For some reason the bar did not sit well in my tummy so we are saving the gym for later in the day… maybe.

So what is a girl to do? Online shopping -er- browsing, of course!!! There is so much that I want to buy!!!!Check out this awesome skirt from Banana Republic! I love it!! The leggings and shoes as well. Not much of a skirt or dress kind of girl but I’m learning to like them. Especially if that look like that! It is not too done up so it is definitely something I could see myself wearing to work or out on the weekend.

Shoes. Yum. I love shoes. I have been trying to find the perfect brown boots but I never have such luck. I have little feet and very skinny ankles so nothing ever fits correctly. These boots are gorgeous! Not the color that I want though but they are the exact style that I’m looking for. They are very similar to the black boots that I got in Spain. Unfortunately, I didn’t find brown ones but if I did, I would have totally gotten them too.I’m still considering this color but I really want Cognac colored boots.

One of my favorite stores in the whole world in Anthropologie. I seriously lust over this store. Their clothes are awesome! I want them to dress me up everyday for work! The stuff for the home is amazingly cute! I want to decorate my house with all their stuff. I’m slowly on my way because we have bought stuff for the house from there. I get their catalog and I just want to buy everything, this jacket in particular. I love everything about this jacket! The color, the belt, the ruffles and the collar. Such a feminine jacket. I could see myself feeling very pretty in it.

Last but not least, the pencil skirt. This skirt looks so clean and professional.

I could definitely use it for the office and look pro in it.This skirt says “I run this show” to me and I want it. I ended up not going to the gym today and I stayed home to be productive. We got our room painted!! The color is perfect It was exactly what I imagined and I can’t wait for everything to start coming together! I CANNOT wait for the closet! We don’t have much closet space in the bedrooms and both of us can’t share a closet. For a guy, Chris has lots of clothes. I’m pretty sure he has more than me. We are getting a custom made closet from IKEA and it is going to be absolutely perfect

Today was another great snow day. I slept in finished up the laundry and finished cleaning the house.

I finally finished cleaning out my closet. I had done it before but never finished. Today I got rid of 2 bags worth of clothes and this does not include the bag I had previously done, that bag is in the attic. So glad to get these 2 bags worth of clothes out of my closet. Now I can make room for new clothes!!

I also got some paint up! Hopefully we can paint the master bedroom this weekend

According to the text that is going around the office, we are open tomorrow at 10. That is all up in the air still but I’m kind of hoping we are still closed tomorrow. I want to spend the day reading since my house is super clean :)  I really want the day off because C has the day off and it will be very nice to hang out again.

i kid, i kid…but we have been together for that many days!!!!

Happy New Year and a belated Merry Christmas!!! I hope everyone enjoyed their holiday, I did

The new year has started and I’m sure everyone has set their goals for 2011.  I love the start of the new year, I’ve gotten a slow start this year, because there is so much excitement about getting organized and trying to get your life together for a few months. I always try to do a better job with my to do list and get everything done in a timely manner. I always  try to do a better job about getting my chores around the house done but sometimes I’m just to lazy or I forget about the dry cleaning for a weeks. oopppsss!! I have so many goals for the new year but this slow start has me feeling a little down, maybe i can catch up this weekend.

Goals for 2011

1. stop popping my knuckles- i have been doing this since i was 7 years and it is addicting!

2. maintain my weight loss- i have worked soo hard to get where i am and i would punch myself in the face if i slacked off

3. redo our master bedroom- we have put this off for about 6 months now and we really need to get a jump on it.

4. pay off my credit card- i have always been super close to paying it off but then something happens and i have to use it. i have given it to chris to hide so that i can’t use it.

5. SAVE, SAVE, SAVE- i want to buy a new car so i need to be saving my pennies

6. plan my wedding- i’m the biggest slacker, period. i love planning for other people but planning my own is soo overwhelming

7. keep up with my chores - a tidy room makes for a happy husband. i don’t always put my clothes and sometimes just leave them around the bedroom and that is hubby’s pet peeve. i just need to do a better job of cleaning up after myself and not leave it all for wkend cleaning.

8. Not buy a purse- this is probably going to be the BIGGEST challenge ever! this will be harder than maintaining my weight. i have a huge addiction - ADDICTION- to purses and I really can’t help myself. I have done a really good job and got down the number of purses I used to have. I had about 40 something purses and now i have about 10.

9. Be healthy- i don’t just mean it in regards to eating well and exercising but my medical health. I always do my best not to go to the dr and that is not a good thing. My family doesn’t have a good medical history and i really need to take care of myself.

10. Read- my goal is to read 1 book a month. right now that is all i have time for but i would love to up that number in the coming years.

11. keep up with this blog- i fail but i’m trying.

I picked out a paint color for the guest bedroom!!! I’m going to buy the primer and the paint this weekend and probably start painting the following weekend! I just need to figure out what I’m going to do with all my shoes because I keep all 45 pairs in the guest room. After the guest room is the master! I can’t wait to paint our room!

off to finish getting my things ready for tomorrow and then it is off to bed!!!

On Tuesday we went to Toledo and O-M-G!!! Definitely my favorite place. It is so cool to see all the different religious architecture around town. The Cathedral there is AMAZING. Super Massive!!!! I can’t wait to go through the pictures from the town

On Friday we went to Segovia to check out the Roman Aquaduct and the Palace. Both places get 2 thumbs up. It is so cool and amazing to be standing next to something that is hundreds and hundreds of years old. Gets you thinking how on Earth did they build this without the kind of technology that we have. Just crazy and amazing.

We took the highspeed rail to Toledo and Segovia, making it a 25 minute trip. Pretty flippin cool.

We have done lots of walking. LOTS. It also became very apparent that while I have been running at a small incline just about everyday before we left, I was no where near in the kind of cardio shape to be working around everywhere Sad. Going to have to up the cardio. I can’t be defeated by walking.

While I love being here, I can’t wait to get back home!!! I miss my bed and my kitties and my mom! I really miss my food! The Spanish cuisine is really nothing special, for me at least. This nation eats way too many simple carbs, drinks entirely too much coffee, and they smoke EVERYWHERE! There are carbs with everymeal! Don’t get me wrong, I like bread at all but they have their time and place. Like my bowl of oatmeal for breakfast, my fiber one bar, and the occassional pasta or rice dish for dinner. It is just crazy to me how much carbs they consume and still be soo thin! They also drink coffee at all hours of the day and night! People are drinking coffee at 11pm!!! How are they going to fall asleep. I can’t even have tea with caffiene before bed bc I won’t be able to sleep! I’m sure it is no longer the caffiene but the taste of coffee they are after. The smoking here is crazy. I am no one to judge, if you want to smoke then go ahead, do it. Here they are allowed to smoke in the restuarant, which really bugs me. I can’t enjoy a meal because there is smoke blowing in my direction. I leave lunch smelling like an ash tray and my hair smells gross for the rest of the day. I am really curious as what the cancer rate is here. I have noticed people go throught 4 maybe 5 cigs while sitting down to a 30-45 minute lunch. I don’t smoke but I’m pretty sure that is excessive.

I’m on vacation so I’m allowed to be lazy but the lifestyle here is very…relaxed? Chris and I were up early on Tuesday for our day trip to Toledo. Well, not that early,it was 8am. We were having our breakfast when we saw one of our hosts come into the kitchen. We asked if their boyfriend has already made into work? The response…No, he is still laying in bed being lazy. What? I’m at work at 730am on most days and Chris will be in the office at 6am! How is this person still in bed at 815? He probably rolled into the office around 930. They also get a 3 hour lunch break! 2-5pm everyday! Some go back to work and some don’t. Our host does not. He probably only works 6 hrs on a good day. I just don’t get it. Maybe they’re right. Maybe as Americans we are over worked and so tired that we are not enjoying our life and families. Here I always see families together. Hanging, going to the park, or just walking around. I only have family time on holidays! My dad is always traveling, my sister lives in Carrollton and works in Newnan, and my other sister only works on weekends. I can only make it back home on the weekends due to work on the week. Maybe they are on to something but we are too busy to really notice or care.

It is almost noon and I am ready to head out and check out a new district. The sun is out but its only in the high 40’s today. The winter here is much like a GA winter, I like that

On Jan 13 we both worked half day and after we got off from work we had to drive down to Orlando. We made a 6 hr drive to our friend’s house, where they so graciously let us spend the night. Thanks guys!!!!

The following day the took us to an awesome seafood place on the East Coast of Florida. Chris and I shared 42 shrimpies. We thought that was going to be a lot but we killed them! Kaysen and Casey then took us to the airport so we could catch our 5pm flight to Philly. We  were on a packed flight and there was no room for an upgrade. We were in the middle of the plane that pretty much sucked. There were crying children in front and behind us. So much for a quiet nap.

We make it to Philly with enough time to buy some CFA and eat at our terminal before its boarding time. We board this ginormous plane, the biggest one I have ever been on, and we get the call… “Folks we are experiencing some trouble and there is a leak that needs to be fixed before we can leave. We are going to have to ask you to deplane because it may take up to 4 hours to fix. If the problem is not fixed in 4 hrs then we will have to use another plane.” 4 HOUR delay! Gah. Already 9pm and it is going to mess with my sleeping. My intention was to sleep for the whole flight and then wake up in when we landed in Madrid and 1030 am and avoiding jetlag. Fail, I took a deep nap while we waited to board the plane again. They fixed the problem and take off was 1am, booooooooo!!! I passed out as soon as we took off but I kept waking up every few hours. We finally arrive in Spain at 230 and it takes us forever to get to Customs and then we have to wait in a super long line. We probably waited for an hour because there only 2 lines for the foreigners and like 8 for the EU residents. I spoke to the Customs Agent in Spainish and he called me a gusty American for speaking the language  well. I then told him I was Mexican and he looked even more surprised.

After going through Customs we pretty much walked the length of the airport just to get to the metro. I now see why these Spaniards are so damn skinny, walking everywhere! I don’t mind at all but when you have a winter coat and luggage to carry around it gets hot and tiring.

The metro is a big thing here and it is pretty much awesome. Marta comes nowhere near the metro. Luckily, the place we are staying is right in front of the metro so we didn’t have to travel far once we got off the train. We are staying with some really cool guys and they gave us a key and everything. We come and go as we please. After we got settled into our room and showered we were off to do a little bit of exploring. We got to the flat at like430, we talked with the guys for a little while, showered and got ready it was 730. We went and got some food and then we explored the market. Holy crap!!! That market is amazing!!! There are individual vendors within the market. It was pretty damn cool. We didn’t know where or what else to do so we headed back to the flat. We turned in for an early night at 9 pm but I had a hard time sleeping. My body was tired but my mind was wide awake. Boo

I have been on cloud 9 since December 23, 2009. That is the day that my bestie proposed to me That’s right, I’m getting MARRIED!!! You ready to hear how it happened? Here goes.

We knew that Christmas was going to be super busy. We - I- decided to do Christmas early between us. Just me and him I gave him his gifts first. I got him The Witch’s Son,  which is part of the Wizard of Oz series, and a book light. I thought the book light would be an AWESOME idea but I was mistaken. He likes to read in bed and I like to go to bed early but the light he was using was bothering me. This book light is like 100x brighter than the light he was already using I fail but I’m sure we can totally use it as a flashlight or something. Then it was my turn Chris makes getting presents soo much fun. I get so excited I love birthdays, anniversaries and Christmas because of him.  Chris starts giving me my gifts in small batches. I got teas, a really cool calender, a cutting board made of recycled stuff, sticky notes, and pens. These gifts REALLY made me want to go back to school! He then told me it was time for my last gift and he told me to close my eyes again. I had been closing my eyes everytime he brought out presents. I hear the cats stirring and I open my eyes and there is a big box in front of me. I thought ‘How cute, he brought me my kitties.’ I open the box and I see a brown square box. First thing that pops in my head ‘Looks like I either got earrings or a necklace.’ Why did I think that? Around Christmas time there are a bunch of jewelry commercials and that is what I thought. In the commercials you always see the cute romantic couple and it looks like the guy is going to propose but its something else instead. That is why I thought that. I opened the square box looking for earring but instead I found a round brown box with a pink bow on top. That is when I thought ‘ Holy crap, holy crap, holy crap!!!’ Pretty sure I verbalized that, actually. I’m trying so hard to get that box open that I don’t even think about untying the bow!!!! I finally get the box open and I see the ring, start crying, and freaking out!!! I turn to look at Chris and he is down on one knee!!!! Holy crap!!! Is this really happening??! YES!!! Chris then asked me to Marry Him and of course I said YES!!!. We slip that sucker on and we are engaged!!!

Look at this beautiful ring!!! He picked out all by himself He has great taste. The picture really doesn’t give it justice!! It is gorgeous!!!

I am so excited!!! We won’t be getting married until sometime in 2011. We have some saving we want to do and we really need to get started on the house.

I had the best Christmas ever We had so much fun with our families For New Year’s we had a small get together at our house and it was awesome. It was like a grown up party, almost. 2 people did get super drunk but it wasn’t that bad. I was a terrible host though. I had to work New Year’s Eve. I was up at 530 am so I could get to work by 7. I made it, got off at 1 came home and hung out with our friends from Orlando. Well, as soon as we rang in the year I was in bed. I was so tired

I also have some more good news. Chris and I are going to Spain for 2 weeks. yay!!! Going to  Europe for the first time! Excited! We are still working out our plan but it should be fun. Down side… we are going to be there during winter. Yeah, that is going to be cold.  Yay!! Spain. I need to make sure to take pictures. My fingers might fall off.

More good news!!! My job contract got extend till the end of Feb!!!! At the end of the month we are going to discuss the possibility of a permanent position.

2009 was a great year and I hope you had a wonderful year as well

2010 is going to be another great year and I have many goals planned for the year but I decided that I would not share what they are. I think I would rather just surprise you!!! I have some ambitious plans and I’m keeping my fingers cross I can accomplish them all I wish you the best in 2010 and if you made any resolutions, I do hope that you keep them.

Wednesday night I had planned to have the house cleaned and ready for  Thursday. That plan was a fail. I did a little bit of cleaning but not enough. I decided to bake the GF pumpkin pie Wednesday night and that well… That came out differently. It was my first time cooking with gluten free ingredients. The consistency was different but it still tasted good. Chris said it was too nutmeggy but I still liked it. I completely forgot about it after dinner so no one got to try it. We did have a back up pumpkin pie.

Thursday  we were supposed to get up at 6 but we didnt get up till 715.  I cleaned the house while Chris mowed the lawn, blew off the roof and driveway, and prepped food. I made my 2 pecans pies. I had given the recipe a try the weekend before just to be on the safe side. I followed the recipe exactly as I did last week but changed a few things. Last minute C and I decided to add a crushed pecan crust on top and I added honey they were done baking. They look soooooooooo gooooooooood!!! Then it was time to eat but they were rock solid! We could not slice through the pies. I had put them in the fridge earlier in the day to get them out of the way. Chris decided to pull them out and he place them in the bay window. Well, as the day went on and the temperature cooled so did the pies. I had a piece this morning and the pies are really good. Poo no one got to try it.

The most memorable event of the night was when a plate exploded. It was sitting on the stove and it exploded. It was C’s mom’s glass bowl. No dressing for us. We were happy it didnt get in the mashed potatoes.

The turkey also took forever to cook. I stared my pecan pies a little late so Chris couldnt put in the turkey in the oven until after I was done due to the temperature change. It took 3 men to figure out if the temp was correct, lol. Chris, my dad, and C’s stepdad.

Chris’ aunt and uncle couldnt make it to dinner because they got sick But they did buy a ham and had their granddaughter to bring us one. We completely forgot about the ham and never put it in the oven. We were half way through dinner when Granpaw asked where the ham was. Dang, that was a fail, lol.

After dinner was over someone fell asleep. That someone would be Chris. He was OUT before anyone left the house!!! Trying to wake him up was a chore so we just let him catch up on his sleep.

Cleaning up was a hassle. There were like 10 ppl in our kitchen trying to help clean and take home leftovers. I just wanted to set up a plan and have one family at a time come to the kitchen and get left overs. That was obviously not going to work.  It was chaos and I was stressing.

Our fridge is packed to the brim and we still have some food on the counters and on the food table. We need to rearrange our fridge to make room for the rest of the food. We need to take out all the beer and coke that we have in there.We bought too much food and then everyone else bought something. Anyone want to come for dinner?

1. My Boyfriend :)  He is so incredibly wonderful and I love him lots. He does so much for me and takes really good care of me. He is so amazing. I am one spoiled little girl because of him. I love you, baby!

2. The Family! I have such awesome parents. After years of lots of bickering we have finally gotten to a good place. We are super close now and its nice to know I can have an adult conversation without getting grounded, lol! T and C are some pretty cool sisters. Despite all the fighting, I love them and my childhood would have been pretty boring. I would probably have talked to myself a lot! I am also very thankful for Chris’ family. They have been so great to me and they have taken me in and made me one of their own. I love them

3. My friends. Those who are currently in my life and those who were once present. Everyone of them has left a footprint in my life. I want to thank you for everything you have taught me, whether you know it or not. Every smile, hug, and piece of advice has been appreciated. Thanks for being there for me

4. Our jobs. I am so thankful that mine and C’s families have jobs. Things are tough right now and I’m so grateful to be working.

5. My health. I am so incredibly glad that I haven’t gotten sick. I have no insurance and getting sick would be the worst thing ever. Thanks to good food, exercise, sleep, and my vitamins I have been able to stay pretty healthy Stay away Mr. Flu!!!

6. My car. Thank you, Cami!!!! My car is 14 years old and thanks to Chris’  watchful eyes, she has been runnig like a champ.

7. My life! I have such a wonderful life! I have finally come to terms that things happen for a reason and that I NEED to stop planning so much. It’s always good to have a plan but I can lay off the highlighter some, right?

What are you Thankful for?

We are planning on going out on Black Friday. Wait, let me rephrase that - Chris wants to go out for Black Friday and I am getting dragged along into the early hours of the day to face the crazy crowds. Wooo. I can already taste the coffee :)  I’m hoping that the rest of weekend is super relaxing and we don’t have to go anywhere.