Day 60 and 61

Just another beautiful day in Green Bay! :)

Yesterday I did lots of wedding projects with Em. I couldn't find anything cool to take a picture of, so there will be two pictures today.

Today I ran some errands: first and foremost getting Dane Cook tickets!!! He is coming on our 7 year anniversary! What a perfect anniversary gift!!!

Since then, I have been doing a mix of studying and spray painting flower girl baskets.

Things I've learned today:

Brought to you by the letter "R"

1) Running.

I'm not a runner. I tried to be this morning, but I don't know if it is something I could do on a regular basis. Besides I'm so picky about the weather being just right.

2) Rope.

I thought my flower girl baskets were more of a wicker material, but they are a bunch of intertwined rope. The only colors they had left were a yellow basket and a red one. So I'm attempting to spray paint them and the rope is absorbing the paint. I used an entire can on them and they are just barely turning white. So much for finishing them today...

3) Rancid.

I was planning on having these chicken tenders for lunch. Just bought, never opened. Opened them up and they are covered with rancid frozen mold. Which led to going to Subway for lunch instead.

Hopefully tomorrow I will have something to show for my spray-painting-inhalation-white-hands efforts. Tonight I'm shopping with my mom and will hopefully be getting more paint. Then more and more and more studying tonight. Gonna land a home-run for study efforts! Enjoy the evening blogland!

Day 59

Hi everybodies!!!!

So this morning was an early morning. I ran out to the seamstress's house to see my veil. All she has to do is shorten it and add beads and it will be all ready for my first fitting!

After swimming today I studied for a good chunk of time. When Josh got home we went and filled out our last registry. They are complete! Finally!

Tonight I've been slacking on studying. I've been meaning to but it's already 2320 and I really don't know if I'll finish up.... I need to keep myself on schedule. Darn wedding things! So distracting!

Tomorrow afternoon Em is coming over to help me finish off invites. Aka the worst jobs: stamps and licking. But we will find a way to make it fun. So if your invite smells like wine, we may have been drinking and licking! We'll be sure to use white wine! ;)

I really want to keep typing, but it's only because I'm procrastinating studying. I suck. Haha!

Well, I'm going to attempt to stop and avoid all other distractions.

G'night loves!!!!

Day 58

Hi everyone!

So today was a day of studying. Lots and lots of it. I do better on my tests but I still don't feel ready. Failing is very discouraging and hard to shake.

What does one do with thousands of apples? Make apple crisp of course! I don't even like apple crisp or apple pie or applesauce, but Josh does. So what my babe wants, he gets. And according to him "This is the best apple crisp I have ever tasted!" Good to know, since I won't taste it myself. :P

Packers lost. That's all I have to say on that.

Tomorrow will be a good day. I have swim and my veil should be done. Hopefully I get a lot more studying done too! And my next registry should be functional. I will hopefully have all of that done this week.

Hope everyone has a wonderful evening and bright tomorrow!

Day 57

Happy Apple Picking!!!

Today I went apple picking with mom, Kathy, Anna, Jodi, Amanda, Tyler, and Hunter. *whew* It was a lot of fun and between me and mom we got 100lbs of apples! Time to make Josh some apple crisp.... every day for a month, haha.

Then mom and I went out to eat, followed by shopping (and her buying me clothes, yay!), and then ending up at Jess's. Little Cam was a doll as always. We did lots of shower plotting and planning.

I'm getting excited and yet a bit stressed. At least with getting these invites out. I have to do invites and shower stuff and get my veil set and study all at the same time. Gah! Trying not to stress out. I haven't been stressed once yet in the wedding process and I don't want to start now.

I'm going to set aside time every day for studying and wedding things. And hopefully everything continues to fall into place.

Tonight's plan: more invites, football, Family Guy, cuddle time.

"...the truth shall set you free and the truth has a name; he's over in the woodshop right now covered in sawdust. Everything is about him." -The Shack

Day 56: Judgment Day

Look there! Me and Lindsey and the Wheel Mobile!

We went to the auditions today and had little success. Our only hope remains in the chance they select our application for the next set of auditions. The atmosphere was fun and there were definitely some characters among the crowd.

Then Josh and I went and completed one of our registries. Now I know why I dislike shopping with him.... He questions everything I zap, but then goes and gets things like a cereal dispenser..... really.... cuz the box wasn't good enough for the cereal...... I digress.

I was thinking a lot lately about more about my spiritual wellness. I've done so much focusing on forgiveness, and have now started working on judgment. I do not believe that I'm a very judgmental person. I do not judge based on appearance or association. A strong reinforcement of this is working as a nurse. I see psych patients, alcoholics, people who smoke and then get lung cancer, or others from bad situations or bad decisions. Yet I look past all that and care for them as if they were my own family.

I know that it is not my place to judge people. I do, however, find myself judging people when they do not live up to their potential. Usually these are people close to me, hence then I know their potential. For example people who choose to be in poor relationships, or choose poor career paths, or make illogical life choices: dropping out of school, living outside their means, etc. I want all my friends and family to have happy endings. I hate seeing people choose destructive choices over productive ones. I realize everyone has their reasons for making the decisions they do, but I can't help myself be a bit judgmental. I'm trying to be less judgmental. One little step every day.

Day 54 and 55

Today is your lucky day: 3 for the price of 2!

The past two days have been Gross (with a capital G). Yesterday was raining and windy and humid all day. I finished up my online class, and weighed my invites for correct postage. After being cooped up in the house for three straight days I left so we could go out to eat.

Today was beyond windy. Trash was blowing through streets. Clothes were blown off the clothes line. No need for a blow dryer today! I went to check out stores to register at. I'm sure they thought I was attempting to shoplift on numerous occasions. I walked slowly down every aisle and played with all of the gadgets. Very suspicious-like. But on the other hand I think I narrowed it down! The final verdict will be reached tomorrow. Tomorrow is also the Wheel of Fortune auditions. This will make for great photos!

The photos for today come from waiting for the bus. I had to get my little cousins off the bus today and babysit until their mom came home. So these were all taken from their driveway. Today's theme was "Signs of Fall", so I got a picture of a sign and a very fall-feeling photo.

I have a lot on my mind right now. I'm not sure if I want to or even want to attempt to put it into words at this time. And boy have I been all over the board emotionally the past three days. I hope that is a sign of my drug-riddled body returning to normal.

Good night and wish me luck at try-outs tomorrow!!! Lindsey and I are going to rock that letter board!

Day 53

"He replied, "Because you have so little faith. I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you."

~Matthew 17:20

This is my favorite piece of jewelry. Maybe even more so than my engagement ring. This necklace was given to me by Aunt Pat. I added the 'P' which had been hers on a different necklace.

I have been thinking lately. I do believe people can die from a broken heart. I think my grandma died from a broken heart. She was doing well up until my grandpa got moved to the nursing home. After he left, she deteriorated rapidly. Her Alzheimer's left her confused as to where he was. Sometimes she thought he went out to get the mail and never came back. It was sad. And now that she is gone Grandpa hasn't been the same.

If I ever needed proof that soul mates exist, I would have to look no further than my grandparents. Grandma and Grandpa D. were young lovers who got married and started a family. They dealt with the hardship of losing three children. Every time I went to visit them they looked at each other and spoke to each other as if they were teens in love. They held each other in the highest regard and never had a bad thing to say about each other. Grandma and Grandpa S. also have a bond that no obstacle can break. He suffered two strokes by the age of 50, which left him paralyzed and unable to speak. He is also a double amputee. She has been caring for him and communicating with him for nearly 30 years. And as a nurse, this may not seem like much... but you haven't met my grandpa. He is a stubborn old Pollack. He is angry and belligerent the majority of the time. He sneaked cigarettes for a long time and would sneak money to go by candy or other not-diabetes-friendly foods. Hell if I went through all he did, I'd be pretty frustrated too. Yet my grandma does everything to take care of herself and of him without complaining. Taking care of him is exhausting and she could've left him years ago. But she hangs in there. She loves and understands him for who he is.

True loves like that are so rare today. I hope that 50 years from now I'm still in love as much as I am today. I hope, like my grandparents, my relationship has the type of love that can overcome any obstacles in my path. <3

With that said, tonight is date night. I'm making spaghetti and cheesy bread and we will snuggle in and watch our Netflix movie tonight. The puppies also love this time and enjoy making it a snuggling pile. :)

Day 49, 50, 51, 52

So I suck...

I missed a couple posts over the weekend. Yesterday it was like "UGH I don't want to play catch up." So today I suck it up and bless you with four photos.

Here is The Frozen Tundra. Titletown. LAMBEAU FIELD! Josh got tickets from his coworker for the Packers v. Bills game. It was Josh's first Packer game. It was a ton of fun! Mostly because they won 34-7. And Clay Matthews had three sacks. He is an animal!


My next photo is my cousin Matt and his little friend. He is a bee whisperer I guess. We had a ton of bees buzzing around while we were tailgating so Matt decided to tame them.

Next is Penny playing with Ashley's new pup, Mona. Mona is such a sweet little girl. I'm curious to see how big she will get since she is so petite now.

My forth picture follows the theme "Someone Sleeping". A cute little squirrel curled up in the yard.

This week will be very uneventful. I have started my class online six hours/day. I have yet to leave the house this week. Boooo! Sorry I have nothing fun to talk about, unless you are thrilled with fractures, diarrhea, or adrenal crisis. Gah! Hope your lives are more interesting than mine!

Day 48

My deepest sympathies dear readers. Normally I would like to have something artsy and photo-worthy to show you. But today you just get me! The me with messy hair in my PJs. (Yes, I wear AE mens pickle boxers and a fireworks shirt for pjs.)

Little known fact: It is very hard to take a picture of yourself while hula hooping.

So one of the more recent exercise fads has been fitness hula hooping. Special sized hula hoops that are weighted based on ability. Hoopin' is supposed to tone your core and thighs. There are even classes you can take where they do dance moves while hoopin'. I can barely keep it up, much the less start spinning and doing the grapevine.

My cousin used her hula hoop the month prior to both of her kids' weddings. She measured her waist before and after. She hooped 10-15 minutes each day and she definitely lost inches. So I measured myself and hopefully I will get similar results. This is my third day of hooping and I must say I'm getting quite good at it. I can keep it going for more than a minute now. And my bruises from Sunday have all healed, so it's much less painful. I'll let you know how it goes!

Another fun fact: Josh and I are going to the PACKER GAME!!!!!! I'm sooo excited! He got tickets from someone he works with. This will be his first game! And they are playing the Bills, which was my first game years and years ago. Awwww! So pumped!

Tonight Josh and I are going to the Bay Port football game. Cody wants Josh to see some of the 300lbs linemen. I personally think it's sad that a high school kid weighs 300lbs. We probably won't stay for the whole game. Afterwards we will grocery shop and then come home. I plan an evening of note cards and video lectures. Lame.

Hope everyone else has an eventful evening!

(PS- l.e. I know you are reading this. Remind me to tell you about a book I think you might like.)

Day 47

Hi ya'll!

So today's theme is: favorite cleaning supplies. My dog is my favorite form of insecticide. I point to a bug and say "snack". Gulp! No more bug. She is also my favorite vacuum. Crumbs are a thing of the past. She also makes a good hand sanitizer when my hands are covered in food. ANYWAYS....

My brain is a merry-go-round today. Except instead of brightly colored animals, my brain is full of blogging ideas. There is so much I could write about. Some topic ideas: puppies, weight loss, friends, forgiveness yet again, family, houses, religion, writing stories, quotes, shopping, addiction (notice those words are close together), annoyances, KABOOM! <--- *my head exploding*

I'll just start with the real reason I chose this picture. I was tromping around my house trying to find something to take a picture of, since I was a slacker when I was out and about. Every corner I turned I ran into a fuzzy being, more specifically a dog. This is, for all intents and purposes, my point of view when sitting on the toilet. Yes, you heard that right. One little known fact about Australian Shepherds:

"Aussies also do best with plenty of human companionship: they are often called "velcro" for their strong desire to always be near their owners and for their tendency to form intense, devoted bonds with select people." -Wikipedia

The story of my life: A velcro puppy attached to me. Whether on the computer, in bed, eating dinner, and yes, even on the toilet. If I dared bring my camera in the shower with me I would take a picture of how they lay against the bath tub waiting for me to get out. Velcro.

Maybe I will pick one of my less fuzzy topics for tomorrow's post. I apologize to my dear followers....those who actually read my blog and not just look at the pictures (yes I'm also guilty of this. I follow some blogs just for the awesome photography.).... I apologize for being boring and resorting to puppies again and again as a topic. I will try to be more interesting and thought-provoking in the future. K? Cool! :)

Day 46

Mwahahaha!

Chinese Checkers!

Sooooo.... last night my mom and dad were going over to go through some of my grandma's things. I asked if I could have the chinese checkers. Not this chinese checkers... the nice round wooden board with a nice baggy full of brightly colored marbles. The one grandma and I used to play for hours.

...and this is what I got.

A vintage chinese checker board with a normal checker board on the back, probably dating back to the 1950s. A water mark from a perspiring beverage left to sit too long. And numerous holes poked through by children's grimy fingers or wayward pencils. And no marbles.

Awesome.

What good is a game with no marbles? Who lost their marbles? Hehe.

So I decided the best use for this board would be to use it as wall art in my future game room. I cleaned it up a bit. Now I just need to find a sealant to put on it, and voila! Art! This inspired me to begin my never ending hunt for old ratty board games. The hunt started in Grandma's basement this afternoon. She had a few newer games and a very old game of Life. Frankly, Life will not be easy to frame and hang on a wall. Alas, my hunt continues... I will hunt garage sales, flee markets, basements, etc. Someday when I have an awesome house, with an awesome game room with a pool table and foosball, I will have somewhere to hang my vintage board game wall art. :)

Day 44 and 45

They say that after you do something for 30 days it becomes a habit. I will agree to disagree! I keep being a slacker on posting everyday. GAH! So to mega make up for it, here is three pictures. And when all else fails I take puppy pictures. My easiest subjects.

Yesterday was lazy day. I cracked my book for studying, but it is soooo dang hard to get into study mode after the poor results I had last time. I had every intention of studying all day today....riiiiight.

Last night was stitch and bitch. It super helped the bad mood I was in. I think I'm just getting over some sickness. I have been feeling pretty crummy for a few days now.... which again doesn't help studying one bit!

Today I went to visit friends at the high school. (teachers, not students). I like that I can consider some teachers to be friends. Friends to the point of inviting some of them to my wedding. :)

Then I went swimming. I decided not to sign up for the next swim session. I would miss a lot of the classes due to work orientation and wedding things. So I will wait till after the wedding and will then maybe jump back into class. I feel like the workouts do less for me now than they used to. So I swim mostly for the friendships I have fused with my old ladies that I swim with. :)

Then Nikki came over and we grabbed lunch and poked around the mall. I love being able to have easy conversation like that. It is surprisingly stress relieving.

We talked about marriage a lot and how so many people rush into getting married young. It got me thinking about the fact that of my close friends I am the only one who will be married. I began to wonder if being married will change friendships or how people act around me. I don't think it will. I think that Josh has been attached to my hip for long enough, that nothing will really change. I suppose it would be different if we didn't live together first. I know a lot of couples who don't live together before hand then want to spend every moment building their little dream world in their house after marriage. And while Josh and I are attached, we really aren't. My friends know that I don't need approval from him to go hang out or anything. So after we are married, I think life will just continue on as is. Dynamics will remain the same. Sometimes no change is good.

Day 42 and 43

What a long weekend...

Kurt and Ashley got up on Friday night. We went out to eat and played games till bed. Saturday morning we had breakfast, got a private drum concert from Adam, and saw baby Cameron. Then we hung out and they left after dinner. It was a lot of fun seeing them again.

Then Josh and I ran up to Lena for Dairyfest. He and Tom were doing the fireworks show for the festival. He helped set everything up and light everything off. He hates when I say this but I'm going to say it anyway... (because he doesn't want people to be afraid of fireworks.) He got hit by a burning piece of firework on the ear while he was lighting stuff. He brushed it off his ear right away, but it had already done it's damage. It blistered up and popped right away and took off a layer of skin or so. Luckily he has a hottie nurse fiancée! :) I got to clean the debris out and get him antibiotics. It isn't as bad as it sounds, it just sucks because it is right where his glasses sit.

After the fireworks we went and said hi to my old coworkers Jason and Rachael who were in town for a wedding. We ended up getting breakfast with them this morning. It was very fun getting to talk to them after not seeing them for so long.

We booked our rehearsal dinner site today. Then my mom came over and we hula hooped for an hour. My hips are going to be so bruised tomorrow. :/ My neighbor came over and joined us too! It was a lot of fun. Now for a day full of football! My off season depression can end! Go PACK GO!!!

Day 41

Guess what today was....

More cleaning! Mostly just last minute things... putting down rugs, washing dishes. Also we got our new bed!!!! We put the old one downstairs for a guest bed and I got new sheets for it. When I went to put our old sheets on our new one they didn't fit.... oh darn! I just had to go out and buy new ones! Lucky me!!! So exhibit A, my clearance bed sheets from Target. Jackpot!

I got to spend a good hour with Cameron. He was a smiley little dude today! :)

Now I'm just chillin'. Waiting for Kurt and Ashley to arrive. Listening to the mumbles and grumbles of my stomach, because we said we would wait and eat dinner with them. Many many mumbles and grumbles..... ARRRRGGGG! GRRRRRR! FEEEEEEED MEEEEEEE!

Tomorrow: K&A updates, new bed report, other nonsense!

Day 40

Hello Me!

So hmmmm, what did I do today? I went shopping this morning for slushie supplies. Kurt and Ashley are coming up tomorrow and what kind of host would I be if I didn't provide booze? So I concocted some vodka slush, which is currently freezing. Then I went crazy... cleaning, that is. I vacuumed and scrubbed the floors. My house has never ever been this clean! It is fantastic. To the point where I cringe when I let the pups out because I know they will bring in grass clipping with them. More to clean. lol

I took this picture today because A) It is the first day of the NFL season and B) I love my honey. :) So why not show them both off with my shirt?

I was also thinking today about my motions of forgiveness. I can make right with everyone in my past, except for one person. There is one person I will never forgive. And I'm okay with that. She deserves it.

Tonight we went to Mike and Em's for dinner and brought Smalls along. He did so well up there, I think he will be a perfect fit for their family.

We are getting our 'new' bed first thing tomorrow morning. I bought new bedsheets for them this morning. I'm super pumped to make the bed with the bed sheets. That may as well be my picture for tomorrow. :P

Well time to watch the rest of the football game! Good night ya'll!

Day 39

This CD is all consuming. I picked it up yesterday and have since listened to it a bajillion times! Today was cleaning day. I donated a huge bag of clothes.

This summer I've been working on a spiritual journey. I've been reading lots of spiritual literature and becoming solid in my beliefs. Over the course of the past few years and this summer I completely lost all sense of self and self-esteem. Slowly but surely I've been building it back. I'm working on many self-improving ideas and activities.

A large part of it is forgiveness. I've been working to forgive people that I have been upset with or who have wronged me. Today I took the initiative to tell my guy friend I forgive him. We had a super tight bond for the longest time, but the last time we saw each other it ended really badly. Feelings were hurt and I was so angry with him. I've been meaning to tell him that I forgive him for quite some time now, but I kept chickening out. Well today was the day and it went well. I believe we have mended our friendship and put hurt feelings behind us. I feel 10 pounds lighter.

Little by little, I will continue on my spiritual journey. I will make improvements that will make me happier with my life. And I'm so excited for the greatness that will follow. :)

Day 37 and 38

I am such a slacker!!! I can't believe how many days I need to do two posts. I need to get my but in gear. Yesterday I didn't post out of shear laziness. Bah!

Yesterday was the beginning of a major house cleaning operation. It will be a week long extravaganza in anticipation of Kurt and Ashley's arrival this weekend. AND AND AND!!!! We are getting a bigger bed. Adam is getting himself a king size... as if he needs more space. We will be getting the queen size. And it is coming on Friday.... so that way Kurt and Ashley will have a real bed to sleep on when they are here. :) Yay for being a good hostess!

Yesterday we also went to David's birthday party. Tom and Kelly are always great hosts and have very yummy food. There was a giant inflatable bouncing pit for all of the kids to play in. And the cake was amazingly delicious!

That was the extent of yesterday. Today isn't much more exciting. I worked out this morning and went swimming. This afternoon was nap time. ...Allow me to explain my nap. So Nova decided to pee her kennel at 4am... which resulted in cleaning and showering a dog at 4am.... BARF! Then I'm half in the shower half out, water is running down my arm and into my PJ top. So by 4:30 or so when everything is settled, I'm wide awake. Laying in bed and staring into the darkness. Sigh. Hopefully there are no more incidents tonight.

Tonight's agenda: clean, clean, eat, and more cleaning x 1000. I like being motivated especially when it comes to cleaning. Also, lots of listening to my new Sara Bareilles CD! I was at Best Buy when they opened this morning to get it! *love*

Have a good night bloggers and bloggettes!!!

Day 36

Today we went to the Milwaukee Zoo. Crowded and over-priced per usual, but lots of neat pictures came out of the trip! Cadence had a ton of fun and was excited to see elephants for the first time. It was a whole day extravaganza. On the ride home we were exhausted, and stayed awake by discussing possibilities for the future. :) The future is bright!

Now it's time to rest our feet and settle in for the night. Sweet dreams and Happy Labor Day everyone!

Day 34 and 35

Day 34

Last night I didn't feel well so I just went to bed. I spent the whole day chasing around with Kelly, which was nice. I haven't seen her in a long time. While we were out I bought the pups Packer game day outfits! It was Mimi's rehearsal dinner last night. Everything ran much longer than expected. All in all a long day.

Day 35

Slept in today. Cleaned the bathroom top to bottom, and started on the bedroom. Then showered and got all pretty for Mimi's wedding. I did a reading at the wedding. She looked great in her dress. It was also very cool how they incorporated Dan's kids into the sand and candle ceremony. At

the dinner they had some funny but long-winded speeches. The chicken was amazing!!! Best chicken I've ever had. They had a live band, which was cool, but waaaaay too loud. Even at the farthest spot in the room from the band you couldn't hold a conversation. We left earlier in the night. After a dance with Cora of course.

Also pictured here is Joan. She has known me since I was a baby, as she lived next too my grandma and grandpa. We recently reconnected because we both swim on the same day! She was too funny. She said "Might as well take a picture since we have clothes on!" (Normally we only are talking in the locker room in various stages of undressing. Haha!)

I really don't feel like myself lately. I'm trying to make some changes. I've been in a nasty funk for the past couple days and it just keeps going. It sucks. I'm very discouraged and second guessing everything in life. I don't know how to get back on track. :(

Day 33

So today I'm actually following the suggested theme: "Inside Your Refrigerator".

Look!!!! We actually have food! This is very rare. Normally our fridge is bare and we are scraping by. Not right now though!!! Yum!

Today I got up early and headed out to meet my aunt. She needed to drop off a grill just south of Madison today and wanted a copilot. So she called me: Ta Da! Instant copilot. Two year old Gunner was also a tag-along. And boy can that kid talk... like for 6 hours round trip! She also forgot to mention that she doesn't have air conditioning in the van. It was pretty muggy all day. We hit a couple patches of rain but other than that it was a good ride.

After our road trip I made my yummy tortellini dish! It turned out a little different than normal because I used some unfamiliar brands, but it was still good nonetheless. Now for some Packers football!

Preview of tomorrow: Kelly is in town, Mimi's wedding rehearsal.... entertainment guaranteed!

Day 32

Dear bloggers,

This is what 130 wedding invitations look like. I got them in the mail yesterday. Mom and I bought the ribbon and gems last night. I assembled for a couple hours today. And Voila! I'm not sure how many we will actually need. Right now we are sitting at 114, but we have some people to remove and some to add. So I figured 130 would be safe.

Tomorrow I am "roadtripping"... kinda. We will see what kind of fun pictures that will bring!

Sincerely, ME