

It's a start. I'm just hoping it is a finish this time too.

If you've got any healthy recipes out there shoot them my way... especially if they involve sweets. I love me a chocolate chip cookie. :)

Today is going to involve a roller blading adventure, special K for breakfast, a salad for lunch and soup for dinner. YUM! It all sounds so good right now... in a week I'll let you know. :)

Roller Coaster Rides are not Always Fun

Life never seems to get dull. I guess it keeps things interesting, but sometimes I just wish I was on a merry go round instead. At least it would go at a constant speed, in the same direction, without ups and downs. (I'm sitting in the sleigh :) ) This past year has been pretty crazy and there have been many changes when it comes to friendships and life in general. It seems that no matter how hard I try there is this constant cycle that takes place. Just when I think things are getting better and everything is back to normal, a hill on the ride comes into view and the climb begins.

I think one of those climbs is starting again and I am hoping it is just a bunny hill (yes, I know I mixed skiing with roller coasters) I am hoping to find a way to change the outcome of this one and to intervene before the hill becomes too big.

I realize this post is filled with a ton of analogies and really no content, it was simply a way for me to vent a little and think it through.

This time I will get off the roller coaster ride before it starts going again. (I hope)

"Honey DIY" List

Another semester is coming to an end. Three of my four classes are over and all assignments are finished for the rest of the semester. It feels great to breathe a breath of fresh air.

There are so many things that I am looking forward to getting done. Every week I make a "to do" list for myself and up to this point it has involved all homework assignments. Not this time, no, this time it's all about me, my husband and my house. The sad part is that many of these items have been on the list over Spring Break, Christmas Break and almost every weekend in between and none of them are crossed off. This time is GOING to be different, I think.

My motivation came yesterday in the form of a solicitor. As Kyle and I pulled into the driveway last night I watched as a lady went door to door with her daughter. My first thought was that she was selling something for a fundraiser and I am a sucker, so I was simply going to do the next best thing to buying candy, popcorn, and more junk..... RUN and HIDE!

Little did I know this woman and her "not-so-much fundraising" daughter would be the motivation that I needed. To my surprise she was not selling a single thing and I was able to wipe the word "Sucker" off my forehead. Instead she handed me a flyer that said

2010 Annual Neighborhood Garage Sales

Spring Date: Friday, June 11 and Saturday June 12

Fall Date: Friday, August 20 and Sunday, August 21

Time: 9-5

The top two things on my list are cleaning out my closet and cleaning out the basement. This sale is a lot sooner than I thought I would be. This is probably a huge blessing. However, I am in my gorgeous friend, Alex's wedding on the 12th. But my hubby already has it under control.

I cannot wait. A shout out to all friends and family: Bring your stuff if you wish just price it out first. :)

So the Honey DIY List is beginning. Let's see how far I get.

- Clean out Closet

- Clean out Den Closet

- Clean out Basement

- Organize old school notebooks

- Start and Finish Blanket project

- Exercise regularly

- Finish the book I started in December

- Start a regular cleaning and laundry schedule (and STICK to IT)

- Plant Flowers

- Purchase Wedding Gifts for all summer weddings

The list will probably go on, but this is good for now. Let's see how far I get.

Birthday Hoopla

These past two weeks have been jammed packed with birthdays and celebrations. Starting with my A-M-A-Z-I-N-G husband that recently reached 25 (or a quarter of a century) whichever you like best. :) If you haven't heard the "surprise" party was RUINED, but it was still a great time and my second attempt at an ice cream cake. (Which was yet again, scrumptious.) The night ended with a little more dreaming with some fun couples about a possibly vacay in December. (If the price is right, of course)

Today is my cute little nephews 1st birthday. I cannot believe he is one already. It seems like just yesterday we were taking picture with the few-minutes-old Alex with my brace face and all. My how a year changes things and how quickly it flies by. His cuteness is now crawling everywhere and pulling himself up to everything. To check out his one year pictures go here and use your own email to sign in with the password avw. So cute!!! For a sneak peek (in case you are lazy and don't want to check them out yourself look below. )


His b-day party will be held on Sunday at Dave and Buster's. So fun!!

You may be asking yourself why I said the past weeks have been FILLED with celebrations when there was only two. Well, there was one more.

Sadly, this one passed as if no one knew. The day went on as normal and even I forgot until my head was hitting the pillow that night. For this celebration there was no balloons, no cake, no ice cream, no party hats, no noise makes, and no presents. No, this birthday did not have a party, did not have invitations and simply continued on like no one even noticed it. However, my friends this birthday was one of the best birthdays a person could ever have. This birthday was one that changed a life of one person and in turn this person touched so many other lives because of it. This birthday gave someone a purpose, a plan, a direction and guidance.

My friends, this birthday was my spiritual birthday. April 13, 1998 was the day that I accepted Christ as my personal Savior and the day the story of my life and its ending changed drastically. (And it is my Uncle Jay's birthday :) ) It's funny how much emphasis we place on our birthdays with present and cake and parties. But if we really stop and think, why don't we do it for our spiritual birthdays too. I think it deserves more hoopla, if you ask me.

One day when I have children of my own and they have their own spiritual birthdays.... we will have cake and ice cream and they will get a present. I want them to know how special that day really is and I want them to cherish and thank God for it. On that day "Happy Birthday" will not be a song, but instead a prayer of thanks.

Any other ideas out there for spiritual birthday celebrations?

Steak and Sewage

Another weekend has come and gone, this particular one helped me reach the 11 class day marker for this semester. I guess I can't complain. Today was definitely a lazy Sunday and it was a great one at that.

Kyle and I rolled out of bed early this morning because we both had volunteer commitments at church. It is never fun to watch the clock turn 2:00 am and have an alarm go off at 7:00 am. Oh well, it was well worth it, we had a great time with friends last night for Kyle's non-party/ ruined surprise party.

After attending church, we came back home only to get back into pj's and crawl back into our still-almost-warm bed. Have I mentioned how much I love our bed. It was a wedding present from Kyle's parents and it is the most comfortable thing I have ever rested my tired little head upon. This little escape lasted almost three hours and it was perfect. I had great intentions of getting right up after my nap and working on some procrastinated homework- well, folks... no homework is done and when I am finished here, I am retreating back to the comfy escape.

The rest of the day was spent simply chillaxing... that is until the gurgling in our shower started and the toilets would not flush. If you have ever been in a bathroom after a man has had nacho cheese dip in abundance the night before and the toilets are not able to flush you will begin sympathizing with me right about.... NOW!

After some investigated my amazing-handy-man husband discovered it was time to call a plumber. To which I did not argue. It was not a few seconds later when my cute hubby was on the phone to the closest plumber around and they assured us they would arrive within the next 2 hours. Kyle and I headed to the basement to move some things away from drains to prep for the handy man plunger himself... mind you I am in pj bottoms and a tank top without a bra when I man in coveralls shows up at my back door ready to take care of our little issue. :) I don't think I ever ran so fast in my life. I dashed right up the stairs and promptly hid.

After a few minutes of loud noises echoing up the stairs from the basement I began to smell it... and smell it did. The pungent scent of fresh sewage climbed the staircase and began filling my living room like a cloud of nasty smelling smoke. It didn't take long before the handy plumber man was getting back in his handy man plumber van with a freshly signed check and a 90 day guarantee. Come to find out the culprit was a HUMONGOUS root that was protruded through our sewer pipes. Apparently it can come back after 90 days... great.

But the crisis is averted. My shower does not gurgle and the waste can be flushed away.

The living room cloud was quickly replaced with the smell of steaks cooking on the grill. I simply have the best hubby ever.... saving a sewer system and cooking some steaks all in one day.

What a day! I am very thankful our problem was simply a root.

Cake and Ice Cream, Presents and Cards

Yesterday was my amazing husband's birthday. I like to remind him that he is a quarter of a century old, although he doesn't enjoy that very much. :) Unfortunately, I had class in the morning, so I kissed him good bye and left him in bed to sleep in and scurried off to methods of teaching reading.

Luckily, we got of class a little early and Jaime and I were able to make our secret run to a golf course down the road to purchase the new golf bag that he wanted. I had called ahead to make sure that it was still there and when I described it to the sales clerk he assured me that the BLACK, WHITE AND ORANGE one was still there. I was so excited and was quickly on my way to purchase it. When I walked in the door there was a golf bag waiting by the cash register and motioned to me that this was the one. Remember the colors from before: BLACK, WHITE and ORANGE.....well, this one was RED.....RED.....more RED and white and orange. I told him that I didn't think it was the right one and he assured me that the other one didn't have any orange on it and this had to be the one. I quickly asked about their return policy and was assured I could return it if it was not the right one. I did not want to show up empty handed, so I purchased it knowing full well I would be returning it in a few short days.

Lunch was at Chuck E. Cheese where we met Tami, Connor and Kylie for some birthday fun with Uncle Kyle. 50 tokens, 162 tickets and a nerf rocket, plastic ladybug, little snake and big snake later the fun was over and we headed our separate ways. Oh, how I love the decision making process that little ones go through. It was definitely a fun time.

Our little bus driver and passenger

Kylie found her own use for the skee ball game

A high five after their team work

Watch out Kylie is a crazy driver, look at that tongue

Cheap entertainment: She pushed these around for a while. :)

After lunch I had Kyle jump in the car with me and I took him to Dick's Sporting Goods where he was told to pick a bag out. He didn't find one at that moment, but after visiting yet another golf store, he decided that there was one at Dick's that was the one. :) Of course.

Our evening was coming to an end, but not until we made a trip to Genji's Japanese Steakhouse for a half off dinner for the birthday boy. If you have never had the privilege of dining at Genji's or a restaurant that is similar, it is a must. It is dinner and a show all in one. The food is prepare right before your eyes on the hibachi grill. (or as Wikipedia told me recently: teppanyaki cooking. Check out this link for more information. It is so good. Mama T, Papa T, Mama B and Papa B all met us for this awesome meal and then we made our way to G-pa N's for ice cream cake. That's right, homemade ice cream cake, prepared by yours truly. (I had a good teacher) Unfortunately, I do not have a picture of the finished product, but here is one of a slice.

After the festivities, Kyle and I headed home for a movie night. It was definitely a great day and I am pretty sure my hubby had a smashin' day!

Hoppy Easter!

This weekend was filled with food, family and fun. And fun it was. Kyle and I were hosts this weekend to Kristi, Joe and Alex and great hosts, if I do say so myself. Thursday evening Kristi and Alex made there way here after visiting with G-pa N before his surgery. Before they came we set up Alex's Easter present in our living room as our surprise. However, this gift FILLED our living room. This is it (minus the posed children and the dog) Picture Alex in it instead.

The weekend continued and Good Friday was not only a great day due to the sacrifice of Christ, but this year something else great happened. G-pa N had a very risky surgery that lasted almost 4 hours and he came out fine. There were no complications other than things we were expecting. Praise God.

Overall, it was a great weekend, with lots of food, lots of family time and tons of fun.

Random other news from the weekend:

1. Alex and Richard had an awesome bridal shower and received lots of great gifts.

2. Kyle and I are super clumsy: the weekend ended with a broken coffee pot, a full bowl of salad dumped on the dining room carpet, a bag of sliced almonds scattered across the kitchen floor and a sliced finger due to a sharp knife in the sink.

3. Kyle is great at making a 16 lb. turkey complete with stuffing.

4. Brownies, vanilla pudding, crushed up oreos and cool whip make a great trifle bowl.

5. Having a baby in the house is kind of fun, but I still am not ready for my own.

I'm sure there will be another post soon, I have stayed away from this thing a little too long.