Catching up

It has been a busy couple of weeks. August 4-7, I left my two guys and went to a convention. It is for my mom's group, MOPS. MOPS stands for Mother's of Preschoolers and is for mom's who have kids from infants to Kindergartners. We meet once a month from September to May and there are outings throughout the summer. My friend who invited me to join the group also invited me to the convention. Her husband travels frequently, so the hotel room was free. I figured why not go and get away with my friend. The convention was in Nashville, TN and the Opryland Hotel, let me tell you, it is gorgeous! We didn't stay at the hotel, but our time spent there was fun. There were four general sessions with music and speakers and two breakout sessions. It was amazing to see all these women from all over the United Sates and 13 countries. I am glad I went, but I missed D & A terribly. I think four days away was a little much for the first time leaving, but I did it and everyone survived. I think it was good for me to leave and give D & A some time together and I know I returned refreshed and D & A were glad I was back home.

A milestone I missed was A walking for the first time. He was gradually taking steps before I left and sure enough Saturday he was walking. Fortunately, D caught it on tape and sent me the video. When I got home Sunday A got a huge smile on his face and walked to me. It was awesome! I can't believe this little person is growing and changing so much. It is amazing and humbling to be raising him and seeing all the progress he has made from being a tiny helpless blob dependent on you for everything, to slowly growing and testing the waters of independence. Now I know he's only 15 months, but before I know it, he'll be going off to school. I am getting all my cuddles in now because I know someday soon it will end and that makes me sad.

The following week was getting back into a routine and celebrating my mom's birthday. Her birthday was on Thursday, but we celebrated Friday. We went to the zoo and then I made her one of her favorite dinners, chicken enchiladas, Spanish rice and of course margaritas! Saturday we had date night and saw Harry Potter 7.2. It was good and I'm sad it is all over. Now the next big movie I'm looking forward to is Breaking Dawn, come on November 18th! Then Sunday we took A to his first Cleveland Indians game. It was great while it lasted, stupid rain! He had a lot of fun and I'm looking forward to the make up date to get the whole experience in.

While out shopping for my mom's birthday gift, I thought I should pick up a little something for myself. I needed a treat. The new fall OPI colors are out, have you seen them yet? I love them and had to restrain myself from only buying two. The collection is titled "Touring America," and has a bunch of fun colors. The two I got were "Honk If You Love OPI," a deep purple and "Get In The Expresso Lane," deep brown.

     

                                  
                   

Now I am not trying to rush fall, but I cannot wait to try out these colors. I feel like I need to wait until September though, so come September 1st, one of these colors will be on my nails.

Here's a look at the whole collection, which ones do you like?



Other than that, I've been getting back into reading. I have read four books in the past month and a half, Water for Elephants and The Hunger Games trilogy. All four books were great. I can't wait for WFE to come out on DVD, so I can see the movie and compare. HG is being made into movies, so I can't wait for them to come out. I am looking forward to discussing HG, with my online girls who have read it as well. Hopefully that will happen soon!

I am participating in a gift exchange with some of my fellow June 2009 brides, whom I consider friends, and my first package came today! I loved what was in it: my favorite candy, a new book and a special note that put a huge smile on my face. I was having a rough day and when the package arrived, it made everything better. So thank you to my Covert Cutie, I really needed this today!

Well I tried to put a picture in, but it is on my iPhone and I can't figure it out. I am technologically challenged. Here's pics of what I got:

               

I can't wait to read the book. Hope you are all doing well. Have a wonderful weekend!

June Already?

I can't believe the year is half over. How does time go by so fast? At the end of the month we'll have been married for two years! Not sure what we'll be doing on our anniversary but hopefully a vacation will be in our future. We haven't gone anywhere since our honeymoon, so I think we're due.

A lot has happened in the last month. I have walked faithfully at least four days a week and usually it is five. I am loving it! It is so nice that three days a week I have someone to walk with and then the other two days Ayden and I get out and walk. We have had a lot of rain lately so some days were a wash, but it looks like the weather is making a turn for the better. Hopefully the sun will keep shining and the weather will stay warm.

I have also been better at eating healthier foods. I am really trying not to bring junk food into the house and if I do want something I make sure to buy a small portion not a big bag of candy or cookies or whatever I may be craving. We have an East Coast Custard store at the end of our street. David and I have said if we want to go there, we will walk. I don't know how far it is but I'm guessing at least 3/4-1 mile. I am trying to get all the processed food out of our house and once it is gone I am going to start us on a healthy fresh food track. Now that it is summer, it should be easier to accomplish this with all the farmer's markets and fruit/veggies that are in season. I need to start cooking more meals at home. D is always asking when I'm going to start cooking, well D, it will begin soon! The payoff for all of this change? I've lost 4 pounds! I'll take it.

The other exciting thing is that this is our first month we will be trying for baby #2 again. I am nervous and excited and have a bunch of thoughts running through my mind. I'm trying not to stress about all the ifs, but its hard. I will just take one day at a time and put my faith in God that it will all work out the way it is supposed to.

I also had a birthday this week. Another year older and I am having a hard time with this one. I had a wonderful birthday weekend though. I got a mani and pedi, we went to the wineries with some friends, had dinner with my mom, grilled out and I got to sleep in on my birthday. That was heavenly! All in all, life is good and I'm ready to see what the month of June and the rest of the year will bring.

I Love Weekends!

I am so glad it's Saturday! This was a long, stressful and sad week. I am doing better, not great but better. I am on the mend and looking forward to family time this weekend. So why am I blogging at 11:45am on Saturday? David is at the dentist and Ayden is down for a nap. It is me time right now and right now I wanted to blog. We have a busy weekend. Today we will probably go to the park since the weather is going to be in the 60's. We have my cousin's Sweet 16 surprise party tonight. Tomorrow we are celebrating my brother-in-law's birthday too. I'm bummed I am going to miss out on the cake, but really isn't it about spending time with family? April is a month of celebrations for us and I am getting closer to being myself and feeling happy. I think I am getting close to sharing my story with you too. I already blogged about it, just haven't published it yet.

I hope you all have a great weekend!

I did it!

I got a couple things accomplished in the past couple of days. The phone interview went great and I have an in-person interview Tuesday! Whoo hoo, one step closer to my dream job. The woman I spoke with also told me there were hundreds of applicants which I figured and they were narrowing it down to the Top 10 and then the Top 2. So if nothing else, I made it to the Top 10 which I am pretty proud of.

The other thing I accomplished is getting a pair of jeans that fit in the size I currently am. I went to Old Navy to look at some clothes for Ayden and figured why not look for jeans. I tried a couple pairs on and found a perfect fit length wise. I got their Flirt style and am happy with them. Hopefully they'll wash well and still fit the way they did in the store. It feels so nice to have a pair of jeans I like and fit well. Hopefully soon I will be back in my regular size and be able to fit in my favorite jeans.

It is almost the weekend ladies!

Happy Friday!

This week seems to be dragging, so I am glad it is Friday. We have no real plans this weekend either which is nice. I think my one friend is coming in to town and she hasn't met Ayden yet, so it will be nice to see her and catch up. Other than that, I hope to clean the house and do some laundry. Hope you all have a great weekend!

Being sick stinks!

I hate being sick. It is the worst. I caught a stomach bug on Monday and Thursday was the first day I felt 100%. So my plan of exercising consistently beginning this week was shot. I finally did the treadmill today and it felt great! I didn't realize how much I missed it. I did lose .4 pounds though. It is only a little bit but every little bit counts.

Favorite Christmas Gift

I asked for a Clarisonic for Christmas and got it from my Mom. She is the best and I love it! I've used it since January 1st and have noticed such an improvement to my skin. It feels cleaner and softer. David noticed how good my skin looks. I look forward to washing my face and haven't skipped a day. I'm glad I can use my cleanser with it too since my skin is so sensitive and breaks out at the slightest change in routine. Here's a couple pictures, I highly recommend this product!