Tuesday, December 20, 2011

Honeymoon!!!

Today I went on Costco's website to check on the resort in St. Lucia we wanted to go to for our honeymoon.  We were planning for 11 nights at an all-inclusive resort and it was going to be a little over $5000 for everything.  Sweet deal, right?

Well, this morning when I looked, the price had nearly doubled.  I was NOT happy.  I didn't know where else we could go for that price and for that length of time, except for Hawaii but we didn't really want to go there.  I had to leave to drop off some stuff at my grandmother's house and then go to my hair appointment, but I told asked Mat to look for more options and "fix it."  I wasn't mad at him, just mad at the situation.

It turned out through my searching on my phone and him searching at home that Costco had an excellent offer for a resort in Fiji.  After looking up the resort on Google, I stumbled on a Groupon for that exact resort!  To make a long story short, we bought 2 vouchers for 5 nights each, all-inclusive except beverages (but the exchange rate is in our favor for that, and even though it's our honeymoon we aren't huge drinkers anyway), and each voucher includes a candlelit dinner with wine, breakfast in bed, and a couples massage in the rainforest.  Because we bought 2 vouchers, we get two of each of those things!

We'll be able to book our flights using my credit card points, so those will be just under $3000.  The vouchers cost $2596, so after the 20% tax that will be added, we're looking at just under $6000 for everything.  It sounds too good to be true, but it's totally true!!!!

We're going to FIJI!!!!  :-D

Monday, December 12, 2011

21

I remember when I turned 21.  I'm sure I posted something obnoxious on Facebook to commemorate it.  I remember going to TGI Fridays with a bunch of Kappas at midnight and ordering my first drink.  Because my birthday fell on a Saturday, I was able to do this midnight drink ordering on a Friday.  How perfect was that?  Then, I proceeded to sleep in and lay around all day.  It was lovely.

Now, my little sister is turning 21.  Tomorrow.  I can't believe it!  Mat and I are taking her and a friend to Vegas this weekend.  Thanks to Auntie Kristin for helping cover the hotel and Cirque du Soleil tickets!  When I promised Amanda 2 years ago that we would go to Vegas when she turned 21, I didn't exactly anticipate being in 2 weddings and getting married myself!

This is our last week before winter break, and naturally we're ending the 2011 part of the school year with a bang.  I have to have my entire room packed up in labeled boxes so the movers can move it all to the new building.  This is a good thing because I'll finally have that SmartBoard we've been hearing about for a year and a half, but it's a bad thing because, oh I don't know, I'M STILL TEACHING this week!!  To make it better, our whiteboards are going to be taken down and propped against the wall.  *sigh*

I think I'm going to just bite the bullet and stay late either tomorrow night or Thursday night to finish packing.  And I'll probably go to school during the last week of break to set up.  At least we get paid for up to 6 hours of moving time.  It's a lovely perk.

I can't wait to SLEEP IN and watch Christmas movies and bake Christmas cookies and do all those Christmas things!!

Wedding countdown: 199  :-D

Wednesday, December 7, 2011

We're Almost There

There are two days left of this week, and tomorrow I'll be at the district for a training most of the day until I come back for the tutorial session.

Next week we have a short day on both Monday and Friday and block schedule days for the district writing assessment on Tuesday and Wednesday. But, I'll be at a workshop on Wednesday.

Winter break is almost here!

That's all I've got.  I'm boring lately.

Sunday, November 27, 2011

Ugh

Ugh is how I feel right now.  For one thing, it's Sunday night after a week off from work.  It's not so much the working part that bothers me, because working isn't an issue.  The issue is that that last few months have been utterly exhausting physically. mentally, and emotionally.  The week off did me good as far as physical tiredness, but not so much in the mental or emotional areas.  Now, I look ahead to the next three weeks of school before winter break (which, admittedly, will go by very fast) with dread.  Again, not because it's work.  But because I know the levels of exhaustion that are potentially facing me and I don't want to go through them again.  My shining light at the end of the tunnel is that there are three weeks of vacation after these next three weeks of work.  My other shining light is that I'm planning/hoping to move back to Irvine in January.  I'm really at my wit's end and my sanity is clinging by a thread.  When I talk to friends about it, I'm comforted to know that they understand and agree with me.  It's not just me.  I have not and will not be doing anything wrong.  I need to believe that, wholeheartedly, and be strong about it.

Tuesday, November 22, 2011

Thanksgiving Break

The break started with Nicole's bachelorette party on Saturday morning.  We drove out to Temecula, had a lovely time wine tasting while being chauffeured in a limo, and then went to a country line dancing club called Stampede.  We were a rather sad bachelorette party because we were in bed by 11:30, but no complaints here!  I was pretty pooped because I had gotten up at 5:30 to fit in a 7 mile run.  However, had everyone wanted to stay out I would have sucked it up!  I wasn't dying so it would have been fine either way.

A couple of cute pictures:
It takes two women to hang a banner. 
It was defective.


Gifts for the bride.

We fixed the defectiveness.

The bride's gift opening chair.
The bride in her bride hat.

After we got back on Sunday I hung around Mat's for the rest of the day and stayed for pizza.  Monday was a morning 6 mile run with the usual pb & j and banana for breakfast/lunch and then I did some grading.  Today was an easier 3 miler (I was rather sore/tired during Monday's run) and then I met Diana for breakfast at Mimi's Cafe.  Tonight I went to ballet.

I discovered that cleaning your engagement ring with toothpaste really is as brilliant as people say.  My ring was SPARKLING!!

Monday, November 14, 2011

An Update on Days

Week off for Thanksgiving: 4 days

Vegas for Amanda's birthday: 31 days

Surf City Half Marathon: 82 days

OC Marathon: 173 days

Our wedding: 227 days

And that's not even all of the stuff going on!  There's always something to look ahead to.

After our wedding?  Kelly and Keith's wedding October 13th, John and Brittany's wedding October 27th, and another wedding date TBD.  Crazy!!!

Oh, and probably the Long Beach Marathon or 1/2 Marathon next October also.  :)

Sunday, November 6, 2011

More Wedding Stuff

Ever since going shopping for bridesmaid dresses last Sunday, my brain has been consumed (even more than usual) by wedding things.

Friday night I found the perfect wedding favors online.  Today I ordered them.

Yesterday we went bridesmaid dress shopping for Mindy's wedding.  I love love love the dress she chose.  It's flowy and romantic and oh so comfy to wear.  And, we got a discount!  Yippee!

We ordered a couple of other things yesterday.  Like our guestbook.

I started working on the table names.  I still need to find pretty frames for them.

This weekend is Nicole's bridal shower and next weekend is her bachelorette.  And, there are some vacations coming up too: this Friday is Veteran's Day and then the week of the 21st I'm off for Thanksgiving.  Thank goodness...it couldn't come any sooner!  I'm super pooped!!

In other news: last night I slept a lot due to the glorious time change.  I woke up and just laid in bed with no real reason to get up.  I don't remember the last time I did that.  Once I pulled my butt out of bed and showered, I did basically all of BTSA Module A.  All that's left is to print some things and make copies of things and then put it all together.  Module A is due December 9th.  Go me!

(Note: BTSA Year 2 is much easier than Year 1 because all of the questions are the same as last year...)

Aaaaand, now it's Sunday night and it's raining again.  I hope it isn't raining in the morning because I plan to run regardless.  Running in the dark and rain, while doable, isn't quite as enjoyable, to say the least.

Wednesday, November 2, 2011

240

As of this morning we had 240 days to go.  I guess now it's more like 239.  :)  By the time Amanda's birthday rolls around and we go to Vegas to celebrate we'll be under 200.  :-D

I'm trying to figure out what to do for favors and place cards.  Some options, none of which are mutually exclusive:

1) Coasters that double as place cards.  There are some really cute ones that are photo coasters and you can put the place card in the photo spot for guests to pick up.  Then they can take them home and (hopefully) use them rather than throw them away.

2) Traditional place cards in wine cork holders.  This goes well with our more traditional theme as well as the fact that our centerpieces are going to be wine bottles we've been collecting with flowers and stuff.

3) Milk and cookies bar.  Or at least just the cookie bar.  The cookie bar will happen no matter what we do in the favor/place card department.  The cookies could be the only favor, or they could be an extra dessert.

4) Something else I've yet to think of or find online.

Thoughts anyone?

Sunday, October 30, 2011

Bridesmaid Dresses: Check!

We went shopping for bridesmaid dresses today, and it was so unbelievably easy!  I had picked out the dress already, and was hoping that all the girls would like it and that we'd be in and out quickly.  Boy were we in and out quickly!  I think it took about 7 minutes once we got inside and were actually by the dressing rooms.  All 4 girls liked it, and that was it!

I was actually kind of shocked, and I think I said about 40 times how fast it was.  But, it was certainly a good thing.  Now I have that checked off the list.  The girls are picking out their own shoes as long as it's a silver/gray color, preferably a strappy sandal, so that's easy too.  Hair is the same - I wouldn't want to tell them a certain way to do their hair.  It just doesn't work because everyone's hair is different.  Now I just need to come up with some jewelry for them...

I gave them all a little gift as a thank you for being a bridesmaid: wine!  Who doesn't love wine?  And it goes with the "wine theme" of our wedding.

My gifts for my bridesmaids.
Each girl got a wine bottle tote bag with a different region where wine is made, and I bought bottles of wine from each place.  I actually got the wine to match even more perfectly than I expected!  I was super excited about these gifts - I love love love giving fun gifts to people!!

Tomorrow is Halloween, which really doesn't mean all that much to me.  I can't give my students candy if I wanted to because I'm being pulled out of class for 4 out of 5 periods to do benchmark data review.  It will be fascinating I'm sure.  The good thing about this is that it breaks up the week and it's one less day of dealing with 5th period.  

Then it's November.  Busy busy times coming up!  I need Thanksgiving week so I can get caught up on some sleep.  Three weeks to go...hope I make it!


Monday, October 24, 2011

Weekend in Solvang

The weekend was lovely.  Truly lovely.  My mom gave us $10 to get Starbucks on the drive, just because.  I love my mommy.

We hit some traffic driving up on Friday night, but it was mainly due to accidents.  Once we got to Ventura and beyond it was smooth sailing and we got in around 9:30/10:00.  Albertsons was the place of choice for dinner: a salad for me, sandwich and chips for Mat, and two pints of Ben n Jerrys.  No, of course we didn't eat both that night....

On Saturday we had the free hotel breakfast which wasn't anything special.  Apples provided much needed fruit nutrition, and I had an English muffin toasted with butter and jam.  Mat loved the waffle maker.  And the frosted flakes.  The sad thing about this breakfast was that there was no protein unless you count the milk.  Where we usually stay there's yogurt and hard boiled eggs, but it wasn't a big deal.

We took advantage of four, yes FOUR wine tastings that day.  It wouldn't have been so many except that we had a coupon for buy one get one free at two different tasting rooms.  I hadn't been in the best of moods for a good week or so, so it was definitely my (bad) influence that caused us to do all four.  However, we spaced them out throughout the day.  I will say though that I was basically tipsy all day and had definitely been VERY tipsy after the first one.

We bought a bottle of Buttonwood Winery's port wine which is actually called "P.O.S.H."  I LOVE it.  And it will be an awesome bottle for our centerpieces.  :)

Saturday's dinner was Carl's Jr.  Yes, fast food.  In my defense I basically never eat fast food, and we were hungry and it was close by and cheap.

I was pathetic at taking pictures this trip, probably because it was a quick one.  Oh and the fact that I had a lot of wine...

But it was OH SO WORTH IT.  Getting away was JUST what the doctor ordered, even if coming back to reality was not pleasant at all.

A couple of pictures, the whole 5 that I took:


The town is having a scarecrow contest.  These were probably my favorite of the ones I saw.


Wednesday, October 19, 2011

It's Been One of Those (Several) Days

I went to ballet tonight for the first time in probably over a month.  It's weird that now it's weird to be at ballet. :-/ Despite my constant stress about finances, I paid for 4 classes which means I have 3 left to use.  I'm hoping to go once a weekish for the next few months, but we'll see how it goes.

Stress about finances doesn't need to be explained.  It's annoying.  I'm worried.  I'm trying to stay focused and positive and remember that in another month or two things SHOULD be better.  Just too many bills lately.  I'm also strongly considering changing the withholding on my taxes so that less is taken out.  At the moment, they take out the most possible (I claim single 0).  But, I think I should claim single 1.  I'll see more money each month but still shouldn't have to owe taxes and in fact should still get a refund.  Either way, it won't affect next year's refund because it's already almost the end of 2011.  And, it will enable me to save more each month which will be excellent peace of mind.

On Friday afternoon we're leaving for a weekend away in Solvang.  I.  Can't.  Wait.  I haven't seen Mat since Sunday morning.  It's killing me.

Sunday, October 16, 2011

Birthday Highlights and Other Stuff

My mom made puff pastry stuff for breakfast.  One had nutella and the other had peanut butter and chocolate.  YUM.

I went to Starbucks and got a free venti java chip frappuccino light with only 2 pumps of mocha and light whipped cream.  On your birthday you get to have whipped cream and other bad stuff.  I also got a reduced fat turkey bacon breakfast sandwich to counteract the sugar and caffeine.

One of last year's second period students came by right before second period to wish me a happy birthday.  She remembered!  My second period class sang to me, as did my 5th period class (that was a shocker!).  Amanda stopped by at lunch and brought me FOUR Sprinkles cupcakes!!

Mat and I went to the Homecoming game that night.  Now I only have 3 more (out of 4 total, haha) student events to attend this year.  Chipotle for dinner rounded out the night.

Mat is taking me to Solvang next weekend as my birthday present.  :-D

I ran 10.21 miles yesterday.  That's only 6 days after the half marathon.  Not bad if I do say so myself!  Then that afternoon Grandmother and Auntie Kristin came over for cake and presents.  Altogether I got several things off our wedding registry which is awesome.  After cake and presents Mat and I saw Footloose and had Corner Bakery for dinner.

Today was church and then a massage and facial.  I was supposed to (I thought) be able to cancel my membership after today, but it turns out I have to pay for ANOTHER month before I can cancel AND I have to sign a form to do it.  When I told them I had to cancel no one said anything about a form.  I was annoyed.  But I'm trying not to think about it.

I decided to buy OS X Lion.  I can use iCloud if I have it on my MacBook and plus I figure for $30 it's not a bad idea to update to the latest operating system.

And now it's already Sunday night, my least favorite time of the week.  That certainly doesn't help my general frustration lately.

Thursday, October 13, 2011

26

Tomorrow I'll be 26.

It's funny how as you get older, birthdays sort of just sneak up on you.  The way that I CANNOT WAIT for my wedding to get here is how birthdays are for a child.  Now?  I honestly would forget now and then throughout the day today that tomorrow was my birthday.

I hope it's a good day.  The work day isn't thrilling, and I can't wait for when I can take my birthday off.  :)  Tomorrow night I decided to go to the Homecoming game, so hopefully that will be good.  Really, I just want to spend the day with Mat, but since that's impossible while at work, going to the game will let me do that.  Bring some Chipotle in for dinner, get some ice cream or whatever...hopefully I have a good day.

I also can't wait for this time next year.  One year from this moment I'll be at my big sis Kelly's wedding (which will be a Saturday next year because of leap year) and the next day, Sunday, will be my birthday.  Next year, indeed, will be a lovely year.

This year?  Just trying to keep plugging on and get through the school year.

Monday, October 10, 2011

Run for Mobility

The Surf City Marathon and Half Marathon, which I'm participating in on February 5, 2012, partners with an organization called Run for Mobility.  This organization raises money to provide wheelchairs to people all over the world. Use my link to donate to this great cause!

http://fwm.kintera.org/faf/donorReg/donorPledge.asp?ievent=477888&lis=1&kntae477888=ECBCE47165EB4B749546566922C17F31&supId=342568233

Sunday, October 9, 2011

The Half Marathon

Today was the half marathon.  This is probably worthy of a lengthy post about the people I saw, how I felt, and the overall experience, but for some strange reason I'm pretty tired!  ;-)

It was pretty cool though.  It was amazing to accomplish 13.1 miles when my previous farthest distance was only 10 miles last week.

Yesterday, I signed up for the Surf City Half Marathon on February 5th and the OC Marathon on May 6th.  I'm going for the Beach Cities Challenge medal!

My dad signed up for the Surf City half also, and I think Mat is going to also.  It will be a family affair!

And now it's off to sleep.  Good night!

Wednesday, October 5, 2011

Beach Cities Challenge

I read about this back when signing up for the Long Beach half marathon, and I ran across it again tonight.  The Beach Cities Challenge involves running any combination of half or full marathons in Long Beach, Huntington Beach (Surf City half/full), and the OC half/full.  You get a special Beach Cities Challenge Medal if you do all three consecutively, starting with any of the three.  That means that after I run the LB half this Sunday, if I run the Surf City (probably the half) on February 5th (happy 1 year of being engaged!) and the OC (possibly the full?) on May 6th, I'll get the cool medal.

I'm strongly considering it.  Yes, it costs money, but it still costs far less than ballet, even when you factor in clothes and replacing your shoes.  And, I've come to LOVE running.  Yeah, some mornings at 4:30 I'm not really in the mood, but that always goes away and is more often the result of it being a work day than it being 4:30 in the morning.

It would be such an accomplishment - complete 2 halfs and a full (or maybe 3 halfs depending on how things go) less than a year after starting to run.

The final of the three, on May 6th, is more than 6 weeks before our wedding, so if God forbid I get injured at least I'll have time to heal before walking down the aisle.  :)

I think I'll wait until Sunday to decide.  Early registration for the OC Marathon ends tomorrow, but they will also be offering it at their booth at LB on Sunday.  That's the one I would try for the full in if I'm going to try a full, but I can't just decide that on a whim.  Training for a half has been totally manageable, and even though I would do another half before this full, training for a full requires a ton more time and morning runs would not be as easy.

I'll have to think about it.

But it would be so damn cool.

Tuesday, October 4, 2011

Coyote

On Friday I took a walk and saw two coyotes.  It startled me but they seemed startled also and I walked away and didn't worry too much after that.

Yesterday I took the same walk and saw nothing.  Ok, cool.

Today I set off to run 5 miles and was very aware the whole time.  About 2.5ish miles into it I saw a dead cat on the sidewalk.  And trust me when I say dead - I'm glad it was still dark so I didn't have to really see it.  Naturally this made me think oh no is there a coyote around here.  I get off the sidewalk to avoid the poor cat, stop running, look around, and sure enough there's a coyote up ahead.  It's running away and then stops and turns and stares at me.  It's not super close, thank God.  I go the other way and eventually take off SPRINTING to get home.  I saw my mom walking and told her about it, then did a 1 mile loop right by my house so my run could total 4ish miles.  I was bummed to not get 5 miles in, but technically I was only supposed to run 4 anyway because the half-marathon is Sunday.

Because I'm a paranoid freak, I googled coyotes all day.  The jist is that generally they are fearful of humans, but they are also very adaptable so if they learn they can find food in neighborhoods, etc, they start to lose that fear.  I also found the animal control phone number for the city and on its website it says to report any dead, injured, or sick animals (but there's no point in reporting a sighting because coyotes are considered wildlife and therefore are protected by law).  So, I called.  I learned that there were already two calls about coyotes today and it sounded like two coyotes were picked up.  I asked where, and the lady told me one on Euclid and Lambert and the other on Ridgehaven.

Ridgehaven was the street I was running on.

I felt better knowing that something happened, but I know that two coyotes being picked up does not mean there aren't more.  However, from googling I learned that when coyotes are threatened by humans, the natural fear returns.  The lady on the phone also said, when I asked, that I should obviously be aware but that they are generally afraid of us and to just leave the area.

So, I'm still a little freaked (I think the poor cat has a lot to do with that) but everyone around me isn't too worried so I figure I should just calm down.  That and keep on carrying the pepper spray and not be afraid to yell or throw a stick at it.

Monday, October 3, 2011

On Running

I ran 10 miles on Saturday.  That's right, 10 miles.  I know it doesn't sound like much to a marathoner, but it was my first attempt and success at double digits.

This Sunday, 5 days from now, is the Long Beach Half Marathon.  I'm excited and a little nervous.  I'm not so much nervous about the actual run as I am about just doing something new and it being unfamiliar.  I think adrenaline will get me through the final 3 miles, so I'm not worried about that.  But when something is new and weird, it can be nerve-wracking.  At least there should be a feeling of camaraderie, as my dad said, that's really cool at races like that.

On another note, I absolutely LOVE what running has done for my body.  I'm in better shape now than I've ever been, both mentally and physically.  I feel thin but STRONG.  I feel lean and muscular and for probably the first time in my life, confident about my body.  I can put jeans on and not be a skinny ballerina and look at myself in the mirror and say, "Hey, I like my body - I look good!"  I even went to ballet on a random Wednesday a few weeks ago and wore a leotard and cut off tights (like bike shorts) and felt good.  I could look at skinny people and finally NOT think, "ugh I feel fat."

I know what you're thinking.  You're thinking, "How on earth can you EVER feel fat?"  Yes, I know.  It sounds ridiculous.  But if you've never lived and breathed the ballet world as I have for essentially my entire life, you can't really understand it.  And if you can't understand it, in some ways I envy you.

And on that note, I'm getting up at 4:30 to get my last 5 mile run before Sunday.  Wednesday will go down to 3, and Thursday down to 2.  Yesterday was rest, today was a 2 mile walk, Friday will be a walk, and Saturday will be REST.

Good night Monday!  I won't miss you...

Thursday, September 29, 2011

Tomorrow is FRIDAY!!

As usual, I'm thrilled that tomorrow is Friday.  It's been a pretty crazy few weeks (and weekends for that matter) and it will continue to be this way, but it's sure making the time fly!

Our wedding is 9 months from today.  :)  It still feels like forever, but 9 months isn't all that long anymore.  I think.  At least that's what I keep telling myself.

Today I got paid for the first time since June.  Thank God for that.  Of course, after paying the credit card bill which was not exactly small, I don't have much left for the month of October, but this is how I've been living since February, so oh well.  Lots of expenses and things to save for right now.  I can't wait to be married and have things settle down a little in terms of money.  We're saving to buy furniture and go on a honeymoon and buy a house eventually, so at least after we get married the furniture and honeymoon expense will be gone.

However, I don't want to think about the honeymoon being over because that's just sad.  The nice thing about still having 9 months to go is that I can keep looking forward to all the good stuff we have going on.  :)

I still CANNOT WAIT to move though.  That will never change.  4 months-ish.  Not that I'm counting down to that too, or anything...

I should take advantage of not having to be doing something tonight and go to bed early.  That's the smart thing to do.

Half-marathon: 9 days.  My birthday: 14 days.  Vegas for the sister's 21st: 77 days.  Wedding: 273 days!

Tuesday, September 27, 2011

iPhone Problem :(

I discovered this afternoon that when I make a call on my iPhone, I can't hear anything out of the receiver.  I can hear out of the speaker and out of the headphones, but not the receiver.  I googled the problem and tried some of the solutions that people recommended, but nothing worked.

This is annoying.  Fortunately I can still use it on speaker, but it's still another thing to go deal with.  Also fortunately though, I don't have to stay after school tomorrow for any meetings so I can easily go to the Apple store and hopefully get a new phone.  This one isn't even a year old yet, so I sure hope they replace it!

In other news, our save the dates were mailed today. :)

Saturday, September 24, 2011

9 miles

Today I ran 9 miles.  It didn't really feel any different from the 8.25 miles I ran the past 2 Saturdays.  I was a little tired, but that could be from a variety of things.  I definitely ate last night, so it's possible that I was a little sluggish because of that.  Either way though, I didn't stop unless I paused at a light, and I always jog a bit in place when that happens.

Speaking of food, here's what we had last night:
Whole wheat penne pasta with a homemade pumpkin sauce and hot Italian sausage.  Spinach salad with apple and red onion and a homemade dressing on the side.

Wine.  Part of it went into the sauce.
We also had chocolate peanut butter cup ice cream.  I wonder if that's what made me a bit sluggish... :)

I'm currently still working on my post run food:
PB & J, banana, strawberries.

Iced mocha.
In other news, discovered this morning that when my doctor wrote out my prescription for my birth control, he didn't put a 3 month supply on it and I'm now paying $80 for the one month's worth that is coming in the mail.  If I get a 3 month supply, it will cost $120.  I think I may switch to generic because that only costs $20 for a 2 month supply.  I can't do anything about the $80 cost so I'll try not to think about it right now, but on Monday I definitely need to have a little chat with my doctor about if generic is ok, and if so, have him phone in the new prescription and make sure it's a 3 month supply.  *sigh*  I'm already seeing dollar signs so this does NOT make me happy.

Tonight Mat and I are going to Kelly and Keith's engagement party.  I'm sooooo excited to celebrate with them and to see the Kappas I haven't seen in a long time.  And, I haven't been to a party like this (for someone else - we had our own party back in April but that's different) in forever, so I'm super super excited.  I'm so happy for them and can't wait for their wedding next October.  :)

Maybe I'll get some Save the Dates addressed today.  Or something.  :)


Friday, September 23, 2011

Peanut Butter and Chocolate Oatmeal

Oatmeal.  Add peanut butter.  Add chocolate chips.  Stir.  Consume.

Monday, September 19, 2011

Country Music

My iPod Shuffle was set to the country mix during my 5-mile run this morning.

While driving to work, I flip-flopped between the two main country stations: 95.1 and 105.1.  As I was driving and shamelessly not singing along with some of my favorite songs, I realized that country music makes me happy.

It really does.  I've been into country for about 3.5 years, ever since Mat and I first started dating actually.  That may very well be part of why I love it so much - whenever I hear a good country song my mind probably goes back to that time when the relationship was new and I just KNEW that I was going to marry that guy one day.

But anyway, country music makes me happy.  I wasn't in the greatest of moods this morning, mainly just because it was Monday and I hadn't gotten to bed as early as I wanted last night.  I also wasn't really looking forward to the work day because I was nervous about the activity I had planned.  But then, singing along with my favorite songs, my mood just shifted.  Yeah, it was still Monday.  Yeah, I still had the day's activity in the back of my mind.  Yeah, I was looking ahead to Wednesday night (Back to School Night which means being at school from 7 am til 8 pm) and wasn't too thrilled.  But the country music brightened my mood.

That's why there WILL be good country music at our wedding.

Friday, September 16, 2011

Emotion

I've learned lately that human emotions are tricky, tricky things.  I guess it isn't new news, but when you really stop and think about it, the way that you perceive something and the way that someone else perceives something is often very different.  You mean one thing, wholeheartedly, but people take things differently than you mean.  Someone says something to you about *fill in the blank* and for whatever reason you yourself perceive it differently.  When you add various emotions to the mix, it's especially hard.

I guess the biggest lesson is to always be conscious of what you say and to constantly think of how it will be perceived.  I know this from experience, on both ends.  All too often I take something too seriously or not as it was intended.  And I think because of that, I'm often extra cautious of how I say things.  I know sometimes I don't succeed at that, but I do really try.

I also get myself overly paranoid about basically everything.  It's tiring.

My goal for myself from now on is to not dwell on things so much and to just let it go.  Whatever it is, let it go.  I'm allowed to be emotional, everyone is allowed to be emotional, but after a day of that, just let it go.

Besides, it's all in God's plan, right?  So why in the world do I worry so much about silly little things and let myself get all worked up?  I'm not supposed to take control - I'm supposed to let God do that.

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight." ~Proverbs 3:5-6

Thursday, September 15, 2011

Friday!

This weekend has a few things going on, but it's good because I'm trying to stay busy.  I do hope for some relaxation too though because this has been a rather long week.  The kids in 4th and 5th period were rowdy yesterday but apparently I put the fear of God in them because today they were both much better.

On a random note: I really need to cut my fingernails.  I'm a weird girl - if my nails start to get even a little long, I get really bugged.  I don't have great nails, so they basically need to stay short.  I think I'll be getting acrylics for my wedding because my real ones are just ugly.

The fall sports assembly was today, and Amanda's song pom girls performed.  At the second assembly, the one I went to, they did really well.  I was proud, and I'm not even the coach!  I just hope her paperwork goes through so she can get a paycheck - she's owed a ton of money right now!

I really want Starbucks tomorrow morning but I don't know that I can justify spending any money.  I need a paycheck too!

Tuesday, September 13, 2011

Overnight Oats

Overnight oats is seriously the best discovery I've ever made.  My favorite combo: peanut butter, oats, milk/water, and chocolate chips.

Need I say more?

Ignore the pizza sauce jar.  It's all I had.  And it was washed.
Don't ignore the awesome Yogurtland spoon.
It's my breakfast of choice these days.  Especially on running days.  It's pathetic, but when I wake up and am still groggy and a little nervous about the 5 mile run I have to begin when it's not even 5:00 am yet, and I think about how I get to consume this jar of deliciousness once I get to work, I suddenly have honest-to-goodness motivation.

Maybe it's not pathetic.  Do you think using food as motivation is pathetic?  It's healthy food!

Monday, September 12, 2011

Almost the Middle of September

In 3 short days it will be the middle of September.  Some might ask, "Oh my goodness where did the time go?"  And while I do agree with that statement to a certain extent, I also wish for the months to go much, much faster.

Saturday's 8 mile run went excellently.  (That's a word, right?)  Then Mat and I used our Groupon from about 6 months ago to go ice skating (see when you talk about Groupons that are about to expire after 6 months the time seems to go fast).  That was followed by a trip to the mall to try and look at tiaras for the wedding (fail - Nordstrom did not yet have the one I really wanted to see) and then to Total Wine for the 10 cent wine tasting (score!) and then to BJ's for the "Party for 2" - 2 soups or salads, a medium pizza with anything on it, and a pizookie to share - all for $20.  (major score!)

Yesterday Mat randomly had the day off, which was excellent, so after church and finishing the night before's pizza for breakfast, we headed to "proposal park."  I've dubbed Craig Park in Brea by that name because, as the name suggests, it's where he proposed back on February 5th.  :)

I finished my grading, we ate, and read.  I even dozed a little bit on the blanket using his back for a pillow.  It was lovely.

Today we had a minimum day so that we could have staff development.  Staff development is always super exciting (note: sarcasm) but it's nice to have a shorter day with kids.  The additional 30 minutes that were added to the school day really wipe you out.  You wouldn't think it would, but 5 minutes added to every class period really makes a difference.

In 27 (almost 26 now) days away from the half marathon!  Training is going well!  Go me!

Friday, September 9, 2011

Tomorrow and Things

Tomorrow morning I am tackling an 8 mile run.  I'm excited.

Wednesday I went to ballet for the first time in nearly a month.  My calves are now paying for it.  I hope that my 8 mile run tomorrow is not hampered by this.

Tonight we made spaghetti squash with marinara sauce and vegetarian meatballs for dinner.  And we had bread.  And wine.  Mmm.
Spaghetti squash with marinara and veggie meatballs (and parmesan cheese).

Pinot

BREAD

As we all know, the 10 year anniversary of September 11th is on Sunday.  There are specials on TV all the time now.  It takes me back to that day.  I may have only been 15 but I remember the feeling that I wasn't safe anymore - that the world wasn't safe anymore.  It's very frightening.

What I also remember from that day and from seeing TV specials is the feeling of unity as Americans pulled together.  I'm not generally a big nationalist or anything, but you can't deny the shared feeling and spirit of hope that this country had in the aftermath of such a horrible thing.

We are down to 293 days now.  It's far less than when we started but it still feels like an eternity.

Once again I have a lot of grading to do this weekend.  And it's not a 3 day weekend this time.

Tomorrow afternoon we're going ice skating.  Yes, in September.  Groupon is cool.

I'm reading The Help right now.  It's a good book.  Time to get back to it and get some sleep so I can do that run tomorrow.  Good night!

Monday, September 5, 2011

The Long Weekend

Saturday was a fairly normal day.  I successfully completed my first 7 mile run, which was amazing.  I felt energized and like I could conquer the world.  I need to remember this motivated feeling when I have to wake up super early for runs these next few weeks.

Saturday afternoon was a wander around the mall kind of day, but between that and the run I had graded some quizzes.  I think this year is going to be heavier on the at-home grading.  Oh well.  Dinner was almost free at Ruby's Diner - we used the rest of the gift cards we had gotten last Christmas.  Yes, I know it's pathetic.

Part of the mall wandering included going to Sears to look at mattresses because they were having a massive sale.  We got some good information.

Sunday morning = church.  The sermon was especially relevant to the things that have been going on lately, which was both creepy (I had the urge to look up and say "not funny!" :) ) but also very comforting.  Then that afternoon we went over to Sit n Sleep to look at their mattresses, and we walked away with more very good information.  We had a family bbq later in the afternoon.

Today I did a 4.5 mile run that was not the most fun thing ever because I felt rather sluggish.  But I got through it and I'm proud of myself.  Then I had coffee with my future sister in-law, and it was a nice chat.  We needed it.  I then went home and finished grading quizzes and entered in a massive amount of scores.  After Mat finished his lifting class we went back over to Sit n Sleep and actually purchased our mattress!  We don't need it quite yet, but after having gone to a couple stores and asking questions, we determined that this was probably going to be the best opportunity to get it at the best price.  The next time there will be a good sale will be Thanksgiving, and there's no guarantee that the mattress we want/need will be marked down as low as it was this time.  Since Mat's parents are going to let us store it in the spare bedroom for a while, and then since his brother is going to get a storage unit while he moves home for a few months and we can share the unit with him, our mattress will have a home until it moves to its real home in a few months.  Either way, it's one more thing that we can cross off the massive list of things.

I continue to be frustrated with my living situation.  I feel very trapped.  I intend to just keep to myself and not talk so that I don't risk getting into stupid arguments, but that is not easy to do.  It also seems that my mom is feeling left out of the wedding plans (I do NOT know why on earth she would feel that way...) so I really can't stay super closed off.  There's more to it than that, but the jist of it is that I feel I am in a lose-lose situation and the only thing I can do is try to keep my mouth shut on things non-wedding and try to preserve my sanity by focusing on my job, running, and my little wedding projects.  

The other thing I deal with is my mom's dislike of us moving in together before the wedding, which we aren't really going to do anyway.  I think that she fears that if Mat transfers to an Irvine store before June/July, we'll end up spending every day/night together in our place in Irvine.  I have two responses to this: a) it really isn't her business - she may be providing us with an amazing wedding but what we do with our lives is up to us and b) I've already made it very clear to her that we ourselves do not want to be completely living together beforehand anyway, so if he does end up transferring early (and he would only do that if it ends up being the best option, not just so he can be in Irvine) we will still be back here some of the time too.

I fear I am letting her control my life.  I have already stood up to her, but I hate arguing and want to avoid it at all costs.  I will be out soon enough, yes, but it feels like an eternity.

Saturday, September 3, 2011

This Week

This week was long and jam-packed, which is why I haven't touched the blog in a while.  Let's see...

Monday: Pretty normal.  My parents went to pick up their new Mac and were gone the entire evening so Mat and I had a few hours just us.  It was lovely.

Tuesday: I had a doctor appointment after work.  The woman doctor. You know, THAT appointment.  I was then supposed to meet my former roomie Jenn for Golden Spoon and much needed catch-up, but traffic reared its ugly head and she couldn't get here in time so we rescheduled for Thursday.

Wednesday: Mat and I went to an open house/vendor appreciation at The Summit House.  We were mainly going for the free food, and holy crap was that a good idea.  They had tons of amazingly delicious things as well as free champagne, wine, beer, etc.  It was awesome.

Thursday: Follow up appointment with my dermatologist after work, and then meeting Jenn for Golden Spoon.  The dermatologist is in Pico Rivera, and I work in Santa Ana, so after having driven 20 miles to get to work in the morning, I drove from Santa Ana to Pico Rivera, then back to Whittier where we were meeting, then to get gas at Costco, and finally home.  This was around the time that I realized I have virtually no spending money until I get paid at the end of the month.  Good times.

Friday: Oh glorious Friday.  I gave quizzes in all classes which gave me a few minutes of quiet in each class but resulted in a shit ton - yes, a shit ton - of grading for this weekend.  More good times.

The evening was ok.  Not exactly what I wanted for a Friday night, but a lot of stuff is going on right now.

Today: I RAN 7 MILES!!  Yes, 7 miles!!  And I didn't really even get that tired.  I got up at 7:15 so it wouldn't be too hot, and of course the sun was already out (stupid sun) but the air was much much cooler than last Saturday so the sun didn't bother me at all.  I also was a good little girl and didn't exercise at all on Thursday (just like I'm supposed to according to my training plan) and I just took a 2 mile walk yesterday morning.  Mat and I didn't do our usual evening walk last night due to the stuff that is going on, but it was probably for the best because my run was awesome.

I officially signed up for the half-marathon in Long Beach a couple days ago.  No turning back now!

Here's to hoping for a good weekend (despite the shit ton of grading - I should probably get on that) and the end to some stuff.

Sunday, August 28, 2011

I Don't Know

I don't know how I'm going to get through the next 5-6 months.  The plan is to stay home in an effort to save more money.  And to get some stuff from our registry for my birthday and Christmas.

The last few weeks have been a roller coaster of emotions.  One big source of emotion is something I can't talk about publicly.  The other one is my living situation.  I've reached a point of feeling beyond frustration.  Like I'm crawling out of my skin almost all the time.

I could have it way worse.  WAY worse.  And it's not that I'm not grateful.  Because I am.  But sometimes the frustration just overpowers everything and I forget that I'm grateful and that I really do have it pretty good.

The only thing that is going to get me through this, besides my wonderful fiance, is prayer.

Saturday, August 27, 2011

6 miles

I ran 6 miles today for the second time.  I got up at 7:30 in an attempt to get started before the sun came out.  No such luck.  I made it through all 6, but it was tough.  The hill at the end kills me and I'm more trotting than running.  But, I still did it without walking.

And now, my legs are done.  Just done.

Post run meal:
Peanut butter and jelly on whole grain bread, banana, strawberries.  I think I'll tell Mat we need to hit up Starbucks when we're out and about in a little while.

Tonight is the Taylor Swift concert.  I bought these tickets last fall sometime for my sister's birthday which was in December, and now we're finally going.  This is an expensive birthday present, and I also promised her Vegas this year for her 21st.  Oy.

I need to pray more.  I'm sad and lost these days and I know prayer will help.  It's upsetting that when I'm the most in need of it, I somehow forget.  I suppose it's because I'm so caught up in my thoughts that that's all I can think about.  Mat has been wonderful through it, and has been reminding me to pray.

Another bad thing is when I fall asleep before I can get any real prayers in.  *sigh*

Tuesday, August 23, 2011

First Day of School

Tomorrow is the first day of school.

Last year on the night before the first day, I don't remember how I was feeling.  However, I think I was rather edgy and stressed and anxious.  First day in a new school, after all!

This year?  Eh, whatever.  :)  I'm pretty relaxed.  I'm more aware of what I'm doing simply because I haven't taught in a couple months and because the first day is different than other days, but I'm not on edge at all.

Once the year officially starts, I can think about how once I get through it, just this one year, I will be marrying the man of my dreams.

Oh yeah, and I'll nurture some young minds.  That's good too.  Hahaha.

The Dress!

I bought my wedding dress yesterday!  I absolutely love it, and now not only am I waiting 10 more months for our wedding, I have to wait until January or February for my dress to come in.  THEN, it has to be altered!  Ahhh I wish I could just wear it anytime.

Even though I've been dealing with a lot of emotional stress the past week, I know that our wedding day is going to be absolutely beautiful.  The location, the flowers, the centerpieces, everything is going to be amazing.  I wish time could just stand still on that day.  I get teary just thinking about it.  I love him so much.

Sunday, August 21, 2011

Save the Date

I just clicked "Place Order" for our save the date postcards.  And for our thank you notes.  We had a coupon to save $20 on an order of $99 or more, so we went ahead and got both at once.  I'M SO EXCITED!!  The save the dates I finally decided on are super cute and playful.  Our invitation will be much more formal, but I like doing something more fun and cutesy for this.  That's kind of the whole deal with our wedding - it will be formal and traditional, church ceremony, somewhat fancy reception venue, but there will be touches of fun.  White daisies, different shoes and hair for the bridesmaids, stuff like that.

The front looks like this:


Right????

Ahhhh I LOVE this.  It helps me to feel better in the midst of all the crap that's on my mind.

Tomorrow is an early morning run.  Hopefully it's uneventful.

Thursday, August 18, 2011

Running in the Sun after Work = Death

I originally was going to shift my runs from morning to afternoon once I went back to work.  That all sounds fine and good until you realize that, oh yeah, August and September and October and November and even December in Southern California do not have happy breezy afternoons.

They have death afternoons.  Blazing sun.  In your eyes.  Little/no breeze.

Not cool.  (Yes I realize the double meaning behind that little sentence there).

Don't forget that after you've been at work all day you're more tired.  Today and yesterday weren't even school days yet.  I don't even want to think about how much more tired I'll be once the kiddos arrive.  On Wednesday.

Solution: Run in the morning.  I've officially decided that I would rather make myself go to bed at a decent hour like I should be doing anyway and just running in the morning.  It's cool, quiet, and I'm more awake.  I found that running in the afternoon, besides it being hot, is not pleasant because I've eaten that day and it makes me feel sluggish.  It doesn't really make sense, I know, because I always wait a bit after I eat, but I just do better on an empty stomach or just a little orange juice for some natural sugar a few minutes before I go.

To keep it safe while running at 5 am: alter my routes so I'm in primarily residential areas.  I also just bought an awesome Spibelt off Amazon.  I learned about these from this blog and decided it was amazing and that since I'm coming into extra money this year from the school day being extended (hello extra 4 grand at least from last year) I could afford to spend 20 bucks.  And safety has no price tag, right?

I swear I'm almost done...
Yes, we're getting paid extra for the extra half hour being added to each day.  This is in addition to the extra we are already paid for meetings and other work outside the regular contracted school day as well as in addition to the $1000 bonus that we get in June for having attended extra meetings and done extra work.  Yes, we get double paid for that stuff.  It's awesome.  I see furniture and a fabulous honeymoon and a chunk of a house down payment in our future.


Wednesday, August 17, 2011

And Now it Looks Like I'm Changing My Mind Again

I had yet another not so pleasant conversation with my mom today.  She's not happy at the prospect of us living together with 9 month still to go until we get married.  Apparently my dad isn't happy about it either.  I never actually said we were going to move next month or anything, but I guess I can see why they'd think that.

Financially, we should wait until after Christmas.  We'll be able to save a lot more money toward our future house as well as get a lot of useful presents.  My birthday is in October which means even more useful presents.

And, my mom seems open to the idea of us moving in closer to February/March.  I don't want to let parents control me or tell me what to do, and I told her that, and in the end I won't.  However, at the end of the day I also don't want to cause an argument.  If I stay here for a few more months and I'm stressed because of it, ok then I'm stressed.  If I move out "too soon" and then cause my parents to be really upset and angry at me for a while, then I'm just trading one stress for another.  And the second option will cost me money.  Moving out is supposed to relieve stress.  If it will just end up creating a new one, and all for the sake of a few months, it's not worth the money.

In the end, I will be out soon - 6 months or less.  I don't want this to be misunderstood as letting my parents control me simply because they don't feel it's "proper" to live together before you're married.  Because I made it very clear to my mom that she cannot tell me what to do.  I think it's the first time I've been that adamant about something.  It's not letting them control me, it's avoiding unnecessary anger on both ends for something that isn't COMPLETELY necessary.  Yes, I'm going insane.  Yes, I need my own life.  But my mom actually is right in that I'm about to have it.

Plus it's more money saved.  And we really could get that TV and blu-ray player we want.

The school year is starting and time will fly by.  Before I know it Christmas will be here.

A few more months.  I'm calling it a few.  It sounds more bearable.

Monday, August 15, 2011

I'm Thinking I Might Move Out. Soon.

We always intended to stay living at home until we got married.  There were a few reasons for this.  One was that we could save a lot more money to buy a house later.  Another was that we're a bit old-fashioned about such matters.  So much so that while we aren't super innocent (come on, we're human), we are of the wait until marriage type.

However.  This summer has shown me that I can't continue to live at home.  There are a lot of factors.  I'll be 26 in two months.  I live with my parents.  Anyone can see that this is not a good combination.  I also have a 20 mile drive to work.  That's 40 miles a day.  That's bad for the gas tank and the car.  That's bad for the sanity and the patience, of which I already have very little.

My parents were gone for 3 weeks at the beginning of the summer.  To say that Mat wasn't going to come and stay with me the whole time would be stupid.  Really stupid.  Of course he stayed.  I would be the stupid one if I wasn't going to take advantage of such a thing.

You know what?  It was really, really good for us.  We felt it, and both his mom and sister commented on it.  I think them commenting on it made me realize it even more.  When I'm home with my parents I'm grouchy and irritable and I pretty much stick to my room.  You know what else?  Living in a bedroom the majority of the time makes one crazy.  Perhaps it's worse lately because it's summer and I haven't been working, but during the school year it's not much different in the afternoon/evening and on the weekends.

Mat and I go out every Saturday night simply to get away.  Even if we end up spending more money (a lot more money) moving out, we at least won't be spending the $100+ a month on going out.  And we'll be eating healthier.  Helloooooo wedding dress!!

And really, we're getting married in 10 months anyway.  By the time we actually get a place, get some furniture, move, get settled, etc, the wedding will be 8 months away.  In the end, are we really living together prematurely?  Probably not.  Are we going to still wait until marriage for that one thing, even if it's weird to be living together and not doing it?  Yes, because we're strongly committed to that decision.  Will we have less money saved?  Yes.  But will my sanity be saved?  GOD YES, in more ways that one.

Saturday, August 13, 2011

I Don't Have to Be That Skinny. Right?

I've been having a lot of trouble lately with size and body image.  It's synonymous with the trouble I've been having with ballet.  I know that size is just a number.  I know that after starting the pill (just because my body doesn't like to have it like a regular person good lord it's annoying) I went from the skinny "filled-in" that I had become when I was about 23 to having a little bit of actual hips and bigger boobs.  I wasn't thrilled, but if I wanted my period to be regular and if I wanted to not put my body through hell going off of it and then back on it 6 months later, I would just deal with it.

I know that my body shape changed a bit with doing less ballet and doing more of other kinds of workouts.  I'm slowly, very slowly, learning to accept and embrace this change.

I thought that with the end of the school year I'd get a better handle on my eating because I would be less stressed.  And I did do that, in the sense that I didn't have a nervous anxious craving for chocolate every minute of the day.  But I still ate chocolate.  Plenty of it.  Thankfully this time it was because I simply wanted it.

I hate dressing room mirrors.  I enjoyed buying a new pair of jeans on Thursday night that I feel more comfortable in and I enjoyed buying new functional bras and a super cute new fun bra today.  But I hate dressing room mirrors.  Even in Victoria's Secret.  You'd think that Victoria's Secret would put nice mirrors in there so you don't feel even more depressed that you already did having looked at the pictures of models hanging all over the store.

Maybe all the food and healthy living blogs I've started reading will help.  They started to, and then I got distracted.

School is starting all too soon.  My wedding is still 320 days away.  We looked at furniture today.  I wish we could have bought it now.  I wish we could get our apartment now.

I'm frustrated.

On a more positive note, my future mother-in-law lent me these books a while ago and I'm reading them for the second time right now: Vision in White (The Bride Quartet, Book 1)Bed of Roses (The Bride Quartet, Book 2)Savor the Moment (The Bride Quartet, Book 3)Happy Ever After (Nora Roberts' Bride Quartet Series #4) by Nora Roberts



Wednesday, August 10, 2011

So Unfair

I was told that there is now a job opening at the school where I student taught, taught summer school, and long-term subbed.

If this had come up a couple of weeks ago, it would have been better.  We go back next week.

I'm especially PISSED because working there would mean an increase of 15k in salary.  That district pays really happy.

WHY??????????

Monday, August 8, 2011

Still Debating the Blog Changes

I have this lovely idea that I can transform my blog from what it is now to something more personal.  A title that has popped into my head lady is "From Dancer to Runner."  Part of me is proud of that, but then another part of me gets sad about it.  Thinking about ballet still makes me sad.  I last went to ballet on July 30th.  I was in San Diego for 5 days which obviously meant I wasn't going to go, and then with the hip flexor situation going to ballet would be a stupid idea. I think my hip is getting better, but I don't want to chance it.  Ballet really puts a strain on it.

But, I digress.

I'm obviously getting very into running.  And less into ballet.  But am I going from dancer to runner?  And if so, how much?

Add to all of this the frequent ups and downs with my self-esteem.  And a lot of that is pretty stupid.  I don't need to be a juniors size 0 because I'm no longer 13 years old, so why should the fact that those juniors size 0 jeans got tight in the last year bother me so much?  It's about time I filled out and look like a grown woman, right?

I need to learn to love my body.  Every day, not just some days.

Sunday, August 7, 2011

Heck Yes 5 Miles!

Yes.  I ran 5 miles today.

I was nervous about it for a couple of reasons.  1) I've never done that before  2) My hip has been bothering me.  However, I ran the whole thing.  Halfway through my lower right calf (same leg as the hip) started seizing up and getting tight, but I kept going anyway.  I'm sort of bad like that - I'll push myself to the death and back.  It's really bad when I have a cold and will continue working out and living life like normal including going to work because goodness knows a substitute when not absolutely necessary will just screw up your class even more.

But yeah.  5 miles.  Followed by a nice breakfast of iced coffee with sugar free hazelnut and nonfat milk, bread and peanut butter, and a banana.  Mmmm.

I snagged a cookie after church, because I wanted to. :)

A couple slices each of ham and cheddar cheese this afternoon before running to Costco and partaking of the free samples, and a few strawberries and a bite of ice cream when I got home.

Sundays tend to be snacky, can you tell?

Friday, August 5, 2011

At Least this Time I was MIA for a Reason

Sort of.

I looked at when I last posted, and it was July 26th.  That's pretty pathetic.  However, in my defense, I was at my little sis Alex's wedding on Saturday the 30th and then was in San Diego for a conference Sunday the 31st until last night.  So there. :-P

The conference was actually pretty useful.  Those things are sometimes stupid and don't really give you much you can actually use.  Or they're really long and boring and held in windowless rooms that are way overly air conditioned and leave you cranky and with a massive headache.  This one was still long and sort of boring and was held in windowless rooms that were way overly air conditioned.  However, I finally GET how to use Cornell notes, writing, and reading skills in a math classroom.  I also feel more ok with the school year starting.  I'm not thrilled to be losing my lazy days of summer, but I'm more confident in what I'm going to do this year and how I'm going to do it.

Plus, once the school year starts I know it will go fast and the faster it goes the sooner I move out of my parents' house and closer to work and the sooner I get MARRIED!

Speaking of getting married, I was going to come up with table names this summer (we're naming the reception tables rather than using numbers) and I haven't done it.  Maybe I'll start that today.

I'm still debating the idea of hosting my blog somewhere else, giving it a new name, and giving it a new sort of "theme."  The jury's still out.

Tuesday, July 26, 2011

The Last Few Days

Yesterday was a fairly simple day, one of my favorite kinds that can only exist during summer, winter, or spring breaks from school.  I got up around 8 and took a 2 mile walk - having run my long run (4 miles at this point in the training) on Sunday I wasn't supposed to run but instead "stretch and strengthen."  I was fairly lazy most of the day, just laying around and reading vast amounts of the 7th Harry Potter book.  I decided to go to ballet because it is, after all, stretching and strengthening, and then Mat came over for dinner and we read a little more (I finished the book) and watched an episode of Battlestar Galactica.  Yes, he's gotten me into it.  *sigh*

Today was a 3 mile run and it felt pretty awful.  I felt sluggish and stiff and like I couldn't get my legs off the ground. However, I stuck with it and did not walk.  I did not stop.  I ran, however slowly, the entire 3 miles despite feeling like crap.

I will never figure out how a 3 mile run was more tiring and painful than the 4 mile run of two days prior.

Then, around 10:30 this morning, Mat and I left for the beach.  It was a great day for it, and the water wasn't too all that cold.  Like for our engagement photos on Friday night, we went to Corona del Mar.  I absolutely love that beach - it's small, not too big of waves, gorgeous houses, and it's where we always went when I was a kid.  Then we came home and I was absolutely pooped.

And speaking of engagement photos at Corona del Mar, here are the 9 sneak peek photos that were posted to Facebook on Sunday:









Sunday, July 24, 2011

Interesting, and Comforting, Information

*If you're a guy or squeamish about girl topics in any way, I suggest skipping this post*

I've started reading several healthy living blogs.  I found on one of the women's blogs an entry about not getting her period even though she was on birth control.  And, she was "healthy as a horse" according to her doctor.  When I read that, I thought, "No way!  Excellent, I'm not the only one whose body freaks out despite the pill!"  Technically this hasn't happened, but I have been on the pill since October and have still had some weird periods, so obviously my body is still whacked out.

I'm supposed to start my period today-ish.  By today-ish, I mean anytime in the next day or so.  Usually, I start the 4 placebo pills on a Sunday but don't see much of anything til around Monday night.  Sometimes it's been later than that, sometimes right on target, and a couple of times I would spot for about a week before the placebos and continue spotting through the placebo days and never get a full-blown "regular" period.

Will I start today-ish?  I have no idea.  I think I remember some mild cramping about a week ago, which has happened before.  Last month was one of those weird spotting months, and I've been steadily increasing my running over the last month too.  I haven't necessarily increased my exercise, but I suppose the change in the kind of exercise and the constant cardio could have something to do with it.

In any case, I then did some googling and found this.  It made me feel a lot better, because at least there's some sort of research (at least, I assume this article is based on research) saying that women can indeed skip a period even on birth control when they aren't pregnant.  Since I need to call my gynecologist for that lovely yearly appointment anyway, I plan to ask about this and see what happens.  In the meantime, I really like knowing I'm not the only one dealing with this stuff.

Friday, July 22, 2011

A DJ and a Photo Shoot

Today I called the DJ we met with about a week and a half ago to say that yes, we did want to hire him.  Now I just need to print and sign the contract and send in a deposit!

Tonight we had our engagement photo shoot down at Corona Del Mar.  It was so fun!  Our photographers are awesome and came up with really creative poses.  And, of course, we're super cute and photogenic too.  :)

I can't wait for our pictures to be ready!

I still have no idea which dress I want.  Or if I should look again.  AHHH...

One of these days I should blog about food like I've been meaning to do.

Thursday, July 21, 2011

Wedding Dress!

Yesterday my mom and sister and I went shopping for my wedding dress.  We started out with a 10 am appointment at The Dresser, a bridal boutique in downtown Fullerton.  I found 3 possibilities there, with 1 standing out significantly.  Naturally, the one that stands out significantly is over budget.  But no matter.

After a somewhat random grocery shopping trip at Trader Joe's (my mom had brought an ice chest so the cold stuff wouldn't spoil in the car - seriously),  we had lunch at Alicia's in Brea.  Yummy food and all of it fresh.

Then we went to a 3 pm appointment at Alfred Angelo in Brea.  This store was not a boutique, but it wasn't quite as "chain store" as David's Bridal is.  Here I also found a couple that are possibilities, with 1 standing out significantly again.  This one is not over budget, but it also is not as nice of a dress as the one I found in downtown Fullerton.

The problem with most of the dresses I tried on was that they were all around a size 10.  I'm a size 2.  Or 0.  Or something.  Basically, really small.  So that makes it hard to tell.  And the two dresses are very similar, but the skirts are different.  I can't decide.  And I can't decide if I want to go to another store and see what's there.

Sorry, no pictures of any of this.  We were allowed to take them which is very helpful (or very annoying because all I end up doing is staring at them on my computer and coming to no conclusion at all), but I'm not posting anything because I don't want Mat to see anything until I'm walking down the aisle.

But that's my dilemma.  Oh, my life is so hard! :)

On another note, I ran three miles again today.  And it was easier than the first time.  :)

Tuesday, July 19, 2011

Could I Be Lactose Intolerant?

I first noticed something weird a few weeks ago, shortly after my parents left for Europe.  I would get an annoying stomach pain, sort of on the left side, which is where I usually get such pains.  It was sort of a combination of so hungry your stomach feels like it's going to eat itself and bloatedness.  I've found that those two symptoms often occur together, particularly when I feel that hungry and can't or am not able to eat right away.  I couldn't figure out why, after eating as much or perhaps even MORE than usual by 2 or 3 in the afternoon, I was feeling so...hungry?  Bloated?  Both?

One theory was that during the school year I was really really stressed and therefore my body was "holding on" to food more.  This theory was based on the common yet depressing knowledge that while stressed, your body retains fat.  Now that it's summer, perhaps my metabolism was going back to what it used to be and burning more calories and therefore I was more hungry.

But the bloated thing just didn't compute.  Then I thought, wait a second, having too much dairy can cause these symptoms.  Even people who aren't technically lactose intolerant can have icky symptoms from too much dairy.

So, on Sunday, I had no dairy at all.  No milk, no cottage cheese with yogurt and berries and granola and honey (tear), no nothing.  Well, unless you count the tiny bit of milk that was in the salad dressing and the tiny bit of milk in the filling of the sliver of cake I had.

And lo and behold: no symptoms!

Yesterday, a repeat of Sunday.  No dairy except for a little bit of cheese in the enchiladas we had for dinner, and that was accidental because I totally forgot that enchiladas have cheese (don't ask).  No real symptoms.

So, we shall see.  At least one more day after today of no dairy and then I'll try it again, probably on Thursday.  I read that it is not uncommon for lactose intolerance to suddenly happen to adults.  Fortunately, if I do find that dairy is what's making me feel icky, it's not a bad case.  That's good, because if I ever had to give up pizza and ice cream and other such delicious items, I would cry.

Oh yeah, and I ran 3 miles for the first time EVER today. :-D