May flowers

I've been MIA. Here is a brief rundown of the month of May:

-my first NEO GTG. Complete with random limos and rap battling.
-First Communions
-My sister's senior prom.
-Taking my mom on her first trip outside of the United States.
-Road trip #1 to Cincinnati. Watched the Reds sweep the Indians :(
-5 days later...road trip #2...Charlotte, NC. Hung out on a lake & soaked up some rays with my fellow OU alumni.
-New car, Ford Fusion- I love it!
-Starting to TTC. It's babymaking time ;)

If I was at home I'd post sweet photos of all these events, minus the whole babymaking thing. I don't think you guys want to see pictures of that ;)

Word problems?

As soon as I pressed publish I had a co-worker come and share this story with me:

A student wanted to test out of a class (strategies, which is a basic math course). He asked "what kind of word problems" were on the test, so they were explaining it to him and he thought they were "paragraphs with the words all mixed up and you have to put them in the correct order"

Right now I need an emoticon....

Adventures in deck building

Deck building began last week. I will post pictures of the progress.

First story to share: Brian and his friend started out by renting an auger to drill holes for the posts. I was upstairs and I noticed it was quiet for awhile out back. I look out the window and see both of them staring down a hole. They got the auger stuck about 5 feet down. After an hour and a half they finally dug it out. We all think auger's should have reverse though!

I leave for the cruise with my mom in 3 days and I can't wait for a break from work. I need some relaxing by the ocean/pool/bar.

Shout-out to my girl Colleen on her 5 weeks of non-smoking. Woohoo!

Eat, Pray, Love

I have been reading this book for the past few nights. I usually read through a book quickly, but I've been pacing myself to actually stop and think during this one. While I was reading I found this to perfectly describe my mind:

"I have searched frantically for contentment for so many years in so many ways, all these acquisitions and accomplishments--they run you down in the end. Life, if you keep chasing it so hard, will drive you to death. Time--when pursued like a bandit-- will behave like one; always remaining one county or one room ahead of you, changing its name and hair color to elude you, slipping out the back door of the motel just as you're banging through the lobby with your newest search warrant, leaving only a burning cigarette in the ashtray to taunt you. At some point you have to stop because it won't. You have to admit you can't catch it. That you're not supposed to catch it. At some point, you gotta let go and sit still and allow contentment to come to you."

I am always planning things, months or years in advance. I have our budget set for the next year. I worry about EVERYTHING before it even occurs. I always want what's next, and I don't enjoy the present enough. I want to have a baby, even though I know I should enjoy the newlywed life. But I can't stop planning a pregnancy that isn't even happening yet. When I think of the next year, I always think well if I am pregnant at this time, blah blah blah.

Brian says I should be happy with what I have now, and I truly am happy. I want to live and not worry about stupid things I have no control or power over. I have to realize, I can't plan every detail of my life before it happens.

I think I have made progress, but I know I have a long way to come still.

Weekends

Last weekend (4/19) Erin & Chad tied the knot. The weather was great (except for a bit of rain) and everything turned out nice. I have realized I am way too critical of wedding things now and I must of been a bridezilla because I had my day of planned out in 15-30 minute increments. And we stayed on track, besides the whole priest being late situation!

Here is a photo of the lovely bride and myself.


On another note: If you are a future bride, PLEASE PLEASE take this advice: LOVE your photographer. Don't just settle because of budget issues. These photos will be your memories you show and look at to remember your day. You don't want to be disappointed or think they are horrible.

This past weekend we had Mike and Rebecca come and visit. Saturday we attended the Yanks/Indians game, which of course the Tribe won :) Finally on track for the season, and sneaking up on the White Sox. Grady unfortunately sprained his ankle during the game, which made me sad. His streak for active games has come to an end after he was on the bench for Sunday's game.

Saturday night we tried Three Birds restaurant in Lakewood. It was delicious and had a great atmosphere! I look forward to trying it out again this summer so we can enjoy the patio they have. I highly recommend it if you are looking for a nice dinner out :)

I am just counting down the days until vacation at this point...I cannot wait to not have to worry about work or anything else for a few days.

real quick

I was the first of my close friend's to get married and it was hard to relate them on certain levels. Most of my friends don't care about home ownership, in-laws, etc...

There are people you meet in life that you just "click" with and are at the same place as you in life. It's funny, because you may never have met those people, or you may not see them often (I swear we're coming to IL Angela!). It's always nice to know they are out there and remind you that you're not going through it alone :)

Late night cleaning

The past few nights I have been getting this urge to vacuum at 10 pm. Brian thought I was nuts last night because I made him go bring up the vacuum so I could clean our bedroom carpet. I figure if I am thinking about it I should just do it!

I have to give props to my husband on being so great. When I came home from work on Monday there was a coach bag sitting on the kitchen table. I opened it up and waiting inside were the Coach sunglasses I have been going back and forth about if I should buy them or not. I am a hard woman to surprise, so I was genuinely shocked by them! Now I wonder how many Coach coupons he hides from me so I don't go and buy purses.

My new shades:

Everyone also should go see the movie 21. I have been on a Vegas kick for awhile now, and this movie made it even worse. I wish I was a high roller! Maybe one day....