1 Week to Move

This week has been so crazy packing things up and getting ready for the move next week... OMG - We move in 7 DAYS!!!

Here's the state of our garage at the current moment...



We ran out of boxes last night, but I've been "whoring" at work and so far have 6 really nice boxes and a couple smaller boxes... Nothing like giving them a guilt trip.

I've been trying to cancel some things and change some things to the new place, however I've hit a couple walls because of freaking "security reasons". AKA some bills are not in my name, so I can't change them... So much for trying to help Eric out. Poor guy is overwhelmed with training on his new job this week...

So that's the status so far.

Box Whore

So in preparation for our upcoming move, I've been collecting as many boxes as possible. I've been sneaking around the corners at work stealing all the boxes, making them order cases and cases of paper b/c those are really the best boxes ever. Eric left this morning to go to Chicago with his co-workers so tonight and tomorrow I'm planning on doing some major packing. I think he's worried. hee hee

We had our inspection last week and only had a couple of things for our sellers to fix. Thank goodness they are working with us on them. I also received an email (through our realtors) from the sellers explaining some of the other "non-major" things. Like how there isn't a screen door on two of the doors b/c their dog went straight through them. And how one of the neighbors would probably re-screen them for a couple of beers. Oh and how its not uncommon on a Saturday night to sit in someones garage or driveway and play poker or watch a game. AWESOME!! This is exactly the type of neighborhood we were looking for. I'm hoping they go all out for Halloween and Christmas too b/c we'll give them a run for their money!! Wait til the kids find out we give out full-size candy bars to the trick-or-treaters!! I just cannot wait!

To pass your time you can check out some pics of our new house here. The red kitchen is my only "issue" with the house. I'm thinking about either sponge painting over it, stenciling some borders or just priming it and re-painting it. Not sure yet what I'll do.

So you thought I was back to blogging...

I had good intentions... A lot has happened in the last month since I blogged last. The biggest things are that my husband finally got a much needed and deserved promotion at his job. The downside is it requires more traveling, but I'm okay with that. It will be an adjustment, but I'm going to find things to keep myself busy.

We also put our house up for sale so we could buy a new bigger house. Well we put our house on the market on a Thursday and then went the following Saturday to check out some houses. No rush or anything, just get a feel for what was out there in our price range, etc. Guess what?! We absolutely fell in LOVE with this one particular house. It was everything we wanted and more. We put a little longer close date on it in hopes of our house selling in the meantime. We close Sept 27. Just under 5 weeks now. So far we've had 1 person check out our house and it's been on the market 2 weeks. We also have an open house in a couple weeks.

Besides that we've just been doing all sorts of things. We went to the "Dave" concert last weekend and had a great time. I've had some shows with my business. Hoping it picks up a little more although I'm not sure exactly where I'll find the time to fit it in my schedule. Also work has picked up like mad. The students are back and I can barely get a lunch in. I don't mind being busy though. This weekend we have absolutely nothing planned. Of course I'm sure we'll be doing some summer cleaning in preparation for the move. Plus we need to clean the house and do some landscaping. All this rain has really messed up my mulch!

That's all I have for now. I might be back to regular blogging so stay tuned.

Hey Y'all

I'm back from Texas. Completely exhausted, but I think I'm getting caught back up on my sleep now. I pretty much survived on 4-5 hours of sleep each night we were there. This is not good for a girl who sleeps 8-10 hours nightly... It was worth it though.

On Tuesday of last week I spent the evening packing. Blah!

On Wednesday I got 4 phone calls from a certain airline (AA) saying my flight was delayed, put on another plane, blah, blah, blah at 2:30 AM!! I screamed at the 4th lady who called and by then I was wide awake. I met my co-worker at 6 a.m. and headed to the airport. We almost missed our plane gabbing away. I looked down at my watch and realized we had 15 minutes to get through security and to our gate. Thank god it was smooth and our gate was just around the corner. After we got to Dallas we caught a shuttle to the convention center and signed up for the manufacturing tour at 3:30. Then we headed back to the hotel, checked in and grabbed lunch. The tour was AWESOME!! Gave me a whole new respect for what really goes into the jewelry and how many hands it goes through before it's the finished product, etc. I was floored! Made the 1 hour bus trip and car sickness more tolerable on the way back. That night we had dinner at Chili's and then headed to bed.

On Thursday I got up at 5 a.m. and we all got ready in shifts. Our group was really good and we were out of the hotel by 7 heading to breakfast. There was a little place in the hotel that we got breakfast at. That morning I ordered this oatmeal that sounded awesome. Weird thing though is that it came out cold. It was supposed to be cold. I ate most of it as it was surprisingly very good. After breakfast we headed to training which lasted all morning. It was very good. The meals sucked, but everyone kept saying you don't go to rally for the food. They were definitely right! The rally itself started after lunch. They do all kinds of recognition, guest speakers, entertainment. Also people from the mission trips they've funded, etc. I heard there were over 7,000 people there. It was jam packed. The excitement in the air was awesome, too.

Friday was more of the same thing. One awesome guest was the marketing or something lady form Stein*mart who spoke about fashion tips & trends. Oh my gosh was she awesome!? I took several pages of notes and plan to use a lot of it at my shows in the future. After it ended Friday we had a group meeting, which was nice. We did some recognition and played a couple games. Not everyone knew each other either so it was nice to visit with them personally.

Saturday was again more of the same. It was patriotic day so everyone was decked out in red, white and blue. They had an awesome show with singing, dancing and fireworks. We left a little early to catch our flight. Had dinner at the airport at Chili's where our waiter hit on me... Calling me sweetie and baby. I was flattered and left him a nice tip. :D Oh and Tony*Dungy was on our flight home. (Colts Coach). I got a picture of him, but not "with" him. We got home about midnight.


Finally... The new jewelry line.... OMG!! Let's say I spent more than I budgeted... I can't wait to get it on and start wearing it!!

P.S.
Pics up soon, I promise!

Crazy Week and it continues...

Since my last post things have been quite crazy around here.... Let's see...

Thursday morning I got a call from my sister that my niece, Heaven, was still sick and her temp had been spiking. She had called her ped and they told her to take her to the hospital, so they were on their way. Sis called from the hospital and they were running a bunch of tests on her to find out what was going on. They ended up getting some whack doctor hell bent on meningitis... You know how they test for it?? Freaking SPINAL TAP! So my 9 week old niece got a freaking SPINAL TAP. She didn't have any symptoms, but this doc says they get ~1 case a month and test 2-3 babies weekly. Since they did that they wanted to keep her overnight, but that hospital was full so they took her by ambulance to a hospital nearby. The second hospital was much better. The doc said he doubted she had meningitis and that it was likely just a viral infection.

I ended up taking off Friday and dropping Eric off at the office and heading to see Heaven. She was doing better thank goodness. The doc came early afternoon and said all her lab results had come back find and he saw no reason to keep her any longer. They would continue to watch them and she already had her shot appointment on Tuesday so they could just do a follow-up then as well. Heaven was adorable by this point. Obviously feeling much better flirting with the young doctor and getting uncle Eric tighter around her little finger. She knows exactly what she's doing at such a young age. ha ha ha

Friday night my dad & Peg came up and we went and picked blueberries. It was nice visiting with them b/c we don't see them very much and it was a lovely evening to be outside.

Saturday I got up early and headed south for one of my best friend's mom's jewelry show. It was warm outside, but the show turned out great!! They had some great food and drinks and a lovely deck as well. Thank goodness it was covered or we'd all be fried!

Sunday Eric & I got up and went to the gym and the grocery store. Then I headed to Target. Let me say that it turned out to be a great day at Target. I found 2 pairs of pants and 1 skirt that fit great and I was forced to buy. It's not very often I find pants that fit me that good. When I got home we had a relaxing evening.

Tomorrow I'm leaving for Texas and will be gone until late Saturday night. I'm going down for a jewelry rally so I hope to come home really pumped up and ready to get down to business. I just love going to these things. I love this new thing I'm doing, but sometimes you get stuck in a rut. You know, I've never done sales so it's all still fairly new to me. All in all I think I'm doing pretty darn good.

Oh and I have several pics to post, but won't get around to them until probably Sunday now. I hope you can wait that long. Sorry! I have some of both nieces, plus some other things and hopefully some pics from Texas.

So I'm outta here for now. Be back Sunday.

Happy 4th of July!

Not too much going on with us today. This morning went to the gym and then the grocery store. We are getting ready to head out now to check out a wine & cheese place downtown. Then hit up the movies, Transformers. After that it's blueberry picking (since it was closed yesterday) and then relaxing for the evening. I was thinking about making some things with blueberries, but we'll see what time it is when we get home.

Anyway, just wanted to say Happy 4th!

Did you miss me??

Well... I haven't been lost, just no desire to post anything here. Let's see if I can give you a short recap of my life for the last few months.

I welcomed a new niece on May 2. I got to be present for her birth and found out this weekend that we are her godparents. She already has uncle Eric so wrapped around her little finger... Maybe me, too...

My sister K is having another baby. I believe she is due in December. While it stung when I heard the news it is serious b/c this will be her last child. When she has the baby, all those females parts are going, too.

We're still having our Girls Weekend Out and lovin' them! Here's a picture from our recent visit to Chicago. We are getting together in a couple more weeks at my house.

My new business is going pretty well. This summer has been unfortunately slow, but I think it will pick back up this fall. I'm actually going to Texas next week for a conference and can't wait!! Still working my regular full-time job in the mean time.

Eric & I are still trying, but with no luck. We decided recently to really buckle down this fall and save all we need to for the FET. The plan is to do the transfer early next year. I think we both are more than ready to have babies. It will be our time soon I hope!

Last week we started back to the gym and my short term goal is to lose 10 pounds by August 9, which is when we are supposed to go to California for an incentive trip (assuming Eric wins). So far I've lost 1 pound. I'd like to lose the other 10 pounds by the end of the year, which is absolutely doable! It felt so good to get back to the gym and I really want to get in tip-top shape for getting pregnant, which is my long term goal.

That's all I can think of right now. We got a laptop now so I'm hoping to keep up with this blog again in the evenings in front of the TV. :D

TGIF

I meant to start a meme last Friday, but didn't get around to it. Today's is from the Friday Fiver

1. When is your birthday? March 9

2. How old will you be? 28...gulp

3. Do you prefer to throw a party or attend a party? Depends on the situation I guess. I like to throw small little parties and do all the planning and hosting, but sometimes I'd rather just attend one and not have all the work. hee hee

4. Presents: take'em or leave'em? Take 'em. I like getting and giving presents.

5. Best birthday so far? Probably my first birthday I celebrated with Eric. He planned a surprise birthday party for me with a bunch of my friends. There was dinner, drinking & a limo ride. Absolute B-L-A-S-T!

2007 Goals

I was going to recap 2006, but it just depresses me more, so I'll just give you what I hope to accomplish for 2007.

Health
1. Cook healthy dinners at home - 4 to 5 times weekly
2. Cook 1 new meal monthly
3. Reduce red meat to once/week, increase fish
4. 30 Minutes of Exercise 4 times a week
5. Make better choices when eating out.
6. Make meal plans

Finances
1. Reduce Debt by ALOT! We did pay a lot off in '06, but put it back on (especially with my new business) Goal is to close Discover by the end of the year.
2. Pay off new business expense
3. Save $3,000 for IUI/Injectible Cycle (after 2.)

Intellectual Development
1. Read more
2. Learn how to knit/crochet

Spirtuality
1. Iron Yoga 3 times per week.
2. Read Daily Devotions book daily.

Personal Development
1. Increase positive well being


I really scaled down my goals from last year to ones I think are more attainable. Everything in my list is attainable. as long as I don't get into a depressed funk again.

Happy New Year!!!

God, please make 2007 a much more tolerable year for me.

Ahem...

Where was I? Oh yes, I'm back. I'll start off with a recap of the last 6 or so months that ultimately led to my lack of blogging...

*June was ok except I was depressed and didn't do any gardening or really anything outside, which is what I normally love.

*July was ok as well except we had the first year anniversary of my brother's death. Heather got married, which was nice. I started getting together with my family for card night, which was a lot of fun.

*August brought on a ton of work for me. I was swamped. Met Jimmy Buffett at his concert. Took over another duty at work.

Here's where it spirals downward...

*September I helped my cousin D with a baby shower for my cousin J. It was extremely hard, but went relatively well. Had a colonoscopy, which turned out fine. Found out my sister A is pregnant and due May 18 (read - Jesus Christ every one of my siblings has been pregnant but me!) Work still swamped. Went to Ohio for girls' weekend. Sometime around there I found out my friend S was pregnant with number 2. (numb to baby news at this point).

*October I got sick right off the bat. Work again swamped. Spent the day at the bridge festival, which was ok, but damn cold. Visited Heather and helped Danialle with a photoshoot. The head of our department stepped down, which actually relieved some stress at work. Little Coen was born on Oct 30 sweet as could be.

*November I got a totally new hairstyle, but was depressed about the body that went with it. Got a second job selling jewelry. (If anyone wants any info, let me know b/c it's an awesome opportunity!) Had my training show, which netted me a few shows after the first of the year. Thanksgiving was a lot of traveling and seeing family.

*December I spent lots of money getting ready for my jewelry parties. Had the only two scheduled for December cancel. Christmas parties and get togethers galore! Work crazy! Found out my youngest sister is bad into drugs. Spent rest of the year getting her stuff straightened out and finally taking her to Godville on Saturday, December 30. (Drug rehab about 5 hours away) Did have the ladies and their hubbies and Grace over for a relaxing new year's eve party. Made some awesome champagne punch, too.

Ok. so that doesn't seem as bad as I've felt, but I was just depressed and couldn't wait to see 2006 go. Hopefully 2007 will be much better. I want to get out of this funk. I'll start a new post for my goals for the year.