Just Another Day In My Paradise

My 10 for 2010

alicialynn_84@hotmail.com (Alicia) — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 15:26:00 +0000

Every year I make some new year's resolutions and maybe keep one or two of them. This year I am bound and determined to succeed. I thought that in order to succeed I will need to be specific in exactly what I want to accomplish. So here they are in no particular order.

1. I love to read, but rarely get the free time to do so, but this year I would like to read the Old Testament front to back by the end of the year.

2. Be a better wife. I am by no means an awful one, but I do admit that if I am having a bad day I usually take it out on him. Not cool I know. :( He does not know about this one, but I will be checking in with him (nonchalantly) periodically on how I am doing. He is always honest with me so this one should be easy to gauge. To help myself I have started reading "The Power of a Praying Wife" and also purchased "Created to Be His Help Meet" and the journal to go with it. I will start these after I finished reading the first.

3. Eat healthy. I do this for the most part, especially at breakfast and lunch, but my biggest pitfall is dinner. I get it in my head that I have been "good" all day so I should get to have whatever I want for dinner. I think dieting has done this to me. I deprive myself of things that I like and then finally just pig out on them. So my plan now is to eat what I want but in moderation. I will just aim to eat balanced meals and snacks throughout the day and watch my portions. This one will be the most difficult to measure, but it goes hand in hand with # 4.

4. Lose weight. This is one I have every year and I usually do, but always gain it back. I would like to lose 10 pounds by 5/1/10 and keep it off.

5. Work out. I still cannot figure out why I do not do this consistently cause I actually enjoy the way I feel after I do it (except for the whole out of breath thing lol). I would like to get to where I work out 3 times a week on a consistent week to week basis. I plan to use a journal to monitor this. This one will also help with #4.

5. Pay off debt. I have tallied up all our bills and set a plan to have everything (besides our cars and house) paid off by the end of the summer. This is one my hubs and I both have as a resolution. We want to be in a position once we have decided to have children that I can stay home or at least work part time if that is what we decide is best.

6. Spend less money! I plan to keep a file of what I spend money on, it seems all the little things add up to a lot. So I am going to find out what those are and weed as much of it out as possible. This one is not entirely measurable, but will reflect in # 7.

7. Save! This one should happen if I complete # 5 and succeed with # 6. I want to have $10K saved by the end of 2010.

8. Continue building my relationship with God. I would like to spend more time with him each day. This one is not exactly measurable, but will certainly be noticeable to me.

9. Stay in touch with friends. I am lucky that my friends and I can pick up where we left off, but we usually do go awhile without talking. This is especially true with my high school friends. They are still some of my best friends, but we live further apart so we don't get the time together that we once took for granted. My goal is to talk to at least two of my friends weekly. It does not have to be a long call, but anything time will allow. This also includes family that I don't talk to as much since I have moved to the MO side.

10. Get in to work early. Sounds simple I know, but I have a horrible time getting up in the morning. The snooze button is my best friend. I currently get in to work between 8 and 8:30. By June I would like to get in the office by 7 every morning. This will require 8 hours of sleep so I will need to start getting to bed by 9:30 or 10 at the latest.

So here is my 10 for 10. Wish me luck!

Hope you all have a blessed and healthy 2010!!!!!

I'm Bad

alicialynn_84@hotmail.com (Alicia) — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 23:51:00 +0000

I know I have been a very "absent" blogger these days. Between work, graduation, holiday preparation and parties, I can't find time for much else.

I promise starting next week I will back and I am so excited to catch up on everything in my blogger friends' lives.

I just wanted to wish you all a very merry Christmas and a blessed New Year!

"Not Me Monday"

alicialynn_84@hotmail.com (Alicia) — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 16:41:00 +0000

I did not wish for the Friday workday to be over so I could get a manicure and pedicure. While getting the pedicure I did not fall asleep and had to be woke up by the lady doing my pedicure.

On Saturday I did not sleep in far too long so that I was unable to finish laundry and pay the bills.

On Saturday I did not go to dinner with my mom, sister, and nephew and eat an obscene amount of food.

I did not also get some oh so yummy Cold Stone Creamery after we went to a movie.

I did not rub my sister's little baby bump because I hear that really annoys ladies that are expecting.

I did not procrastinate all day on Sunday to finish my paper for class. I also did not waste time on Facebook while I was supposed to be writing my paper.

I would never do these things. ;)

Happy Monday Everyone!

Not Outnumbered Yet....

alicialynn_84@hotmail.com (Alicia) — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 19:11:00 +0000

Remember this post where I shared the news of my lil sister expecting her 2nd child? Well on Wednesday evening she called and she is having a boy! I am not gonna lie I was secretly hoping for a girl (is that horrible of me?) but nonetheless I am so excited about the Mr.'s arrival in April. Either way Aunt Alicia was sure to spoil our newest family member like crazy. So the count is now 3 nephews and 1 niece. My dad is loving it. He was "blessed" with 3 girls, now he says the males are finally catching up. So far though us girls are hanging on my 1, we are not outnumbered yet........we shall see what happens in the years to come.

Britt does not have a name picked out yet and she is asking me for some suggestions, any ideas????

I will leave you will a joke, I have never heard this one, I'm sure it is old, but I thought it was kinda cute.

Why was Piglet crying?

Because he flushed Pooh.

Okay so maybe it is not pee your pants funny, but it got a giggle out of me.

Have a great weekend everyone!

It's Bunco Time

alicialynn_84@hotmail.com (Alicia) — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 22:04:00 +0000

Tonight I am hosting my very first Bunco night. My SIL and I started a group a few months back and this month it is my turn to host. It is awesome girl time!

Here is the menu:
Meatballs
Tuna Dip w/Wheat Thins
Layered Pizza Dip w/ Townhouse crackers
Party Rye Breads
Artichoke Cheese Dip w/ Pita or Bagel Chips
Pumpkin Pie Dip w/graham crackers

Ha, I just noticed that I am making a lot of dips. Oh well, I just hope that everything turns out edible. I am not much a cook. I am really trying to get better for my husband's sake. Wish me luck!

One More Day......

alicialynn_84@hotmail.com (Alicia) — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 20:18:00 +0000

Tomorrow I work a half day and then we are flying out to Chicago until Sunday. I am so excited because I have not been able to go there just for fun at all. I always hear how much fun it is and how the shopping is amazing, I cannot wait. We are going with another couple and staying at The Sax.

We plan to do a lot of perusing the Magnificent Mile, well at least us girls will, I doubt the guys will be interested for too long. I wish I would have planned for this a lot longer since I don't have much extra money for all the goodies I know I will find. I guess we shall see how much trouble I get myself in to with my credit card. I am going to really try to be a good girl. ;)

So this will be my last post until Monday unless I happen to blog from my phone.

I will leave you all with a picture of Peter Pan and Tinkerbell from Halloween. Hope everyone has a good rest of the week and weekend.

As I promised........just a little delay

alicialynn_84@hotmail.com (Alicia) — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 21:01:00 +0000

I know that this was supposed to be for Silent Sunday, but I inadvertently lost my cord for my camera. I found it last night so here is the before and after of the kitchen cabinet area.

Before:

After:

Close up of the tile:

This reminds me that I did not take a picture of the basement bathroom with the linoleum, old vanity, and tiolet. I will take a picture tonight of the bathroom as it is now and then will post the finished product in December. I can't wait!

Back on the Saddle

alicialynn_84@hotmail.com (Alicia) — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 17:57:00 +0000

First I want to apologize to those that read my blog. It has been way to long and I have missed blogger land oh so much. I had to take a long break to be able to get through a huge project for grad school, work trips, and long hours at work. The trips are done (at least for this year), the project is done, now I just have a few more assignments due and in 5 weeks I will be done with grad school, woo hoo!!!! The end of the year is always crazy at work, but I'm getting used to that.

Other than the stuff I mentioned above the hubs and I are remodeling our basement bathroom. I am so excited and everything was coming together smoothly until we went to order the vanity and what do you know, it is on back order until mid December. Grrr, now we are waiting.......I am so ready for it to be done. Honestly, I am most disappointed because I was hoping to have it done before I hosted Bunco at my house in a few weeks so I could show all the girls. :(

Here is the pesky, but oh so lovely vanity:

My birthday has also passed and Ryan surprised me with a gift that I love, love, love. Okay so maybe that is a little dramatic, but I was really excited to say the least. It goes back to our Destin trip this summer. Everyone was on Duval St. looking in this sunglasses store. I found this pair that I really liked. So Ryan tells me to try them on. The lady takes them out of the glass case and hands them to me, I put them on, look in the mirror, and I am in love. They are so cute! Ryan thinks they look great too and he all of a sudden agrees to buy them for me UNTIL we looked at the whopping price tag. They were Roberto Cavalli's, well to me that meant nothing, but apparently that means expensive. So months has passed and Ryan happens to see them at Solstice in the mall and they are still pretty expensive, but not quite as much as they were in FL. The lady informs him that if he signs up on their emailing list he will receive a 25% coupon in his email in 2 weeks as part of the friends and family event they would be having. So all in all he does all this and I get these so, so cute lil things for my birthday:

I am one lucky gal to have such a great hubby, I am touched that even remembered them let alone bought them for me! Too bad it has rarely been sunny hardly here in MO for the last few weeks.

In a few weeks we will find out what my sister is having. She is due April 10th. I am secretly hoping for a girl (right now I have 2 nephews and 1 niece), but really all I pray for is a healthy baby. My nephew Landon is 3 and he can't seem to decide what he would rather have, one day it is a baby sister, the next it is a baby brother, once he even said both were in his mommy's belly. He is so stinkin cute. Once I know I will share the news with you all and of course start visiting Etsy even more frequently. :)

This weekend is Halloween and we are attending a party at my friend's sister's bar. An 80's band from St. Louis called Johnny Rock-Itt will be there. It should be a blast, I am ready to dance the night away. Also, it is a costume party and Ryan and I are going as Tinkerbell and Peter Pan. Do not ask me how I convinced him to go as Peter Pan. There will be pictures to follow next week!

On Sunday I will showcase our newly remodeled kitchen. Really all we did was add little glass tiles on the backdrop of the counter tops, but I am very happy with the results so stay tuned.

Have a Happy Halloween and a wonderful weekend!

I'm Alive Folks!

alicialynn_84@hotmail.com (Alicia) — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 14:44:00 +0000

Wow, it has been over two weeks since I have posted. Sorry for all of those that read my blog (all 5 or less of you ha!). I have been boring. :(

Life has been pretty hectic, needless to say. Work is crazy busy, so I have been working a lot of hours. I also started school again (my last MBA class EVER) so in my time away from work I have been dedicating it to school work.

Also, on the 4th we found out that my sister Brittany is expecting again. Landon is 3 so it really is the perfect difference in age, however she was really trying to get things in her life in order, so it was not something that she had planned. Obviously God had different plans. Her and her fiance were really shocked, especially since she was using birth control. She is now the 4th person I know that has conceived while using Nuva Ring. So ladies if you are using it, just wanted to give you a heads up. They found out when she went to the doctor for blood work, due to the fact that she had passed out 2 times. We still do not know how far along she is, apparently on the Nuva Ring you can be pregnant but it still lets you have light periods. I am not sure why it takes so long to get in to an OB-GYN for the first ultrasound. I really want to know how far along she is. Despite the surprise we are all really excited and blessed to have another little one in the family. I am ready to be an aunt again. Please pray for Britt as she has been really sick with this pregnancy. She was really sick with Landon too and actually lost 15 lbs before she starting feeling better. She is so skinny already (120 lbs) she cannot afford to lose that much weight again. I am praying every day that everything will okay with the baby since we was still using BC while pregnant.

I know it is long overdue, but in my anniversary post I promised to let you all know the details of our anniversary gifts.

I got the hubby a Kenny Chesney coolie cup (cotton is the theme for the 2nd anniversary) and inside were tickets to the last stop of Kenny Chesney's Sun City Carnival Tour and a hotel for the weekend. Ryan loves KC so he was thrilled. I also got him a few shirts, since he seems to wear the same things over and over again. This weekend is the concert so we are heading to Indy Saturday morning. I will post pics and let you all know how it went next week.

For my gift Ryan got me an identical ring to match my wedding band. So now I have a band on each side of my engagement ring. I was so excited! I have a picture below of what it looks like now. He also bought me a few work shirts, since I had been complaining of needing new work shirts.

This Sunday when we get home from Indy I get to unpack and the re-pack for a business trip to GA. This is the first time I will be away from Ryan for a whole week. Usually it is just for a day or so. I am worried about how I will sleep, it is really hard for me to sleep without him next to me. I know it is corny, but it is the truth. This is the longest we have been away from each other in about 3 years. I am going to miss him, but thankfully it will be a busy week. I am also nervous about traveling alone. I tend to get lost a lot so wish me luck and pray that I will not get lost. LOL!

Pray for Little Maxwell

alicialynn_84@hotmail.com (Alicia) — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 14:34:00 +0000

Meet the oh so precious and tiny Maxwell. He was born premature at 27 weeks, he is the nephew of Whitney . The little guy is being so brave and strong and he needs everyone to continue praying for him to grow big and strong. Thank you!

2 Years....Wow The Time Has Flown!

alicialynn_84@hotmail.com (Alicia) — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 14:20:00 +0000

Today has been 2 years to the day since my sweet husband and I were married. It definitely does not seem like it has already been two years, it feels as though it was yesterday. I am certainly a lucky girl to have Ryan as my husband. In these past two years we have made so many memories and shared so many firsts with each other. I will treasure these moments forever and look forward to creating many more memories each year with my hubby and best friend!

This evening after I get home from taking my final we will exchange gifts. I am so excited to give him his. Tomorrow I will let you all know how it goes. Tomorrow we are also going out to dinner to Eleven Eleven Mississippi, we have heard so many great things about it and I am so ready to eat some yummy food.

Here is a little recap of that wonderful day 2 years ago...

My niece Madison and I

My Girls

The Guys

My handsome husband

My nephew Landon

Melts my heart

The Vows :)

And we kiss

This cracks me up (notice the guy's face holding my veil)

Yummy cake

"Lost in This Moment"

The dancing begins.....

The ring bearer is so tired...

My sorority sisters singing "I Hope You Dance"

And the dancing continues...

The final song of the night :(

And I just like this one :)

Taking A Little Break

alicialynn_84@hotmail.com (Alicia) — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 15:32:00 +0000

Well, today is the halfway point for my fall intersession class and I have a 15 page paper due next Monday and then on Thursday will be the final. So needless to say this week I really need to crack down on writing my paper and studying. Especially since this weekend I am going to visit a friend in Cape G on Friday and then on Saturday we have a wedding to attend. This will not leave me much time for school related stuff. So due these unfortunate tasks I have decided to take a little break from blogland and facebook, because lets just be honest it is almost impossible to just jump on here for a second. So I will catch up with you all next week. :)

I will leave you with some pics from my Etsy purchases. Goodness the baby stuff you can find there is so adorable!

Love This New Song!

alicialynn_84@hotmail.com (Alicia) — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 16:11:00 +0000

"Fight Like A Girl" by Bomshel

Little girl alone on the playground
Tired of gettin' teased and gettin' pushed around
Wishin' she was invisible
To them

She ran home cryin'"Why do they hate me?"
And Mama wiped the tears and said
"Baby, you're brave and you're beautiful
So, hold your head high
Don't ever let 'em define
The light in your eyes
Love yourself, give them Hell
You can take on this world
You just stand and be strong
And then fight
Like a girl

"At 31 she was wheelin' and dealin'
Kept on hittin' that same glass ceilin'
She was never gonna be one of the boys, no.
She coulda gave up on her ambition
And spent the rest of her life just wishin'
Instead she listened to her mama's voice sayin'

"Hold your head high.
Don't ever let 'em define
The light in your eyes
Love yourself, give them Hell
You can take on this world
You just stand and be strong
And then fight
Like a girl

"Oh, with style and grace
Kick ass and take names

Ten years of climbin' that ladder
Oh, but money and power don't matter
When the doctor said "the cancer spread"
She holds on tight to her husband and babies
And says "this is just another test God gave me
And I know just how to handle this

"I'll hold my head high
I'll never let this define
The light in my eyes
Love myself, give it Hell
I'll take on this world
If I stand and be strong
No, I'll never give up
I will conquer with love
And I'll fight
Like a girl

Google it and take a listen. :)

Brodie's 2nd Birthday Party

alicialynn_84@hotmail.com (Alicia) — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 15:39:00 +0000

Wow, my 2nd post of the day, I'm on a roll.

And yes, we had a party for our dog. He is a bit spoiled! :) By the way do not mind the way I look, I just gone done working out.

The peanut butter cake from Three Dog Bakery

Elphaba and "Grandpa"
Elphaba and BugsyMe determined to put Brodie's bday hat on...

He is hiding becuase he is scared of the hat...

Me cracking up and Brodie trying to escape...

Brodie with his "cousins" Elphaba and Bugsy

Brodie enjoying his piece of cake

He loves it...

So does Elphaba, she scarfed it down in 30 seconds...

So yummy...

Licking his chops afterwards...

Some Randomness....

alicialynn_84@hotmail.com (Alicia) — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 14:38:00 +0000

So after tomorrow (I have tonight off) I will be halfway through my fall intersession class, only 2 more weeks. Can I a whoop, whoop!! I am glad that it is flying by, but then I remember that I still have a 15 page paper to write and a final to take. Let's hope these both go smoothly.
I have everything for the hubby's anniversary present bought and just waiting on 2 more items to arrive in the mail. I am so glad that I do not have class today because 1 of them is scheduled to arrive late this afternoon and I know he will know what it is if he see the package. I will fill everyone in on what he is getting once it all has arrived. The bummer part is I have class the evening of our anniversary, boo.

One of my best friend's had a baby girl at the end of July. It was so exciting for my close knit group of friends since she was the first one. I did a little shopping on Etsy to get her a few personalized things since they did not find out what they were having and everything they have right now is pretty gender neutral. It is a crime if a little girl does not have pink galore! The stuff I ordered arrived yesterday so I am going to take some pics of them and post it tomorrow so be on the look out. I know that I would not be able to not find out, it would drive me crazy, I guess I am too much of a planner.

This weekend we are going to the lake. I am hoping for great weather. I just want to lay out on the boat and relax!

Last here a some photos from this year of me with some of favorite people(I finally downloaded them all to my computer and added them to FB and Myspace.)

Me and my lil sis

Jenny Lynn and I @ St. Patty's Day

Me and the hubby after the PBR

Laurie and I on her bachelorette party

Stacey and I @ the Hermen's wedding

Hubby and I @ the All Star Game

Ryan riding the carousel with Landon @ the Coal Fest

Tricia and I @ the lake

Me and my lil sis @ the lake

We love each other :)

My family eating dinner @ the lake

This is a pic of our future baby from the gene machine @ Dave & Buster's

Need To Vent...

alicialynn_84@hotmail.com (Alicia) — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 16:11:00 +0000

So on Tuesday evening after work I was on my way to class and I received a call from my husband. He started off the conversation pretty casually and then broke out with "I have a question for you about something." I thought, "This is not good", because usually this is something he wants to asks and already knows my answer will be no.

Then he says "So I was talking with my parents and they are wanting to rent a condo at the lake next summer also and was wondering if instead of us getting a 2 bedroom condo like this year, if we we would instead like to get a 3 bedroom with them and split it." Immediately I said "I would rather not."

I have several reasons for this, all of which I explained to him. One being they go to bed so early and when we go to the lake we generally stay up pretty late. Next summer may be the last one before kiddos and I want to enjoy it without worrying about bothering them. Right now they come down everyone once in awhile to stay with us and so it works out. Plus, his parents are already looking for a boat. We have one (which is why we rent the condo for the summer) and generally invite friends, or my family, or his family down with us when go. I assume his parents will want to invite people too once they have a boat. I just think it will be too hectic trying to plan who is going to invite who what weekend so that we can be sure we have enough room.

So now my husband is upset with me. He has barely spoke to me for the last 2 days. I am so frustrated because I feel like he should really understand why I feel this way. I think that if he would just get past the saving money part, he would see it my way too. It is not like we are going to spend more next year than we are used to, since we will be doing just exactly what we did this year. I know his parents and I know they will probably think that I just don't want them down there now, but that is far from the truth. Honestly, I would think they should understand the points I had made and would not have even asked in the first place. Especially since his dad brought it up casually a few weeks back and I told him that I would rather not. I just want our own place (like we have been doing) to enjoy as we please. I know they were probably upset when he told them that I had said I did not want to it the way he suggested. I know he does not want to upset them, but we are supposed to be a team and he is not even trying to see it from the point of view of what would be best for us. And I think that by not talking to me is not going to help matters.

I know this will pass any day, but I want to say something to him about what I am feeling, but do not know exactly how to say so that he sees that I understand his point of saving money, but this is what is best for us. Any suggestions? Am I being unreasonable?

Wordless Wednesday: Cab Ride Jam Session

alicialynn_84@hotmail.com (Alicia) — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 14:27:00 +0000

Update on Josh

alicialynn_84@hotmail.com (Alicia) — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 14:18:00 +0000

Thanks for the prayers everyone, it seems to be working! Josh is no longer in coma and his brain scans came back and the doctors are now more optimistic. They think he has a really good chance to make a full recovery. So we are continuing to pray he will not have any brain damage and to give him the strength to keep on fighting. He is definitely a true fighter. The road will long and hard, he has broken vertebrae in neck and back, broken ribs, broken jaw, and broken foot. But all the same everyone is so thankful that things are starting to look up. Heck, yesterday one of his buddies was there talking to him and joking around with him and Josh managed to flip him off. Such a simple thing, but it really shows that he is understanding what is going on around him even though he can't communicate yet. Praise God!!! Please continue to keep him in your prayers.

Prayers Needed

alicialynn_84@hotmail.com (Alicia) — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 16:07:00 +0000

Please pray for my friend Josh. He is from my hometown in Illinois and was in a motorcycle accident on Saturday and is in ICU. He is still in coma and right now no one is sure that he will make it. Please pray, pray, pray for his strength to help him pull through this. Please also keep his family and friends in your thoughts and prayers. I am pretty bummed right now, I just don't understand why bad things happen to good people. I know God has a plan, but at times like this it is so hard to understand. We all appreciate your prayers.

Back To It......

alicialynn_84@hotmail.com (Alicia) — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 15:54:00 +0000

So this week I start back to grad school. It is not actually the fall semester yet, but what they call fall intersession. Basically this is a 4 week class. So I will be going 3 times a week. So between work and school I will not be doing much else this next month. Oh I pray it goes by fast. I am hoping to get through this painlessly and will just keep my eye on the prize. After this class I just have 1 more. I will start this right after the fall intersession is over, but I will only be going once a week. This means I will be done with school forever in December, unless someday I decide to completely change careers or something. I am so excited to be done!

Key West In Pictures

alicialynn_84@hotmail.com (Alicia) — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 22:04:00 +0000

These are all pics from my SIL's camera, I still have yet to upload mine (I know by now I have at least a bazillion pics from this year on my camera that need uploaded to my computer). Next post I will give a little more insight in to the vacay.

Room

View from room

Shower

We went on a pub crawl and so we wanted pics of all the places we went. :)

Matt and Melissa (Ryan's brother and his wife)

Laurie and Cory (Ryan's sister and her husband)

Right behind here is where Jimmy Buffets records all his albums

Enough said!

My fav

The whole gang in the world's smallest bar
The End. :)

Question

alicialynn_84@hotmail.com (Alicia) — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 21:45:00 +0000

So everyone else always using these linky things in their blogs and then people can click on them. For example instead of showing the full link http://justanotherdayinmyparadise.blogspot.com/, it would say Alicia, and you click on it and it takes you to my blog. I know I am challenged, I cannot figure out how to do it....please help!

First Bloggy Award

alicialynn_84@hotmail.com (Alicia) — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 19:51:00 +0000

I was excited when I returned from vacation and saw that I had received my first blog award from Lyryn @ http://lyrynyacoe.blogspot.com/. She has an awesome blog that I love to read. I think she actually found my blog first, but I am so glad because I love reading her blog and looking at all the wonderful photographs she takes. Thanks a bunch Lyryn!

Honest Scrap Award

I am supposed to pass this along to 4 people. I made this decision based on picking some of the blogs that I love reading and those that are "real" with us in the bloggy world, so here I go:

1. Mika "That's What She Said" @ http://mrskit.blogspot.com/

2. Kara "A Day in the Hay" @ http://mrsdirnberger.blogspot.com/

3. Leigh "Sturdy Yet Fragile" @ http://mrsdirnberger.blogspot.com/

4. Alaina "Three Ladies and a Dad" @ http://www.threeladiesandadad.com/

Along with passing this along to 4 bloggers I also must list 10 things about myself that you all may not know. I will do my best. :)

1. My favorite type of food is seafood. I love it all!

2. I'm terrified of losing my mother. It's not that I love her more than anyone else in my family, but the idea of losing her literally scares me to death.

3. In Key West I bought my dog Brodie a shirt that says "Margaritas Make my Tail Wag", I love dressing him in little t-shirts.

4. My favorite show is "One Tree Hill", I am addicted and cannot wait for it to start up again.

5. I still eat Spaghettio's at the age of 24.

6. I hope to have at least one baby by the time my husband is 30.

7. I have a love/hate relationship with dieting. I actually love eating healthy and the results I get, but somehow I have a hard time sticking to it. I know it makes no sense.

8. I love the freedom that having my own job gives, but at the same time when we have kids I also have a strong desire to be a SAHM.

9. I am addicted to getting Mani/Pedis, my husband will never understand it.

10. I am a huge procrastinator. I actually have got worse as I got older, it's definitely a problem I need to work on.

Can't wait to read what the winners say in their 10 things!

Good News

alicialynn_84@hotmail.com (Alicia) — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 19:47:00 +0000

So my sister had her appt. with the hematologist on Friday and we are so happy to find out that she will be okay. Turns out that she has severe anemia. Because she had such a low blood level her red blood cells basically quite fighting infections. This is why she was sick so much and also why she got a severe double kidney infection. She is on medicine that will help her and will just have to regularly get her blood level checked. If she gets too low she will need to get another transfusion. While this may sound bad, it is a lot better than the other alternatives they gave us. They told us that her symptoms were common of blood cancer and leukemia. We were all so scared and I am so thankful that she is going to be okay.

Today is my last day of work and then tomorrow morning we fly out to Key West. I plan to take lots of pics to show everyone. I am so excited. Lots to do here at work and then at home before the departure so I better get to it!

A Little Bit of Fun

alicialynn_84@hotmail.com (Alicia) — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 16:37:00 +0000

Last night at the last second we decided to go downtown to join in on the All Star Game festivities. We figured we should enjoy the experience even if we could not go to the game like we would have loved, but couldn't since the tickets were a bazillion $$. What is it with these brokers and scalpers buying practically all the tickets and selling them for wayyyyyyyy over face value? It should be illegal I think. The cheapest tickets we saw online was like $450 a seat, which would actually go for about $30 or less. It is absurd! Ok off my rant...so we went to Mike Shannon's with a couple of people and just soaked in all in. We had such a good time and from where sat on the patio we could see half of the stadium seats since it is an open stadium. I really enjoyed the pregame stuff, and it was amazing how loud it was when everyone cheered on Albert Pujols. Hopefully it won't be another forty something years until the All Star Game comes back to the Lou, the hubs and I are going no matter what next time. I am so glad that we went, although I am a bit sleepy today at work. I am not used to going out during the week.

On another note, 5 more days of work and then we go to Key West. I am definitely ready for this little getaway. We have lots of stress and I almost considered not going, but we decided it is probably best to just enjoy ourselves a little. I am getting excited!