Cute pictures

I got these in an email and thought they were cute, so I'm sharing!!

Surround yourself with friends!

Stay away from too much caffeine!

Believe that people will like you for who you are!

Okay, I *love* the last one! I'm a sucker for a dog in a cute or funny outfit.

Other than that, nothing else much is going on here. My legs are sore from working out with the trainer, although he has gotten better. I no longer feel as if I'm going to pass out when we're done. Now I just need to focus on getting up there and getting more cardio! I've been lax about that, and it's starting to show. I've been totally lazy lately.

I also think I'm going to start Slim-Fasting it for lunch and possibly breakfast. At breakfast, I normally have some oatmeal, which is good for me and cheap. But it's summer, and oatmeal is hot. Sometimes, you just feel like eating something cold. But I think it could be a good option for lunch. First of all, I'm hindered that we don't have a microwave at work - so I need to bring something that can be eaten cold (we do have a mini-fridge) or kept at room temp. Also, Slim Fast is cheap at just over a $1 a can. And it's a good way to watch my caloric intake. I will also buy fruit to supplement (I don't know that Slim Fast will fill me up, really), but I think it could be a good way to watch my weight as well as watch the wallet. I'll probably treat myself once a week to a "real" lunch, but the rest of the time will be Slim Fast.

I'm super glad that tomorrow is Friday. The week back after a long weekend is always tough, so I'm ready to get it over with!!

Take care!

Back to the grindstone after a long weekend!

Wow - already Tuesday again!
It was so nice to have a long weekend - I really enjoyed and needed a few days off to myself. We went to friends' houses and had a few people over one night, and we went to see "INDIANA JONES" yesterday, but overall it was a nice and relaxing weekend. I didn't have to think about work, money, or anything like that. It was nice to be able to decide what you wanted to do - even if it was just to sit around!

This afternoon, a contractor is coming by to perform an energy audit and put up weatherstripping where needed. It's free!! I'm really looking forward to it - to see if they can point out any areas that need our attention. After that, I'm meeting with the cake lady to get a FREE sample cake! Yumm! Being engaged has its perks - free cake! Really, though, I'm excited to meet her and try out the cake. Her price is really reasonable (compared to some of the highway robbery that exists out there among other bakers), and I remember from my co-worker's wedding that it was really good. I'm not too worried about the decoration as we want something kind of simple, but I do want it to taste good!

It's raining cats and dogs here right now - which is nice because we need it, and it will be cooler today and tonight. But that also means it'll be steamy and humid tomorrow - yuck! Oh well, welcome to summertime!

Hope your first day back is a good one!

Busy week, still no money, but at least it's a long weekend!

I'm sorry to wait a week to post again. I needed to get my head in order a bit last weekend, and luckily I had the chance to do that and get out of town for 3 days, thanks to my friend who got married last Saturday! It was really nice to get out of town and away from "normal" life for a while, but I was bummed to come back. The only thing I think I missed was the warm weather!

Money-wise, we've talked and things are better with our communication. But we're still in a pickle and I'm not really sure how to solve it. I may have to borrow some money from my parents, which totally sucks. If only he had told me a couple things earlier, we could have avoided this. But he thought he could handle it and didn't want me to stress. Bad fiancee!! Seriously, though, I told him he needed to share with me stuff that could impact us both like that. I've decided that I will now be the head financial dummy in the house who pays the bills, etc. I really didn't want this job, but I think I can do a better job than him. Like Tiff's ex, Chris is not as conservative when it comes to money as I am, so it's probably better for both of us if I just buckle down and do it.

The wedding was really nice. I was happy to see my friend get married, and it was nice to see several other people I hadn't seen in a while. Chris and I were totally stealing some of their wedding ideas, though!! Like the table numbers (they used pictures of local landmarks) and song choices. More than anything though, it was really nice to see and be reminded that even if something doesn't go "perfectly" or looks exactly like it's out of a magazine, people will still enjoy your wedding - and that's what it's all about anyways!! The picture here is not from my friend's wedding, but this is kind of my "inspiration" for my reception. I love the orange tablecloths, and doing candles as the centerpieces really cuts down on costs. Now that my wedding is (actually less than) 6 months away, I'm getting kind of excited. With all we have going on with our bills, we may not go anywhere exciting for our honeymoon, but the party will be fun!

Speaking of travel, I'd like to take this opportunity to call out how STUPID American Airlines is for now charging $15 for your FIRST checked bag (http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/080521/american_airlines_reductions.html). How idiotic is that?? You know, I realize that fuel prices are going up. So instead of nickel and diming us, why don't you just raise all the ticket prices about $10 and call it a day. Really. So now I have to pay somebody at the airport to check my bag. Just one more thing for me and the employee to worry about. Just one more place my card number can be stolen. Just one more thing to hold up the lines and make us wait longer!! If you really want to be "fair" to the day-trippers business travelers, instead of making us pay at check-in, why don't you offer a refund or credit of $10 to the people who don't check their bags?? Or offer more AA miles?? Seems like that would be 1) easier 2) more profitable for American and 3) not hold up the lines. If anyone from American is reading this, and would like to steal this idea, go ahead. I don't mind at all. Another tip: do away with the little cocktail napkins you pass out with your drinks. Nobody really uses them. They're too little to clean up a spill, and it's wasteful to boot.

Argh!! More work!! It's good to be busy, but sometimes the call of a frozen margarita and a sunny day is strong! But since I don't have the money for the frozen margarita right now, I guess I'll put my nose back to the grindstone.

Hope you have a great Wednesday!!

Wednesday

Wednesday, finally. This week has been going by very slowly. Partly because I'm looking forward to being out of town this weekend for a friend's wedding, but also partly because I've been totally stressed out and worried over money.
It's been getting bad here - I really am grasping at straws sometimes - I feel worried and anxious most of the time. I know Chris and I can do it and get by, but for some reasons (because I'm sure there is more than just one) we aren't. Our mortgage will have to be late this month, which is something I'm ashamed of and something I've NEVER done. There are bills that are unpaid as well, and I'm not sure when we'll catch up. At this rate, it doesn't look like there will BE a honeymoon. We can get there, we have the airline miles, be we don't have the money for the hotel or food. We are maxxed out on our cards right now, his credit score is bad, mine's getting there, and besides - that's not what we need to do anyways. We need to tighten our belts, and try as I might, it can't just be me. I've tightened mine, and I will tighten more, but Chris needs to take this seriously too. And I'm not sure he REALLY is. I know he makes more than I do, but we're in this together, and if I'm taking my lunch every day, he shouldn't feel it beneath him to eat at home a couple days a week too. I just get the feeling he cares, but he doesn't. He won't REALLY care until we get kicked out of our home and have no where to go. I'm not sure if this is truly his feelings or not because whenever I try to talk about it, he gets defensive and we end up fighting. I've thought of walking away. Many times. Finance causes many relationships to break apart. But in truth I do love him. I also realize that if I leave, or make him leave, I'd actually be worse off than I am now - not to mention have my parents mad at me for already spending non-refundable money on the wedding. And I don't want to do something I may regret later. I don't want to just leave because it's getting tough, I want to try and resolve it.

Ugh, okay, that's a lot of heavy stuff. I don't know if anyone will read this, but I like being able to just get it off my chest. I don't know who or where to turn to in this situation, so it's nice to be able to just get this off of my chest - even if it's just to the computer screen.

Leaving Friday morning early for the wedding. The plane tickets are purchased, and I know we can afford a dinner out or two (I will get paid on Friday). I'm hoping he paid for the rental car. We shall see I guess. This could be an interesting trip to say the least.

Truly Ugly-Tuesday

It's not the day I'm talking about here..... Truly Ugly refers to my bathroom.



I may have mentioned that the house Chris and I moved into about a year and a half ago was older, and needed a little design-lurve. Nothing we couldn't (and haven't) live with and fix as we went along though. There is some painting that's been done, and some that still needs to be done. There's the popcorn on the ceilings. There's the ugly brass-trimmed ceiling fan in the living room that's seen better days. There's the kitchen, with it's cabinet doors that don't hang quite right and the sponge-painted finish over old existing wallpaper (and don't forget the peeling fruit border!). But, hands down, by far, the UGLIEST part about our house is the Master Bathroom.



When we first looked at the house, I was somewhat excited about the "white tile" in the Master Bath - many of the other houses we were looking at didn't have nice neutral tile we could work with. I could kick myself now, though. I should have looked closer - it's not really white, it's white PAINT on top of old blue tile. And now it's peeling.



We *think* we may have a leak behind the shower, so the good news is that one day - when we have the money to do so - we will be able to rip out all the old ugly painted tile, and replace it with something nicer and more neutral colored. Something that won't peel. In the meantime, we haven't done anything in there. I've tried to scrape up the paint as it peels, to kind of further it along as I feel an all blue floor would be better than a white/blue and splotchy floor is. But other than that, I don't really know what to do, or want to do anything. Since we're going to be tearing a lot of tile out, replacing the shower enclosure, getting a new vanity, sinks, and faucets, I have just left it for the time being. There are 4 light bulbs that have burnt out because I hate that fixture and don't really want to buy new bulbs for it if I don't have to. The hot water handle on my sink doesn't work - the faucet's old - so if I want hot water, I go and use Chris' sink. The toilet isn't screwed into the floor properly, or the bolt is broken, so it wobbles when you sit on it.



Yes, the bathroom is a wreck, and totally not a reflection of what I'd like my home to look like. But I thought I would share it with you, as sort of a before. The after may not come for another year, but in the meantime we can have fun making fun of what it looks like now!







Ladies and gentlemen, here it is.......

Pretty ugly, huh??

What have I got myself into??

Well, this was the question I asked myself when I started a blog over at Spaces a couple years ago... it was to track my progress as I had just signed up for a marathon. Ha ha ha ha ha ha!!! Okay, so that didn't happen, but I was thinking about this title, and it occurred to me that it's pretty fitting for many things I've "gotten myself into". Like living with my fiancee, being engaged, planning a wedding....

I've decided to come over here to Blogger as the Spaces blog was super slow and hard to post on. I've heard some mixed reviews about this site, so we'll see. But almost instant page loads and no delay when typing are good things in my book.

So it's Wednesday night now. My long weekend was truly nice and appreciated. I really needed it for my sanity. Work has been draining lately, and the motivation just was not there last week. I did end up painting my living and dining rooms - well, 2 of the walls anyways - but I'm not so sure I like the outcome. The old paint color was good, and the fiancee liked it, so we copied it as close as possible. And the quality of the paintjob is good now (no touch-up marks). But we decided to extend the color along a wall that had previously been cut in half by the color, and paint a perpindicular wall white that had previously been green. Anyways, it ended up looking much darker in that corner than before, and the white wall really stands out now. So.... we'll see. Not thrilled with it, maybe it'll grow on me, maybe not. But I'll give it a little while. I've already started thinking of other options though, and I have come up with a couple that I like, so it may not be that LONG of a while. Working in the design field, it's very hard to please yourself when it comes to your own house!

After all that painting on Friday and Saturday morning, I did venture out with my sisters and choose bridesmaid dress options, and I finally selected a color! They will be a deep terracotta orange, which sounds worse than it looks. It's actually really nice and looks good on everyone. And it's a bridesmaid dress. I hold no illusions that they will ever wear this again. It's just nice to put that one to rest. Only 6 months to go now.

First official blogger post! Take care.