Remember this post I made waaaaaaaaay back in March? It was the post where you committed to making some homemade gifts by the end of the year for the first 3 people who commented on that post. In return then they promised to post the same thing on their blog.
Yeah I just remembered about it tonight. Only like 21 days before the end of the year. Needless to say, dear 3 people who commented on my blog for it can I get an extended deadline and re-commit to have it by February of 2010? Please? Christmas+retail management=no free time, unless I get unexpected snow days (like the last two days...but that's besides the point).
So October 9-11 Brian and I spent a few days visiting good old Cedar City, UT. It was so amazing to see all of my friends again. It's hard living in Wisconsin because I really don't have any friends here, minus the dear boyfriend, and I miss having girl time with the girls.
We flew into Las Vegas super early Friday morning, got our rental car, and headed off to Utah. We made a pit stop in Mesquite, NV to grab lunch (Del Taco woo woo), and I decided I'm going to move there someday. This was also Brian's first introduction to seeing a mormon church on every corner and I think it weirded him out a bit. When we got to Utah and crossed the border I started to get super excited, and once we got close to Cedar I started freaking out!
We checked into the lovely Hampton Inn, only to learn it was also the weekend of the High School Shakespear Competition. Needless to say, our hotel was overrun by high schoolers, as was the majority of the city. I always hated this weekend when I lived in town. Poor Brian, I wouldn't let him rest because I immediately made him come with me to visit Bulloch Drug (I worked there for 3 years). I got to see a lot of my favorite people, and I got some chocolate covered cinnamon bears (the one candy I can't find in WI, also I can't find uncooked tortillas, but I digress...). Then we went and surprised Cami at work!! She didn't know we were going to stop by, and I made Brian go in first and I hid behind him. She freaked out when she saw me, and we spent a few hours at the music store catching up. That night the three of us went to the Pizza Factory for dinner, and then Brian was nice enough to let Cami and me have a girls night. We watched Mamma Mia, colored, drank fuzzies from Brad's Food Hut, and ate chococlate covered cinnamon bears. It was totally what I needed, and just spending the few hours with her made me feel like my old self!
The next day Brian and I went up Cedar Mountain and drove to Cedar Breaks. It was gorgeous and windy! We took a lot of pictures, so here is a small sampling of some of my favorites:
Snow! I got to see snow! I love snow!
We also drove to one of the lookouts, and there were chairs randomly set up with an aisle between them leading to the edge of the outlook. We concluded it was either a wedding (hence the aisle) or people scattering someone's ashes since it was a super windy day and a lot of the arriving guests were wearing black. While at this lookout a nice man took pity on my bad self-portrait skills and took a picture of us together. I adore this picture, and it really is my favorite picture of Brian and me ever.
I really miss having mountains in my backyard, but I do suppose living in the flatland makes me appreciate them more when I am able to see them. My one regret while being in Utah again was not making the time to go hiking in Zion National Park. I suppose though a full on Utah trip is now in order so that I can get everything done that I want to do!
I'll continue with part two of our Utah trip tomorrow so y'all better be excited for that!
Holy cow I can't believe it's been two months since I last blogged. I kind of got out of the blogging mood so that explains the update. I still have to blog about my awesome trip to Utah and Vegas, but that I will save for another time.
Life for me is going well, but work is crazy as we're gearing up for Holiday 2009! Woo woo! Ok not so much. I wouldn't mind work so much if people were in better moods and I didn't always feel like an idiot when I'm there. I'll learn to deal with it though. I do have an application in for a job I really want, but I won't jinx it by saying what it is. Needless to say, if I were to get it I would be the happiest girl alive! There are some fun things in the future for the Gap and Gap Kids so keep your eyes peeled for some pretty sweet sales and other fun things.
My mom had her surgery at the beginning of last month and her vision is back to normal, minus the fact she needs a new perscription for her glasses. I'm so glad she can see again because she is definitely back to her more cheery self. I seriously wouldn't know what I would do without my mom seeing as she really is my best friend.
Other than that I just get to hang out with Brian a lot, which is super fantastic! We're still watching all of the seasons of the West Wing, and we've managed to make it to Season 3 in the 15 months we've been dating, but really it's a great show :)
Sorry this update was really pointless but I just wanted to let whomever reads this blog know that I wasn't dead yet :)
So needless to say, the bikini I posted about months ago will definitely not be on my body in October for my Utah/Vegas trip. I haven't lost a single pound all summer, which totally bums me out. I have changed my eating habits majorly towards the healthy side (for the most part), so despite not losing any weight I do feel that I made some progress.
Seeing as I really dislike my old bathing suit (moreso because an ex-boyfriend picked it out for HOPE tour, which I never wore on HOPE tour) I really needed to find a new one. The ones that I found left in the stores around here were either really skanky, or really grandmaish. While I was up late one night I remembered how cute the swimsuits were at Christensens in Cedar City, and so I looked at a few websites and finally found a cute new tankini! It was a splurge at 70 dollars, but I found a 25% off coupon at retailmenot.com (best site for online coupons!!!), so in the end I didn't feel too guilty about it. And since I know you're all curious now, this is my super cute new swimsuit!
It's black and white gingham with little red (or pink, I can't really tell) roses. It's also a halter top that ties in the back with a big bow, and I love that the straps are so thick. It's rouched on the sides so I'm hoping that will make me look thinner ha ha, and I am super in love with it. Hopefully it will come soon, and hopefully it will fit! Thanks to Layers Clothing for making fun swimsuits, and for the picture that I used for this post :)
So this post is being written only two weeks post-trip, but at least I'm finally getting around to writing it. Two weeks ago Brian and I took a road trip to St. Louis for his cousin's wedding. It was such a fun trip! We drove in my car, and my goal was to stay awake for the entire car ride since I am notorious for falling asleep really easily while riding in a car. Towards the last few hours of the trip I had to find ways to occupy myself beyond reading Cosmo (side note I was so disappointed to see how sexually focused that magazine was until I tried finding a worthy article to read and discuss with Brian! They were all about sexual things, so needless to say no worthy articles were found), doing crossword puzzles, and finding hidden words in word searches. I then came up with the brilliant game of Cruiser Bruiser! Basically the first person to find a PT Cruiser got to playfully hit (obviously we're not violent people or anything ha ha) the other person. I dominated at the game, but Brian says that it's an unfair game to the person who is driving. I say he just doesn't like to lose.
Upon arriving to St. Louis we stopped off at Union Station for food! Union Station is a really neat place that is a collection of a hotel and a ton of restaurants with like a little pond surrounding it that you can enjoy. We chose the Hard Rock Cafe for food, and it was delicious. Here are a few pictures of Union Station for you to enjoy:
Obligatory "self-portrait" that I take everywhere we go:
Once we checked into the hotel (Brian's parents were nice enough to let us stay in a Suite with them, so in the end I got to be roommates with Brian's sister Jenny) we found that Brian's family was all congregating in the hotel's lobby. I got to meet a majority of the people I had never met before, and it was fun to do so since my family is so small and Brian's is so large.
The next day was his cousin's wedding, and it was held in the church on St. Louis University's campus. It was a gorgeous church, and a great ceremony. They tied in some cool and unique traditions that I think have a Spanish background. I know I'm not a great photographer, but here is a picture of the outside of the church:
Here is another obligatory "self-portrait" of Brian and I waiting outside of the church between the ceremony and the reception:
The reception was held in the basement of the church. Now I was curious as to what that would be like since usually church basements are dark and drab and very cement like. This church basement however was GORGEOUS. It was made to hold receptions and it was very well lit and bright and just awesome. It was a good time, and I even made Brian slow dance with me once. After the reception was over we went back to the hotel and ordered a pizza and played Phase 10 with Brian's cousin Rob and his wife Anna.
On Sunday we trekked our way back to Wisconsin, and stopped off somewhere in Illinois to mini-golf and ride go-karts. It was so fun to mini-golf and I only lost by 2 strokes! The go-karts were fun too, but Brian kept getting bumped and turned around by some jerk so that was not to great. I'm just glad I was tall enough to ride them :)
All in all it was a great trip, and I can't wait for our next vacation to Utah/Las Vegas!!!
Yesterday was Brian's and my one year anniversary of dating. It's been the best year of my life, and in some ways I can't believe it's only been a year that I've known him, and in other ways it seems like it's been forever (in a good way ha ha).
We had originally tossed around the idea of going out of town for a night or two, but seeing as we're going to St. Louis next weekend and that Brian's friend from Florida would be in town this weekend, we scrapped that idea. We ended up having a great day and it was the best 12-month-a-versary ever.
First Brian was out by me visiting some clients of his in the mental hospital, and surprised me by saying he was free for lunch! I let him choose between Pizza Hut (one of his favs) and Mexican food (which Brian loves, but its one of those things I'll eat, but it's not something I crave or anything). He chose Pizza Hut and so we went and had the podunkiest buffet ever...which is sad since we've had some Pizza Hut buffets in some pretty podunky towns in Northern, WI. It was still fun cause really I enjoy any time spent with him.
In the afternoon he had to go back to work, and I ran errands around town. When I got home there was a ginormous box on my porch addressed to me! I love getting mail of any sorts, but seeing as this was a giant box I was extra curious. Upon opening the box I found these:
I was extremely shocked that Brian sent me flowers!! Not only that but they're my favorite flowers in my favorite colors. I was so surprised and happy I cried. I took this picture right when I took them out of the box so it doesn't do them justice at all. After being in water for a few hours, plus my mom doing her expert arranging, they looked much better.
Brian told me that we had dinner plans that night but wouldn't tell me to where. I got all cute and dressed up, and mi madre wanted to take a picture of me dressed up with my flowers, so here you go on the picture of that cause I really like this picture ha ha (I'm so vain):
We ended up going to dinner at The Melting Pot, which really was awesome! We had the three course meal with a mexican cheese fondue, a wine based fondue meat course, and then a chocolate crunchy peanut butter dessert fondue. It was so yummy, minus the fact that I tried lobster for the first time and I wasn't a fan (side note, in the span of a week I tried crab legs, duck, and lobster for the first time and hated them all, but at least I tried). We kept laughing because the people in a booth near us talked the whole time about how their waitress had so many similiarities with a soap opera tv character, and literally talked about soaps and the soap network the whole time.
Here are a few pictures I took during the meal. The first one is of the aftermath after we ate all the meat, but you can see the creepy lobster tail shell that the lobster was served on. I made Brian turn it over at one point so I could see the underside, and it creeped me out so bad I almost threw up ha ha. I know its a pointless picture, but I think its fun for posterity's sake.
The second is an attempt at a self portrait that I cut myself out of...but I think Brian looks cute with his cheesy smile so here you go.
It was a great night, and a great way to celebrate the past year. I'm so happy and grateful to be with Brian, and he constantly makes me feel like the luckiest girl alive. He's awesome, and I'm so proud of all that he's accomplished with his law business and other things. Yup, I say these things a lot, but it's only because I mean them and I can hardly believe how wonderful life is sometimes.
So like two posts ago I said I was going back to school in the fall, and unfortunately that isn't the case anymore. I didn't get any federal financial aid due to the fact I already have 2 bachelor degrees and very little assets. I would have to take out $60,000 in private loans to pay my tuition for the 3 years, and after factoring in interest (for a grand sum of $50,000) I would then be over $100,000 in debt. So, I decided that it wasn't really worth 100 grand to get the dietetics certificate, especially when the ADA is considering requiring you to have a masters degree before taking the RD exam.
Someone told me today that I should just be grateful I am able to live the life I have and that I'm healthy, not living off the government and food stamps like so many unemployed/underemployed people, and I have a family and boyfriend that love me. I have to agree with that, so for now I'm going to be grateful for all I do have.
So I posted this on facebook, but I have 30% off coupons for the Gap/Baby Gap/Gap Kids/Banana Republic/Old Navy/Piperlime. It is our friends and family sale at the company, and 5% of the proceeds go to the employees charity of choice. The charity I chose was Feeding America, which "provides low-income individuals and families with the fuel to survive and even thrive. As the nation's largest domestic hunger-relief charity, our network members supply food to more than 25 million Americans each year, including 9 million children and 3 million seniors. Serving the entire United States, more than 200 member food banks operate 63,000 agencies that address hunger in all of its forms." So not only are you buying great clothes for you and your kids, you're also helping people all across the US!
If you want one of these fabulous coupons (delivered via e-mail) please leave me a comment with your e-mail so I can send you one. The coupon is good for July 30-August 2, and there are already tons of fall clothes to purchase for when the weather gets cooler! Oh and you can use the coupon online or in the store or at the Gap or Banana Republic outlet.
I keep forgetting to blog about some sort of big news! As of August 31st I will be a college student once more! I mean having 2 bachelor of science degrees just wasn't enough for me. I am going to be in a post bachelors certificate program in dietetics at Mount Mary College. I am so excited because although it means I'll be in school for forever, at the end I can take the RD exam and then become a Registered Dietitian, which is pretty much my dream job. I am stoked, and I'm also very grateful for Brian who is totally supportive of this. He thinks he'll get more work done now, but little does he know that my school being less than 30 blocks away from his office means I'll be using his conference room as my own personal library. Just kidding babe...or am I? I feel grateful that I have such a great college nearby that I can attend, as Mount Mary has a reputation of being an amazing school. In retrospect I should have listened to my mother who told me to go there when I was 18, but hey I needed to get out of Wisconsin to experience life.
Mount Mary is a small catholic women's college in Milwaukee, and it actually is a pretty campus. The best part is the mascot...first I was a Viterbo Hawk (a v-hawk if you will), then I was a Thunderbird at SUU and now I am a Blue Angel (and no, not like the airplane, we're talking real angels). Hell yeah, best mascot ever. I couldn't find a picture online besides this one of the logo but seriously you all need to just sit there and laugh about the fact I will be a Blue Angel.
(courtesy of the Mount Mary Website).
Anyway, it will be interesting to see how this adventure will go. My first semester I have 12 credits, which is the smallest course load I have ever taken. I'll have:
-The Profession of Dietetics -Principles of Management -Organic and Biochemistry (ok let's talk about how at SUU you have to take 2 semesters of O-chem to take the one semester of bio chem, and at Mount Mary it's all only one semester ha ha, well unless you want to go onto grad school). -Yoga (I have to be full time and my required classes only equal 8 credits) -Spanish 101 (again, I had 3 free credits and I figured it probably is in my best interest job wise to learn spanish)
It should be exciting to see how this all plays out, but my goal is to get a 4.0! I'm seriously hoping that my trip to vegas/utah for a week in October won't affect my classes that much, but I suppose I'll cross that bridge when I come to it.
Ashley tagged me to do this, so here I am doing it :)
Here's what you do: Go to google.com, then type in "... needs". That means I typed in "Stacey needs". Then you post the first 5 things that pop up! Here's what I need:
1. "Stacey needs...to be amongst people of her own age, and to be stimulated (this can be taken a couple of different ways...)." this is kind of scandalous I think... 2. "Stacey needs...someone she can rely on" I already have people I can rely on! thank goodness! 3. "Stacey needs...to bake her daughter a cake". I always knew I had illegitimate children somewhere... 4. "Stacey needs...you help to fulfil her Olympic dream" Yes! I'm going to be a gold medal ping pong player! Or rhythmic gymnast! 5. "Stacey Needs...is on facebook" man I feel bad for the Stacey Needs who gets googled a lot from this tag...poor thing.
Now... time to find out what you need! I tag anyone who wants to do it!
Yesterday I spent the 4th of July at a wedding with Brian. His best friend Mike's little sister Amanda got married. It was way fun, and I finally got to hear Brian play his trumpet! He's an amazing trumpeter, and yesterday he played in a song or two for the wedding ceremony. I want to learn how to play the trumpet now too, and I'm going to convince him to teach me how.
We had fun at the reception dancing a bit(it was the first time we really slow danced together, minus like dancing in the kitchen or what not), and I decided my favorite part of weddings is just people watching :). We left early, and I'm glad we did because we got to see some fireworks over the tree tops! I was so worried that we wouldn't get to see fireworks on the 4th of July. We then drove back to the hotel and then walked to applebees for some drinks, and I got a super yummy daquiri that was in a ginormous glass as big as my head! It was a really fun night, and I can't wait to go to St. Louis in a few weeks for Brian's cousin's wedding. It is destined to be good times indeed! Plus I love the getting dressed up aspect of weddings, so that's definitely another perk of having a bunch of weddings to go to this summer.
Here's a fun picture I took of Brian and I at the reception, really showing off our personalities.
So I posted a while ago about a goal bikini I wanted to fit into, which hasn't really been the motivation I needed since I won't get to wear it for a long time and even then only once or twice. So I decided to get a goal shirt to wear by the time Lindsey and Steve get here in August. Not that they care what I wear, but it's an 8 week or so goal, and I like smaller goals I've realized.
Here is the cute shirt I'm going to go buy tomorrow that I want to fit into. And for once it's not from the Gap because if I spend 9 dollars on a shirt like they usually cost after my discount it's not motivation because I always think "hey it was only 9 dollars, who cares if I don't fit into it".
Hopefully I can do it! I'm totally motivated after feeling like crap the past few days (which is weird cause I actually ate pretty healthy). I have made this same post 500 times over the past year, but hopefully this is the last time I have to make it ha ha.
Today, as Cami so awesomely reminded me today, I became an official menace to society seeing that I am 25 and unmarried. When i was born, way back in 1984, there was a tornado in Wisconsin that destroyed an entire town in the state. Well as a result, when I was little my mom called me her little tornado. If you remember from previous blog posts, last year on my birthday the entire state was in a state of flooding, including having dams burst and entire lakes drained. Well this year, was no exception to the natural disaster pattern, as there were tornado warnings (but no actual touch-downs), lots of rain and thunder and lighting, and some hail. As a result, I've had the Plain White T's song "Natural Disaster" in my head all day, which is where the title of this post comes from.
I had an amazing birthday and got to hang out with my 3 favorite people. My mom surprised me this morning and said she took the day off so we can go shopping (our favorite past time) and what not. We went to the Cheesecake factory for lunch, and after lunch we went and returned a lot of stuff that has been waiting to be taken back and bought birthday presents for everyone else who has birthdays this week (since my birthday is the first out of 5). Then for dinner my parents, Brian, and I went to the Texas Roadhouse. It was super yummy and I love how unawkward it is (at least for me haha Brian might say otherwise) when it is my parents and Brian and I. We then had cake and ice cream at my house, and it was the same exact cake I had last year, just a different color. Haha what can I say, I know what I like!
I hadn't really known what I wanted for my birthday, but I just assumed it was going to be my tickets to Vegas in October, since my mom told me she'd buy them for me as my birthday present. Well I also was surprise with a new camera! My last camera was stolen by a former roommate and/or one of her friends, and so I was excited to get a new one. It's a coolpix camera that is seen in the commercials with Ashton Kutcher where it has a touch screen and stuff. I love it, and I also got some switchflop straps, and some lottery tickets (I won 13 bucks, woo hoo!) from my parents. Brian's parents gave me a gift card to Maggie Moo's ice cream shop and some earrings, and Brian, despite thinking they're creepy, gave me a Willow Tree statue :) We decided not to do the whole major gift thing and save our money seeing as our birthdays are so close together and we're going to Vegas in the fall. I'd much rather see a show or have extra gambling money to win big with ha ha. I'm such a lucky girl and without further ado, here are some cute pictures I took with my new camera (oh, disclaimer, I had spent tons of time on my hair this morning but the rain kind of ruined it so thats why I look like a disheveled homeless person):
Here are my cute parents at the restaurant, notice my moms awesome eye patch. She rocks :) Here is Brian and I at the restaurant:
This is me with my super awesome cake:
and me licking my super awesome cake. Notice Brian looking at me like I'm crazy...I get that look a lot ;):
Tonight was the first really warm night in almost a month or so (it was 75, still not June weather, but considering last year the whole state was flooded, I'll take the cooler weather over that) and I really wanted to do something outside. A cool thing that happens in our area is a lot of churches throw festivals to raise money for their parishes. The biggest one in the area happened this weekend, and Brian and I decided to go. Well after driving around for forever, and finally finding a spot, we got there, and left like 2 minutes later. The line for food was literally a good 100 people long and we were starving!
We decided to go down to Miller Park because at the Brewer's stadium is a TGI Fridays that is open all year round. We had yummy food, and after we were done we noticed that there was a little league game going on at Helfaer Field (the little league baseball park that is also on the Miller Park complex). So, seeing that we didn't have any other plans, we decided to watch a little league game since it's free. We had no clue where the teams were from but one team was the Lazers and the other was the Crusaders. They were teams made up of 5th graders, and it was a really great time. The Lazers played dirty though and they stole bases pretty much anytime any one of their players made it on base. A kid even stole home once, which I didn't even know was legal, but it is. In the end, my team (the Crusaders) lost 10-12, but it was a really really fun night. I even snapped a few pictures with my blackberry to share with y'all. Oh and I decided someday when I get married I want to have my reception at Helfaer field because then we can play baseball brides family vs. grooms family and inside the building that comprises the front of Helfaer field there is a room to like house the reception part in case of inclement weather! It's totally my plan, a big huge BBQ complete with hotdogs and sno-cones, and baseball cupcakes. Best wedding ever!
This is a classic self-portrait of Brian and me that I make him do wherever we go:
A picture of the building that makes up the front of the field:
And lastly, a picture of how cool the field looks with Miller Park behind it:
I'm not going to lie, I really like playing my wii, and Brian and I play wii regularly. So when new things and new games come out I always want to buy them, but I refrain cause they're so expensive. We bought a Wii fit last summer and it was fun for a while, but I never found that it was much of a work out because you would always have to stop between things, and the exercises they do have got kind of boring after a while. When the EA Active game set came out I was intrigued, but I wasn't planning on getting it because I figured it was just another Wii fit type thing. Well today we happened to come across one at Sears, so we grabbed it and decided to bring it home, read some reviews online, and then decide if we wanted to open it. The reviews pretty much averaged out to be an 8.5 out of 10, and mostly the reviews gave it lower points not for content, but for the music and graphics.
I decided to keep it, and I am so glad I did! It really is quite a work out and that was on the easiest level. There is a 30 day fitness challenge and today I did the first day. It was full of boxing, running, walking, bicep curls (you use resistance bands for this), inline skating using the wii fit board, and lunges. It repeated each exercise at least twice and it was a nice little work out. I also really like how it seamlessly goes from one exercise to the other without you making choose what you want to do next. Although you can create custom workouts if you wanted. I would definitely do some cardio on my own because the running and walking isn't the greatest on here, but really how much can running and walking in place really do for you. I also wish that it had a weigh in feature like on Wii fit, but seeing that you don't have to have the wii fit balance board to use this program, I guess they didn't make it an option. Good thing I weigh myself regularly anyway :) I highly recommend this to anyone who has a Wii and is working on their fitness :)
So at about 6:11 pm this evening I get a phone call from the loverly boyfriend I have. It took me off guard because I was just texting him and he was texting me back, but I answer it. As it turned out, his Aunt and Uncle had two extra tickets to tonights Brewers game. (PS Heidi, to answer your last comment, I am a HUGE baseball/football fan. I grew up watching the Brewers and the Packers!) Well, the game started at 7, I live at least 30 minutes from the stadium on a good traffic day, on game days, it could take upwards of an hour and fifteen minutes, so it was going to take a lot of speediness to get there on time.
We did indeed miss the first inning and a half, but the seats we had were amazing! There are 4 levels to Miller Park, and we were in the second row of the second level just to the left of home plate. We were so close you could totally see like the players faces and what not. In fact, here is a picture I took with my blackberry cause we had such a great view:
Well Brian and I were tossing around the idea that we totally could catch a foul ball and I was talking all tough how I'd be able to grab it. Needless to say, Craig Counsell hit a foul ball and it was coming right to us. What did I do? I totally ducked! Luckily for me, Brian tried to catch the ball and sadly it bounced off of his hand and into a few rows behind us. Had he not done that, I totally would have gotten nailed in the head. I'm so very grateful he saved me, yet again. I felt bad though cause not only did we not get the ball, but his hand was slightly swollen and bruised!
In true Brewer fashion they lost 8-1 to the Cardinals :( but at least we had a good time!
This weekend, as everyone is well aware, was Memorial Day. I didn't really have any set plans, but it ended up being a very amazingly awesome and jam-packed weekend!
Friday: For a majority of the week prior to Friday, Brian had told me that we were going to go to a surprise dinner on Friday night, I just was to dress up more than usual for our dinner dates. I was super excited all week, and finally friday rolled around. Brian took me to dinner at this super yummy and cute place called Maggianos. It's an italian restaurant, and we got to enjoy warm bread with oil for dipping, a pizza like appetizer, and yummy stuffed shells for dinner. It was romantic and cozy and perfect! Afterwards we went back to Brian's house and just enjoyed the rest of the night eating Maggie Moo ice cream and watching the West Wing (obviously we enjoy the simple things in life ha ha).
Saturday: Saturday was another fun yet low key night. It was our 10-month-a-versary, and I surprised Brian with a gift bag full of my 10 favorite things about him (ex: I gave him a baseball because I love that he supports my fitness goals, and because I almost threw his ball into the river the other day). We went to Stonefire Pizza for dinner, which as I have talked about before, is just an upscale Chuck-E-Cheese. We enjoy it because they have a sports area just for adults that broadcasts various sporting events, and their buffet is full of pizza, dessert, pasta, salad, fruit, etc. We watched the Brewers lose (big surprise, they lost 3 in a row to the Twins) and then just relaxed the rest of the night.
Sunday: On sunday morning we went to Mass, which was good because I hadn't been since Lent started way back like early March. We spent the evening hanging out with my parents, my brother, his girlfriend. We watched the Brewers lose yet another game to the Twins, and that was pretty much the extent of the day.
Monday: Brian happens to play trumpet in one of the local community bands, and they were performing in a Memorial Day Celebration type thing. I have yet to hear Brian play the trumpet, so I went to his concert in the morning, and he played amazingly well! Then afterwards we went to the Brewers game and they beat the Cardnials in extra innings! We were in the shade and it was freezing, but it was fun nonetheless! We went with his friend Mike's family, and it was fun to be able to hang out with Brian's best friend since he lives in Illinois. After the game we went back to my house and Brian and I played catch for a while, until he threw a ball so hard it made my hand swell and bruise. A little while later we met up with another friend of Brian's who was in town for the weekend, and got yummy ice cream!
I know this is fairly boring for everyone but I wanted to write about what we did for my own sake. I'm sure someday I'll want to look back and remember what I did on this Memorial Day ha ha!
It's been forever since I posted because I haven't had a lot to say. Mostly I've just been working and spending time doing fun things with Brian. I did apply to Mount Mary College to start school again in the fall to take the courses I need to get my bachelor of dietetics (because really the two bachelor degrees I do have aren't doing much for me ha ha), which means I can take the RD exam and become a Registered Dietitian. I hope I get into the program, if not well I'll figure something else out school wise.
I joined the biggest loser club online, and so far I've lost like 3 pounds. Only like 38 more to go! My goal is to lose 10 by June 13th so I can wear a cute dress to a wedding I'm going to, so I hope i can make it! I also gave up caffeine and soda (not for good but I was drinking too much caffeinated soda so I decided to go cold turkey for a few weeks and then have it occasionally, but definitely not every day). I haven't had any caffeine for 4 days ha ha, which is pretty dang good for me.
Other than that Brian and I have been having lots of fun doing lots of random things! We've gotten to go to a few Brewers games, and I have a few pictures from them I thought I would post.
This first one is of Mike (Brian's best friend), Brian, and myself at the Brewers vs. Cubs game. It was a fun game complete with a power outage and lots of home runs. They won like 9 to 6.
This second one is from the first game we went to, and I can't remember who they played, but they sure did lose that game.
I just wanted to say thank-you to everyone who kept my family in their prayers lately. I'm so grateful for all of you and I appreciate you all so much! My mom finally got a diagnosis from the doctors, and she did indeed have a stroke. It was the kind caused from a blood clot, and not the bleeding kind, which apparently is a good thing. There was a clot in her Pons which is part of the brain stem which accounts for the numbness and mobility issues she has been having, as well as in her occular part of the brain (which accounts for the vision problems). The doctors now need to figure out why she had 2 blood clots travel to her brain since she doesn't possess a single lifestyle or any other factor that causes strokes to begin with!
What scares me is that they really can't do anything about it except physical and occular therapy, and she's supposed to take one baby asprin a day. I am so scared that she will have another blood clot travel to her brain and that it will be worse than this has been. Although I suppose I should trust the doctors when they say that she will be ok, that's why they're the doctors right? :) I mean hey I didn't go to medical school, and my extent of knowledge is what I learned in Clinical Neuropsychology many moons ago (and lets be honest, the biggest thing I remember about that class is the jello brain mold we had to eat) and what I've read on the internet! :)
Teenie-weenie, aqua polka dot bikini! And it is in fact my "goal bikini", as in it is going to be what I'm proudly wearing pool-side come October when I go to Vegas. That is hoping that it's warm enough to wear outside in vegas, if not, well our hotel in Cedar City has a pool. I got a great deal on it at Old Navy thanks to my rockin' employee discount. Now I just have to get my butt into gear to wear this:
with this as a cover up, but in white not black:
I've also been reading the funniest book called "Skinny Bitch: a no-nonsense tough-love guide for savvy girls who want to stop eating crap and start looking fabulous!" by Rory Freedman and Kim Barnouin. I'm only on the first chapter but I already have a ton of quotes from this book that I love. My favorite so far is: "Soda is liquid Satan...now don't go patting yourself on the back if you drink diet soda. That stuff is even worse...when methyl alcohol, a component of aspartame, enters your body, it turns to formaldehyde. Formaldehyde is toxic and carcinogenic. Laboratory scientists use formaldehyde has a disinfectant or preservative. They don't fucking drink it. Perhaps you have a lumpy ass because you are preserving your fat cells with diet soda." Now I'm not sure if this is really true, and I'm going to dive into my advanced nutrition book to research this, but it's totally funny nonetheless. No wonder I have so much cellulite, I mean i'm preserving it all by the amount of diet coke I drink :)
I am so not tired right now, even though I should be going to bed since I have to drive my mom to work in the super early morning. I had been tagged for this survey a while ago so I decided to do it, and let me just say it's about my favorite topic EVER, the hottie hot boyfriend Brian! I hope he doesn't mind me doing this, if he does, too bad! It's my blog after all :)
1.) Your names: Stacey Beth and Brian Christopher
2.) How long have you been together?: It will be 9 months on Thursday
3.) Are you married?: Uh that is a definite no, but that is totally fine :) I am having a BLAST dating him! It is so relaxing to date outside of Utah where there is no pressure to get married!!!
4.) What's the dumbest thing you've ever fought about?: Um...haha we've fought over bowling...actually that was probably our biggest "fight". Though it is a little more complex than just bowling.
5.) What was the first thing you bought for each other?: He bought me a smoothie, and I bought him a frosty a few days later.
6.) Where was your first date?: The coffee shop by my house that I still don't know the name of.
7.) What was the first movie you watched together?: Our second date was to the Dark Knight.
8.) Do you remember your first kiss?: Oh like I can forget this. Brian tried to kiss me on my doorstep after our second date, but me, being the ditzy girl I am, turned my head before I realized he was trying to kiss me. Don't worry, I made up for it the next day and kissed him while at his office :) However he'll never let me forget the fact I turned my head and he thought he ruined his chances with me.
9.) Who asked who out?: I can't remember, I think Brian asked me out though.
10.) Was it love at first sight?: I don't believe in love at first sight. Hello, it's called lust not love.
11.) Do you believe you are soul mates?: Yeah I do!
12.) When was the last time you saw each other?: Today, we went to Madison with his family to go out to lunch to celebrate his dad's birthday!
13.) Last time you talked on the phone?: This morning, I called to see if he had gotten his dad his gift from the both of us.
14.) Last time you talked on the net?: Like 2 hours ago, no we're not annoying and have to talk 24/7, it just worked out that way today.
15.) Your favorite memory?: Oh when he took me to Chicago for 3 days and we went to the Melting Pot for dinner. I loved walking through the streets of Chicago all dressed up at night, taking the subway, and eating such yummy food! I felt like I was in a movie and it was so romantic!
16.) Whats the sweetest thing youve ever done for each other?: Hmmm Brian has done so many sweet things (like taking me to the Kalahari, to Chicago, and what not)! I think another one that stands out to me was when he left a note on my car. It didn't really say much, but I think that was the moment I realized I loved him...and yes it was relatively early in our relationship and I didn't tell him I loved him til like 2 months later ha ha.
I made Brian a blanket, so I suppose thats probably the sweetest thing I've done for him :)
17.) When did you first say "I love you"?: We were in the Wisconsin Dells and it was late at night and I told Brian I loved him. It wasn't terribly romantic on my part though...
18.) What are your "pet names" for each other?: He calls me "babe" and I call him the same, or sweetie.
19.) do you think your significant other is the one?: Well...I suppose ;)
20.) How many times a day do you kiss?: Not nearly enough damnit! We're too busy running our own law office and/or being a slave/visual merchandise expert to the Baby Gap to see eachother every day, so when I do see him, we kiss a lot ;)
21.) Do you hold hands?: Yup, but it is kind of hard to do sitting down since his arms are extra long and mine are extra short.
22.) What's your favorite feature of your significant other?: well are we talking physical or not? Physical, well he has the greatest brown eyes ever, and non-physical? His desire to help people and how respectful he is towards me.
23.) How long do you think you'll be together?: Oh just one forever (inside joke)
24.) What's the longest you've ever been apart?: I think it was a week we went between seeing eachother. Which is sad if you consider we live 15 minutes apart. Like I said, life gets hectic.
25.) Have you ever broken up?: Not really, but we have been on the rocks for a few hours at a time.
26.) Would you like to have children together? If yes, how many?: ZERO! I am anti-having babies due to my job. However we will get at least a dog, and if I do change my mind, 2 kids at the most.
27.) What reminds you of your sweetie?: the creepy guy on SNL, the West Wing, anything Marquette, the Brewers, and Coca-cola.
28.) Do you have a special song?: Yup sure do, it's called "Space" by Sara Buxton, or our favorite hymn to sing during communion, "Come to the Table".
Have you ever...
29.) stayed out together 'til the sun came up?: Nope, I think our latest is like 3:00 am
30.) Skipped work just to be together?: Well he is his own boss, so technically it is not skipping work, but I have distracted him from what he should be doing.
31.) Stayed up all night watching movies together?: Uh how about asking if I've stayed awake during a single movie...I tend to fall asleep during them.
32.) Gone on vacation together?: Sure have! To the Kalahari, Wisconsin Dells, Chicago, and Vegas/Utah in October baby!
33.) Fell asleep in each others arms?: Yup, greatest thing EVER!
34.) Got caught daydreaming about each other?: stupid question...yes
35.) Stared at each other smiling?: Sappy but yes
36.) Say something disgustingly mooshy: "I would take old dudes and kill 'em" "kill 'em with kindness?" "no, with an axe" "Oooooooooooooooooohhhhhhhhhh" "Then I'd cut 'em up into pieces" "aaaaaaaaaaaaaaah" "then I'd grind 'em up in a meat grinder" "YES!" "Then I'd put 'em on bread and eat 'em" "I guess you could say you had yourself a manwich?" "yeaaaaaaaaaaaaah" "oooooooooooooooooh"
(this is from one of our favorite SNL clips ha ha, yes one of our mushy things is we watch SNL together on most Saturdays. You can watch the clip below)
So my life lately has been quite worrisome. My mom hasn't been feeling well for about 2 weeks now, and it just keeps getting worse. It started out she got new glasses and the prescription wasn't working for her. She couldn't see out of them at all. She went back to a different Opthamologist and he said that it was slightly off, but not enough to cause that many problems. However, seeing that she has prisms, and bifocals, they decided to order new lenses to see if that would correct the problem.
In the meantime, my mom started having double vision, and she was driving around with one eye closed (if she uses her eyes seperately she sees normal out of the eye, but using both she sees double) and what not. She also experienced numbness down one side of her body, and she was having balance issues as well. Her primary physician told her to go to the ER immediately, and after a series of tests they ruled out a stroke, a brain tumor, and a heart attack. Three things that are extremely extremely great to rule out, but it still left a mystery as to why she was feeling ill.
She went to a neurologist and he has come to a few conclusions as to what is going on. Blood tests and a MRI will confirm and rule out the possiblities of what it could be. In the meantime, her situation hasn't really improved, and now her right eye is turning in (think in a lazy eye type of way) towards her nose. She does however have a black pirate patch to wear over the bad eye so she can see, and as a result she will randomly come by my room and go ARRRRRRRR! It's kind of fun having a pirate for a mom ;) Needless to say she's banned from driving and she's not allowed to use sharp knives in the kitchen.
The reason I write all of this is not for sympathy or pity, but for anyone who reads this to please please keep her in your prayers. I have no clue what I would do without my mom, and she really is the most amazing woman. She has brought my family through so many things, including helping me with a million problems whether it was a broken heart, a bad grade, or any other small problem. I go to her with EVERYTHING!! and I can't imagine going through life, getting married, having babies (or raising a puppy if I'm permanently going to be anti-having babies haha) without her there. So please, please, please keep her in your prayers that she can get healthy and better!
This is my mom and I at my graduation dinner at Rusty's Ranch House.
2. Do you like yourself? Hell yes, I'm awesome. I mean I have a great family, a hottie hot boyfriend, I have a decent job, I'm not mooching off of the government, and I have a car...I mean I have a lot going for me right there. What more could I possibly want? Minus 40 pounds of me to go away ha ha.
Yes, I definitely would. In fact I want a kiss right now damn it...
Yes, but then usually when the time comes around to wear it, I change my mind.
Today, well today is a fat day in my world.
The printing on my Diet Cherry Dr. Pepper can.
I honestly have no clue...neither?
Last night I had a dream that Brian and I were in Utah and he fell in love with a girl I know from SUU who also happened to date one of my exes and then they got married and I was all alone.
Just customers I helped at work
I want a McChicken, fries, and an orange drink from McDonalds.
Not every day, I'd say 4-5 times a week. Some nights I fall asleep before I get around to it.
Habbage, which isn't a word, but there you go
Earlier tonight!
ME? Never! j/k
There's a taco song?
I'm sure I have
Lick it! Biting it is evil, like chewing on ice.
Not so much no, but today was a good hair day.
19. What color is your favorite hoodie? It is navy blue and from American Eagle
Sure have!
mmmm yummy yes!
Law and Order: SVU on TV
1, Canada
Not really, no. They never needed to be
Maybe...I lean more twoards no but you never know.
If he's paying, yes!
Only if he flung peas at me first.
Lots of jewelry!
Just Cinderella's. Though one night I slept next to the castle in...some southern utah town with the name of either Blanding, Moab, or Monticello
Maybe twice a month
I don't have math class, but I liked math class!
Yeah when I was little
Only the water squirty kind.
Seriously? This is a lame question, who can't?
No one, lonely, i'm so lonely, got no body for my own...
white
I don't think so
Sure have, took one from Milwaukee to New York, and the one at the Zoo!
Sure have, I am so in love right now actually.
yes but it's a piece of shit.
Sometimes
No, my lips are just naturally awesome
He has like 4 court appearances he has to make. Poor guy.
To stab you with? Yes!
YES!!! The ones at the Wisconsin State Fair rock! Oh man I can't wait for the State Fair, cream puffs, mozzerella sticks with ranch, sky glider (for an undeterminable amount of times), deep friend oreos, deep friends veggies, free BINGO!, the shammy guy, hot tubs, milk for 25 cents, and moo cows. Seriously, the WI state fair rocks.
Can't say that I have
What time my mom wanted me to drive her to work in the morning.
Rascal Flatts new CD Unstoppable
In regards to what? I prefer boys when it comes to who I want to get makey-outey with
Just the top layer, so annoying
This morning. I woke up at 3:45 and I had to work 9-6. I just wanted sleep and I couldn't fall back asleep and I got frustrated around like 5:30 and started to cry ha ha. I'm such a nerd.
Haha yes, like every day.
Yes, to a point.
Nope
Playfully, yes.
Fall!
Pink!
Nope not one bit...
Sure don't
Brian! It's amazing how well freakishly short arms go with freakishly long arms in order to make hand holding possible.
Not really, sometimes I'll fall asleep with it on but I always feel so unrested in the morning.
Dislike, oh yes.
yeah it's pretty amazing.
Never if I can avoid it. I"m not so much of a phone talker anymore
Dinosaur!
I bought a shirt today at the Gap...I need better coping mechanisms, and to save money for Las Vegas!
No, not at all
On Wii fit I'm the hula champ! In real life, not so much.
Forgive? Yes. Forget? no.
Sure do, I'm a Visual Merchandise Expert with the Gap
Yes!!!
Brown gap workout pants, a yellow gap tank top, a grey american eagle hoodie, and red underthings...yeah zero things match on me right now ha ha.
So I decided to create a recipe blog to keep track of all the recipes I find and want to try. I have put a link on my sidebar for those of you who would be interested in checking it out! :)
So, continuing with my last post about a Rascal Flatts, I had to post another cool thing. I'm a nerd, with too much time on my hands, but I came across this and thought it was awesome.
Rascal Flatts has a song that is a love song, but the interesting thing is, they wrote it without using any pronouns. If you think about it long and hard, there are boy loving girl, girl wanting boy, type songs, but none for people with same sex attraction. They were quoted as saying:
"We actually have some gay people that work with us, and we have a lot of friends that are gay, too, and I know that this song has inspired them,” said singer Gary LeVox during an interview at CMT earlier this month. “I know that coming out was tough on their parents and on them and the whole entire family. For a long time, some of them didn’t get to hear ‘I love you’ from their dads or be accepted in that way. … It’s helped a lot of our friends. That’s what’s cool about our music,” says guitarist Joe Don Rooney. “You can interpret (it like) that. If you get that — it’s perfect. If you are someone who’s gay or someone who’s straight, you still feel something from the song, and that’s what we want.”
I am amazed by how much progress has been going on for the gay communities (go Iowa!), and this is just another example of how common this is going to be. I also think it's awesome that these 3 guys are all Christians, and idenfity themselves as such, and are not afraid to speak out on this controversial topic. Most media figures who are Christians are usually very anti-homosexuality. I think it's great that they will be so bold as to say such statements as above.
In the article they also were saying in 1992 some radio stations refused to play a Garth Brooks song because it was pro-homosexuality. Though it shouldn't have taken 17 years to get to this point, I'm glad it at least has evolved here. I'm also extremely grateful that I have evolved in my own thinking about homosexuality, and have realized that we're all equals. It comes down to who you sleep with behind closed doors, and that is none of my business whatsoever.
And without further ado, the lyrics to my second newest favorite song:
"I should have stolen every moment Now there's a page With not enough on it Where we belong I guess I'll never understand it Why do we take it all for granted Until it's gone 'Cause then it's gone
Love who you love With all that you have And don't waste the time That flies so fast Love who you love And say that you do Hold on as tight as they'll let you Love who you love
Give all you've got Like it's your last day your heart and soul Before it's too late And pull them in so close Enough that they can feel it With every single breath that You're breathing Breathe it in again and again"
To start off, those of you who have an itouch or an iphone you seriously should download the Lose It! application if you're into the whole food tracking thing. It's a food journal, but it has like every food you could ever want in the database, plus adds a cute little graphic of the food to make everything look fun. There also is a database of nutritional contents for restaurants as well. You type in your height, weight, goals, etc and it calculates your calorie need per day as you lose weight, plus it also creates graphs of your goals. I am addicted to it!!
Moving on, so Saturday I decided I don't want to look back on my life and regret anything. I don't want to wonder where time went, I don't want to feel like life passed me by. I have come to this conclusion many times, but this is the first time I have actually felt a huge huge desire to take action on it. I'm letting go of regrets, letting go of jealousy, and focusing on what I have and being happy with it. Also, I'm going to get into shape (ok that's the 15,000 time I've pledged that, I realize this ha ha) because it will add so much to my life. Plus, Brian and I are going to Las Vegas (and Utah!!!!!!!!) in October and I want to be able to wear a cute swimsuit without feeling icky, and I want to turn heads (yup, I'm so vain, and yes I think that song is about me).
Speaking of songs (nice transition eh?) I downloaded the new Rascal Flatts song an hour or so ago from Itunes, and their new song "Unstoppable" pretty much sums up all of the feelings I have in words better than I could ever say, so here are the lyrics:
So, so you made a lot of mistakes Walked down the road a little Sideways Cracked a brick when you Hit the wall Yeah, you've had a pocketful Of regrets Pulled you down faster than A sunset Hey it happens to us all When the cold, hard rain just won't quit And you can't see your way Out of it
You find your faith That's been lost and shaken You take back what's been taken Get on your knees and dig Down deep You can do what you Think is impossible Keep on believing, don't give in It'll come and make you Whole again It always will, it always does Love is unstoppable
Love, it can weather any storm Bring you back to being born, again Oh, it's the helping hand When you needed it most The lighthouse shining on The coast That never goes dim When your heart is full of doubt And you think that there's no way out
It's unstoppable Like a river keeps on rollin' Like a north wind blowin' Don't it feel good knowin' Love is unstoppable So, so you make a lot of mistakes
-Rascal Flatts, "Unstoppable"
I think part of what I love most about this song is that, well to me anyway, it is saying how love is the driving force behind all of this. I know Brian is a huge reason why I want to make these changes, and he is such a support, and seriously pushes me (in a good way) to be a better person.
Oh and those of you who have noticed my weight loss thing on the side, no I didn't gain 15 pounds ha ha I just adjusted my goal weight to have a buffer...and I gained 5 pounds ;)
