I Haven't Done That Since High School

This morning I went for a slow jog and then came home and made a brunch for  B and I. It's his first day back to work and I wanted something healthy and protein-filled to start my day with as I will eventually start on a truckload of homework that's due on the first day of nursing school. As I was making it I was thinking that I would do something totally off-the-wall and crazy and actually eat at the dinner table for once in my life.

Since we've been packing up our house to move this week, our dinner table is finally uncluttered enough to actually eat at it. Most of the time we eat in front of some type of back-lit screen at the coffee table. This is not good for several reasons. If you are distracted by a TV or a computer, you're far less likely to realize when you are full and to continue to eat just to be entertained. It's not good for my laptop either for obvious reasons (I know, it's awful, guilty as charged, but I plan to stop). Today, at the dinner table I ate with no one else, by myself, with no distractions, complete silence, and yes, it was kind of boring, but kind of nice to pay attention to what I was putting in my mouth. Nowadays, I don't think my parents do much table-sittin. I think my dad does for breakfast so that he can read his paper and have his coffee but you're pretty much on your own for lunch and dinner. I realize when we were kids it was just to teach us table manners, but now that I'm an old, overweight lady, I see there are way more benefits than that.

Also, I look back fondly at the meals my mother used to cook for us these days. If I were at my parents' house yesterday rather than work I would have had black-eyed peas with onions and green and red peppers. My mom is from Ohio and is definitely not a southerner but she loves her black-eyed peas. When we were kids she would serve us a meat, vegetable, and a starch. Some of the meats might be Salisbury steak, chicken, or meatloaf. Our starch was always potatoes and very occasionally a roll. We never ate rice growing up and I guess maybe this was because of my mom's midwestern upbringing. She never served casseroles either which I see a lots of southerners make these days.  We always had vegetables and I LOVE vegetables. We had lima beans, green beans, peas, or corn, and usually they were out of a can. If it wasn't this formula, it would be  what I would call a "theme meal" like fajitas, tacos, or spaghetti.

 Brandon loves rice and hates every green vegetable under the sun except lettuce. B and I ate out a lot in college and if we cooked at home it was usually something more elaborate. The other day, B made lentils with sliced chicken sausage on rice. This is actually a very healthy meal but where's my beloved green? I miss the green! When we first explored cooking together we would make copycat PF Chang lettuce wraps, or my famous Carne Asada tacos (actually it's a Tyler Florence recipe).  I never really saw the value of these simple meals until now. I was lean and trim in high school and I think that was because I sat at the table, ate my vegetables, and oh yeah, team sports may have helped with that too.

Tearing my Hair Out

I'm at a crossroads right now. I've been thinking about starting a new blog using a different blogging service where it's easier to post pictures and is more pleasing to the eye. (Sidenote: I hate when bloggers blog about blogging. I think it's about as interesting as swatting flies but I'm breaking that rule because of my first-world predicament). I feel like this blog does not represent my mood or how I feel about life at all right now. I originally called it, "My Happy Place" because I wanted to focus my blog on the really happy, perhaps marshmellowy, "fluffy" aspects of my life that I wanted to look back on and remember fondly.

Unfortunately, I feel like this is just too simple, one-dimensional, and not at all representative of my life or who I am as a person right now. It's not that I want to be negative and complain all the time but I feel like I'm lying to myself when I only show one side of the story. I've thought about starting a new blog focusing on the fact that I will be going back to school (again...woohoo?!) this spring for nursing. I've thought about discussing what's it like to be an adult going back to school when you feel like you should be already settled in a career and how the definition of an "adult" these days has changed so drastically with the economy, job market, and societal standards as a whole(...keep your grubby hands off my idea...just kidding...that is just the bare bones).

 I've also thought of quitting blogging all together. I don't like this option nearly as much though because even if not one, single, breathing soul ever reads my blog I love to go back and remember events in my life. Time goes by so fast and it's nice to be able to retrace my steps with a written record of how I was feeling and what I was doing in the past. Truthfully, it is very hard to be courageous enough to be your true self on the internet. It is allowing yourself to become incredibly vulnerable to criticism and sometimes it's just easier and better to not say anything at all. And sometimes it's better to put it all out there and not miss out on experiences you wouldn't have had otherwise. I'm just not sure I will get what I want with blogging and I'm still trying to decide exactly what that is.To be honest, I'd love to have a substantial audience but I'm not sure if I have something important  enough to say to deserve one. I suppose that confidence comes over time though and depends on whether there is an audience for your subject matter.

Don't get me wrong, fluffy blogging does have it's place and if I do start a new blog I would like to have a section dedicated to those cutesy but memorable things going on in my personal life (such as wedding planning, decorating, cooking). But I would like to go deeper. It's nice to have a break from the rollercoaster of life and to remember to be thankful for what you have, but life is a process. I didn't realize what I had when I worked for a non-profit straight out of college and now I do. It's not a regret. Life goes on. Times change. It's just a different point of view. A more mature, worldly point of view.

So, there you have it, as I scramble to buy books, Christmas presents, nursing program uniforms, work full-time, and move to a new residence closer to my school before the start of the new year I will contemplate the question of whether I want to take on a new blog a little harder.  Because of the moving part, we haven't even put up a Christmas tree yet this year and we hardly any extra money to spare....I haven't purchased a single Christmas present. Times are hard right now but the long-term goal is a wedding and a new career as a nurse and...maybe blog version 2.0. I hope everyone is having a wonderful Christmas season and not going crazy like some of us!

New iPhone

I'm updating from my iPhone 4s and I am in love with it. I've never had a phone that was so natural and easy to use. It more than works and it's incredible. I'm an apple girl from now on. I hope Steve Jobs passed knowing what an impact he made on the world.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NnUH3EFhME&feature=youtube_gdata_player.

I'm still learning. I have no idea how to post a video but check out this link.

P.S. My new instagram name is leyladyley. Follow me! Especially if you have wedding dress shopping advice.

Holding Down the Fort

Dear B,

I'm happy for you and for your success at work. However, you've been traveling quite a bit and I miss you. We all do!

Sara's been lying in between your keyboard and your screen when I'm on your desktop (since you took the laptop and the iPad, thanks...jk), taking naps with me, and following me everywhere.

Jag comes up to me and asks for attention which is so unlike her.

No, I haven't called the cat lady about Bubbles yet. She's developed a foot fetish and now tries to ram down the door from the garage to our house. I think she wants to join our happy family. *SNEEZE**SNEEZE**SNEEZE!!!* Let's call on Saturday and say our good-byes.

I miss you a lot but I've distracted myself by working A LOT and cooking. Chicken Tortilla Soup from Eat Yourself Skinny. It is so delicious! I never boil chicken for anything but it worked very well. Tonight I'm making stuffed chicken with broccoli and swiss...since the only green thing you eat is lettuce. I worry about all the antioxidants your missing out on, MR.

Fall decorations around the house brighten my mood a bit:

Our yearly fall tabletop....with some of my crap laying around. Don't hate.

Pumpkins and decorations that you set up this year. I was probably working. Such a different story from last year around this time.

Thanks for hanging the orange lights. It definitely brightens up our living room.

I couldn't resist a trip with my mom to Bath and Body Works this year:

Pumpkin Caramel Latte is my favorite. I thought it would be homemade cookies because I love my baked goods.

The pumpkin that lights up...even though we don't have any trick or treaters! Remember when we lived in an apartment in Jax and you wanted to decorate for Christmas but I thought it was a waste of money? Glad I got over that one.

This has nothing to do with fall decor but I love our gnome. I guess you could say she kind of looks like a witch, who just happens to be a gator. It works. May she put a spell on our team soon please.

The sign says, "If packages arrive and I don't answer the door, please go next store"...wait a minute, is that next store or door? I think I just committed some kind of English langange butchery. Hopefully, the mail lady will understand.

This excites me more than anything right now. Hopefully, while I'm at work for 12 hours tomorrow a certain package will arrive. Then, we can play with our new toys when you get home.

Come home. Soon. A house full of felines and fall decorations just doesn't quite cut it without you.

Oh yeah, by the way, one year from today we will be walking down the aisle and exchanging vows. It will be just before our 10 year dating anniversary. Holy COW. Another anniversary to keep track of...; )

Love you! Have a safe trip and good luck finding a cab.

-Christy

Brain Overload

So much going on at this moment that I can't even find my brain.

-We still have Bubbles. Turns out no one wants an adorable, calico kitten. It breaks my heart and I would keep her if it wasn't for my allergies. So later this week I have to call a random cat lady who B's dental hygienist tells us will take her in. At least we know she'll be safe.

-My wedding planner emailed me about two weeks ago about picking a wedding photographer. I still haven't emailed her back. Tomorrow it will be one year until the wedding exactly. Which means I get to start exercising and eating right again...which meant I spent most of day off grocery shopping.

-I still haven't written or sent any thank you cards from the engagement party.

-Our house needs to be vacuumed something awful especially with my allergies but we just ordered a new vacuum, a hoover, that I am ecstatic about because we have a 15 year old kenmore canister vacuum that I inherited from my mother-in-law. It's now missing 2 wheels and gets stuck on every corner in our little rental house. Every time I vacuum I curse repeatedly and imagine throwing it out the window. So, I might just not vacuum until it comes.

-B had to go out of town for work again! At least I'm not picking him up from the airport this time because I'll be at work.

-My MIL is taking a trip to Sanibel and we are going to join her for a long weekend (sigh of relief). However, the week after that she is having a surgery with a reputation of a difficult and painful recovery time and I will be taking care of her when I'm not working. That means driving a half hour there and back...glad I can be there for her though!

-Still working on nursing applications and I'm taking care of some transcript issues. I won't bore you with those details.

-One of my girlfriends will be in town this weekend so I might get to see her on Saturday!

-We're changing banks.

-I need to go to target for some things tonight.

There's more. I know there is more but my brain is so cobwebby right now and really I just want to pawn these chores off to a maid/personal chef/secretary right now.  I am trying remember to breath but I feel like I'm forgetting something important. Please tell me I'm not the only one that feels this way.

I Want To Be Fabulous

I love checking out fashion diaries on instagram. However, I am not very fashionable. Like, at all. I wear scrubs to work everyday and sometimes come straight home and change into soffe shorts and a t-shirt. Part of it is because I still need to lose weight. I have 4 boxes of clothes that no longer fit me in my garage. Part of it is because I don't want to spend money. However, I want to be fabulous on my way to being fabolous. Because:

I've seen girls of all different shapes and sizes looking amazing on fashion diaries. It's truly inspiring. Last night B and I got slightly more dressed up than usual and went to a bar. We also did our first fashion diaries pictures:

We have real clothes on! Btw, B seems to think he is quite fashionable. I'm the only one that goes straight to my sister when I need to pick an outfit for an event. She got all the fashion genes. Maybe...

And we were like totally vogue with our "blue steel" faces and funky angled shot. High fashion, people. We don't have iPhones yet so we have to take a picture with our camera and then upload to our iPad. The camera on our iPad sucks. But eventually we will have the iPhone 4S and I can show off these finds that I scored from the Good will. I love thrift shopping!:

$61.22 for:

-8 blouses/sweaters (that's what they called them on the receipt it just means a nice shirt)
-1 purse
-1 tank top
-1 blazer
-2 skirts
-1 pair of jeans
-1 pair of shorts

Then I went to Bealls and got 3 necklaces for $6.95.

I'm new to thrift store shopping but I do have a few tips (some are shopping tips in general):

1. Find a good blazer with a good cut  (no bulky shoulder pads) or a trench coat.  You will be amazed at what you can find at a thrift store.

2. Do not give up! Be extremely patient. The racks are so full that it makes it hard to even flip through them. Take your time. Don't get down on yourself if things don't fit or you can't find anything at first. I keep telling myself this. Give yourself 4-6 hours if you really want to score a lot of outfits.

3. Find out if they have a special promotion. Today was "blue" day at the thrift store. Everything blue was half off.

4. There will be multiple crying babies at the thrift store. Bring earplugs.

5. Don't get stuck on the brown note. This note is more for me. I don't know if it was because I was looking for fall clothes or what but I had to remind myself that there are other colors in the rainbow than just brown.

6. Try something new. Why not? A shirt is only 2-3 bucks and a purse is 4 bucks. You might as well try something out of your element.

7. Some things that look good on the rack will not look good on you and some things will look great on you that look bad on the rack.

8. Make sure nothing is torn or stain. You can always sew on new buttons though.

9. When you get home put everything in the washer. The clothes I got today were dusty.

10. Thrift store shopping is hard work but also fun.

Funky thrift store outfits coming to an instagram application (and this blog) in the near future!

Even an Old Dog Can Learn New Tricks/My Engagement Party

About two weeks ago, B and I had an engagement party at a local restaurant in Orlando. I couldn’t believe it was time when the day finally arrived. I had spent so many months emailing back and forth with a florist, a cupcake truck, the venue, and my parents who were the hosts. If that was how I felt about a small party, than I can't even imagine how it would feel to be done planning a wedding. The turn-out was mostly close friends and family and it was only about 27 people but it was perfect. The food was great, my vintage dress was great, the company was great, and oh yeah, my fiancé is pretty great too. There is one thing though that surprised me during this party. However, to understand why it was so surprising to me you need a little background information on my family.

Let’s see. How do I describe my dad? His favorite actor is Jack Nicholson and his favorite movie is “One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest”. His favorite subjects are nature-related activities (hiking, biking, camping etc.), American Idol, football, computer gaming, and farting. For instance, I was at my parents’ house for my dad’s sixtieth birthday recently and they were telling me about a trip they took to some caverns. My dad is probably one of the few people in the world who would choose to drive several hours on their day off just to hang out in some hole in the ground. He told me that during the whole cavern tour that the tour guide was bombing them with SBDs (silent but deadlys) and that he thought she was sick or drank too much the night before. Don't ask me how my dad became a gastrointestinal specialist when he has always worked for an environmental protection agency. Although I guess that is somewhat related but I need to stop with the stupid fart jokes right now.  My mom fires back at him with, “You only think it was her because she went to the bathroom right after the tour!” I’m still not sure why my mom has some allegiance with the tour guide but I guess the culprit could have been anyone to be fair. Everyone loves a little flatulent dinner conversation…at least in my immediate family.

When we were little my dad would carry my sister and I to bed every night and then mom and dad would each take time to say goodnight to us separately and give us a goodnight kiss and hug. My dad was the tickle monster and if my cousins were around there would be four kids at one time climbing all over him as he tickle attacked us. Every year we would go camping around Christmas time when the weather was cool and he also took us orienteering and hiking. When we got a little older we biked, played basketball, and went roller blading together. I went on to be the wannabe jock in high school where I swam and ran cross country. As we got even older, my sister and I spent more time doing homework and my dad spent more time playing computer games on his PC. We frequently argued over who got time to do homework or play around on the family computer. As time went on, he did some biking events with a group of coworkers but eventually his social circle became pretty small.

My dad is a guy who likes to do things his way. He’s very stubborn, very (EXTREMELY) routined, and doesn’t like to try a lot of new things. He’s also antisocial but it’s not because he doesn’t know how to be social, it’s just that he finds most people annoying. He prefers cats, they don’t argue back as much. I used to try and change my parents when I was a teenager and even into my early twenties. I couldn’t understand why someone in their fifties would have to go bed at 9pm every night or do things the same way every time. Now that I’m a bit older, I have learned to accept my parents for the way they are and I’ve learned that they are not going to change. They have no reason to change because they are happy.

When my parents were 17 and 18 years old, they moved 1,000 miles away from a small town in Ohio to a moderately big city in Florida by themselves. They got married in a courthouse so they wouldn’t have to have their parents’ permission to get married and they never had a formal wedding. After they got hitched at the courthouse they simply had some cake at my grandma’s house to celebrate. I think if I were that far away from family and had to figure out how to make it out there in the cold, hard world I too would stick to what worked and not change it. I see things differently now that I’ve been thrusted into the “cold, hard” adult working world, and I see that things have actually worked out very well for them. Both have worked in the same jobs for over 25 years and have two college-educated daughters.

Since I’ve announced my engagement, my parents have felt a bit uneasy about this wedding stuff. My mom immediately ordered books on wedding etiquette from the library. She calls me and says, “This book says the groom’s parents’ responsibility to pay for this and the bride’s parents’responsibility to pay for that, and the bride’s father makes a toast at the engagement party, yadda, yadda, yadda”. Every time my mom says things like that I tell her that those books are archaic and that we can do things our own way. B and I aren’t set on being super traditional since we are a modern couple. I wash the cars, do the laundry, and B takes out the trash, and takes care of all computer techy issues. We switch around on loading the dishwasher and cooking. We do things as we see fit and don’t feel like we need to conform to anything……just like my parents. Nonconfirmists conformists cycle, yes?

 I never expected my dad to make any toasts or to even walk down the aisle with me. He’s shy about public speaking and DOES NOT like to get dressed up for anything. Plus, I’m not really fond of the idea of my dad “giving me away”. I mean, what about my mom? Or what if I’m not really being given away and I’m choosing to get married?

 He surprised me with a very short and sweet toast after a little push by way of glass clacking from my sister and I (heeheee…). Afterwards, he was sitting next to me and he says,

“Hey, I think you should have a football team of kids.”

This is weird for several reasons. One is because my parents’ have always told me to take my time with getting married and having kids. "Don't rush", they always said. Another is because he’s never really treated me like a girl….he never called me nicknames like “sugar, honey, princess, kitten, daddy’s little girl, sweetheart” etc. If he ever started doing that I think it would make me twinge and vomit in my mouth a little. He’s always been a tough, strict, man’s man kind of a guy. So I looked right at him and said,

“Who’s going to pay for that?!”

I was so surprised that I have no idea what his response was….something about moving north to this small town outside the area where I went to college. Maybe that whole conversation was just the sangria talking. Either way, I’m really glad that I won’t be moving 1,000 miles away from my parents and that they will at least be in the same state to help me raise my kids. I’m also glad that I have come to accept my crazy family and that this will make my wedding a breeze. Not THAT KIND of a breeze, dad. Yuckity yuck. Also, if you do walk me down the aisle no beans or sauerkraut the day before, alright???