Natasha's Corner

Catching up....

2011-10-23T14:05:00.000-05:00

I know I have a lot to catch up on! I've completed my first week of unemployment. It feels strange, but I have a lot of work to do for our big move. We are finally starting to feel like we have more of an idea of what we will be doing through. Jeff will definitely have a job when we move!! This is such great news!! Things still aren't finalized but I feel that by the middle of this week we will really have a plan in place. 

Here are my pages of my journaling that I need to catch up on as well!

I feel very behind on all the blogging things that I would like to do, but I suppose I need to stick with my priorities at this time, moving!! So, back to my packing!

Weekend Catchup, Oktoberfest

2011-10-10T21:09:00.000-05:00

This past weekend flew by! I'm trying to remember what I even did this weekend. I went to this spa night over at my friends place on Friday. Got some great products, I may have to do a separate posting on the products. Saturday I was pretty lazy. My brother came to town to visit and we went for a walk then dinner. 

Jeff and I got the VIP pass for Oktoberfest on Sunday. We met up with our close group of friends for the day. It's really a tradition of our now. We first went all together in 2009 which was kind of the start of group, each year is always fun. I made some new friends as well, it was awesome!! I spent most of today recovering from yesterday though, there was a lot of beer!!

I did use today though to catch-up on my journaling since my weekend was not as focused. Here are my journal pages for the past few days.

So, that is kind of my weekend in a nutshell. I have 5 more days of work left and then it's all packing and moving out. I feel like I haven't done anything this weekend to prepare for moving. I think I'll be more focused once I'm finished with work and only focused on packing. Wish me luck!!

Day 4 and Shaved Duck

2011-10-04T22:51:00.000-05:00

8 more days of work till I'll be spending the majority of my time packing and preparing to move. Also, only 4 days till I get to enjoy the Soulard Oktoberfest fun!! Soooo excited! Jeff and I have one of those VIP passes for Sunday so you get unlimited beer and food, as well as access to the nice toilets! I'm very excited!!

So, here is my Day 4 page of my journal.

I guess it's not the best of pictures, but oh well, I was a little lazy about trying to get a better photo.

I had a nice evening with friends. One of my co-workers and now one of my best friends came over after we got off work and we went for a walk in Tower Grove with my dog and husband. After our walk we decided to go out for some dinner. We went to The Shaved Duck in Tower Grove East. It's only a block from where one of our friends lives so we called him and asked if he wanted to join us, and he did! It has awesome food, we had a great time enjoying good food and talking. I love my friends, I'm going to miss them all sooooo much!!!

This is how they served their Corn bread, how awesome?! My friend said it reminded her of something from an easy-bake over, so cute!

I got the Duck Confit Pasta, best duck I've ever eaten!

So, that's my day in a nutshell, well minus what I do at work, but that's confidential for patient privacy!

Warm Fall

2011-10-03T22:15:00.001-05:00

Today is the 3rd day of October and I'm pretty sure the weather is in the 80s, crazy!! I also have only 9 days left of work before I'm unemployed and focusing on packing up my house! I really can't believe how quickly this year has gone by. Here are pics on my fall journal so far. 

I took a picture of my art before I added some lists of other fall activities. I wasn't sure I wanted to add more, but I like it both ways really. I love Halloween, so much fun!! I guess I went a little crazy with the Halloween theme for this page.

So, something I've done in the past and am going to try to do again with this journal; I write down 3 things that make me happy each day. It's a way to help remind me how the simplest of things can make your day and remind you of how great life is. So, I started doing it with yesterday's entry.

It's a pretty nice activity to do at the end of the day.

October Day 2; Lazy Sunday

2011-10-02T15:38:00.001-05:00

Yay for October. I can't believe it's already the 10th month of the year! This is going to be a very big month of me. Resigning from my job, moving across the country, and finding a new job!! It's all very exciting!! Here is my 2nd day journal page for my Fall journaling class. 

I feel that the quote that I added is definitely describing our life right now. Things aren't perfect, and things won't be perfect, but we're going for it anyway because we know we can make things happen!!

I still have a lot of work ahead of me, but I my husband just keeps reminding me that I just need to take one thing at a time and bit by bit things will come together before you know it. I've had a nice long weekend. This week begins my count down till my last day of work. I only have 10 days of work left! It will be go by so quickly!! I can't believe it!

Ok now for some pics of what we made for breakfast this weekend. I looooove breakfast! I love cooking something different with my husband on the weekends. Eggs and coffee, the best!! So, this is what we had for breakfast yesterday....

I was so proud of my eggs, I made four in a pan at once and didn't break a single yoke!!

Now the following is what we made for breakfast today, Jeff calls them "piggy in a coffin". They are pancakes with bacon strips cooked in them! Amazing right?! (Not the healthiest, but so delicious!!)

Yep, we had a pretty good breakfast! Hope everyone had a nice weekend!!

Crochet School

2011-10-01T12:04:00.002-05:00

I'm so excited to see that Craftyminx is offering a free crocheting class over at her blog! I'm very excited to attempt to follow along and improve my crocheting skills. I have done some squares as you've seen my attempts in the past, but I really haven't finished a project and I still don't think I'm doing everything correctly. Hopefully I can do that course as much as I'm able, and the journal course. I also have a lot of packing to do for the big move!! Here is some pics of the organizing/packing so far! Dinning room almost all packed up!!

You can see there are a lot of newspapers because I have so many fragile things in the dinning room. Hence the reason I decided to get some plastic bins for packing the things I really don't want to end up broken in the move. Ok back to packing up some fragile stemware!!

Almost October

2011-09-30T23:39:00.002-05:00

I'm very excited about starting my fall journal class tomorrow! I decided to get some pics of my journal today. It's not very exciting, I'm really not that creative sometimes, hence the reason I keep taking these classes from Janel, she's soooo inspiring. 

I really want to journal about all the changes that are going to happen this month. Our life is kind of up in the air right now. We know our goal is to move to New England, but we still don't know where we'll end up. My husband just finished some interviews this past week. One of the job potentials is in the Boston area and the other is in Vermont. So, we could even be moving and buying a house faster than we expected. Our original plan was to move out to Boston and crash at Jeff's folks house till he found a job and then take our time finding a house. It's really exciting though. I thought I'd be the one to find a job first and be working for awhile before Jeff found one. So, hopefully things work out and Jeff has a job before we even move out there!! 

Wish us luck!!

It's OK Thursday

2011-09-29T18:41:00.000-05:00

I know I haven't been very faithful at blogging, but I've been busy (well let's be honest kind of distracted with all the plans of moving and leaving my job). I've totally been behind on doing everything around the house, but I've also been trying to spend as much time with my family and friends before we move. But that is all OK right?!

It's OK....

To feel like a total wimp during spin class, and not always turn up the resistance...

To really not made huge progress with packing up my house (and packing my cat in this bin doesn't count...)

To be excited and sad about officially giving my work the date of my last day (Oct 15th, yes it's a Saturday, my job requires working weekends)

To take random days off work to use of your earned time off....I may be doing that right now ;)

To use most of that day off watching TV and crocheting...

To be excited about again attempting to take another journaling class and hope to be able to stick with it!! It starts Saturday!!

Yay for Thursdays, luckily my Thursday is kind of my Saturday and tomorrow I have off also!! Yay!!

Long Weekend....

2011-09-18T22:00:00.004-05:00

Hope everyone has had a great weekend!! I had a pretty long weekend for the most part. I had Friday off and I spent most of the day going through my very disorganized and messy office attempting at some organized packing.  How do people stay organized?!! I wish it came more naturally for me, but it's so much work, and I'm kind of lazy. 

After organizing all day Friday, went to happy hours with my friends and then headed over to the Annual Balloon glow that they do over at Forest Park. It wasn't very exciting, but FYI for anyone who ever decides to go next year, phones don't work in an area of thousands of people! So, make you're plans well in advance with your friends!

Balloon Glow

Saturday Morning I got up early and went for a spin class. A friend and I bought a Groupon for Spinning at this place that mainly does spinning classes. Spinning is seriously so intense and you have to really push yourself. It was a pretty good class since the teacher was pretty chill. I enjoyed it, my friend looked like she dropped a buck of water on her head, she's so well hydrated! Afterwards I kept her company at a little kids soccer game, but I had to get some Starbucks before we did that. I luckily was able to find a local cafe on the way with the Starbucks app for my phone.

My needed morning coffee

After soccer and lunch I went to Target with my friend and bought some of those plastic containers for packing. I may have also splurged on a shirt for me and some toys for my dog Kahlua as well!

Kahlua and her new toy, she loves it!

 Got the new issue of Vogue

Had a pretty chill rest of the weekend. We took part in this kickball championship today that was a little limited due to lots of rain aaallll day. My team though won so we get these special champion shirts! I was so excited cuz I actually got 2 runs and it was my first time at playing kickball. I know it doesn't take much skill, but I was excited for actually scoring!! 

Me and Kahlua in the Rain

 All wet from playing kickball in the Rain

So, that was a break down of my weekend. I have so much packing to do!! This week I need to focus my free time on packing. 

Any advice?!!

It's OK Thursday

2011-09-15T22:07:00.001-05:00

Yay for Thursday!! It's OK!!

It's Ok.....

To be way too excited about the premiere of "It's always Sunny in Philadelphia" 

To be totally into watching "The Real Housewives" religiously.... 

To take way too many pictures of my pets!!

Very excited about tomorrow, I have the day off and then happy hour with friends!!

Big news, and 100th post

2011-09-14T22:12:00.000-05:00

Yay it's taken me way too long to get to my 100th post. So here it is....

I'm so excited about this adventure. Jeff and I have just decided to up and move since we aren't really tied down to staying in Saint Louis. I haven't written about it yet since I didn't tell work until last week that I was re-signing and moving to New England. Jeff told his folks a few weeks ago and I told work last week that I was leaving. So, we are thinking we'll be moving near the end of October or at least by the beginning of November. I've started sifting through things to pack and things to throw away. Here are some pics of the slow process!

I haven't made much progress, I have way too much stuff. It's amazing how much stuff you collect over the years. Jeff and I are very excited about our new adventure. It will be pretty exciting. I'll keep you all up to date on how things are going!

It's OK Thursday

2011-09-08T22:41:00.000-05:00

I love the gals over at this blog! Freakin' hilarious, you have to read her post today, totally agree with all of her OKs.

It's OK to yell at your husband when he's being a big baby about a sinus cold... yea I did that last night, but I did bring him a pharmacy of cold meds today!

It's OK to be so excited about fall you already feel the need to carve a pumpkin.

It's OK to be overwhelmed about how much shit you own (P.S. I'm moving to Boston, more on that in my next post)!

(I wish I was this organized...)

It's OK to have been a slacker on blogging...(my last post was almost a month ago!)

Home Practice- Yoga

2011-08-22T18:13:00.000-05:00

Today I did my very first yoga home practice session. I've done yoga sessions with videos before this of course, but this time I attempted to do some poses and vinyasas without guidance. It's so hard to do this without a teacher. I know I still have a lot to learn, but it was fun experimenting with the things I remember. 

I put on some calming music, lit some incense and rolled out my yoga mat. It may not have been the most focused because I had 2 dogs playing around me the whole time, but after a few positions and some attempts at the wheel pose I had worked up a sweat and was ready for shavasana. I attempted meditating for as long as I could, but of course the dogs got all excited above me while I tried to not think of anything. I did starting "oming" at one point which actually totally calmed the dogs down!

I did achieve that feeling you get after doing a yoga session where you feel refreshed and calm afterwards. It's my favorite feeling!

Namaste!

Headstands and backbends

2011-08-09T22:03:00.000-05:00

I am so incredibly excited and proud of myself! I went to a yoga class today that was challenging and awesome. I learned how to perform a headstand against a wall, and I did it!!

Salamba Sirsasana (Supported Headstand)

I was so proud of myself for being able to do these poses. It's the first time I've ever even done a headstand! 

I did one of these also!

Urdhva Dhanurasana (Upward Bow or Wheel Pose)

I'm very excited about my yoga practice. I plan to keep it up!! I'm going to go to another class tomorrow with my sister. I love it!!

Lemon Meringue Pie

2011-08-07T22:07:00.000-05:00

So, yesterday was my first attempt at making Lemon Meringue Pie. It came out OK, but not exactly how I would have liked it.

It tasted pretty good, it just didn't quite look as good as I had hoped it would have turned out. I don't think I beat the eggs for the Meringue long enough and Jeff was impatient to eat it so the lemon portion was still kind of runny. So, will know better for the next time I make it!

I've decided that I think I'm going to try and cook something new each weekend. I think I want to make things I've never cooked or baked before, as well as something challenging would be fun. So, still deciding what I will cook next weekend. Maybe Red Velvet cupcakes? Is making Red Velvet cake hard? I feel like I've heard it's a little challenging. We'll have to see what happens!!

Lazy Saturdays and Breakfast

2011-08-06T17:09:00.000-05:00

Yay for weekends! I love lazy days. I get up, take my time making breakfast and then just sit and chill with Jeff. I love sitting down and slowly eating and enjoying breakfast. I really think breakfast is my favorite meal of the day. Here is the breakfast we had this morning. We made poached eggs, so yummy!!

I've changed up my hours at work recently so that I don't have to be there till 8 am. I used to start at 7am so I always felt rushed out of the house since I'd have to get up so early to take my time in the morning. So, now I can get up at a more reasonable hour and make breakfast. I love getting up and making lattes with our fancy espresso maker and coming up with an easy delicious breakfast. I sit and eat my breakfast, drink my coffee, and read the news on my ipad. Jeff and I love talking about current events, which has mainly been the debt ceiling.

Last night I went for a girls night with some of my friends. I got to wear this super cute green dress my mom got me. I also dyed my hair last night cuz my greys were looking bad!!!

Thursday... It's OK

2011-08-04T23:53:00.002-05:00

I love participating in other blogs "thing of the day" events. So, I stumbled across this one via someone's recent comment that lead me to this blog.

Thursday's It's OK....

.... to be obsessed with turning a bunch of your normal photos into instragrams

....to have more magazines than you'll ever read in a life time

.... to really start loving the "far out" and "hippy" aspects of yoga practice

...to be excited for another weekend, and the end of another work week

Happy early weekend!

August Goals

2011-08-03T22:07:00.001-05:00

I thought that if perhaps I put my goals on my blog I would stay more accountable to them by the end of the month to cross off the ones that I accomplished! We'll see what happens!!

Quote of the Day

2011-08-02T07:15:00.001-05:00

Source

Decisions...

2011-08-01T20:49:00.000-05:00

There always comes a time when you have a huge decision to make in your life. I know that I haven't had to make too many huge decisions in my life. I guess the biggest decision for me was deciding to take a chance and fly all the way out to Boston to meet my now husband Jeff. This was after about 3 months of talking online and via the phone (we met on match.com). It was a pretty easy decision.

When I decided on colleges I only applied to one, Cottey College. I got in, no problem!

It was only a 2 year school so I had to transfer and by the time I had to do that I had decided on my career, Physical Therapy, another easy decision for me. I again only applied to one school, Saint Louis University.

When I graduated with my degree I only had to apply to one job, and got it straight out. My life has been pretty easy with big decision.

For my husband though, he's had to make some tough decisions. I always say that deciding to marry me was one of the fastest decisions Jeff has ever made. He proposed to me within about 6 months of meeting me.

But, he was living in Colorado at the time going to the Air Force Academy. He however decided to leave that school and join me in Saint Louis. This was an extremely hard decision for him. He felt so passionate about eventually becoming a fighter pilot until he came to the realization that it was not the career path that he wanted. He realized that it would not be the best for a family that he came to realize he valued more than anything. It was a pretty big deal to leave the academy and to change career paths.
Now, he's faced again with a big decision that affects our future so much. He has been job searching for the past 7 months. Unfortunately he hasn't had much success with finding a job that suits his career path now. He's only found 1 in Saint Louis that has potential.

He's finished interviewing for it and we're waiting to hear what the results will be. However, we have been discussing whether if he does get an offer to stay here. He would really love to move back to the New England area where he is originally from.

I would like to move there too since I've been living in the midwest for my entire life and had always loved the New England area. So, this is the time to consider moving, even if he doesn't have a job lined up, but I could easily find a job. He's been having trouble making network opportunities there while being so far away, so moving would help improve his chance of finding a job out there. I know it might not be ideal, but what if in a few years we have children and it's even harder to move? We still don't know what to decide if he gets this job here in Saint Louis, should he take it? Or should he not? Will the decision be made for him? Will he not get the job?
These are all things that have been rattling around in my head for the past few weeks. I suppose Jeff makes the ultimate decision because I'm just along for the ride with his career. I have my own ideas for my career, but luckily what I do can go anywhere. I guess my career path is pretty easy when it comes to making decisions, Jeff however has chosen a more challenging career path, but hopefully things work out.
So, what might you do? Stay where you are, or take a chance and move to the part of the country/world that you've always dreamed of living someday?

Inspiration

2011-07-26T21:40:00.000-05:00

Lately I've been having some problems being inspired and motivated. Recently my sister's best friend from college started her own blog. A Yankee in Queen Laveau's Court is the name of her blog, and her first entry is so sweet! You should check her out, she needs more followers!

-Natasha

Quote of The Week

2011-07-21T22:04:00.002-05:00

Published with Blogger-droid v1.7.2

More Free Time!!

2011-07-19T21:47:00.000-05:00

So, I officially finished my Doctorate of Physical Therapy (DPT)! No more studying after work!! I'm done! I suppose I'm just waiting for my diploma to come in the mail at some point. I don't really know what to do with myself really. I have all this extra time on my hands now that I should start filling with things that I would like to get done. I think I'll make a project list!

So, some things from my pinterest:

Knitted Mobile

Source

I don't have a baby yet, but when I do, I totally want this to be hanging over their crib!! It's so adorable!! I feel though that I can't start on this kind of project till I'm preggers, so I'll have to be patient!

Portrait into Custom Embroidery

Source

I totally think I'll be doing this project for some future Christmas gifts ;)

Well Crafted Threats, cross stitch project

Source

This cross stitch project looks like so much fun. You get the alphabet and pretty much make up whatever you want with the letters. It would be so cool as a project for decorating the house!

Well, those are a few projects I've got my eyes on to start. I just don't know where to start, maybe the portrait embroidery.

Natasha

My Goals...

2011-06-02T18:45:00.000-05:00

Can anyone believe that it's already the 6th month of the year! We're already half way through 2011!! How sad is that! Time flies so fast when you get older unbelievable. I feel like I haven't even been very good at sticking with the goals I set at the beginning of the year! There would be a renewal of your new year's resolutions about half-way through the year to get one back on track. I guess that is something I can at do now through my journal class. Here are my journal goals for this month.

This year I have really been focusing on being more present and be focused because I multi-task way too much! I just always want to try and get as much done as I can in the time I have, it goes by so fast!!

Day 1 of the Challenge!

2011-06-01T22:42:00.003-05:00

So, officially the first day of the 30 Day Journal Challenge! I'm very excited to be attempting to partake in this challenge. Here is my first page so far!

Not that exciting but it's a start! Ok, it's late and I'm tired, gotta go catch some ZZzzz....

Journal Challenge

2011-05-27T20:03:00.000-05:00

Now I probably try challenges too much and can never stay on top of them, but what the hell at least I keep trying maybe it will stick at some point! My dad always says, "There is no such thing as try, you can only do or do not." So, I'm going to DO this 30 Day Journal challenge in June. Now what I've decided to do as well in June is to also challenge myself to cut back on my TV. I'm still deciding if I want to attempt to cut it out completely or set a limit. Not sure yet. I realize that I fill my time with useless TV show information most of the time, so from now I'm going to start listening to more of my classroom lectures for one of my classes as well as listen to insightful audio books. I used to think my mom was crazy always listening to audio books and now I realize they help you multi-task in such a productive way!

I have a bunch of other challenges I would love to do, but like I said previously I need to narrow my focus, so probably shouldn't try too many things all at once.

Anyone else up for a challenge?

Focus

2011-05-27T19:40:00.000-05:00

I've realized I totally lack focus. I have so many things I want to do there isn't enough time! I also feel that I need to be adding more substance and quality to my life. I spend far too much time watching TV. I've recently gotten into listening to inspirational and intellectual audio books while I'm doing other things. Here are a few of the books I've already listened to have been inspired!

I suppose they are all self-help books but they have really inspired me to have more focus and to have more substance in my life.

I would also like to have more focus and substance in my blogging. I think I'm having trouble knowing what I should focus and talk about.

What do other people like to read about? What inspires you? What would bring more substance to this blog? Any suggestions?

I know that I myself am trying to figure out what I want to do with the rest of my life. I have some ideas for my career, but I have a lot of work to do on myself. I hope that I will be able to better myself to provide better and more useful information. As well as be entertaining and inspiring.
I'm open to any suggestions people may have! Thanks so much!

Catching Up...

2011-05-22T16:42:00.000-05:00

I've been so busy this month!! I'm pretty behind on my granny squares, but I'm still plugging away as I can. I think I've only gotten the first week finished.

Maggie's Square

Blooming Granny

Starfire

Victorian Dream square

A Passion for Purple (except not purple in this case)

Well, those are the squares I have finished so far. Hope everyone has had a nice weekend!!

Day 2

2011-05-04T20:30:00.002-05:00

I know I'm behind! I just finished Day 2 yesterday. I also haven't had a chance to start Day 3 and I'll be going out of town tomorrow! Not sure if I'll get to do the squares over the next few days. I need to learn how to crochet faster! I do have a long flight to California tomorrow so maybe I'll bring it along!

I've been so busy this week, but I'm so excited for our trip! I'll have to be sure to take plenty of pictures of all the fun. We're going to go sailing on Friday, so I'm soooo excited! Any plans for the weekend?

A Square a Day, Day 1

2011-05-01T17:54:00.000-05:00

I decided that I need to get back into some crafts. So, I decided to take part in the Square A Day in May. I finished my first square today. I'm so slow at crocheting, it took me yesterday and today.

Amethyst Square Pattern by SmoothFox

Here are the colors I'm gonna use for my squares

I don't know how I'm going to be able to do one square a day, it may take me more days. I may get started on tomorrow's square tonight!
I just learned how to crochet over Christmas when my mother-in-law taught me the basics. Now I have to teach myself some of the other things. I've been knitting for years, but crotcheting s new to me. There are so many cute patterns so I wanted to be able to do both! I also found some fun blogs of other crafty girls who crochet and I'm totally inspired!

Royal Wedding Viewing Party

2011-05-01T17:36:00.000-05:00

Congrats to the Happy couple!

So, I totally wasn't even considering watching the royal wedding, but the more I heard about it the more I'm totally excited about it. I love England, especially London! So, I had a tea party with some friends and watched my DVR'ed viewing of the wedding. Here are some fun images I found online.

Here are images from my own little tea party. I even used my wedding china, I love it! Now I totally want to have more tea parties. I forgot how much I love Earl Grey Tea!

It was pretty fun! Cheerio!

Yet another Return...

2011-04-22T19:40:00.000-05:00

Yet again another attempt at returning to the blog scene. This time my sister inspired me to return because she has decided to start her own blog about her journey to a better self. She's par-taking in a weight loss program that she hopes will transform her into a better, healthier person. I'm totally supporting her efforts! In her attempt to better fitness and health she decided to get a dog as an exercise companion. Meet Oscar!

He loves Kahlua so much. They get along really well which works out for us since my sister lives right below me!
Check out her journey!!

Growth and Self-Portrait

2011-01-12T22:49:00.000-06:00

I'm so loving my journal class!! Helping me so much! I got to tap back into my drawing today with a self-portrait. At first I wasn't sure how well my picture would turn out, and it certainly isn't perfect since I did it fast and not entirely in pencil like I usually do, pen is kind of different!

Day 11

Day 12

How is everyone's week going?! Happy Hump Day!! I'm already ready for the weekend! Getting up so early in the morning for work can be challenging some days. I don't think I'm suppose to naturally wake up before 6 am, I would love to work at 8 and get to sleep in just a little extra! Oh well, only 2 more work days left till the weekend, then relax time! Well, Happy Wednesday!

Catching up... Send some Letters

2011-01-10T21:28:00.004-06:00

So, I've been a little behind due to being kind of busy this past week. I have so much I'm trying to keep on top of and still socializing! Our journal class had a chat last Wednesday and I still haven't even had a chance to say how much fun it was talking to everyone! Such an amazing group of gals! I love it!
I also spent some time with my sisters and mother this weekend for an actual slumber party! We got massages on Saturday then went shopping at Trader Joe's, dinner at one of my favorite restaurants on the Hill (well Watson, close to the Hill).

One of my favorite Restaurants!

We ended up back at my place and my sister's place (did I mention one of my sister's moved in right below where I live? Well, she did and it's awesome!). I made blue cheese stuffed olives for delicious dirty martinis and we had late night snacking on food we bought at Trader Joe's. I love Trader Joe's!! If you haven't been to one you have to check it out!

I was so tired I passed out on the couch when we watched "Despicable Me". I've seen it probably 2-3 times already since I bought it over Christmas. I love it!! It's super cute and funny!

So, the following are my journal pages from the class (I've been a little behind and finally got all caught up this evening! Nice way to start out the week!) I'm so loving this class!! It's really helping me feel happier each day to accomplish each page and then to look back on it! I love it!

Day 5

Day 6

Day 7

Day 8

Day 9

Day 10

So, I'm pretty happy with how my pages are turning out each time! I've been so behind though because I need to check out what everyone else is doing for their pages, get some more inspiration!

P.S. This week is National Letter Writing week, so celebrate and send some love!!

Day 3 and 4 of Journal Art

2011-01-04T22:14:00.000-06:00

Ok, so I didn't get a chance to finish yesterday's assignment because my cousin was over visiting all evening so I was mostly chatting with her, her friend, my sister, and my husband (he was very out number by the women folk!!) It was pretty cute really all the girls were asking my hubby for man advice to get a better understanding of the inner workings of how men think. To me, men are pretty simple, they just don't understand us that well. But, moving on. Here are my pages for yesterday and today! I'm pretty happy with my pages for yesterday's assignment!

Day 3

Day 4

Luckily I had the day off to do some catching up from yesterday's assignment. So, as far as Flylady steps to a more organized life! I'm technically on day 3 so that means that I'm just doing what I've done the past 2 days so making sure my sink is clean and that I get up and dressed for the day. I did get up but didn't get dressed for the day for a few hours because I was waiting for my sister, cousin, and my cousin's friend to wake up to go to breakfast.

We went to one of my favorite cafes in St.Louis The Mud House. They have a great breakfast selection, I tried their breakfast burrito, so awesome! They also have great coffee! I highly recommend it if you're ever in St.Louis! They have it decorated with such awesome vintage designs, I love it!

After breakfast I drove my cousin, her friend, and my sister around St.Louis to show them the sites, such as Forest Park, Tower Grove Park, Botanical Gardens, Wash U, SLU (my Alma mater), The Bottle Works, The Fox, all the great houses on Lindell, etc. My cousin my be coming to live with my sister (who lives right below me) for the summer. It was fun showing them all the stuff that is available to do in the city, so I think she's pretty excited about moving closer and someday navigating around.

Forest Park (So big, hard to pick 1 pic)

The Fox Theater

SLU Campus

Wash U.

Tower Grove Park

(Also kind of big, I can see it from my house!)

So, that was my day in a nutshell, now I need to go relax some more before heading off to bed to get up early for work!!

Day 2 of the New Year

2011-01-02T22:17:00.000-06:00

Here is my 2nd journal page for my class! Loving it!!

          I've also been very productive today. I had to work and be in charge, went pretty smoothly. Then when I got home Jeff and I set up a gym in our basement that we decided to do for the new year. We both feel like we haven't been exercising enough. So, we're going to just bite the bullet and put in an hour of exercise first thing when we both get home from work.
          I'm also going to start the FlyLady routines to get my life in order. You do a month of things to help you develop good habits. So, to start out you're suppose to clean your sink, that's all you do. Then each day you keep your sink clean everyday. Slowly adding different small habits to develop into your routine each day. I'll keep you updated on my progress!
      Well, off to clean my sink!!

New Year New Me

2011-01-01T22:27:00.000-06:00

I decided to take this 30 day journal class taught by Janel over at Run With Scissors. I'm very excited to start the new year out right with some creativity and daily journaling. So, I'll be posting what goes on in her class on my blog to share with the class as well as anyone else interested in seeing what else is going on in the challenge! I think this will also help me jump start my blogging for the year as well! So, first off this is a picture of the outside of my journal.

I got it from Borders its that Paperchase company that I think comes out of England. I love their products!! So, first thing that we're doing in our class is to make a welcome page, so this is what mine looks like!

Now, I just need to do my first entry of the year! I'm very excited for the daily prompts and challenges for helping me become more creative!

The Christmas Season is upon us!!

2010-12-04T14:28:00.000-06:00

I've been meaning to post pictures of my decorations for Christmas this year because I'm very excited about them. I decided to get the place decorated before Thanksgiving so when I hosted the turkey festivities at my place this year they could see my decorations for Christmas as well since I'll be out of town for Christmas. We're going to Boston for Christmas and I'm very excited, minus the fact that I haven't done any Christmas shopping yet!!

So, I purchased a fake black tree from Garden Ridge and decided to go with silver, white, and red ornaments to make for a classy tree. I got these really cool vases for the mantel and filled them with cranberries to give some color. I was really trying to go for simple and clean looking decorations. It looks so much better than these pictures. But you get the idea. I'm so excited for my tree. I have it front of a door with windows so you can see my lit tree from the street. It makes me very happy. I've been focusing on relaxing, listening to Christmas music and journaling.

How is everyone else decorating this year?!

Lucky Fiona Giveaway

2010-11-18T16:58:00.000-06:00

So, The Design Girl and Lucky Fiona have teamed up for a dog and cat collar giveaway!! And I love Lucky Fiona's collars!! I have 2 of them for my dog (I don't have the best pictures of her yet wearing them though, that's bad of me!) So, here is what I do have!

She has these 2 collars and I love the multiple colored one, it's such a great color combo! I really would love to get a matching leash to go with it!! Go check out the giveaway!!

Sunny Champagne Giveaway...

2010-11-17T19:51:00.000-06:00

So, I recently discovered another awesome blog!

Right now, Janel has a really cool giveaway going on over at her blog for Sunny Champagne. I love the art work he does, I may seriously buy some of his art for my home soon!! I love this one!!

Check out Janel's site, you'll especially love it if you're crafty and keep a journal!!

Crazy cat people...

2010-11-16T20:25:00.002-06:00

I was looking through my iphoto and realized that I have so many pictures of our 3 cats. We have 3 cats and 1 dog in a not super big place. Luckily we have enough room for them to all run around, but sometimes it's like we live in a zoo!! I thought that I would share some of my funny pics of my kitties, there may be a dog thrown in there somewhere. Enjoy!

This is Cleo, she is quite the fitness buff!

Philip is quite Handy in the Kitchen...

Cleo is trying to help with the dishes, she does well at saving the sink for me!

Now this picture is just kind of creepy and sad at how many cats we have...

Awww, Philip you got me a pretty rose!! (He looks bashful..)

Smitty is our expert napper, he enjoys sleeping just about anywhere...

Philip likes to live on the edge...

For some reason Philip decided he wanted to go into the dog cage...

Cleo gets bored quickly...

I think Philip thinks he's smaller than he really is...

Cleo has a slight obsession with plastic bags...

I wonder what he's thinking...

Namaste!!!

Case of the Mondays...

2010-11-15T20:38:00.002-06:00

I had a super rough day at work today. I had a rather challenging patient who was really offensive and didn't know when to close his mouth! It's always challenging to deal with patients sometimes. People can be rough to work with. I sometimes wish I had a job that didn't involve people, but I know that wouldn't be that interesting or full-filling. Does anyone else feel like that somedays?

I've develop a new obsession though, I am totally falling in love with food blogs! Right now there is this Food Blog project going on over at FoodBuzz and I have been looking at as many videos as I can to cast my vote on my favorites!

So, some new blogs (for me) that I've been following!

Oh She Glows

Lune Vintage

And I'm sure I'll be finding more! I wish I had more time to read everyone's blogs more often.

Coffee Mania!

2010-11-08T21:54:00.000-06:00

It's official, my husband and I are coffee snobs! We just recently purchased a really nice espresso maker and this fancy dancy bean grinder!

Super nice Espresso maker

Fancy Dancy Bean Grinder

Supposedly according to my hubby having one of these Burr grinders, as it is actually named, can improve the flavor of your coffee even using a simple coffee machine. The thing is a small engine!! It weighs about as much as our KitchenAid mixer!

This is such a ridiculous picture! We have way too many things to make coffee!! This morning however I went with the simplest of the 3 choices. I used the good ol' fashioned coffee press!

I don't really drink coffee for breakfast everyday like used to, however my husband does he's an addict! I like to put some agave nectar and some plain soy milk in my coffee, it really tastes yummy! I love having a slow lazy morning drinking coffee and catching up on trash TV, such as my new favorite, The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills!

I know it's such a waste of time, but I can't seem to get away from the housewives! Well, that's a little into what I did with my day off today. Now I need to get to bed cuz it's back to work early in the morning tomorrow!

Succeed

2010-11-06T09:24:00.001-05:00

"To Laugh often and love much,

to win respect of intelligent persons

and the affection of children;

to ear the approbation of honest critics

and to endure the betrayal of false friends;

to appreciate beauty;

to find the best in others;

to give of one's self;

to leave the world a bit better,

whether by a healthy child,

a garden patch or,

a redeemed social condition;

to have played and laughed with enthusiasm

and sung with exultation;

to know that even one life has breathed

easier because you have lived --

This is to have succeeded."

--Ralph Waldo Emerson

Happy Belated Halloween!!

2010-11-01T16:51:00.000-05:00

Happy Belated Halloween! I meant to write a posting yesterday, however I have been feeling under the weather for the past few days, I even called in to work sick today.... So, trying to re-coop! I took a super cute pic of my dog dressed up for Halloween.

We had way too much candy left over! I need to stop eating it!!

Well, now it's already November and it's onto the next Holiday. Thanksgiving is always that nice transitional holiday you don't have to worry too much about. However, this year I'll be having Thanksgiving dinner at my place! Eeek! I know I volunteered to do it since I wouldn't get to have any dinner otherwise cuz I have to work on Thanksgiving, as well as black Friday and the following Saturday too! Luckily I do have the following Monday off before Thanksgiving so I just need to have my place cleaned up and prepare a few food items. Also, luckily my husband is a great cook so I'll be having him take care of a lot of things for me! I'm looking forward to hosting through!

New Location

2010-10-28T19:47:00.000-05:00

I know I have been slacking on keeping up with my blog. My husband and I recently did some re-organizing in our house, so I moved my computer into a room I figured I'd actual use my computer more often. I have this awesome desktop and its been in our spare room that is our office. I however am never in there because its one of the unfinished rooms. Well, most of the rooms in my house are kind of unfinished but the office is really unfinished. My husband is in there all the time since he likes to play his computer games, but I am never in there unless I'm cleaning up all the stuff I just end up throwing in there. We got sick of how messy and unorganized the room was and Jeff wanted to make it more comfortable for doing work (he gets too distracted in the room for some reason). So, we got him a new desk and I moved a lot of my stuff out. I still have a lot of stuff to re-organize since I just put stuff in boxes for the most part, but I did fix up my new desk space in our living room. I love it! Check it out!

This is what my desk used to look like. I like being in the living room cuz I can have the TV on in the background and get some things done when Jeff and I catch up on our shows. Like the Halloween desktop? Happy Halloween everyone!! Don't eat too much candy like I have been doing!!

Back in The Saddle Again (Blogging that is...)

2010-10-19T21:23:00.000-05:00

    Hello all! I know I've been MIA for awhile, and of course it's due in part of being busy and just a little bit of laziness. I really have been crazy busy at work. For example, I already forgot that I have a cardiopulmonary lab tomorrow morning with some PT Washington University students. I feel like I haven't had a day at work that hasn't involved some sort of meeting or student stuff.
   Do you ever feel like you can never stay on top of everything and be balanced at the same time. How do people work full time, keep their house pristine and do all the other things in between. Oh I'm also taking 2 classes this semester for my DPT! How does one stay on top?! Any suggestions?
   I need to stop trying to do blog entries later in the evening because I get so tired and zone out while I watch TV. I used to be better at multi-tasking, I guess things really do go down hill as you get older...
   Having trouble keeping my eyes open, so I think I need to put away the computer and head to bed (Right after my husband and I finish watching Castle, awesome show!!).

Running Inspiration

2010-08-31T23:17:00.000-05:00

I'm so excited!! I bought some of those barefootshoes for running, Vibram FiveFingers. I'm already inspired today cuz I got to run with one of my friends. We're training for a 10K in October. I've decided to try them out tomorrow. I guess I have to take it easy for awhile and just kind of run/walk for the first few times you start using them to let your muscle strengthen. I just hope that I can run in them comfortably!!

Top 2 Tuesday

2010-08-31T23:04:00.000-05:00

Today's Top 2 Tuesday is your top 2 favorite cities.

{1} Boston- I love this city!! And I hope that someday soon my husband and I will get to move there. It has so much to offer! Awesome culture, and I love just how old the history and architecture is. I would love to live in one of those old fisher towns, maybe even have a farm... I just love New England!

{2} Weissenburg, Germany- I love this little village in Germany that our amazing friends resides. They always let us stay with them in their adorable house. It's so awesome, it even has a castle!! These our from our last visit in 2009. I'm so jealous, my parents are going to Munich in a few days for the 250th (?) Oktoberfest Celebrations!! Sounds like sooo much fun!! You gotta love the giant glasses!! Can't wait to wear my dress again for Oktoberfest here in St.Louis in October! Love it!

A Death in the Family

2010-08-29T18:16:00.000-05:00

Ahhhh, I'm back home from a weekend out of town for a funeral. Right now I'm enjoying my cocktail hour, of course, having a bloody mary cuz I was looking at my last post and the picture of the bloody mary and everyone's comments made me really want a spicy drink! It was a slightly somber weekend due to a death in the family on my mom's side. It was an expected death because the individual was diagnosed with cancer with no good treatment option so they chose to just live out the rest of their life at home on hospice. I think the biggest thing about a death in the family is of course being there for the family members who were closest to the person who died. So, that was me and my husband's biggest goal for the weekend. There was also unfortunately some family tension so being there to support your family also is important. There was an individual who wasn't even related to the person who died, she was married to the son of the person who died, and she threw away some of our family's history when cleaning out the individual's home. She literally threw very very old pictures of my mom's family in the garbage! There were pictures of my great grandfather who came over from Italy to start a family here. My grandfather was the first generation here, and there were precious photos in these albums, and this woman threw them in the garbage! Luckily, one of my relatives was able to fetch them from the trash so that we could preserve them, but holy h*ll!! Who does that?! Such a violation of someone's family, and this woman's husband didn't even stop her!! Well, aside from this crazy business for a sad event, things went well and there was much love and remembering that happened. Sorry this is a sad post, but really it was a nice weekend with family reuniting and kind of rejoicing with each other about family history. I had a pleasant time, and my husband got to learn about my mom's side of the family and our history.

Now, I'm home and relaxing on the couch, sipping my spicy Bloody Mary, and thinking of having some dinner soon. I will do better this week about blogging, I have so many fun pictures I have been taking to share about some of the things I've been up to, but I'm so bad about uploading them onto my computer. Bare with me!!

Drink of The Week

2010-08-24T22:29:00.001-05:00

Bloody Mary

One of my favorite drinks is the Bloody Mary and had to make myself one this evening for our Cocktail Hour. Yea my husband and I have seriously started having an unofficial Cocktail Hour. He usually prefers to have some whiskey with a few ice cubes. I like having one of these when I want to be healthy! I just use some V8, Worcester sauce to taste, I like some celery seeds for flavor, can put some lime or lemon juice, maybe some Tabasco sauce, oh as of course VODKA!! Garnish with a piece of celery.

Wow I'm so tired I fell asleep on the couch and my husband closed the lap top and put away! Must go to bed!

Hump Day

2010-08-18T22:58:00.000-05:00

Wednesday is Hump Day and luckily it is the first day of my 5 day staycation! So excited! I had a very relaxing day. I got up and relaxed most of the morning watching daytime TV with some cheerios. I made a target run at one point to get some things to help me organize my office. So, I was productive for most of the afternoon organizing all my stuff in the office. I'm trying to minimize the clutter I have, but it's going to take more than 5 days off to get through it all! I'm going to get through what I can and still get some relaxing in though.

Tomorrow I'm meeting up with a friend to take her to get Lasiks. I kind of hope to see the surgery! But we'll see what happens.

I am so addicted to watching Nip/Tuck on Netflix right now. I'm almost finished with watching Season 2. Not sure how many season there are, but luckily a bunch are available to watch instantly on Netflix. It just sucks you in from the first episode!

Anyone else enjoy this show?

Gin & Bareit...

2010-08-15T19:45:00.002-05:00

Mmmm, relaxing after a day of work with my favorite drink of the week a Gin & Tonic (I should start doing a drink of the week, huh?). It's such an easy drink! Just take a glass of any size and do about half gin and half tonic water depending on your own preference. Then you just take half a lime (more or less) and squeeze the juice into the drink. I also like to drop the lime into the drink. The below picture actually looks a lot like the one I made today! I don't know what it is about this drink, but it really tastes good. I think it's because it's a little sweet and tart. I really don't like super sweet drinks. I have them from time to time. I love red wine and I love Dirty Martinis. I think those are my top 2 favorite drinks!

Gin & Tonic

I'm very excited because after Tuesday I have the rest of the week off from work! I had to work today, but the hospital is pretty quiet on Sundays, which is so nice. I've been getting so burnt out at work lately that I decided to take some days off this week. It really sucks sometimes being in the real world! However, it is nice to not go to classes everyday and have test after test. Also, having a regular paycheck doesn't hurt either.

So, I have 5 days off, and Jeff and I thought of going to Chicago next weekend, but honestly I'm thinking that having 5 whole days at home would be awesome! You know how it is when you go on vacation and when you get back home all you want is more time off just to have a vacation at home. I feel like I'm so behind on all these things that I want to get organized that having some extra time would be awesome.

Now I just need to figure out what I want to do with my time. I really need to organize my iphoto albums, somehow I have all these duplicate photos. It's annoying! For anyone who is a crazy organizer (who I wish I was more like) you need to check out how this chick organized her digital photos.

The Photo Archivist | 4 Super-Organized Women Spill Their Secrets | Real Simple

What would you do with a few extra free days?

Mingle Monday

2010-08-09T22:22:00.000-05:00

I wanted to find something fun to start doing on Mondays in the blogging world and I found [Life of Meg] Mingle Monday.

It was pretty fun finding some new unique blogs! I highly recommend joining in on the mingle!

Well, I'm exhausted and need to get some sleep!

Black Dog Giveaway

2010-08-09T21:37:00.000-05:00

So, just checking in on some of my favorite blogs and found that Chloe over at Tryin' to Throw my Arms Around the World is having a Black Dog giveaway! Go check it out!

FRIENDS

2010-08-06T22:06:00.000-05:00

I was so excited when I popped over to 2Bloggeristas to see that this week's Favorite Fridays over at A Girl in Pearls & A Boy with Toys is featuring "what's your favorite Friend's character?" I LOOOOOOOOVVVE Friends! It's so hard for me to pick just 1 favorite character, but I would have to go with Joey Tribbiani. I love Monica too cuz of how crazy and tidy she is, but Joey just makes you laugh!

I have all ten seasons! And I watch them all the time!! I'm trying to think of some of his extremely funny moments.

Joey at the hospital when Phoebe was having the triplets:
Joey: "There's always room for Jello..."
Monica: 'How do you make that dirty?!"
Joey: "You can make anything dirty, see 'Grandma's chicken salad...'" (in his sexy tone.)

Joey at Thanksgiving: "Cause I'm a Tribbiani, and this is what we do! I mean, we may be not great thinkers, or world leaders, don't read a lot, or run very fast... but damn it, we can eat!"

Joey: "Remember when you were a kid and your mom would drop you off at the movies with a jar of jam and spoon?"

Joey: "Well no one knows about Hugsy! My bedtime penguin pal, I mean..."

Love him!! He has too many moments to even quote. Now I really wanna watch some Friends... Maybe I'll get some time to watch this weekend.

Burned out

2010-08-04T21:38:00.000-05:00

I don't know if anyone else is like me, but I'm currently so burnt out from working. This is one of the reasons I haven't been very frequent with my posts, sorry! So, many people at work are also burnt out, today everyone was so grouchy in their own way. I enjoy the work I do, but there are some small irritations that are really starting to grind on me lately. I think it's really time for me to go on vacation soon, but I need to save my days off because I'm hoping to get a bunch of time off for Christmas. Lately I've just been getting home and barely having enough energy to get any chores done.

How do people get everything done in a normal day?! I really need a staycation! I'm already so tired and want to sleep!

Need motivation

2010-07-26T21:36:00.000-05:00

Wow, I thought having a dog would help me get up at the crack ass of dawn and go running. It has helped me, I do get up super early at least 3 days a week to go for run with my dog Kahlua. Some days I've managed to even fit 5 miles in before I have to work at 7am (those are days I really impress myself).

Well, for some reason lately my pooch has turned into one of those people that just pushes the snooze buttons and goes back to bed! I literally had to drag her out from under my bed, REPEATEDLY! I had to put her on a leash at one point to even keep her from returning to her slumbers. Sometimes, we've even gotten out the door, and she'll turn around and want back into the house! This makes it so hard for me to stay out of bed and hit the pavement when she does this. Especially when I know that she can get away without exercising regularly. She's a pretty calm dog. She's really not a morning person though...

Look at this super cute picture of her when she was a puppy!!

We'll be moving our runs to afternoons once the weather cools down. It's really not too hot for me (at least this week is better). But she really does not like the hot humid weather. She can only stand walking slowly for 20 minutes before she starts racing to the shady spots and plopping herself down in some cool grass. Oh well, what can ya do. Lucky for her tomorrow is my yoga day, so sleeping in for both of us, I do yoga after work.

Namaste!

Getting to Know you Sunday

2010-07-25T16:50:00.001-05:00

Time for another Getting to Know Sunday over at MannLand5. Here are the questions for this week!

1. Thong or Granny Panties?

What panties?

What's the point of panties/thongs if this is gonna happen?

2. If you see a guy with his fly down, do you tell him?

Only if it was someone I knew... I don't just go up to strangers and tell them their situation, I guess that's bad of me...

How embarrassing....

3. Spanx or no Spanx?

No Spanx. At least hopefully I will never feel the need to wear them...

4. Do you sleep in your sheets?

Right now we only sleep in sheets, but really it's been even too hot for those!

Nice! ;)

5. What is your favorite Disney character?

Ariel will always be my favorite Disney character!!

6. Dream vacation spot?

Honestly I would love to have a vacation that would be exploring the New England countryside during the autumn season! I love the North East and the fall.

7. What is your dream job?

Honestly I'm half way to having my dream job. I love being a physical therapist and I would love to someday own my own practice that would integrate some holistic approaches and provide instruction in yoga and Pilates.

8. Who is your hero and why?

Right now I would have to say someone who I admire and would like to strive to be more like is Rebecca Pacheco who is yogi from Boston who has a great and inspirational blog

The World According to Om Gal

She's a yoga instructor who lives in Boston (somewhere I hope to live in the near future), she's also a runner, and health nut with great tips. She's also mentally stimulating as well with inspirational quotes and philosophy that truly inspire me to begin integrating yoga practice for all it's worth into my life. If you're also interested in some inspiration and great tips, check out her blog!

Happy Sunday, hope everyone enjoys the rest of the weekend! Back to work tomorrow...

Happy 101 Award

2010-07-24T11:52:00.000-05:00

I received an award that I overlooked! I've been so out of it!!

So, the Happy 101 Award from Cafe Bellini. Thank you so much!

Things that make me Happy!!
- Cuddling up on the couch with my husband after a long day's work to veg out and watch TV. (Netflix has been way too addicting)

Us out for volleyball at a local bar

-Watching my cats go nuts over catnip, they have way too many catnip toys and they love them!

-Something that is so amazing that I love and wish I could do all the time is to sit outside (at a restaurant or on our back deck) with dear friends drinking and talking for hours. I especially love seating at a cafe outside in a great city, especially a city in Europe so great!!

Martini on my back deck!

-Lazy weekends. I get to sleep in and do whatever I want!

Lazy Sunday

-Being with my family, usually relaxing, drinking wine, eating good food, and laughing about funny stories we all tell.

Vacay in Germany, first beers of the trip!

This award goes to:

2Bloggeristas

It's Five O'Clock Somewhere

From my Somewhat Serious Mind

A day in the Life of a Grad Student's Wife

Looking Forward to hearing what makes you happy!!

Top 2 Tuesday

2010-07-20T18:54:00.000-05:00

Top 2 Tuesday today is the top 2 purchases I would like to make! Only 2?! Ok....

1) The Roomba!! This little vacuum is amazing!! Just turn it on and it does all the work while you do other things. They even make one especially for having pets, and I have 4 pets and so much hair on my wood floors!!

2) I would love to have the MacBook Pro! So, sexy!

Well, I'm out for the evening, gotta go cuddle up on the couch with my hubby!

Seven Colors Award

2010-07-20T18:33:00.000-05:00

Sorry I have been MIA this past week! I've gotten lazy... But anywho I must thank Shelley Ann over at Painting the Memories for passing along an award called "Seven Colors". Thanks so much Shelley Ann!!

The award requires that you list 7 things that make you happy! This will be fun!

1) My lovely husband of course!

2) My 3 funny cats and dog, they are like my kids right now.... it's kind of sad.

The kitties look so creepy in this pic right?

Kahlua is such a ham, always posing for the camera

3) My family!!

4) Coffee!!!

5) Running with my dog when I get my ass out the door... more how I feel afterward or when I'm having a really good running day.

6) Fresh produce, so inspiring...mmmm

7) Playing violin with my sister, we do weddings! ( This is an old photo of us, I couldn't find any others..)

Blogs who deserve this award...

Tarryn & Allison @ 2Bloggeristas

Freck @ It's Five O'Clock Somewhere

Cafe Bellini

Melissa @ From my Somewhat Serious Mind

Can't wait to hear what makes everyone happy!!

Top 2 Tuesday

2010-07-13T21:50:00.000-05:00

Top 2 favorite Summer Recipes!

Potato, Leek, and Feta Tart

I love this recipe, and when I've made it, everyone has thought it was great!

Ingredients

1 tablespoon olive oil
2 leeks (white and light green parts), cut into half-moons
2 small zucchini, cut into half-moons
kosher salt and black pepper
1/2 cup crumbled Feta (about 2 ounces)
2 tablespoons chopped fresh dill
2 Red Bliss potatoes (8 ounces), thinly sliced
1 store-bought 9-inch piecrust

Directions

Heat oven to 375º F. Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the leeks, zucchini, ½ teaspoon salt, and ¼ teaspoon pepper and cook, stirring occasionally, until just tender, 4 to 5 minutes. Stir in the Feta and dill. Add the potatoes and toss to combine.
On a piece of parchment paper, roll the piecrust to a 12-inch diameter. Slide the paper onto a baking sheet. Spoon the potato mixture onto the piecrust, leaving a 2-inch border. Fold the edge of the piecrust over the edge of the potato mixture. Bake (covering with foil if the crust gets too dark) until the piecrust is golden brown and the potatoes are tender, 50 to 60 minutes.

Peanut Butter and Chicken Noodles With Carrot and Cucumber Ribbons

This is such a great recipe that is sooo easy to make. I usually use Soba noodles, and whatever veggies I feel like throwing in or have available, raw veggies are better. You don't really need to use chicken if you want to make it vegetarian.

Ingredients

1 8-ounce package thin rice noodles or sticks
1 2- to 2 1/2-pound rotisserie chicken
1 carrot
1 seedless cucumber
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
2 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce

Directions

Place the noodles in a large bowl and cover with hot tap water; let soak until soft, 25 to 30 minutes. Drain in a colander or large strainer.
Meanwhile, using your fingers, shred the chicken meat, discarding the skin and bones. Use a vegetable peeler to make long strips of the carrot and cucumber.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the peanut butter, soy sauce, and 6 tablespoons water until smooth.
Divide the noodles, chicken, carrot, and cucumber among 4 bowls. Drizzle with the dressing.

Bon appetite!

Substance Award

2010-07-13T19:51:00.000-05:00

I've gotten a few awards these past few weeks and I'm having trouble keeping up with them all!! So, I received the same award recently from 2 great bloggers, Tarryn & Allison at 2Bloggeristas and Chloe at Tryin' to Throw My Arms Around the World. "A Blog With Substance" Award.

The rules are as follows:

1. Thank the blogger who bestowed the award on you.

2. Sum up your blogging experience, philosophy, and motivation in 5 words.

3. Pass the award on to 10 deserving bloggers.

My Blogosophy:

To inspire and promote Health!

10. Deserving Bloggers

1) Natasha @ A Day In the Life

2) Jennifer @ Aspiring Fashionista

3) Cara @ Lilac and Grey

4) Melissa @ From My Somewhat Serious Mind

5)Kelsey Claire Lavender Leopard, & Lace

6)Marcie @ Lemons and Laundry

7)Freck @ It's Five O'Clock Somewhere

8) Steph S. A Day In the Life

9)Shelley Ann @ Painting the Memories

10) YoursTruly @ These Things I'll Never Say...

I feel like I can't keep up with everything lately! I still have a ton of emails I haven't even been able to look at and delete.

TGIF!!

2010-07-09T22:11:00.000-05:00

I'm so excited it's Friday! Every Friday I always get this one song stuck in my head by Franz Ferdinand called Jaqueline about how it's better on holiday. Totally how I feel sometimes...

It really is better on holiday... Happy Weekend!

Versatile Blogger Award

2010-07-08T21:29:00.000-05:00

I actually received the same award from 2 great bloggers. Thank you to Kelly over at Kelly's Avenue & Stephanie over at A day in the Life of a Grad Student's Wife.

There are some rules to this award:
1. Thank the person who gave you the award (Thank you Stephanie & Kelly!)
2. Share seven things about you

(1) I love pasta, especially macaroni and cheese.

(2) I would love to have my own farm! I would have chickens, and goats, cows, maybe some horses, and definitely lots of cats and dogs! I love animals!

(3) I want to live in Boston someday.

(4) I love to travel! I've been all over the United States and to several countries.I've been to Canada, Sweden, England, France, Spain, and Germany, I think those are all the countries I've been to...

(5) I don't like shopping for clothes, but I do love shopping at Target for all sorts of stuff. I just wonder around the store most of the time looking at what they have in all the different departments.

(6) I love yoga and wish I was better at it and sticking to doing it regularly.

(7) I love organization, but my house appears to argue otherwise... there are not enough hours in a day!

3. Nominate 15 newly discovered blogs

4. Let your nominees know about the award

Again, I will have to figure out some nominees!

Top 2 Tuesday: Top Purchases

2010-07-06T21:17:00.001-05:00

So, this week's Top 2 Tuesday over at The Undomestic Momma is what are my Top 2 Favorite 2 purchases so far this year.
Well, first purchase for sure is something my husband got for me for my birthday (I didn't purchase it, but technically our money comes from the same place, right?)... an iPod Touch!

Love it! I have so many applications that I really don't always take advantage of, but its fun! I still wouldn't mind a smartphone of some kind, but really I don't NEED one, I just want one. I'm way too much into gadgets.

Second purchase is kind of different, but it something I really did need. Has anyone ever heard of YurBuds?

These were such a great purchase for me! All winter when I was running outside the only thing that kept my headphones in my ears were my ear muffs! So, when I went to a fitness expo I totally was sold on these ingenious things! They size your ear and they stay in your ear no matter how much you move! They are also suppose to be safer for your ear since you don't need to turn up the music louder like you would normal ear phones. I was excited to buy the pink ones also cuz part of the money for them went to breast cancer research.

Well, I guess those aren't very exciting items, but they are things that I enjoy and kind of "need".

Hot Monday

2010-07-05T21:12:00.000-05:00

Decided to take part in this Monday Blog hop, cuz I can't seem to find that many Monday blog hops. So my random ramblings for Monday.

{1} So, this past week has been the best weather ever, no humidity the hottest it gets was 80s. However, yesterday started the nasty humidity again and higher temperatures, there are even "severe hot weather" warnings until Wednesday. I'm not excited about it, I hate how hot it can get here! I've gotta make myself get up super early tomorrow and get my run in cuz it will be soooo hot tomorrow afternoon.

{2} I need a hair cut, thinking of finding a new hairstylist. I really need to change the color, any hairstyle suggestions or cuts?

{3} Summer TV isn't that good, and nothing is new tonight!

{4} We live on such a busy main street and not a day goes by that a loud ambulance or police car goes screaming past our house. It makes it a little more difficult for us to enjoy our TV watching.

{5} I watch way too much TV...

Flash from the past...

2010-07-05T17:51:00.000-05:00

I didn't get a chance to post like I would have liked to this weekend because I went home and was pretty busy with my parents/family. I love going to my parents for the weekends, especially in the summers because they have a pool and it started again with the heat this weekend! So, I definitely got some sun, but not burnt this time around.

So, the funniest thing I did this weekend was I offered to help my mom organize all of our old photos that have been sitting in a box in the living room. Well, its actually just 1 box of photos of several boxes (a lot more boxes.... eek!). So, it's going to take time, but I started scanning and organizing the family memories. There are sooo many!! It was hilarious though. Seeing old pics of me and my siblings, we look so funny!! Of course I hate the pictures of me from my awkward era... maybe they could disappear on accident?

This picture is actually really really embarrassing, cuz it really shows how much a dork I was (and still am) when I was a kid.

Yea for those of you who could possibly be sci-fi nuts, that's me dressed up as a Star Trek character (The Next Generation, for those of you who may wonder, probably no one knows the difference... yea I'm a huuuuuge dork...).

Here's one of me, and I think I had a perm?! Cuz my hair is pretty straight, and it was even more straight when I was a kid. This is me holding my violin, and I have a strange look on my face... I was such a dork!! I think I was cuter when I was a lot younger!

So, now I've shared some pretty embarrassing photos of my childhood (I'll be looking through a lot more!!) But, if anyone is inspired, post your own!! You should never take yourself too seriously, right?

Early Morning Quote of the Day...

2010-07-02T06:30:00.000-05:00

"Make today...Someday."

-Found it in one of those Dove Chocolates, totally inspiring though

Amazing Weather!

2010-07-01T21:38:00.000-05:00

We've been having such great weather here this week! No humidity and in the 80s in the daytime and 60s by the evenings. I was in the Botanical Gardens last night again with my friends, relaxing and drinking wine, it was awesome!!

Today I had such a great opportunity! One of my friends is out of town for the week and she's apart of one those Fair Share food coop things where you pay ahead of time for farmer's goods and pick a bunch of food up each week, so she let me get her goods this week! I've thought of joining one of these things and wanted to see what its all about and its really fun, and we got some great stuff tonight.

We of course had to do a little bbq, especially since we got some bison brots with the whole lot as well, and they were delicious! Very lean and dense meat, you can tell its not all fatty and gross. And of course you can't bbq without some beer, mmm Sam Adams!! Yea we have fancy glasses just to drink Sam Adams out of, I know we're freakin' in love with Boston!

Check out how beautiful all our food looked, we made bruschette with tomatoes and all this great basil we got today.

And we made up some zucchini to grill, mmm so good, we also made corn on the grill that was awesome!

And check out these blue berries that my husband can't stop eating, he started eating them the minute we picked up all this stuff!

Thank you to my friend who let me take her food! And thanks to all the hard working farmer's from MO and IL!!

Top 3 Thursday (Songs)

2010-07-01T21:22:00.000-05:00

What are your Top 3 songs that you play over and over again? This seems like a fun one!

Take Me Out- Franz Ferdinand

Major Tom - Shiny Toy Guns

Short skirt, long jacket- Cake

This post totally got me looking at all these other music videos, comedic videos more like and more that my husband walked and said, "Look up 2 many guys!" They are so funny! Check em out if you dare, they may be on the slightly dirtier side for some people.... but ya gotta have a sense of humor!

Hope you had little bit of a laugh!

Early Morning Quote of the Day

2010-06-30T06:39:00.001-05:00

"Love does not consist of gazing at each other but in looking outward together in the same direction." - Antoine De Saint-Exupery

Top 2 Tuesday... Deserted Island

2010-06-29T22:16:00.001-05:00

So, this week's top 2 Tuesday is what 2 items (not people) would you bring with you if you were on a deserted island. This is tough, cuz I'd want to bring things that help me from being totally bored.

I think I would want to bring a journal to finally jot down all my thoughts and memories! I seriously have gotten so behind on my journaling! Paperchase, sold here in the states through Borders, has super cute journals!

Its really hard for me to figure out what second item I would want to bring along, but I think it would have to be a book. Probably a deep book so I have plenty of time to read it and try and understand it. I'm currently trying to get into this one book that's pretty deep, Confession of a Buddhist Atheist.

Or, this one book that isn't very long, but seriously requires a lot of thought that I've been wanting to understand (and finish) called The Book: On the Taboo Against Knowing Who You Are. My dad suggested that I read this book to help me gain some perspective on philosophy and religion, I think. He said he read it and gave me some great insight on how to live life, I think. I could be totally off! But I need to read it and understand what the guy is telling me, so if I was somewhere with no distractions I could figure out what it's all about.

I would probably want to be wearing something I could practice some yoga in, and probably need a good book that would help me with all the poses I would want to master. Like this new book I just got in the mail that OmGal recommended in one of her posts! Power Yoga by Beryl Bender Birch, I'm excited to read it and start some home yoga!

Wow, I'm exhausted! I've been awake since 5ish, ran 4 miles, and worked all day, I'm on my feet all day too! I'm a little sore! Gotta sleep! What do people think of the early morning quotes? Inspiring? I can keep them coming if I stay on top of things!

Early Morning Quote for the Day...

2010-06-29T06:29:00.001-05:00

"Wealth consists not in having great possessions but in having few wants." Esther De Waal, Seeking God: The Way Of St. Benedict

Getting To Know You Sunday!

2010-06-27T13:21:00.006-05:00

I love these fun play along blog things, especially when they have questions involved, thanks to MannLand5 & A Daily Scoop of Chaos for this weekends questions.

The Questions

1.If you had 5000.00 to spend on plastic surgery what would you have done?

I would totally have to go with some liposuction, I would never want anyone to cut into my breasts you could lose sensation, not so good ;)

2. Do you watch Soap operas and if so what is your favorite and why?

What counts as a Soap Opera? I work during the day so I don't watch much daytime TV, the closest I get is to catching snip-its when I walk into patient's rooms to do evaluations. Isn't Gossip Girl some kind of a soap opera? Cuz if that counts as a soap opera that would probably be the only soap opera type show I watch. I love it! Even though the acting isn't always the best (especially the chick who plays Serena (Blake Lively) she's a pretty face, but seriously not a very good actress.

I love Blair, she's my favorite probably because I love her fashion/style!

3. Favorite clothing brand?

I really like this one brand Tulle, I have a couple of jackets and tops. I've really only found the brand at boutiques. I have a similar jacket to this one, but in pink/purple. I also have one of their really cute green trenches as well. I love them!

4. An afternoon shopping spree at your favorite store or maid service for a year?

I hate cleaning, and I think if I had a cleaning service for a year that would be a huge tease cuz things will still get messy after a year, so maybe a shopping spree would be smarter cuz then I could buy some furniture and accessories. Especially if I had a shopping spree at Target! You could get everything you could ever want there!

5. would you ever vajazzle?

Probably not, but who knows, may someday do it for shits and giggles for like a bachelorette party or something.

6. Favorite Disney Princess?

Ariel from The Little Mermaid. We used to play mermaids in my parents pool when I was a little kid and I was always Ariel! Loved her and Sebastian the crab was hilarious!

7. Last movie that made you bawl your eyes out?

Hmmm that's tough, I can't remember what movie I saw that made me cry. I think may UP only at the beginning with the old couple, I'm a sucker for that kind of stuff. I really didn't care much for the rest of the movie, it was kind of funny but eh not my top pick for movies.

8. Have you ever broken any bones and if so what?

I broke my left pinkie finger when I was chasing my sister through the house and banged it on a door knob. I guess serves me right for chasing my sister... I also broke some toes when my cousin step on my foot when we were playing dress up and she was wearing some high heels, ouch!

Champagne Saturday: PrideFest St.Louis

2010-06-26T18:53:00.000-05:00

I went to PrideFest for the first time. It was held in Tower Grove Park, which is really close to my house. I met up with one of my friends and walked to the park to explore fest! I also brought my dog so she could get a walk in. They have a pet parade also, but it was so hot we couldn't stay out for very long!

It was pretty fun, I didn't get to explore too long because it was so hot today. Also, my friend and I drank a lot of wine last night, so we were a little hung over this morning so we wanted to get some food asap! My dog was also soooo hot and she needed a break from walking so we headed to MoKaBe's Coffeehouse for some grub. I had a Veggie Reuben, they have a great vegetarian selection. It was pretty good, I'll probably head back another day.

I only did that for a few hours, the rest of today I've been hiding from the heat! Its incredibly hot here and humid!

Award: "You're Going Places, Baby"

2010-06-26T15:58:00.000-05:00

I'm very excited because I just received an award from Jenn at "Chances Im Taking", check her out! Thank you again Jenn! The award is called "You're Going Places, Baby".

The rules are simple:

Describe where I think I’ll be in 10 years.
Pass the fun along to 10 other bloggers.

In 10 Years:
I hope to be living in Boston in 10 years, hopefully living in our dream home and location. I would really love to open my own practice possibly within the next 10 years or at least just opening my practice in 10 years. I would also imagine that I would have at least 2 kids in 10 years if not maybe 3. I hope that I will have a healthy happy family above all.

10 Bloggers:
1. Allison and Tarryn from 2Bloggeristas
2. Cafe Bellini
3. Melissa from From my Somewhat Serious Mind
4. Marcie from Lemons and Laundry
5. Marie from ***All Things Marie***
6. Erica from Fashion Meets Food
7. Hannah from The New Black
8. Tiffany from Life is... Glamorous and Fabulous
9. Aubree from Inspirational Me.
10. Kristen from all in my Twenties

Pink & Green Thursday: Bikinis and Dog Collars

2010-06-24T18:22:00.000-05:00

I love pink and green, but I'm having trouble coming up with some fun and cool that I have that is pink and green exactly. Well, here's something that recaps my weekend and is pink and green. I spent Saturday by my parent's pool in my green and pink bikini drinking margaritas with my sister!

The lounge scene

I know I look lovely... not really....

It was a lovely weekend, but I spent way too much time in the sun and being that I'm very pale because I don't go tanning, I totally got an all over burn, but especially burnt where you can see how white my chest is around the top of my bikini top. It still hurts a lot! I'm already peeling on my chest! So gross!

I got to bring my dog home from my parents this week for a trial run to see if she may be able to return to living with us. To recap she's been at my parents cuz she was a crazy dog and hard to have in our small place in the city. And, my husband isn't a big dog lover, so she drove him crazy. Now she's crazy calm and practically a cat. So, I'm hoping I get to keep her again!

Kahlua

Right now she's wearing a green collar with blue polka dots. Look at how cute these Lilly Pulitzer dog collars are! She'd look so cute in them....

They are really cute, she really needs a new collar! Does anyone have any other recommendations for cute collars for a 50 pound dog?!

Top 2 Tuesday: Reality TV

2010-06-22T09:31:00.000-05:00

I'm really not a big fan of Reality TV, so the only Reality TV I watch and I absolutely love, are the Real Housewives of Bravo. I've been watching them since the very first season of the Orange County gals. The only one I haven't really followed are the girls of Atlanta, can't seem to get interested for some reason. They should have a Real Housewives of Boston or Chicago, that would be awesome!! I do see they have a new one coming out of DC. I love the New York girls the best, such awesome fashion and glamor. The New Jersey girls a pretty funny, but really the only drama on that show is crazy Danielle who has serious issues. When I get pregnant I would love to be as glamorous as Theresa from the Jersey gals and Bethenny from New York they look awesome pregnant!

1. Real Housewives of New York, Orange County, and New Jersey

2. Bethenny Getting Married?

I love Bethenny Frankel! She's hilarious and I would love to be her on her show cuz her life is amazing!! I think I'll be buying her books sometime soon cuz she's got an amazing body and I think I'd like a lot of the foods she cooks. I really want to know what kind of workouts she does cuz she looked amazing while she was pregnant!!

Who else loves the gals and their drama?

Chicago and Running

2010-06-20T19:51:00.000-05:00

Weekend of June 11-13th

Ok, so I have not had a chance to recap about this past weekend!! I was sooo lucky! I was able to randomly get last Friday off from work which was great cuz one of my friends came over Thursday night with margaritas to relax and watch "It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia," Love it!!!

So, we chilled had some drinks, woke up relatively early Friday morning and cleaned the house and packed for Chicago. I had to meet up with my mom, 2 sisters, and family friend to drive up to Chicago in the early afternoon. It was pretty nice cuz my mom drove us so I slept for a good amount of time in the car ride up. We got in kind of late so had some dinner and sat around drinking wine catching up with my friend who we all stayed with. She has a sweet apartment in Lincoln Park/ Rosco area. Her place is super cute!! She's so close to everything too cuz she's on Diversy and only about a mile from the lake.

So, I woke up early (naturally) Saturday morning and used my friends gym in her condo, which was sweet! I ran on the treadmill which I haven't done in like a year, I could run so much faster on the treadmill than I used to be able to! Fun! I only ran about 2 miles cuz my half marathon was the next morning. After a shower and waiting for everyone else to get ready we walked down about 1-2 blocks from the condo to this cafe called "Sweet Bean". I loved it!! Check it out!!

Yea don't know who that random guy is in the pic, but I wanted to get the store's name. Can you see how cute the Mocha is, they put a little flower in the froth!! They even have a Gelato stand, I had salmon on a whole wheat bagel, so delicious!! It's such a great little cafe, you can walk in and order to go like Starbucks, or stay and order in the sit down manor. To top things off, they threw in some free Gelato at the end of our meal!!

After breakfast had to stop off and pick up my bib and running packet for the race, check out the sweet backpack I got! That's one of my crazy cats, Cleo, she really loves bags, I think she wanted me to open it so she could climb in!

I then headed to Hub 51 with my sister to meet up with some friends and have a drink...

I just hung out with my sister and friends for the rest of the day, and relaxed didn't do much else, went out in the rain at one point, not a good idea... It was impossible to get a taxi that day due to soooooo many festivals! I had to stay in for the night to get enough sleep to get up early for the run!

You probably can't see the salt encrusted on my eye lids! It was a little humid that morning, but a great morning to run. The course was really quite nice, only 2 really large hill. I know I'm cheap I never by prints of my running, I think I look weird...

That was basically my Chicago weekend, it was fun! Sorry, I'm so behind on updating on posts!

Writer's block...

2010-06-17T20:48:00.000-05:00

So, I'm taking online classes right now for my doctorate and I only have 1 more assignment to complete for this summer class and I seriously can't figure out how to start writing this project. I just want to read people's blogs!! I also wouldn't mind taking a nap.... I was soooo tired at work today! Its hard sometimes to have the energy to talk with people who are more than likely going to be dying in the next couple of months. I currently work on the oncology floors at this hospital and it just gets depressing. I feel like I'm torturing people sometimes. When I say I'm from PT the patients sometimes reply "pain and torture?" Gah, I don't want to be the bad guy!! Once in awhile I have a few patients that love to get up and be physical cuz it means they can get home that much sooner. Sorry this is more of a vent post... moving on...

Anniversary

2010-06-16T17:38:00.000-05:00

Today is my 3 year wedding anniversary!! I love celebrating special occasions like these. My husband and I will be heading to the St. Louis Botanical Gardens this evening for some live music. I believe we'll be listening to a pianist Peter Martin which should be good. So, we're packing a little picnic of cheeses, meats, and some breads, along with a bottle of wine of course! I'm excited! I just got back from a run though and took a quick shower so now I have to get dressed and pack the picnic for the evening so I'll update more later. I have so many things I need to post!!

Versatile Blogger Award Continued...

2010-06-15T22:47:00.001-05:00

Ok, so I've compiled my list of blogs to pass the award onto to. I hope this helps spread the love and people will enjoy these blogs I found!

Lemons and Laundry

A Wedding Story

From my somewhat serious mind

A Rosy Outlook

Girl Inspired

It's Five O'Clock Somewhere

One Crazy Brunette Chick

Painting the Memories

The Good Girl Gone Blog

Fun and Fearless in Beantown

Green Beantown Girl

Beantown Prepster: Part Deux

Monograms and Manicures

Inspirational Me

Brunette on a Budget

The Versatile Blogger Award!!!

2010-06-14T15:44:00.000-05:00

I'm so excited to have won an award! The Versatile Blogger Award!

This is all thanks to my dear friend Tad (Tarryn) over on 2Bloggeristas.
Such a fun blog!
So, the rules:

Thank the person who gave you the award: Again, thank you girls of 2Bloggeristas!
Share seven (7) things about you See below...
Nominate fifteen (15) newly discovered blogs that you think are fantastic Gah, 15 is a lot, and I'm not sure if I can find 15 that haven't already been nominated, so I may have to do some searching... and update on this in a little bit...
Let your nominees know about the award (why wouldn't you tell them?!)

7 Things about me:

1. Most people don't know that I was home schooled up until my sophomore year of high school. (I hated high school, my town is so trashy I felt like such an outsider... probably why I enjoy the Jessica Darling series totally how I felt about high school). My family is not religious so not home schooled for that reason it was because my mother really didn't like any of the hick schools around us.

2. I really don't like reality TV by I am seriously obsessed with the Real Housewives of Bravo, especially the New York ladies. I began watching the drama from the very beginning with the cali girls! I love it!!! I don't know why, but it's awesome!

3. I play the violin, viola, and piano. I play weddings whenever they need me with my sister!

4. I can fly a plane! I have my private pilot's license. I'm not current right now cuz I've been so busy you have you fly every couple of months to stay current, but once you're a pilot, you're always a pilot. Its like riding a bike, right?!

5. I love animals, cats, dogs, birds, lizards, horses, etc... if I could have a farm I totally would. I've had so many pets in my life, lots of cats, some dogs, couple birds, couple lizards, some gerbils, some chickens, and even one time a goat (my mom's idea I think, she had to get rid of it though cuz it attracted a lot of horseflies). Right now I currently have 3 cats that I've technically rescued cuz I didn't buy them from a breeder or a pet store, rescued on the streets. I also rescued a dog from the humane society which is currently at my parents cuz she was a crazy pup, so trying to get her back cuz she's calmed down now.

6. I love cooking. I think if I could be in a completely different profession I would be a cook.

7. I love red wine! The more you drink wine the more you become a snob for good red wine. I'm always up for a wine tasting. My favorite cocktail is a dirty martini, I love the salty flavor of the green olives, highly recommend it if you are someone who likes salty foods.

Will follow up with my list of blogs!

Top 2 Tuesday!

2010-06-08T17:28:00.008-05:00

I'm trying to be more active in my blogging and connecting with other bloggers, so following my dear friend Tad over at 2Bloggeristas I'll be taking part in all these fun special days that she's discovering! So, to follow my top 2 favorite books.

This is hard, I love a lot of books! But here are the top picks that I can think of at this time.

First: Born to Run by Christopher McDougall. If you aren't a runner you will want to be a runner after you read this book. Its incredibly inspiring! I know that some reviews have said that its not the best advice for runners, but eh if this Christopher guy went through all the stuff he wrote about, it can't be that bad. Seriously its a great book, I enjoyed it!

Second: The Harry Potter Series by J.K. Rowling. I guess that's not 1 book, but seriously such a good series I could read them repeatedly, I think my favorite was the 4th book when everything got super dark. Its not just for kids. Love it!

Third: The Jessica Darling series by Megan McCafferty. I couldn't help it I love too many books so another series and I love it! I just relate to her for some reason, except for her relationship issues. She would have been in my high school class, and I would have totally have wanted her to be my best friend!

So, those are my picks for the day!

Day 1 of Detox and Renewal...

2010-06-07T18:43:00.008-05:00

So, today I started my guarantee to lose weight rather quickly diet but still be healthy. Its a diet that consists of mainly eating raw veggies and fruits (as much as you want) and fish and seafood (as much as you want). I think I'm only limited to 1 avocado per day, but eh I'll still be having some kind of fat, just trying to include only healthy ones.I started my morning by taking a liver shot as me and my mom call it. This shot consists of a tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil and lemon juice from half a fresh lemon. This is suppose to help your liver produce bile (I know gross right) but it helps to get rid of toxins that your body produces when you lose weight. I then proceeded to take a bunch of vitamins. Drank a glass of water with that and for breakfast had a glass of Naked Juices "Green Machine". Its so delicious and sooo good for you!

So, I started the morning out right, also had a cup of green tea in my super cute new travel mug that I got at this fun boutique in my home town.

It's such a cute mug and I think its made of porcelain so it just feels so nice! So, I had a pretty descent day at work, saw a lot of patients. I made one lady very happy because she finally got out of bed and into a wheelchair, with a good deal of help, due to her legs being paralyzed from cancer :( so that was kind of a highlight of my day!
I had a delicious lunch consisting of romaine lettuce, some arugula, cherry tomatoes, and avocado. I topped it off with this delicious salad dressing I got from Whole Foods. Its a new brand I haven't tried before and its really delicious!

I think I had the Organic Creamy Miso, so delicious and made with whole ingredients which makes it that much better for you.

I'm now so freaking hungry cuz I went for a 5 mile run in the heat! I haven't had anything to eat since my salad at lunch so now I gotta bug my husband hurry up and make some dinner or I'm gonna eat without him!

Return to Blogging

2010-06-02T23:05:00.006-05:00

It seems that blogging is like trying to keep a journal, I always seem to put it off and forget to keep up with it. I doubt anyone even reads this anymore, maybe I should change the lay out? Well, I've decided to return to blogging cuz I've become so inspired by reading my dear friend's blog as well as all these many other cute blogs I've found through her blog. http://2bloggeristas.blogspot.com/ so cute and fun!

Well, all sorts of things are inspiring me this week. I've been working on becoming a runner, well a better runner. I've been running for a few years, but I'm extremely slow! I participated in the St.Louis Half Marathon this past April. I'm already signed up for another one next weekend on the North Shore in Chicago.

So, as I was saying my husband also got me this fun item that has also for some reason inspired me to run. See, I haven't been the best at keeping with my training schedule. I'm a little inconsistent. I've gone way too many days without running that I'm not making much head way sometimes. It's also gotten super humid and hot here already, and I hate running in the heat. I would give running in the snow any day instead of the suffocating heat. I'm adjusting through. So, my husband Jeff got me this really cute "Life Is Good" mug that for some reason makes me have that feeling of "Gotta run!"

Mug from my Hubby

I guess that's weird, but whatever works right?! Sometimes when I've gone too many days without running I start dreaming about needing to do it, and actually running in my dream. I went for a run today and my legs felt like lead for some reason and the weather was actually kind of nice. I think I only went about 2 miles or so.

Well, more to come on bettering my fitness level.

Happy Hump Day!

2009-09-09T19:25:00.003-05:00

Well, I'm on to Day 3 of FLYLady. Its pretty simple, I'm kind of thinking of beginning Day 4 to get ahead! I still have a messy house, but my kitchen is clean! I still have a lot of work ahead of me with getting my shit together and Finally Loving Myself, which is what FLY stands for on FLYLady.

Well, I had a long day at work. I stayed too late! Its just so hard to get enough patients in when you only work 8 hours a day. There are too many patients and too many Doctors thinking that we need to see people stat! Usually not the case. Oh, and getting pooped on by patients that are returning to a nursing home, why did I have to evaluate them? I probably should of just skipped them cuz they were out of the hospital by the time I left form work. I've become so unfeeling at times when working in a huge hospital with soooo many different types of patient, probably due to the harsh reality of what really happens in health care. However, I still love my job, I did have a patient who was very excited that I got them walking today when they haven't walked in about 2 weeks because they were confined to their bed in the ICU! She even remembered who I was! That is very exciting when you work on the neuro floors and most people don't remember things after you leave the room.

Day 2 of FlyLady

2009-09-08T20:54:00.002-05:00

I think I forgot to put a link to this FlyLady site http://flylady.net/index.asp

So, Day 2 is just getting fully dressed for the day first thing in the morning. I pretty much have that one down because I have to work 5 days a week by 7 am so I'm dressed pretty quickly after I get out of bed. However, weekends are a different story, I like to stay in my pjs and robe and sit on the deck with breakfast. I can take 1 day off a week at least!

Well, I'm also suppose to keep my sink clean and shiny, and right now I have it all cleaned, the counters are cleared of dishes and are clean! So, doing well there! I just need to really get the rest of my house in shape, but that's why its baby steps!! Although, I do have a guest coming Saturday and I probably need to have things a little cleaner for when she comes.

Writing all this stuff in my blog, may not be that exciting but it does help me want to stay on track! I must be boring everyone though, especially if you are an organized tidy person, not like myself!

Baby steps: FLYLady

2009-09-07T16:45:00.003-05:00

So, I've decided to begin the "FlyLady" baby steps. Its suppose to be this really simple way of becoming more routine with organizing and getting your house in order. I'm not someone who was "born organized" as some people are (FlyLady calls them BOs). I wish I could have been born organized, because its hard to be and stay organized if you aren't.

So, day 1 is Shining my sink! I need o go do that right nowl

So, off I go now o shine the sink and start some dinner for this bbq I'm going to this evening!

Lazy Sunday

2009-09-06T14:35:00.003-05:00

I'm sitting at my parents' house playing on my computer, teaching my mom some fun tricks with her apple laptop. I know I've been so bad at updating lately, new things in my life is my awesome new patio dining table!

It doesn't have the umbrella since I don't need one because my back deck is covered by a roof. I wish I were black instead of the tan color that it is, but I figured I may just spray paint it black sometime. It really looks pretty good, especially considering the price I got it for, everything outdoors is on sale right now, if anything is left. It looks so much better on deck than what I had before. I had a bunch of those folding lawn chairs that you take for camping/outdoor events, and this table my husband made out of half a wood door that was rotting because it was water damaged.

I have to work tomorrow on Labor Day. Blah, not looking forward to it. I have to cover the Cardiopulmonary part of the hospital. I'm pretty sure it will be the ICU which isn't so bad, its just kind of a pain in the butt to get these people up because they have like 10 different lines you have to arrange and sometimes the nurses aren't always nice. Most of the nurses are nice and helpful and excited you are there to help, but others I don't know how they like their patient's handled so I'm hesitant to get them up so then I feel like I've missed a bunch of patients. But whatever, I'm going to have greek food for lunch! There is greek church right next to the hospital and they have a festival every labor day weekend. I'm going with a group of my co-workers to take a long break for lunch! Why not?! I know most people aren't going to want to do much tomorrow. I just hope there aren't very many people to see since it was a holiday weekend.

Back From Germany

2009-08-21T19:17:00.003-05:00

Well, I've been back from Germany since midnight this past Sunday. I've been so jet lagged and busy with work that I just today uploaded the pictures from my camera onto my computer. Here is one of my nearing the end of our trip at a festival in a small town, Wissenburg. The festival is 10 days long and way better than any oktoberfest we could ever try and pull off here.

Yes I am wearing a driendel which germans at the festival were actually wearing as well. It was sooooo much fun. I miss Germany already. My husband and I have decided that we must learn German so that we can move to either there or Switzerland to work because Europe is so much more our pace than any other place!

I miss the restaurants, the cafes, the breakfasts that are sooooo delicious, and I really miss the slow relaxed pace of it all. I could post more pictures but there are soooo many! We did so much! Maybe I'll write the highlights at some point. For now I need to get my husband off the couch away from video games to go make some dinner, I'm hungry!

Inspirational Women

2009-08-01T06:59:00.006-05:00

This lady is 83 years old and has been teaching yoga for 40 years! Wow, I totally want to be like that! I have so much work ahead of me, I don't even know how people do get that strong but I really want to be able to stand on my head!

I'm really looking forward to getting my yoga books in soon, I hope I get them in before I leave for Germany this Wednesday.

Other crazy inspirational women is the 88 y.o. mayor of Mississauga in Canada. She's been major for 31 years and the city doesn't have any debt. We need more people like her running things!

Count Down To Germany

2009-07-30T20:34:00.005-05:00

I am very excited because in less than a week I'll be in Germany!! We're leaving from Chicago on the 5th of August. I'm going with my entire family which means there will be 8 of us all together. It will be my family, my husband, and a family friend of ours. We'll be gone for about 10 days, very exciting. I'm very very excited about the vacay, I really need it this month has been so hectic at work. I've been so stressed about patients and doing well at my first official job and there have just been some bad patient situations that have happened and I'm ready to escape it for awhile and start anew. So, until we leave for the trip my goal is to get my house as organized as possible before we leave, which is really a lot of work and I have seriously been procrastinating, but hey guess what I got my freakin desk all tided and reorganized!! See!

Now I'll actually sit at my desk and maybe get some work done. I still have a lot more to do with my office, its really one of the worst rooms in the house because its got our mismatched furniture and stuff in it. I really would like to upgrade my desk to a more sophisticated grown up one, I guess right now its OK for it to be kind of girly and young. Oh well, until I have tons of money to go crazy redecorating my house I'll have to settle with what I've got. At least having my desk all cleaned is 1 step in the right direction of being more organized before I leave for Germany!

Enjoy your workout

2009-07-28T20:28:00.005-05:00

RAINY DAY & YOGA

I totally didn't get up early this morning to do Yoga, but I did do my favorite yoga routine today. I have this amazing workout dvd with 2 different yoga routines, The Joy of Yoga is the routine on the dvd I really love!
So, I did my yoga routine on my back deck with the rain pattering very peacefully around me. It was awesome! I even did some meditation/fell asleep for a few minutes. I really love yoga, its such the best workout. It involves strength, flexibility, and deep breathing, all amazing things for your body. It also is so calming and helps you be more in-tune with your own body.

I've decided that since I love yoga so much I'm going to become more focused on doing yoga and maybe advancing more with it. I was reading an interesting article about why people end up quitting a workout routine, and it made the point that you should enjoy your workout. if you aren't enjoying your workout then you are definitely not going to stick with it. So, I really started to realize what types of exercise I really enjoy doing and yoga and running are things I really do enjoy doing. Running is sometimes hard to get motivated about, but while I'm doing it, its such a satisfying feeling while you're running and afterwards.

I decided to buy 2 yoga books that look really great.

I just ordered them today, excited to get them in to start reading up on yoga practice. I know the yoga anatomy might freak some people out with the exposed muscles, muscles are like my bread and butter as a physical therapist. It looks like such a fun book for me!! Very excited to get it in, hopefully soon! I hope that I get them in before I leave for Germany a week from tomorrow, but we'll see how speedy the mail service is with amazon's free shipping.

So, figure out what kind of activity you really enjoy and focus on, here are some suggestions:

-Running outside (the gym can get so boring and expensive)

-Yoga (can do it anywhere really, just might want an extra mat when you are on wood floors)

-Hiking (always good for the calfs, quads, and helps with balance)

-Biking (amazing how many miles will zoom by on a good day!)

-Rock climbing (total body workout, start indoors, then maybe move to outside, I want to try it sometime soon)

-Swimming (very good cardio great for the summer)

-Boxing (helps get any pent of energy, especially anger!)

-Rowing (pack a picnic and relax on the water after working up a sweat)

-Skiing (water or snow, you'll be having fun without realizing your working out!)

-Tennis (just run for the ball even if you're not good at it fun to have another person to motivate you too)

-Soccer (just kicking a ball around with another person helps get the heart up and strengthens the legs)

Just a few suggestions, you'll have fun while doing something good for your body!

Natasha's Corner

Catching up....

Weekend Catchup, Oktoberfest

Day 4 and Shaved Duck

Warm Fall

October Day 2; Lazy Sunday

Crochet School

Almost October

It's OK Thursday

Long Weekend....

It's OK Thursday

Big news, and 100th post

It's OK Thursday

Home Practice- Yoga

Headstands and backbends

Lemon Meringue Pie

Lazy Saturdays and Breakfast

Thursday... It's OK

August Goals

Quote of the Day

Decisions...

Inspiration

Quote of The Week

More Free Time!!

My Goals...

Day 1 of the Challenge!

Journal Challenge

Focus

Catching Up...

Day 2

A Square a Day, Day 1

Royal Wedding Viewing Party

Yet another Return...

Growth and Self-Portrait

Catching up... Send some Letters

Day 3 and 4 of Journal Art

Day 2 of the New Year

New Year New Me

The Christmas Season is upon us!!

Lucky Fiona Giveaway

Sunny Champagne Giveaway...

Crazy cat people...

Case of the Mondays...

Coffee Mania!

Succeed

Happy Belated Halloween!!

New Location

Back in The Saddle Again (Blogging that is...)

Running Inspiration

Top 2 Tuesday

A Death in the Family

Drink of The Week

Hump Day

Gin & Bareit...

Mingle Monday

Black Dog Giveaway

*F*R*I*E*N*D*S*

Burned out

Need motivation

Getting to Know you Sunday

Happy 101 Award

Top 2 Tuesday

Seven Colors Award

Top 2 Tuesday

Ingredients

Directions

Peanut Butter and Chicken Noodles With Carrot and Cucumber Ribbons

Ingredients

Directions

Substance Award

TGIF!!

Versatile Blogger Award

Top 2 Tuesday: Top Purchases

Hot Monday

Flash from the past...

Early Morning Quote of the Day...

Amazing Weather!

Top 3 Thursday (Songs)

Early Morning Quote of the Day

Top 2 Tuesday... Deserted Island

FRIENDS