2009 Year End Review

Here is my half hearted attempt of documenting this year in pictures. Maybe next year I'll be better at it? Enjoy!

January

Hung out with Paula at a Casino. *wink*



Purchased my new ride. 09 Tahoe, known as The Beast or Beastie.



FebruarySelf Portrait




Our Boys.

Enjoying brownie batter.






March

Threw the hubs a surprise party.






April

Celebrated our 1 year anniversary. Drank entirely too much at a crawfish boil.




May

Lil Sis graduated HS.

Ran the WCR 5k.

Went to Nassau, Bahamas.




The only couple pose of the trip. Horrible at best.

We had to put down Duke. RIP big guy.

June

Our biggest boy started heart worm treatment & became an inside dog.


July

August

Purchased our 2010 Tundra, known as Black Beastie.

September

Turned 28 & purchased many clothes.

October

One of my friends tied the knot and I passed the GMAT the day before.

Hung out with Paula again.

Ran my very 1st Half Marathon!!



November

Lost my Grammy. :(

Cooked goodies for Thanksgiving.

December
Saw Transiberian Orchestra.

If I don't post again.... HAPPY NEW YEAR!

I Can't Make This Stuff Up

Yesterday was awful. Understatement of the year..

• Woke up and could barely move my left shoulder. No idea what I did.
• Work was crazy. Crazzzzzy. I worked an escalation that took foe-eva.
• Right before leaving work, found out that we are going on mandatory 2 hours OT per day starting the next day. Nice.
• Drove hub's truck over a curb while leaving...
• Went the wrong way on the interstate... I was taking his truck to get the oil changed because I'm a nice wifey...
• After turning around and going the right way, I went the wrong way off the exit ramp. Nice again.
• After getting the oil changed, I wanted to get his truck washed, only to find out that the complimentary car wash was out of service. Booo.
• Then, I go to fill up his truck with gas (I am an awesome wife)... and while the gas is pumping, I decide to clean his truck out. While doing so, I hear liquid hit the pavement.
• Yes, the gas is GUSHING out of the truck onto the pavement. I say a dirty word and click the pump off. I remove the handle thingy and gas keeps pouring out of the truck and the pump... my shoes.. my hands.. covered. I go to wipe off the truck and my hands... had to HUNT for a paper towel.. GRRR
• Get home, call the husband. Have a minor breakdown...
• Check facebook and see that a co-worker got the job I interviewed for. FML.
• Then call husband and have yet another breakdown - this time not so minor.
• So... today, I get up at 3:40AM and get to work at 5:15... for the start of my 10 hour shift.

But... guess who saved my day this morning? Another co-worker who also interviewed for the job... brought me a Starbucks Hot Chocolate. Seriously, I wanted to hug her. So.. here's hoping that today and tomorrow go better.

Look Ma, No Hands!!

I decided to skip F.I.T. class last night since it killed my body last week and I could barely walk till about Thursday. Instead, I hit up the gym's treadmill. I have a love-hate relationship with that thing.

If you remember right... I have to "hug" the treadmill while running - to keep my balance. I'm a clutz. Plain and simple. So, yesterday, I looked around to see who all would possibly witness me falling on my face...and decided to try running without holding on. Much to my surprise, it wasn't that bad. I could last about 2 minutes without holding on, then I'd have to hug the treadmill again for balance. LOL Hey, I'll take that 2 minutes though.

While on this great adventure, a bigger guy gets onto the treadmill beside me. I don't pay him much attention, because I'm trying to focus on not falling off. Until... I hear a very loud irritating noise. I begin to wonder if my tv somehow became un-muted, so I take an earbud out. It wasn't my tv, it was the guy next to me. He had his cell phone playing music at full blast - without ear buds!!!! Then, I noticed his weird behavior and came to the conclusion that he wasn't mentally all there. Not to be mean - he just really wasn't. So, of course, I can't ask him to turn it down or grab some ear buds... I feel sorry for the guy. So, I turn up my iPod and try to drown out his crazy music. Doesn't work. I look around and notice that others look annoyed... Finally, after about 10 minutes, one of the trainers came by and offered the guy some earbuds and thankfully, he accepted. Thank goodness for earbuds.

So, I continued on my routine of running - with and without the death grip. I did 3 miles before calling it a day. Remember - I felt like poo yesterday, so I'll take those 3 miles. I'm still sick today...but not to worry - I've had my breakfast of oatmeal followed by a shot of Alka-Seltzer. Ick.

Tonight's agenda? Spin Class. I can't wait.

Am I F.I.T.?

Well, I decided to branch out yesterday and try a new class. Wow, was that something! I tried the F.I.T. Class at my gym. I had to google F.I.T this morning and it means "Frequency, Intensity, Type/Time" - yep that definitely covers it! I had been warned by two friends about the instructor and how intense she was and they were both right! But, I liked her!

Let me tell you a little about this class. We started off warming up and then....

• We took our 6lb medicine balls and played pass with our partners, all while squatting and then standing up with our balls.
• We then took a BOSU (I think that's right?) and stood on it (yikes) while doing the above move with our partners.
• Then, we did two laps around the track as fast as we could (I had this move down pat!).
• Then, we came in, sat on our mats, put our feet against our partners feet, did some ab moves with our balls, then threw the medicine ball at our partner....
• Then, we took our balls and did one handed push-ups on our balls - I have no idea how to explain this.
• Then, two more laps around the indoor track.
• We then took our lovely medicine balls and tried to balance ourselves on it with our hands on the ball, and our toes on the floor -kinda like a hovering push-up.
• Then we tried to do the same thing, only with our feet on the ball and our hands on the floor - um, yeah, that didn't work out too well for me!!!
• And, you guessed it, two more laps around the track!
• Then, we took our BOSU's and we did lunges on them with each leg.
• Then it was time for some dead lifts with that medicine ball. Ouch.
• Remember, head, shoulders, knees and toes?? Yeah, we did that with a 6lb medicine ball and when you reached the ground you had to squat - which HURT by this time.
• Then, take that ball and lift it over your head and then drop it behind your head and lift again.
• And... instead of running again.. We're going to do everything but the running .. all over again! ha!
• Let me just say - when we did all of this, we of course did a ton of repeats!

So... am I sore? Um, YES! I was sore half way through the class! ha! Will I be going back? Yep! But, thank goodness this class is only offered (at a time I can catch) once a week! :) And tonight... is SPIN class! Yay!

Great News!!

I was accepted into the MBA Program at my alma mater! This means, that on January 4th, I will be a graduate student! I've decided that this first semester I'm only going to take 1 graduate class and see how it goes before signing up for 2 per semester. I'm very excited and also very nervous. I graduated with my Bachelors almost 6 years ago!!! I registered for my class on Friday and I got the professor that I strongly disliked...but he was my only choice. Boo! This man was also my undergrad advisor and I switched advisors - that's how much I dislike him! So, to say this first semester will be interesting is an understatement!

Anyways, I'll be in class each Monday night from 6-9pm! 9pm is late for me - I'm usually in bed by 8:30 because of my schedule. But, I'm not worried - I know I can handle it! Yay!

Back to normal news... I had a nice 3 day weekend and I only work 4 days again this week! Hooray! Also, I'm thinking of taking either a F.I.T. or Spin class tonight - I haven't made up my mind yet. I haven't ever tried FIT before though and I'm kinda wanting to try something new. Oh who knows?!

Hope everyone has a great Monday - if that's possible!

Holiday Recipes

Oreo Balls

1 pkg Almond Bark (either the white or chocolate, we use the white)
1 pkg of Cream Cheese
1 pkg of Oreo Cookies

Put the Oreo's in a large food processor until the cookies are finely chopped. Add in the package of cream cheese and mix well. Then, make small balls (think golf ball size or smaller) and place on wax paper. Place the balls in the fridge for an hour. After an hour, melt the almond bark in a microwave safe bowl. Take the balls and dip them into the melted bark. Place on the wax paper and let them harden. You now have Oreo Balls! We usually let ours set in the fridge overnight before taking to a guest's house.

Reese's Stacks

1 box of Ritz crackers - or smaller, depending on how many you're making
1 package of white almond bark
1 jar of peanut butter
1 large bag of Reeses Pieces

Spread peanut butter in between Ritz crackers like sandwiches and make as many as you'd like. Set aside on wax paper. Crush a large bag of Reeses Pieces (or smaller if not making much) in a food processor and set aside. Melt the almond bark. Dip your sandwiches into the melted almond bark and make sure they're completely coated on all sides. Return to wax paper.
Take the crushed Reese's and pour a handful on top of coated sandwiches. Let harden. We then placed ours into the fridge until the next day.


Hope ya'll are having a great weekend!!

Why Hello There....

I think Rocky is telling us that he'd like a couch for Christmas. :) Pls ignore our dirty window and what used to be our backyard!

I took a much needed few days off from work and got to spend some time with the hubs. It was SO nice to actually see him! Here is a little breakdown of the last few days... and since nobody likes to read wordy paragraphs, here's some bullets!

• Wednesday night, I baked 8 dozen Chocolate Chip Cookies, Oreo Balls, Reese's Stacks (my new name for them), and some Spinach & Cheese appetizers.
• Thanksgiving we went to 3 different family lunches/dinners.
• Friday I had to work, but may have took part in a few sales online.
• I bought Martina McBride and Trace Adkins tickets for half price - lower level! I had a special code! My stepmom, aunt, sister, and I are going in January!
• I also bought Trans-Siberian Orch. tickets for the hubs and myself for December 19th.
• I felt like poo on Saturday. I felt like I was running a fever but the thermometer said differently. Hubs was going to take me shooting - my favorite thing to do - with his neice, but I felt like poo. Boo.
• We have over 30 family members to buy presents for. This stresses me out. We've gotten about 10 of them bought this weekend. We both have big families.
• We watched 4 Christmases, Angels & Demons, and My Sister's Keeper. All were pretty good movies. My Sister's Keeper made me cry.
• We've spent too much money at Best Buy. We're only a few hundred dollars from being Silver members....
• I've gained 5lbs in the last week.
• We went to dig for diamonds yesterday at a diamond mine. We found some crystals instead. But, really had a fun time!
• Because the diamond mine was out in the middle of nowhere, we didn't make it back in time for my Spin Class. I was kinda depressed about this... until...
• We played 3 games of Yahtzee! My all time favorite game that hubs will hardly play with me. He says it makes you think too hard. I love that game. But, he won the championship... Yes, we had a Championship game!
• My ding bat brother un-friended me on FB. Ouch. I know, that might be too much family personal drama, but I'm a little bitter by it.

And, that's all I have for now! I know I left out tons and tons of stuff, but I'll think of it all later.