Remember when I posted something about no longer being able to add a title to my posts? Well, not only was that months ago but I JUST NOW figured out why. There is one little check-box in my set-up area that allows me to have a title. Whoopeee!!!
Ok, as you were....
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
Greetings from Antarctica. By "Antarctica", I mean Moorestown, NJ where we have a current wind chill of about 19. The wind is blowing at about 20 miles per hour and it's FRIGID! The past two days were amazing! The highs were around 45 and, like I told my mom, it felt like a heat wave! However, Jack Frost has waved his icy hands over the northeast once again. But, good news... it's supposed to be sunny all week and next Monday's high is 49!
Anyway, I hope all of you had a great weekend and enjoyed the Super Bowl. It was a pretty good game! Our weekend was pretty fun. Friday was actually VERY low-key. I was in bed reading my new book by about 9 o'clock. Saturday was a bit busier. Vicki and I jumped out of our comfort zones and cashed in a LivingSocial.com deal for a "vertical fitness" class (i.e. Pole Dancing). We had a blast and it was hilarious! I've done one of these classes once before with a group of girls on a bachelorette party but this one was a lot more work-out intensive than the previous. So, we had fun. Then Saturday night, Vicki and her boyfriend, Matt, came over to our house for dinner. Christian made an AWESOME lasagna for us. Then, the four of us went downtown for the Junior League cocktail party that I mentioned in last week's post. It was OK. We really didn't know too many people there. I think we were some of the only provisional (new) members there. So, we stayed and had a few free drinks before heading home. Sunday was of course Super Bowl Sunday so that morning was spent making meatballs, spinach dip and cupcakes. We went to Jeff's house. Jeff flies with Christian and invited the squadron over for the party. It was a pretty good time. I didn't really have a bias in the game. I guess I was rooting for Pittsburg more than Green Bay though.... ya know, because of proximity and all. But, Green Bay won and congrats to all Packers fans! Another season of football comes to an end....
So, last week's post had a lot to do w/ fitness and eating well and all that jazz. Well, I have to admit something: I'm addicted to Pillsbury Creamy Supreme Chocolate frosting. I made those damn cupcakes for the Super Bowl party and now I can't stop eating this stuff!!! It's literally sitting next to me on the desk with a spoon dipped in it as I type. UGH! Now, I just have to eat the rest of it so it will get the hell out of my house! I don't know what is wrong with me lately but we usually NEVER have junk food in the house but I have chocolate and vanilla frosting and chocolate chip cookies. Awful.
Oh well, I'll get back on track after this frosting is polished off. :)
Speaking of last week's post... the information I was referencing was all from Dr. Oz. Well, I recently learned of Vicki's crush on Dr. Oz so we were talking about possibly going to see his show soon. To my surprise, Vicki called me this morning while I was at the gym to tell me that she got tickets for us to go see his show on March 9th in NYC!!! I'm sooo excited! I hope it's a really good episode! Tickets were free so why the hell not, right!? We'll have fun! Plus, this is probably as close to Oprah as I will ever get (since Dr. Oz got his start from Oprah and all). Yes, I'm still obsessed w/ Oprah. Ain't no shame in this game.
As you know, Christian and I are planning on taking a trip at the end of this month to celebrate our first anniversary. Well, we were planning on going to Vegas and the Grand Canyon but we've decided that the weather will be too cold out there and now we're either going on a cruise or going to Disney World. I have my friend Maggie (a travel agent) working on some deals for us right now and hopefully we'll have the trip scheduled by the end of the week. I'm really excited about going somewhere warm!!!
Oh, I almost forgot, we got our new Verizon iPhones yesterday!!! It is sooo neat! I love mine. I really love it b/c it syncs up with my Mac desktop that I use for everything! Now, I have my full calendar, email pictures, music and contacts all on my phone! Love it!
Last week, I also mentioned a Dr.'s appointment that I had. Well, I ended up canceling it. It just didn't feel right. So, we still have Christian's on the 24th (if we need it.... fingers crossed that we don't!).
Anyway, I don't have a whole lot to report this week. Hope all of you have a wonderful week!
xoxo,
Chrissi
Anyway, I hope all of you had a great weekend and enjoyed the Super Bowl. It was a pretty good game! Our weekend was pretty fun. Friday was actually VERY low-key. I was in bed reading my new book by about 9 o'clock. Saturday was a bit busier. Vicki and I jumped out of our comfort zones and cashed in a LivingSocial.com deal for a "vertical fitness" class (i.e. Pole Dancing). We had a blast and it was hilarious! I've done one of these classes once before with a group of girls on a bachelorette party but this one was a lot more work-out intensive than the previous. So, we had fun. Then Saturday night, Vicki and her boyfriend, Matt, came over to our house for dinner. Christian made an AWESOME lasagna for us. Then, the four of us went downtown for the Junior League cocktail party that I mentioned in last week's post. It was OK. We really didn't know too many people there. I think we were some of the only provisional (new) members there. So, we stayed and had a few free drinks before heading home. Sunday was of course Super Bowl Sunday so that morning was spent making meatballs, spinach dip and cupcakes. We went to Jeff's house. Jeff flies with Christian and invited the squadron over for the party. It was a pretty good time. I didn't really have a bias in the game. I guess I was rooting for Pittsburg more than Green Bay though.... ya know, because of proximity and all. But, Green Bay won and congrats to all Packers fans! Another season of football comes to an end....
So, last week's post had a lot to do w/ fitness and eating well and all that jazz. Well, I have to admit something: I'm addicted to Pillsbury Creamy Supreme Chocolate frosting. I made those damn cupcakes for the Super Bowl party and now I can't stop eating this stuff!!! It's literally sitting next to me on the desk with a spoon dipped in it as I type. UGH! Now, I just have to eat the rest of it so it will get the hell out of my house! I don't know what is wrong with me lately but we usually NEVER have junk food in the house but I have chocolate and vanilla frosting and chocolate chip cookies. Awful.
Oh well, I'll get back on track after this frosting is polished off. :)
Speaking of last week's post... the information I was referencing was all from Dr. Oz. Well, I recently learned of Vicki's crush on Dr. Oz so we were talking about possibly going to see his show soon. To my surprise, Vicki called me this morning while I was at the gym to tell me that she got tickets for us to go see his show on March 9th in NYC!!! I'm sooo excited! I hope it's a really good episode! Tickets were free so why the hell not, right!? We'll have fun! Plus, this is probably as close to Oprah as I will ever get (since Dr. Oz got his start from Oprah and all). Yes, I'm still obsessed w/ Oprah. Ain't no shame in this game.
As you know, Christian and I are planning on taking a trip at the end of this month to celebrate our first anniversary. Well, we were planning on going to Vegas and the Grand Canyon but we've decided that the weather will be too cold out there and now we're either going on a cruise or going to Disney World. I have my friend Maggie (a travel agent) working on some deals for us right now and hopefully we'll have the trip scheduled by the end of the week. I'm really excited about going somewhere warm!!!
Oh, I almost forgot, we got our new Verizon iPhones yesterday!!! It is sooo neat! I love mine. I really love it b/c it syncs up with my Mac desktop that I use for everything! Now, I have my full calendar, email pictures, music and contacts all on my phone! Love it!
Last week, I also mentioned a Dr.'s appointment that I had. Well, I ended up canceling it. It just didn't feel right. So, we still have Christian's on the 24th (if we need it.... fingers crossed that we don't!).
Anyway, I don't have a whole lot to report this week. Hope all of you have a wonderful week!
xoxo,
Chrissi
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
Good morning and welcome to the first day of February!
Can you believe it!? I sure can't. Where did January go? Oh well... at least I know that Spring is just around the corner if the year continues to fly by! Once again we have "blah" weather up here in Jersey. It snowed just a smidge last night and we have freezing rain today. I'm getting a little tired of the constant grey. It was beautiful this past Saturday morning. We had sunshine and it looked like it could actually be warm outside (Obviously it wasn't. Stupid optical illusions...). No wonder January is the most depressing month of the year, especially for the cold states!
Anyway, aside from the melancholy weather, we've been having a good time lately. Last Saturday was Christian's birthday so we pretty much celebrated all weekend. Friday night we just hung out here at the house and I made a yummy seared tuna dinner and we also had to prepare our breakfast for Saturday morning. We made creme brulee french toast. One word: AMAZING! We had creme brulee french toast at a little bistro in Jacksonville and decided to try it out. So, it has to sit for about 8 hours before baking. Saturday morning we woke up early, popped it in the oven and 40 minutes later had one of the best homemade breakfasts ever! haha We ran some errands Saturday and then Saturday night we went over to Shirley and John's house for a couple drinks before the four of us and another couple from town walked to an Italian restaurant on Main Street. We had a great time! The food was great and apparently, I thought the wine was even better. Let's just say I wasn't feeling 100 percent Sunday morning. haha Well, Sunday afternoon, we met Vicki and Matt at the Philadelphia International Auto Show and looked at all the new cars on the market. It was so neat! I got new car fever pretty bad and we saw some ridiculously expensive cars. A $427,000 Bentley, just to name one. It was crazy! The show was at the Philly Convention Center which is right next to Chinatown so the four of us went and had some yummy Malaysian food at a truly authentic restaurant. We had a great weekend!
Then, Monday rolled around and it's back to our regular weekday grind. I spent a lot of my day yesterday dealing with Verizon. Seriously, they are the bane of my existence. Christian and I are old Alltel customers who got screwed over when Alltel and Verizon merged a couple years ago. So, we're wanting to get the new iPhone this month but b/c we're old Alltel customers STILL on an Alltel plan, we had to update everything. It's just been a pain in the rear end.
I also started a new workout regimen yesterday. I found some new workouts on www.bodybuilding.com/fun/workouts and I've decided that I'm only going to do weight training Monday, Wednesday and Friday and Tuesdays are my long distance running days and Thursdays are my yoga days. So, today is Tuesday and I already went to the gym and did my run. It's refreshing but man, it's tough. I still want to lose a little more fat and build more muscle (definitely don't want to get skinnier, though). So, that was my reasoning for switching up my routine. I was watching Dr. Oz yesterday and it was all about the correct times to eat, exercise and take supplements (if any). The average american wakes up at 6:30 a.m. The best time to weigh yourself is at 6:30 (or when you wake up). The best time to work out is right after you wake up and before you eat breakfast. He did a neat visual aid for this: he had two frying pans set on high and had a two sticks of butter to represent the fat in your body. He placed one stick of butter in a frying pan by itself and the butter immediately began melting. Then, he placed the other stick of butter in the other frying pan but it was on top of a piece of bread. The bread represented the breakfast that you eat before exercising. So, essentially, if you eat breakfast before exercising, your body works to burn the breakfast you just ate before getting to the fat that you're really trying to burn. Interesting, huh? It totally makes sense but I loved the way he displayed it. So, wake up, weigh yourself, workout, THEN eat breakfast at about 8:30. Lunch is at noon (no surprise) and dinner should be at 6:30 or at least three hours before bedtime. Also, the only supplement discussion that I heard was about fiber and he said you should take any fiber supplements 15 minutes before dinner. I'm not a supplement person, though.
So, I usually eat breakfast before I work out but now I'm switching it up. Another interesting tip he gave for people working out before eating breakfast is to drink a glass of super cold water before you work out. This is because the cold water will kickstart your body's metabolism and force it to start trying to heat the water... in turn, burning calories. Not sure if this stuff interests any of you but I find it very interesting... plus, I love Dr. Oz!
I have gotten into such a routine with my workouts and I'm very proud of myself for that. Granted, I don't work so I have a lot of time to dedicate to it and I know it's easier for folks that don't work. However, if you'll remember (those of you who have known me for a while), about three years ago, I was about 25 pounds heavier than I am now. A lot of that is because of my lifestyle at that time but it's amazing how changing your lifestyle and making healthier choices (even without exercising) will make the pounds fall off! I lost the majority of my weight while I was working full time and going to school! So, it can be done! Christian also had a LOT to do with my lifestyle change. He's extremely healthy and as soon as we started dating and I was practically living at his house, we ate healthy dinners every night, I made better choices because I was conscious of my goal and I simply wanted to be healthy and look good (for me and him). Having an extra person to hold you accountable for things really helps! So, if any of you have goals of getting healthier and you want someone to stalk you about it, let me know and I'll gladly be that person! haha
Well, this week is pretty low-key for us. I finally have a doctor's appointment this Friday to start looking into this infertility crap. Christian has his appointment later this month. So, hopefully we'll have some more knowledge and direction after those appointments. This Saturday, we're going to a Junior League cocktail party in the city. I'm pretty excited about that! And, then, the Super Bowl is Sunday. I'm rooting for the Steelers strictly because I think their coach is better looking than the Packers' coach. Haha! I could care less about any NFL team (except the Saints, of course).
I hope all of you have a WONDERFUL week! Here's a funny little piece of art from one of my favorite artists (Brian Andreas on Storypeople.com).
Can you believe it!? I sure can't. Where did January go? Oh well... at least I know that Spring is just around the corner if the year continues to fly by! Once again we have "blah" weather up here in Jersey. It snowed just a smidge last night and we have freezing rain today. I'm getting a little tired of the constant grey. It was beautiful this past Saturday morning. We had sunshine and it looked like it could actually be warm outside (Obviously it wasn't. Stupid optical illusions...). No wonder January is the most depressing month of the year, especially for the cold states!
Anyway, aside from the melancholy weather, we've been having a good time lately. Last Saturday was Christian's birthday so we pretty much celebrated all weekend. Friday night we just hung out here at the house and I made a yummy seared tuna dinner and we also had to prepare our breakfast for Saturday morning. We made creme brulee french toast. One word: AMAZING! We had creme brulee french toast at a little bistro in Jacksonville and decided to try it out. So, it has to sit for about 8 hours before baking. Saturday morning we woke up early, popped it in the oven and 40 minutes later had one of the best homemade breakfasts ever! haha We ran some errands Saturday and then Saturday night we went over to Shirley and John's house for a couple drinks before the four of us and another couple from town walked to an Italian restaurant on Main Street. We had a great time! The food was great and apparently, I thought the wine was even better. Let's just say I wasn't feeling 100 percent Sunday morning. haha Well, Sunday afternoon, we met Vicki and Matt at the Philadelphia International Auto Show and looked at all the new cars on the market. It was so neat! I got new car fever pretty bad and we saw some ridiculously expensive cars. A $427,000 Bentley, just to name one. It was crazy! The show was at the Philly Convention Center which is right next to Chinatown so the four of us went and had some yummy Malaysian food at a truly authentic restaurant. We had a great weekend!
Then, Monday rolled around and it's back to our regular weekday grind. I spent a lot of my day yesterday dealing with Verizon. Seriously, they are the bane of my existence. Christian and I are old Alltel customers who got screwed over when Alltel and Verizon merged a couple years ago. So, we're wanting to get the new iPhone this month but b/c we're old Alltel customers STILL on an Alltel plan, we had to update everything. It's just been a pain in the rear end.
I also started a new workout regimen yesterday. I found some new workouts on www.bodybuilding.com/fun/workouts and I've decided that I'm only going to do weight training Monday, Wednesday and Friday and Tuesdays are my long distance running days and Thursdays are my yoga days. So, today is Tuesday and I already went to the gym and did my run. It's refreshing but man, it's tough. I still want to lose a little more fat and build more muscle (definitely don't want to get skinnier, though). So, that was my reasoning for switching up my routine. I was watching Dr. Oz yesterday and it was all about the correct times to eat, exercise and take supplements (if any). The average american wakes up at 6:30 a.m. The best time to weigh yourself is at 6:30 (or when you wake up). The best time to work out is right after you wake up and before you eat breakfast. He did a neat visual aid for this: he had two frying pans set on high and had a two sticks of butter to represent the fat in your body. He placed one stick of butter in a frying pan by itself and the butter immediately began melting. Then, he placed the other stick of butter in the other frying pan but it was on top of a piece of bread. The bread represented the breakfast that you eat before exercising. So, essentially, if you eat breakfast before exercising, your body works to burn the breakfast you just ate before getting to the fat that you're really trying to burn. Interesting, huh? It totally makes sense but I loved the way he displayed it. So, wake up, weigh yourself, workout, THEN eat breakfast at about 8:30. Lunch is at noon (no surprise) and dinner should be at 6:30 or at least three hours before bedtime. Also, the only supplement discussion that I heard was about fiber and he said you should take any fiber supplements 15 minutes before dinner. I'm not a supplement person, though.
So, I usually eat breakfast before I work out but now I'm switching it up. Another interesting tip he gave for people working out before eating breakfast is to drink a glass of super cold water before you work out. This is because the cold water will kickstart your body's metabolism and force it to start trying to heat the water... in turn, burning calories. Not sure if this stuff interests any of you but I find it very interesting... plus, I love Dr. Oz!
I have gotten into such a routine with my workouts and I'm very proud of myself for that. Granted, I don't work so I have a lot of time to dedicate to it and I know it's easier for folks that don't work. However, if you'll remember (those of you who have known me for a while), about three years ago, I was about 25 pounds heavier than I am now. A lot of that is because of my lifestyle at that time but it's amazing how changing your lifestyle and making healthier choices (even without exercising) will make the pounds fall off! I lost the majority of my weight while I was working full time and going to school! So, it can be done! Christian also had a LOT to do with my lifestyle change. He's extremely healthy and as soon as we started dating and I was practically living at his house, we ate healthy dinners every night, I made better choices because I was conscious of my goal and I simply wanted to be healthy and look good (for me and him). Having an extra person to hold you accountable for things really helps! So, if any of you have goals of getting healthier and you want someone to stalk you about it, let me know and I'll gladly be that person! haha
Well, this week is pretty low-key for us. I finally have a doctor's appointment this Friday to start looking into this infertility crap. Christian has his appointment later this month. So, hopefully we'll have some more knowledge and direction after those appointments. This Saturday, we're going to a Junior League cocktail party in the city. I'm pretty excited about that! And, then, the Super Bowl is Sunday. I'm rooting for the Steelers strictly because I think their coach is better looking than the Packers' coach. Haha! I could care less about any NFL team (except the Saints, of course).
I hope all of you have a WONDERFUL week! Here's a funny little piece of art from one of my favorite artists (Brian Andreas on Storypeople.com).
xoxo,
Chrissi
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
Good morning everyone!
I hope at least one of you is enjoying some sunshine somewhere in this world. Let's just say, the weather here is BLAHHHHHHH! It's been cold and the forecast for today was rain/snow mix and then turning into snow (6-8") tonight. Well, to my surprise, I woke up to about 2-3 inches on the ground this morning. Thus, making me very nervous to leave the house. And, for those of you who know me well, I HATE being inside all day. I got all pumped up last night when I planned some new workouts and now I can't even start them today. Ugh.... I'm also supposed to go to a lunch w/ some girls from our new town but I'm not sure if I'll make it. I'm also supposed to have a doctors appointment today in the city but I'm not sure if I'll make that either! For those of you from the south who, like me, have grown up thinking snow is awesome.... yeah, not so much. I just keep thinking, "only about a month and a half left of this junk"! Then, I'll be super happy with the flowers blooming, leaves popping out and the northeast summers with little humidity!
So, I mentioned in the last paragraph that I am planning on going to lunch with some girls from our new town today. Well, this got arranged when I contacted the president of the "Moorestown Newcomers". It's a social group in Moorestown for new folks in town and it sounds like so much fun. They have cocktail parties, progressive dinners, lunch outings, golf outings for the guys, etc, etc, etc. So, some of the ladies are having a lunch today and they invited me so I could check out a few people from the group. It seems to be families of all age ranges; newly weds, young children all the way up to empty nesters. So, I think we'll try it out. I have to tell ya, the people in New Jersey are so dag-gum nice! Maybe it's just our little town but I swear, it's crazy! Christian and I walked into town from our house yesterday afternoon and people were passing us on the sidewalk and they'd say "hello, how ya doin'". I'm just not used to that stuff anymore! I LOVE it! I also found out (not sure if I've told you guys this) that Moorestown was rated the number one town to live in in the U.S. in 2005 by Money Magazine! How cool is that? And, we get to live here! I couldn't be happier about where we're living right now. Christian says I get my hopes up too much but I can't help it. It's such a change from the "stick-up-your-ass" place that we just moved from! Plus, we have no association rules at our new house! I can put up a wind chime and my cute little red birdhouse and not have to worry about hearing crap from the crazy strict homeowners association! Happy happy happy. The people we're renting from are really great too. Shirley and John are the owners and I could see us hanging out with them quite a bit. We're actually going to dinner with them and another couple this Saturday here in town. They live about a mile from us and they're a young-ish couple who seem to have the same age difference as Christian and I do. Shirley and I went to lunch together last week and it was fun. She grew up around here so she was SUPER helpful with giving me suggestions for doctors, dentists, restaurants, wine shops, and she told me about the Moorestown Newcomers group. John plays golf and was here at the house when we were moving stuff into the garage and saw that we had golf clubs so I'm sure he and Christian will be playing quite a but once it warms up some.
So, enough about all of that. I actually made a list of things I wanted to blog about today and I've covered a few of them so far. So now, I want to talk a little about the State of the Union Address, new books, my 2011 Bucket List, and the Oscar Nominations!
So, first, the State of the Union Address. I'll admit, I did NOT watch the address. I have become so annoyed with politics within the past year or so and I have now become so uninformed that I assumed it would make zero sense to me so I refrained from watching. However, I've been listening to my normal talk radio all morning here on the computer and I've heard some pretty good reviews. I also like the fact that the members of Congress didn't keep their normal partisan seating chart! I love that they all mingled in with one another. That's refreshing.... I keep thinking "Can't we all just get along"!? I may get a wild hair and google some parts of the speech. But, don't hold your breath. haha
Next topic: new books. Every once and a while I'll be reading a magazine or internet article that strikes my fancy regarding a new book. The one I'm very interested in right now is Bluebird: Women and the new psychology of happiness. If you don't know, I'm obsessed with being happy. I think happiness is a choice and I'm very intrigued with the title of this book- especially the "psychology" part. So, I'm going to pick that one up this week and check it out. Right now, I'm trying to get into the book "Freedom". It was an Oprah's Bookclub choice this past year but I'm not one for fictional books so it's not really grabbing my attention. I prefer those that I can learn or be a little more enlightened from. One of my favorite books I read last year was The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin. I love how funny and honest it was and it really made you think about the choices you can make in your life to be happier! So, Bluebird seems to be the one that is tugging at my purse strings right now! I'll let you know how it is once I start it.
So, talking about books brings me to one of my next topics: my 2011 Bucket List. Here it is in no particular order:
1. Start a family (ok, yes, this one is at the top for a reason)
2. Finish 12 books (I had the same goal last year and only got to 10)
3. Take the GRE (as I continue to marvel at getting a masters degree, I figure the first step is taking this dang test)
4. Take a real, romantic vacation for just us (done and done! We're going to Vegas and the Grand Canyon for our anniversary! Many of you may think this one is a bit ridiculous because of all the travel that we do but in reality, Christian and I have done VERY few trips where it's just the two of us. So, needless to say, I'm PUMPED!)
5. Visit two new European locales: Rome & Paris (Rome is happening in March w/ my momma! Paris is another story and still up in the air. We usually go to Frankfurt, Germany in September and apparently, the train to Paris isn't too bad. So, if we have time, we may be going to the City of Lights!)
6. Blog at least once a week (this starts now)
7. Make a decision on a graduate program (obviously, this links to number 3 but it's a far more complicated feat. The one I REALLY want is Family & Marriage counseling but, unfortunately, not all schools offer this program; especially since I really want the sex therapy track for this program.... which I've only found at two schools around here. Also, we have to move again in two years so I'm not sure if I'll even realistically be able to start and finish here or even transfer somewhere else. So, there I stand)
8. Do yoga once a week (luckily, our gym offers a wide range of classes and each time I do yoga, I feel so peaceful. So, I am attempting to do yoga once a week now.)
There you have my 2011 bucket list! I tried to make it to 10 items but I got stuck at eight. I will keep all of you informed of how I'm tracking towards my goals as the year moves on.
And, on to my last topic: Oscar nominations!! I LOVE this time of year because this is when those really great movies get their recognition and when I strive to see as many as I can get my hands on! This year, I've seen four of the ten best picture nominees. If you haven't heard, here are the 10 Best Pic nominees:
1. The Kids are Alright (haven't seen it but I definitely want to. I think it's a brave story to tell and I love that something like this got credit)
2. Inception (interesting but weird and hard to follow)
3. Toy Story 3 (haven't seen it but I've heard all good things)
4. The Fighter (dying to see this!!!)
5. Black Swan (AMAZING movie! It was so dark and twisted but I LOVED it)
6. The King's Speech (also dying to see this one)
7. The Social Network (Great movie. It's a very interesting story and amazing how Facebook has taken on a life of it's own)
8. True Grit (Christian and I saw this the other night and I loved it! I love anything that the Cohen brothers do. I haven't seen the original but now I want to. Jeff Bridges and Hailee Steinfeld are amazing.)
9. 127 Hours (I'm sure this is good but I truly don't have a desire to see this. It seems too heartbreaking.)
10. Winter's Bones (I've never even heard of this one so I'll have to do some research)
So, I've seen Inception, Black Swan, The Social Network and True Grit and just based on those four, I'd say it's a tie between Black Swan and True Grit. The movie I want to see the most out of all 10 would be The King's Speech. It looks soooo good!
I hope you all have enjoyed my LONG blog today! Hopefully it broke up some of the monotony of a typical Wednesday. Also, just an update from the beginning of my blog: it's still snowing... hard. Looks like I'm going to be stuck inside all day. :-/
Have an awesome day!
xoxo,
Chrissi
I hope at least one of you is enjoying some sunshine somewhere in this world. Let's just say, the weather here is BLAHHHHHHH! It's been cold and the forecast for today was rain/snow mix and then turning into snow (6-8") tonight. Well, to my surprise, I woke up to about 2-3 inches on the ground this morning. Thus, making me very nervous to leave the house. And, for those of you who know me well, I HATE being inside all day. I got all pumped up last night when I planned some new workouts and now I can't even start them today. Ugh.... I'm also supposed to go to a lunch w/ some girls from our new town but I'm not sure if I'll make it. I'm also supposed to have a doctors appointment today in the city but I'm not sure if I'll make that either! For those of you from the south who, like me, have grown up thinking snow is awesome.... yeah, not so much. I just keep thinking, "only about a month and a half left of this junk"! Then, I'll be super happy with the flowers blooming, leaves popping out and the northeast summers with little humidity!
So, I mentioned in the last paragraph that I am planning on going to lunch with some girls from our new town today. Well, this got arranged when I contacted the president of the "Moorestown Newcomers". It's a social group in Moorestown for new folks in town and it sounds like so much fun. They have cocktail parties, progressive dinners, lunch outings, golf outings for the guys, etc, etc, etc. So, some of the ladies are having a lunch today and they invited me so I could check out a few people from the group. It seems to be families of all age ranges; newly weds, young children all the way up to empty nesters. So, I think we'll try it out. I have to tell ya, the people in New Jersey are so dag-gum nice! Maybe it's just our little town but I swear, it's crazy! Christian and I walked into town from our house yesterday afternoon and people were passing us on the sidewalk and they'd say "hello, how ya doin'". I'm just not used to that stuff anymore! I LOVE it! I also found out (not sure if I've told you guys this) that Moorestown was rated the number one town to live in in the U.S. in 2005 by Money Magazine! How cool is that? And, we get to live here! I couldn't be happier about where we're living right now. Christian says I get my hopes up too much but I can't help it. It's such a change from the "stick-up-your-ass" place that we just moved from! Plus, we have no association rules at our new house! I can put up a wind chime and my cute little red birdhouse and not have to worry about hearing crap from the crazy strict homeowners association! Happy happy happy. The people we're renting from are really great too. Shirley and John are the owners and I could see us hanging out with them quite a bit. We're actually going to dinner with them and another couple this Saturday here in town. They live about a mile from us and they're a young-ish couple who seem to have the same age difference as Christian and I do. Shirley and I went to lunch together last week and it was fun. She grew up around here so she was SUPER helpful with giving me suggestions for doctors, dentists, restaurants, wine shops, and she told me about the Moorestown Newcomers group. John plays golf and was here at the house when we were moving stuff into the garage and saw that we had golf clubs so I'm sure he and Christian will be playing quite a but once it warms up some.
So, enough about all of that. I actually made a list of things I wanted to blog about today and I've covered a few of them so far. So now, I want to talk a little about the State of the Union Address, new books, my 2011 Bucket List, and the Oscar Nominations!
So, first, the State of the Union Address. I'll admit, I did NOT watch the address. I have become so annoyed with politics within the past year or so and I have now become so uninformed that I assumed it would make zero sense to me so I refrained from watching. However, I've been listening to my normal talk radio all morning here on the computer and I've heard some pretty good reviews. I also like the fact that the members of Congress didn't keep their normal partisan seating chart! I love that they all mingled in with one another. That's refreshing.... I keep thinking "Can't we all just get along"!? I may get a wild hair and google some parts of the speech. But, don't hold your breath. haha
Next topic: new books. Every once and a while I'll be reading a magazine or internet article that strikes my fancy regarding a new book. The one I'm very interested in right now is Bluebird: Women and the new psychology of happiness. If you don't know, I'm obsessed with being happy. I think happiness is a choice and I'm very intrigued with the title of this book- especially the "psychology" part. So, I'm going to pick that one up this week and check it out. Right now, I'm trying to get into the book "Freedom". It was an Oprah's Bookclub choice this past year but I'm not one for fictional books so it's not really grabbing my attention. I prefer those that I can learn or be a little more enlightened from. One of my favorite books I read last year was The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin. I love how funny and honest it was and it really made you think about the choices you can make in your life to be happier! So, Bluebird seems to be the one that is tugging at my purse strings right now! I'll let you know how it is once I start it.
So, talking about books brings me to one of my next topics: my 2011 Bucket List. Here it is in no particular order:
1. Start a family (ok, yes, this one is at the top for a reason)
2. Finish 12 books (I had the same goal last year and only got to 10)
3. Take the GRE (as I continue to marvel at getting a masters degree, I figure the first step is taking this dang test)
4. Take a real, romantic vacation for just us (done and done! We're going to Vegas and the Grand Canyon for our anniversary! Many of you may think this one is a bit ridiculous because of all the travel that we do but in reality, Christian and I have done VERY few trips where it's just the two of us. So, needless to say, I'm PUMPED!)
5. Visit two new European locales: Rome & Paris (Rome is happening in March w/ my momma! Paris is another story and still up in the air. We usually go to Frankfurt, Germany in September and apparently, the train to Paris isn't too bad. So, if we have time, we may be going to the City of Lights!)
6. Blog at least once a week (this starts now)
7. Make a decision on a graduate program (obviously, this links to number 3 but it's a far more complicated feat. The one I REALLY want is Family & Marriage counseling but, unfortunately, not all schools offer this program; especially since I really want the sex therapy track for this program.... which I've only found at two schools around here. Also, we have to move again in two years so I'm not sure if I'll even realistically be able to start and finish here or even transfer somewhere else. So, there I stand)
8. Do yoga once a week (luckily, our gym offers a wide range of classes and each time I do yoga, I feel so peaceful. So, I am attempting to do yoga once a week now.)
There you have my 2011 bucket list! I tried to make it to 10 items but I got stuck at eight. I will keep all of you informed of how I'm tracking towards my goals as the year moves on.
And, on to my last topic: Oscar nominations!! I LOVE this time of year because this is when those really great movies get their recognition and when I strive to see as many as I can get my hands on! This year, I've seen four of the ten best picture nominees. If you haven't heard, here are the 10 Best Pic nominees:
1. The Kids are Alright (haven't seen it but I definitely want to. I think it's a brave story to tell and I love that something like this got credit)
2. Inception (interesting but weird and hard to follow)
3. Toy Story 3 (haven't seen it but I've heard all good things)
4. The Fighter (dying to see this!!!)
5. Black Swan (AMAZING movie! It was so dark and twisted but I LOVED it)
6. The King's Speech (also dying to see this one)
7. The Social Network (Great movie. It's a very interesting story and amazing how Facebook has taken on a life of it's own)
8. True Grit (Christian and I saw this the other night and I loved it! I love anything that the Cohen brothers do. I haven't seen the original but now I want to. Jeff Bridges and Hailee Steinfeld are amazing.)
9. 127 Hours (I'm sure this is good but I truly don't have a desire to see this. It seems too heartbreaking.)
10. Winter's Bones (I've never even heard of this one so I'll have to do some research)
So, I've seen Inception, Black Swan, The Social Network and True Grit and just based on those four, I'd say it's a tie between Black Swan and True Grit. The movie I want to see the most out of all 10 would be The King's Speech. It looks soooo good!
I hope you all have enjoyed my LONG blog today! Hopefully it broke up some of the monotony of a typical Wednesday. Also, just an update from the beginning of my blog: it's still snowing... hard. Looks like I'm going to be stuck inside all day. :-/
Have an awesome day!
xoxo,
Chrissi
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
Well, hello strangers!
I know, I know... it's been quite a while since I've posted anything and there has been so much going on! So, here's a rather lengthy update about the Jenkins' (new) household!
First thing's first- our new house is amazing! I'm so in love with it's character and charm. I love the creaking of the hard wood floors, the plaster walls that are so friggin' hard to nail into, and the beautiful radiators in each room. I've always wanted to live in a historic home and thanks to my amazing husband (since I'm not bringing in the bacon), that dream has come true.... at least for the next two years, anyway.
So, the house is great but the move sucked. As you may have seen on my Facebook, moving large furniture up a stairwell of a house built in 1927 was a bit of a challenge. Amazingly enough, though, Christian and I didn't have a single little argument during the move. With as much crap as we had to deal with, I say that's a huge feat. :) We actually had fun and were high five-ing each other when we actually finished moving certain pieces of furniture. There were three pieces that were major pains in the ass. We had to move a VERY large dresser, a queen size box spring and a king size mattress all upstairs. Man, it was a site to be seen. But, we made it in! And now, I'm working on unpacking and organizing each room. I swear, the packing and unpacking are by far the worst parts of moving!
The move has been occupying most of our time so there's not much more of a recap to give. Christian left Monday for a trip and he'll be back Friday. It was somewhat of a inopportune time for him to take a trip but somebody's gotta make the money around here, huh? haha
We're getting back into our traveling lifestyle soon. Christian and I will celebrate our first wedding anniversary next month and we're going to be taking a trip to VEGAS baby! While we're out there, we'll also spend a night at the Grand Canyon! I'm soooo excited to take this trip to celebrate a WONDERFUL year of marriage! It will be a blast. So, that trip is in February and then in March, mom and I are going to ITALY! We're so excited about that trip too! That's going to be a trip of a lifetime! Christian will actually be in Sicily for 30 days starting in March so he may be able to fly to Rome for a day to meet up with me and mom. I hope that happens! Once Christian gets back home from Sicily, we're taking a trip to Key West with Christian's brother and his wife and our friends Ron & Ashley and possibly some more folks that Christian grew up with. That will be so much fun too! I'm hoping to make it back to Pcola in April for a friend's wedding and to see the newest addition to our family, Ali & Ben's little baby boy! Christian and I will both be back in Pcola in June for my friend Jenna's wedding. At that point, the year is practically half-way through! That's nuts!
I'm hoping some of you can make a trip up this way sometime this year! We love having visitors and we don't have near enough! So, anytime any of you want to come up, let me know!!
Just a couple more things: today I went to Ikea for the first time ever and I am officially in love w/ how cheap that place is! It's INSANE! Their stuff is sooo neat too. So, that was a successful and frugal shopping trip! I also had to take Christian's truck back to base and pick up my car since we switches cars last week. Well, because of all this crappy snow and freezing rain we've been having, my car was frozen SOLID! There was a 1/2 inch thing coating of ice literally covering every inch of my car. So, it took me about 15 minutes to get all the ice off (while standing in the freezing rain) so I could get into my car. It's times like these when I don't like being a Navy wife left to fend for myself. Another entertaining bout I had with winter weather today was shoveling the ice and snow off of my driveway. Mind you, our new driveway is at about a 30 degree angle. So, I was slipping and sliding and almost busted my butt a few times but luckily I was able to catch myself on the door handle of the truck, the bumper, the wheels, and the rear windshield wiper. haha I told Christian is was definitely a show for our new neighbors. hahaha Needless to say, I wish I was in Florida weather right now. Oh well, I guess I gotta get used to it!
Well, I was going to get into recent news stories but I'm getting tired of typing on a laptop so I'll do another post later! :) I hope you're all having a wonderful week! I'll chat soon!
xoxo,
Chrissi
I know, I know... it's been quite a while since I've posted anything and there has been so much going on! So, here's a rather lengthy update about the Jenkins' (new) household!
First thing's first- our new house is amazing! I'm so in love with it's character and charm. I love the creaking of the hard wood floors, the plaster walls that are so friggin' hard to nail into, and the beautiful radiators in each room. I've always wanted to live in a historic home and thanks to my amazing husband (since I'm not bringing in the bacon), that dream has come true.... at least for the next two years, anyway.
So, the house is great but the move sucked. As you may have seen on my Facebook, moving large furniture up a stairwell of a house built in 1927 was a bit of a challenge. Amazingly enough, though, Christian and I didn't have a single little argument during the move. With as much crap as we had to deal with, I say that's a huge feat. :) We actually had fun and were high five-ing each other when we actually finished moving certain pieces of furniture. There were three pieces that were major pains in the ass. We had to move a VERY large dresser, a queen size box spring and a king size mattress all upstairs. Man, it was a site to be seen. But, we made it in! And now, I'm working on unpacking and organizing each room. I swear, the packing and unpacking are by far the worst parts of moving!
The move has been occupying most of our time so there's not much more of a recap to give. Christian left Monday for a trip and he'll be back Friday. It was somewhat of a inopportune time for him to take a trip but somebody's gotta make the money around here, huh? haha
We're getting back into our traveling lifestyle soon. Christian and I will celebrate our first wedding anniversary next month and we're going to be taking a trip to VEGAS baby! While we're out there, we'll also spend a night at the Grand Canyon! I'm soooo excited to take this trip to celebrate a WONDERFUL year of marriage! It will be a blast. So, that trip is in February and then in March, mom and I are going to ITALY! We're so excited about that trip too! That's going to be a trip of a lifetime! Christian will actually be in Sicily for 30 days starting in March so he may be able to fly to Rome for a day to meet up with me and mom. I hope that happens! Once Christian gets back home from Sicily, we're taking a trip to Key West with Christian's brother and his wife and our friends Ron & Ashley and possibly some more folks that Christian grew up with. That will be so much fun too! I'm hoping to make it back to Pcola in April for a friend's wedding and to see the newest addition to our family, Ali & Ben's little baby boy! Christian and I will both be back in Pcola in June for my friend Jenna's wedding. At that point, the year is practically half-way through! That's nuts!
I'm hoping some of you can make a trip up this way sometime this year! We love having visitors and we don't have near enough! So, anytime any of you want to come up, let me know!!
Just a couple more things: today I went to Ikea for the first time ever and I am officially in love w/ how cheap that place is! It's INSANE! Their stuff is sooo neat too. So, that was a successful and frugal shopping trip! I also had to take Christian's truck back to base and pick up my car since we switches cars last week. Well, because of all this crappy snow and freezing rain we've been having, my car was frozen SOLID! There was a 1/2 inch thing coating of ice literally covering every inch of my car. So, it took me about 15 minutes to get all the ice off (while standing in the freezing rain) so I could get into my car. It's times like these when I don't like being a Navy wife left to fend for myself. Another entertaining bout I had with winter weather today was shoveling the ice and snow off of my driveway. Mind you, our new driveway is at about a 30 degree angle. So, I was slipping and sliding and almost busted my butt a few times but luckily I was able to catch myself on the door handle of the truck, the bumper, the wheels, and the rear windshield wiper. haha I told Christian is was definitely a show for our new neighbors. hahaha Needless to say, I wish I was in Florida weather right now. Oh well, I guess I gotta get used to it!
Well, I was going to get into recent news stories but I'm getting tired of typing on a laptop so I'll do another post later! :) I hope you're all having a wonderful week! I'll chat soon!
xoxo,
Chrissi
Wednesday, December 29, 2010
Baby it's cold outside!
Well, folks, I am officially back in Pennsylvania! And, boy, was it one hell of a trip back.... I'll get to that a little later. Christian FINALLY comes home tomorrow night and I'm so excited! But, I'm also kind of bummed because he'll only be here three days and then leaves again Sunday for another week. Oh well, at least I get to see him! I'm also a little nervous to have him back home. I think this a feeling many people get when their spouse is gone for a while. I'm nervous the house won't be in order, something won't be "just right", and there's also the slight awkwardness that's there when we haven't seen each other in forever. I know everything will be fine but I'm weird about making sure everything is perfect when he gets home! I don't want anything to mess up our time together!
So anyway, I'm back home from my five weeks in Florida for the holidays and I couldn't be happier to be sleeping in my own bed! I had wonderful accommodations in Florida (thanks to Dad, Mom and even Karyn!) and I had a great time seeing my family and friends. I'm blessed to be in the situation where I could leave home for that long and come see everyone. Shoot, I even got a job while I was there.... ok, just for three days, but it counts! It was fun to catch up with old work friends and even do some actual work!
Christmas was wonderful and all my gifts from my parents were great! Mom got me an awesome antique map of Philadelphia framed in a really neat frame so I can put in my new house! It has a copyright date of 1885 and 1903 on it. I LOVE it!!! Then, Dad got me some Ugg boots which have shown their worth the past three or four days! Those were my two favorite gifts! But, of course, the best gift was just being able to be around my parents for those several weeks. That time is certainly treasured!
So, after the long visit, it was time for me to make my trek up the east coast back to good ol' PA. So, I originally planned on leaving Monday, the 27th after the HSG procedure I was going to have. Well, I ended up canceling the procedure b/c the timing just wasn't right. So, I ended up leaving the 26th. Boy, was that a mistake! The first snow I hit was south of Montgomery, AL. And, as you southerners know, we don't really know what this snow crap is all about. And we damn sure don't know what to do to the roads when it snows! So, I was stuck in traffic for about an hour and a half in Alabama because the roads had ice all over them. By the time I got to Tennessee, I saw about 10 different accidents because of the ice/snow. So, needless to say, my nerves got a very good workout early in the trip. After I got through Alabama, the trip was going pretty easy. Roads were clear, not a whole lot of snow, etc. Well, then I hit the Virginia/West Virginia area. (Mind you, I was going to my father-in-law's in western Maryland... not going to Philly yet) Oh, man... I can easily say that I have never been more terrified in my life. My stomach was in knots, my shoulders and neck kept cramping and I was just a ball of nerves. So, after about 13 hours in the car and my amazing dad staying on the phone with me for the majority of the bad areas, I needed to stop and stretch my legs. Well, when I got out of the car at that point, there was no way in hell I was getting back on the interstate. So, luckily the exit I got off on had a nice hotel so I stopped for the night and rested until the next morning. The next morning I had two more hours to go to make it to my FIL's house for breakfast. I made it there with no problem and had breakfast with him and my brother-in-law and his wife. Then, I was just itching to get home so I got back in the car and drove another four hours to my house! Ahhh.... home sweet home!
And, here's what I drove home to! This was actually taken the day after I got home after my driveway and the streets had been cleared. The day I got home, my driveway and the roads were still covered in snow and ice.
Well, folks, I am officially back in Pennsylvania! And, boy, was it one hell of a trip back.... I'll get to that a little later. Christian FINALLY comes home tomorrow night and I'm so excited! But, I'm also kind of bummed because he'll only be here three days and then leaves again Sunday for another week. Oh well, at least I get to see him! I'm also a little nervous to have him back home. I think this a feeling many people get when their spouse is gone for a while. I'm nervous the house won't be in order, something won't be "just right", and there's also the slight awkwardness that's there when we haven't seen each other in forever. I know everything will be fine but I'm weird about making sure everything is perfect when he gets home! I don't want anything to mess up our time together!
So anyway, I'm back home from my five weeks in Florida for the holidays and I couldn't be happier to be sleeping in my own bed! I had wonderful accommodations in Florida (thanks to Dad, Mom and even Karyn!) and I had a great time seeing my family and friends. I'm blessed to be in the situation where I could leave home for that long and come see everyone. Shoot, I even got a job while I was there.... ok, just for three days, but it counts! It was fun to catch up with old work friends and even do some actual work!
Christmas was wonderful and all my gifts from my parents were great! Mom got me an awesome antique map of Philadelphia framed in a really neat frame so I can put in my new house! It has a copyright date of 1885 and 1903 on it. I LOVE it!!! Then, Dad got me some Ugg boots which have shown their worth the past three or four days! Those were my two favorite gifts! But, of course, the best gift was just being able to be around my parents for those several weeks. That time is certainly treasured!
So, after the long visit, it was time for me to make my trek up the east coast back to good ol' PA. So, I originally planned on leaving Monday, the 27th after the HSG procedure I was going to have. Well, I ended up canceling the procedure b/c the timing just wasn't right. So, I ended up leaving the 26th. Boy, was that a mistake! The first snow I hit was south of Montgomery, AL. And, as you southerners know, we don't really know what this snow crap is all about. And we damn sure don't know what to do to the roads when it snows! So, I was stuck in traffic for about an hour and a half in Alabama because the roads had ice all over them. By the time I got to Tennessee, I saw about 10 different accidents because of the ice/snow. So, needless to say, my nerves got a very good workout early in the trip. After I got through Alabama, the trip was going pretty easy. Roads were clear, not a whole lot of snow, etc. Well, then I hit the Virginia/West Virginia area. (Mind you, I was going to my father-in-law's in western Maryland... not going to Philly yet) Oh, man... I can easily say that I have never been more terrified in my life. My stomach was in knots, my shoulders and neck kept cramping and I was just a ball of nerves. So, after about 13 hours in the car and my amazing dad staying on the phone with me for the majority of the bad areas, I needed to stop and stretch my legs. Well, when I got out of the car at that point, there was no way in hell I was getting back on the interstate. So, luckily the exit I got off on had a nice hotel so I stopped for the night and rested until the next morning. The next morning I had two more hours to go to make it to my FIL's house for breakfast. I made it there with no problem and had breakfast with him and my brother-in-law and his wife. Then, I was just itching to get home so I got back in the car and drove another four hours to my house! Ahhh.... home sweet home!
And, here's what I drove home to! This was actually taken the day after I got home after my driveway and the streets had been cleared. The day I got home, my driveway and the roads were still covered in snow and ice.
It was soooo cold too! But, it's refreshing and pretty and neat because it's something different to me. So, I've just been going about my regular daily routine... just a little more bundled up now!
Other than Christian getting home, we have the move to look forward to! We're now moving January 20th which is way earlier than we expected but that's just how the chips fell. So, hopefully the snow will hold out and make our move easy. I'm definitely not looking forward to the act of moving but I'm really excited to get in the new house! I started packing up some stuff today and I'll have all next week to get a lot done too.
Anyway, now I'm starving so I better go eat some of my left-over chili (perfect cold weather food)! I love y'all and hope everyone has a wonderful New Years!!!
xoxo,
Chrissi
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
I'll have a blue Christmas without you....
Well, folks, as everyone is getting ready for this glorious time of year, all I can think about is having my husband come home December 30th at 6:50 p.m.! Christmas just isn't all that exciting for me this year. Don't get me wrong, I am having a great time in Florida and I love being around my family but man, I'm ready to get home! I can't wait to see some snow (yes, I know, I'm insane)! I'm also pretty excited to start packing up all of our stuff so we can move into our new house!! I'm SOOOO excited about moving. I love everything about our new house and the new town we're moving into. The house is a historic 1927 home in a great neighborhood that was built back then by a prestigious builder for his mother. It's got a great layout, all the original molding around the doors and windows, original hardwood floors and "powder rooms" in the guest bedrooms. That's what they used to call half baths back then. I love it. :) The town we're moving into is Moorestown, New Jersey. Christian and I found this town back in the spring when we drove over to NJ to find towns that we would want to eventually live in since we knew we were going to be moving again. We both fell in love with Moorestown when we ate lunch on their little Main Street (which we will live less than a mile from!). So, it's got a great little historic downtown but it also has all the convenience of suburbia about 4 miles from our house (Target, Wegmans *my favorite grocery store ever*, Bed, Bath & Beyond, etc). Plus, we'll only be about 20 minutes from Philly instead of 45 minutes like we are at our how now. So, if you can't already tell, I'm itching to get moved! Plus, we should be in the new house by February 20th so we can celebrate our first anniversary there!
Speaking of anniversary, is it crazy to anyone else to think that I've almost been married for a year?! If they say the first year is the toughest, this was a BREEZE! I have loved every second of being married.... even the stupid little fights, the tough compromises, having to leave my job, moving to an entirely new city where I didn't know a soul, the many, many days I spend alone due to Christian being gone 50 percent of the time for his job, spending Christmas as a single lady, etc, etc, etc. I have never been happier. I am one lucky gal for finding such an amazing, funny, supportive, fun, exciting, loving, sexy :) person to spend my life with. And, of course, he's damn lucky to have such an awesome wife too. haha
**Pardon the interruption: I'm listening to Pandora.com and created my own Christmas music station and they're playing Judy Garland "Have yourself a Merry Little Christmas".... man, I love her voice!**
Haha, now back to the blog.... so anyway, a whole year! That's crazy to me! It has flown by. One more thing that has happened within our first year of marriage is our trouble with trying to have a baby. It's been a while now so I went to my doctor down here in Florida (Dr. Lile @ Sacred Heart if any of you are searching for the best OBGYN ever...) yesterday to talk to him about all of this stuff and he's sending me to have an HSG in the next two weeks to check out my fallopian tubes and make sure there are no blockages. There are no other things on my end of things that point out any issues. We know I'm ovulating b/c of tests I've done and my cycles are like clockwork. Christian will be having his own test in January once we're back up north. So, hopefully, we'll find out soon what is going on and we'll be on our way to parenthood. Gosh, that's crazy to think about too! haha We're going to LOVE it though!
So, on to other topics.... I have yet to do any Christmas shopping. I had really good intentions of getting it done today but I just couldn't get in the mood. I REALLY don't like Christmas shopping. Luckily Christian and I agreed years ago that we will never give gifts to each other. We aren't in need of anything and if we ever are, we go get it at the time we need it. We celebrated our first Christmas together with gifts back in 2008 and it was awkward and neither of us really used the gifts we received so it was pointless for us. But, unfortunately for me, I can't use that same philosophy with other loved-ones. haha But, there are only a few people I need to shop for so it won't be too painful.
Other than Christmas shopping, my week is actually getting pretty busy. I was just asked by my old job to come in an work a couple days. This was the job where I was a Case Management Assistant. Man, I loved that job. It was the one I left when I was offered the position with Studer Group. Haha, sometimes I wonder about my sanity at that point. ;-) So, I'm going to hang out all day tomorrow with my old co-worker Angela and my old boss, Denise! I can't wait! Thursday, Alison is having craft day with her students at Molino Park Elementary and she invited me to come help out so I'll probably do that and then I may work back at ECRA again Friday if they need me. Then, Saturday and Sunday are chock full of fun stuff!
Saturday is Ali's baby shower! I'm sooo excited about that and can't wait to see all the cute stuff she gets for Baby Boy (who is yet to be named) Ohler. After the shower, we have our family Christmas on my mom's side and then Sunday is family Christmas on my dad's side. Lots of family time this weekend! I love it.
Christian always asks me to say hello to everyone so here is his hello and Merry Christmas! :) I can't wait to see those of you I will see this week/weekend. Love y'all!
xoxo,
Chrissi
Well, folks, as everyone is getting ready for this glorious time of year, all I can think about is having my husband come home December 30th at 6:50 p.m.! Christmas just isn't all that exciting for me this year. Don't get me wrong, I am having a great time in Florida and I love being around my family but man, I'm ready to get home! I can't wait to see some snow (yes, I know, I'm insane)! I'm also pretty excited to start packing up all of our stuff so we can move into our new house!! I'm SOOOO excited about moving. I love everything about our new house and the new town we're moving into. The house is a historic 1927 home in a great neighborhood that was built back then by a prestigious builder for his mother. It's got a great layout, all the original molding around the doors and windows, original hardwood floors and "powder rooms" in the guest bedrooms. That's what they used to call half baths back then. I love it. :) The town we're moving into is Moorestown, New Jersey. Christian and I found this town back in the spring when we drove over to NJ to find towns that we would want to eventually live in since we knew we were going to be moving again. We both fell in love with Moorestown when we ate lunch on their little Main Street (which we will live less than a mile from!). So, it's got a great little historic downtown but it also has all the convenience of suburbia about 4 miles from our house (Target, Wegmans *my favorite grocery store ever*, Bed, Bath & Beyond, etc). Plus, we'll only be about 20 minutes from Philly instead of 45 minutes like we are at our how now. So, if you can't already tell, I'm itching to get moved! Plus, we should be in the new house by February 20th so we can celebrate our first anniversary there!
Speaking of anniversary, is it crazy to anyone else to think that I've almost been married for a year?! If they say the first year is the toughest, this was a BREEZE! I have loved every second of being married.... even the stupid little fights, the tough compromises, having to leave my job, moving to an entirely new city where I didn't know a soul, the many, many days I spend alone due to Christian being gone 50 percent of the time for his job, spending Christmas as a single lady, etc, etc, etc. I have never been happier. I am one lucky gal for finding such an amazing, funny, supportive, fun, exciting, loving, sexy :) person to spend my life with. And, of course, he's damn lucky to have such an awesome wife too. haha
**Pardon the interruption: I'm listening to Pandora.com and created my own Christmas music station and they're playing Judy Garland "Have yourself a Merry Little Christmas".... man, I love her voice!**
Haha, now back to the blog.... so anyway, a whole year! That's crazy to me! It has flown by. One more thing that has happened within our first year of marriage is our trouble with trying to have a baby. It's been a while now so I went to my doctor down here in Florida (Dr. Lile @ Sacred Heart if any of you are searching for the best OBGYN ever...) yesterday to talk to him about all of this stuff and he's sending me to have an HSG in the next two weeks to check out my fallopian tubes and make sure there are no blockages. There are no other things on my end of things that point out any issues. We know I'm ovulating b/c of tests I've done and my cycles are like clockwork. Christian will be having his own test in January once we're back up north. So, hopefully, we'll find out soon what is going on and we'll be on our way to parenthood. Gosh, that's crazy to think about too! haha We're going to LOVE it though!
So, on to other topics.... I have yet to do any Christmas shopping. I had really good intentions of getting it done today but I just couldn't get in the mood. I REALLY don't like Christmas shopping. Luckily Christian and I agreed years ago that we will never give gifts to each other. We aren't in need of anything and if we ever are, we go get it at the time we need it. We celebrated our first Christmas together with gifts back in 2008 and it was awkward and neither of us really used the gifts we received so it was pointless for us. But, unfortunately for me, I can't use that same philosophy with other loved-ones. haha But, there are only a few people I need to shop for so it won't be too painful.
Other than Christmas shopping, my week is actually getting pretty busy. I was just asked by my old job to come in an work a couple days. This was the job where I was a Case Management Assistant. Man, I loved that job. It was the one I left when I was offered the position with Studer Group. Haha, sometimes I wonder about my sanity at that point. ;-) So, I'm going to hang out all day tomorrow with my old co-worker Angela and my old boss, Denise! I can't wait! Thursday, Alison is having craft day with her students at Molino Park Elementary and she invited me to come help out so I'll probably do that and then I may work back at ECRA again Friday if they need me. Then, Saturday and Sunday are chock full of fun stuff!
Saturday is Ali's baby shower! I'm sooo excited about that and can't wait to see all the cute stuff she gets for Baby Boy (who is yet to be named) Ohler. After the shower, we have our family Christmas on my mom's side and then Sunday is family Christmas on my dad's side. Lots of family time this weekend! I love it.
Christian always asks me to say hello to everyone so here is his hello and Merry Christmas! :) I can't wait to see those of you I will see this week/weekend. Love y'all!
xoxo,
Chrissi
Monday, November 29, 2010
Once again, it's been a while!
Well, hello everyone. I come to you from the apartment above the garage at my dad's house here in Florida! I am very happy to be home for the holidays. As many of you know, Christian and I got in town last Saturday evening and spent the first few days of our visit running around seeing as many people as possible! We also got to stay at my cousin's condo for about four days and that was super nice! We walked the beach and watched sunsets, went for morning jogs, and even had all of our friends over to watch the Auburn/Alabama game (WAR EAGLE!!!). We had a great time doing all of that while he was here.
But, I had to take him to the airport this morning so he could head back to Philly and get ready to leave for his 30+ day trip over to Japan tomorrow. The goodbye was very hard. We both shed a few tears (mine continued on the way home and his were held back pretty hard in typical male fashion, haha). So, needless to say, this whole thing sucks but I know it could be a lot worse. Thirty days is nothin' compared to six, nine, twelve or eighteen month deployments that other couples have to deal with. So, I feel a little like a spoiled brat being so emotional about this one. But, I miss my husband and there's no getting over that.
So anyway, since I'll be down here for another five-six weeks, I need to keep myself as busy as possible! I'm trying to spend as much time as possible with family and friends but I'm also such an independent person so I'll be taking day trips here and there by myself.... Destin, Fairhope, etc. I'm trying to fit in a trip to New Orleans and I've even contemplated getting a job while I'm here. I'm thinking of working a retail job just a couple nights a week to give me a little holiday money and take up some free time. Who knows if I'll actually find one but I'll be trying!
Of course we also have this little thing called Christmas coming up so that will take up some time with the family too! We have our family Christmas on my mom's side on the 18th and we still need to plan the one for my dad's side of the family. I also have a baby shower coming up on the morning of the 18th for my beautiful cousin, Ali. :)
I don't really have too much to blog about right now but I'm sure something will come up soon enough to bring some interesting thoughts!
I hope everyone had an amazing Thanksgiving. Have a great week back at work!
xoxo,
Chrissi
Monday, November 15, 2010
Holy crap, it's been a while!
Well, folks... it looks like we have quite a bit to catch up on! Where do I begin??
I guess I'll start in the typical chronological fashion and back up to where my last post left off. So, my last post was about two weeks ago and Mom & Adam had just left Philly and headed back to Florida. Quite a bit has been happening around here since then. The weekend after Mom & Adam were here, I got to experience Atlantic City for the first time with my "philly friends". Vicki's birthday was the occasion so about six of us drove over for Friday night. We went to dinner at a place called Continental at Caesars and then saw a Pink Martini concert. Pink Martini is a band I had never really had too much experience with but they are Vicki's favorite and since it was her b-day, that was on our agenda! So, we saw the concert, which was pretty awesome. Very different from anything I've been to before but none the less, a great show! After the concert we hung out in a bar/club in the casino and then hopped around to different bars/clubs and before we knew it, we were walking back to our hotel room at 5:30 a.m., yes, that's 5:30 in the morning. Uh, I don't even remember the last time I was even close to staying up that late, much less past midnight! But, we had a BLAST! I LoVe the friends I've made up here and we have so much fun together. They're intelligent, funny, a little crass (which I love), and honest (also another thing I love). Vicki and Iris (who Vicki introduced me to one day over a game of golf) are probably my closest friends here so far. So, Atlantic City was fun and I really think once you've seen one casino, you've seen 'em all but I've never stayed out this late at any of the casinos I've been to in Biloxi. Oh, did I mention I didn't even touch a slot machine, poker table, blackjack table or roulette table? The casinos made their money from me on the $16 drinks. Blah. And, mind you, $16 drinks don't make a hangover any better. Vicki, Iris and I were pretty pitiful driving back to Philly Saturday morning. haha
So, anyway, Saturday after AC was pretty much a dud. Christian flew that day so he didn't get home until late that afternoon. We had dinner out and then Sunday we decided to drive over to Jersey to look at some houses. We found a couple that sparked our interest quite a bit but there was one that we both love. It's in Moorestown, NJ and it was build in 1927 by a very popular builder during that time for his mother. It's in a great neighborhood within walking distance to the little downtown and it has so much character. We met with the realtor that day and told her that we weren't looking to move until the beginning of March but wanted to go ahead and secure something b/c of all of the traveling we have coming up. So, we're in the process of negotiating rental terms. I have another meeting with the realtor and the owner tomorrow to discuss everything (and to meet the owner for the first time). So, keep your fingers crossed and say a little prayer that we get this house!!!
This weekend we traveled over to western Maryland to visit with the family-in-law. We got over there Thursday and got back last night. As always, it was a good, relaxing time. Christian's high school football team had a playoff game Friday night that we went to. It was FREEZING but we had a good time and I got to drink my first hot chocolate of the year. The hot chocolate brought back memories of the good ol' St. Ann's Round-up days (for those of you from Pensacola). Christian played golf Saturday while I hung out and started Bush's new book "Decision Points". It's a great book so far!! I definitely recommend it (even for people who haven't had a great view of him). We went to church yesterday morning with Christian's 91-year-old grandma, like we do every time we're in town. The church also had their Thanksgiving lunch yesterday so we stayed for that and it was just a bunch of yummy food! We got back home around 7:30 last night and Christian unpacked from the weekend and packed again for the week. He left this morning for a five day trip over to Germany. He'll be back Friday, I'll pick him up from work, we'll drive straight to Maryland to spend the night and then Saturday morning we'll be on our way to Florida!!! I can't wait to get home!
Today was such a fun day! I met Iris at here house around noon and we headed down to Philly to run some errands. She's a self-proclaimed food snob so we went down to the Asian Market in South Philly to pick up some things and then ventured over to the 9th Street Italian Market in South Philly. She introduced me to two shops in the Italian Market that literally made me feel like I was in Italy. I stood there tasting cheeses and olives and pesto for about 15 minutes! AMAZING! I ended up getting some cheese and pesto. It's so neat to have all the culture around since we live in a big city. With every new little finding, I love Philly more and more. After the markets, we went to Rittenhouse Square (another one of my favorite areas of the city) and had lunch at Parc. After lunch, it was time for manicures and pedicures. The great thing about Philly is that you can find services for SUPER expensive or SUPER-DUPER cheap. We found a little place that did mani/pedi/massage for $45. They literally massage your back the entire time you're getting your nails done. Can't beat that! Plus, our nails look great! That pretty much wrapped up our day and we headed home.... where I am now.
So, tomorrow is the meeting w/ the realtor, I don't have anything planned Wednesday and Thursday I'm meeting Vicki so we can donate our quota for the Junior League thrift shop (one of our requirements for Junior League up here) and then we have a meeting that night for Junior League. Friday is a packing day and it'll be time to pick Christian up and start our road trip before we know it!
I hope all of you are enjoying the fall weather wherever you are! It's kind of gloomy and cool here for the next day or so. I'm ready for that Florida sunshine and 70 degree weather!
Love y'all! Have a FANTASTIC week!
xoxo,
Chrissi
Well, folks... it looks like we have quite a bit to catch up on! Where do I begin??
I guess I'll start in the typical chronological fashion and back up to where my last post left off. So, my last post was about two weeks ago and Mom & Adam had just left Philly and headed back to Florida. Quite a bit has been happening around here since then. The weekend after Mom & Adam were here, I got to experience Atlantic City for the first time with my "philly friends". Vicki's birthday was the occasion so about six of us drove over for Friday night. We went to dinner at a place called Continental at Caesars and then saw a Pink Martini concert. Pink Martini is a band I had never really had too much experience with but they are Vicki's favorite and since it was her b-day, that was on our agenda! So, we saw the concert, which was pretty awesome. Very different from anything I've been to before but none the less, a great show! After the concert we hung out in a bar/club in the casino and then hopped around to different bars/clubs and before we knew it, we were walking back to our hotel room at 5:30 a.m., yes, that's 5:30 in the morning. Uh, I don't even remember the last time I was even close to staying up that late, much less past midnight! But, we had a BLAST! I LoVe the friends I've made up here and we have so much fun together. They're intelligent, funny, a little crass (which I love), and honest (also another thing I love). Vicki and Iris (who Vicki introduced me to one day over a game of golf) are probably my closest friends here so far. So, Atlantic City was fun and I really think once you've seen one casino, you've seen 'em all but I've never stayed out this late at any of the casinos I've been to in Biloxi. Oh, did I mention I didn't even touch a slot machine, poker table, blackjack table or roulette table? The casinos made their money from me on the $16 drinks. Blah. And, mind you, $16 drinks don't make a hangover any better. Vicki, Iris and I were pretty pitiful driving back to Philly Saturday morning. haha
So, anyway, Saturday after AC was pretty much a dud. Christian flew that day so he didn't get home until late that afternoon. We had dinner out and then Sunday we decided to drive over to Jersey to look at some houses. We found a couple that sparked our interest quite a bit but there was one that we both love. It's in Moorestown, NJ and it was build in 1927 by a very popular builder during that time for his mother. It's in a great neighborhood within walking distance to the little downtown and it has so much character. We met with the realtor that day and told her that we weren't looking to move until the beginning of March but wanted to go ahead and secure something b/c of all of the traveling we have coming up. So, we're in the process of negotiating rental terms. I have another meeting with the realtor and the owner tomorrow to discuss everything (and to meet the owner for the first time). So, keep your fingers crossed and say a little prayer that we get this house!!!
This weekend we traveled over to western Maryland to visit with the family-in-law. We got over there Thursday and got back last night. As always, it was a good, relaxing time. Christian's high school football team had a playoff game Friday night that we went to. It was FREEZING but we had a good time and I got to drink my first hot chocolate of the year. The hot chocolate brought back memories of the good ol' St. Ann's Round-up days (for those of you from Pensacola). Christian played golf Saturday while I hung out and started Bush's new book "Decision Points". It's a great book so far!! I definitely recommend it (even for people who haven't had a great view of him). We went to church yesterday morning with Christian's 91-year-old grandma, like we do every time we're in town. The church also had their Thanksgiving lunch yesterday so we stayed for that and it was just a bunch of yummy food! We got back home around 7:30 last night and Christian unpacked from the weekend and packed again for the week. He left this morning for a five day trip over to Germany. He'll be back Friday, I'll pick him up from work, we'll drive straight to Maryland to spend the night and then Saturday morning we'll be on our way to Florida!!! I can't wait to get home!
Today was such a fun day! I met Iris at here house around noon and we headed down to Philly to run some errands. She's a self-proclaimed food snob so we went down to the Asian Market in South Philly to pick up some things and then ventured over to the 9th Street Italian Market in South Philly. She introduced me to two shops in the Italian Market that literally made me feel like I was in Italy. I stood there tasting cheeses and olives and pesto for about 15 minutes! AMAZING! I ended up getting some cheese and pesto. It's so neat to have all the culture around since we live in a big city. With every new little finding, I love Philly more and more. After the markets, we went to Rittenhouse Square (another one of my favorite areas of the city) and had lunch at Parc. After lunch, it was time for manicures and pedicures. The great thing about Philly is that you can find services for SUPER expensive or SUPER-DUPER cheap. We found a little place that did mani/pedi/massage for $45. They literally massage your back the entire time you're getting your nails done. Can't beat that! Plus, our nails look great! That pretty much wrapped up our day and we headed home.... where I am now.
So, tomorrow is the meeting w/ the realtor, I don't have anything planned Wednesday and Thursday I'm meeting Vicki so we can donate our quota for the Junior League thrift shop (one of our requirements for Junior League up here) and then we have a meeting that night for Junior League. Friday is a packing day and it'll be time to pick Christian up and start our road trip before we know it!
I hope all of you are enjoying the fall weather wherever you are! It's kind of gloomy and cool here for the next day or so. I'm ready for that Florida sunshine and 70 degree weather!
Love y'all! Have a FANTASTIC week!
xoxo,
Chrissi
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
In the Season of Giving Thanks...
As Thanksgiving approaches each year, I try to reflect on life and ponder the things for which I am thankful. I think I have a winning year this year. Never have I ever been so blessed in life with everything that I want, need and desire. I have never been happier in life than I am right now and I have so many people and circumstances to thank for this. So, here are the things I am thankful for:
My home: As a military wife, I have come to terms with the fact that home really is where the heart is. For the next six or seven years, we will be moving around the country and we don't have the luxury at this point in our lives of looking for a home to raise a family in and make memories for a lifetime in our children's childhood home. But, while we're in limbo for the next seven years, I will make the most of the roof over our head.... whether it really "feels" like home or not. We are blessed that we get to experience life in different parts of the country. This helps us become more accepting of others and step out of our comfort zones. I will carry my heart with me to each and every house and home will be where the heart is.
The military: I never, ever thought I would end up as a military spouse. Coming from Pensacola, Florida (one of the largest military populations), I, like many other young women in Pensacola, had a preconceived notion about what military men were like. And, I NEVER wanted anything to do with any of them. But, everything changed when I made some great friends who were officers stationed in Pensacola for flight training. They (about six guys who lived across the street from me) made me realize what great guys they really were and how hard they worked. So, two years after making those friends, I met my husband. Thank God for the change of heart I had regarding military men or else I wouldn't be in the position I am today. Yes, the military life is tough and yes, it sucks that my husband is gone so much. But, we are extremely blessed in this economy to be in a position where we never have to worry about getting laid off or always having a back-up plan. The military allows us to sustain an amazing life and gives us all kinds of opportunities to travel the world and have free healthcare (another luxury in this country).... not to mention the great discounts we get on everyday items. I'm thankful that my husband is so dedicated to his job as a pilot. He's so smart and loves what he does. His dream of being a pilot stemmed from a flight he took to Europe when he was 10 years old... and that dream has come true. Doing what he loves definitely makes our home a happy one.
My family: Family is always at the top of my "gratitude list".... especially my immediate family consisting of my mom, dad, brother and step-parents. I had such a great time this past weekend with Mom & Adam and now I'm missing my dad a lot! I can't wait to see him in less than three weeks so we can hang out and laugh like we always do! Living over 2000 miles away really puts things into perspective regarding your family. When I lived in Florida I had the luxury of seeing my parents any time I wanted to see them. Now, it's obviously not that easy. But, the time that we do have together is so special! Plus, now they have a great vacation spot! I'm also thankful for all of my extended family; my amazing aunts, cousins, grandfathers and crazy grandmothers (haha)! The new addition we have coming to the family from Ali & Ben is sooo exciting too!
My friends: When I moved, I knew things would change a little bit with my friends. Of course, the most obvious change is the fact that I don't get to see them as often and I can't call them to grab a drink after work or meet me for lunch. But, thank God I have great friends who are just a phone call away. There have been a few times since being up here when I really needed a friend to cry to and Alison, Laura and Christina have been there every time I've needed them. I'm so thankful for great friends like that. I'm also so very thankful for the great friends I'm making up here. Junior League has been my saving grace when it comes to friends. There are such great girls in this group and I'm excited to see how these new found friendships will blossom in the coming months, years, etc.
and last but certainly not least, the love of my life, Christian: As I mentioned in the beginning of this post, I have never been happier in my life than I am now. Much (if not all) of that happiness is caused by this amazing, smart, handsome man I get to wake up to every day (well, not every day since he's gone 50% of the time but you get my point). For those of you who know us really well, you know how unconventional our relationship really is. We always tell each other that if someone took a transcript of our conversations with each other and didn't get the tone or sarcasm from our conversations, people would think we hated each other! haha About 90 percent of the time, we're joking around and laughing and being goofy. It's awesome. The other 10 percent of the time is left for serious conversations that are necessary to sustain any relationship, lifestyle and our sanity. This man that I get to call my husband is everything I could ever ask for. If I made a list of all the things I want in a man, he would have all of those qualities. He's obviously very attractive (check), very intelligent (check), fun (check), outgoing (check), good w/ money (check), gets along with anyone he meets (check), can fix things and figure out how things work (check), etc, etc, etc (check, check, check). Plus, he does little things totally out of the blue that make me so very happy. For instance, the past two nights, he's built a fire, set up a table in front of the fire place, turned the lights low and we've eaten dinner right in front of the fireplace with Frank Sinatra playing. Not too shabby, huh? He's just about the least emotional person I've ever met but he surprises me sometimes with these little things. I can't wait to spend all the days of my life with him, see him as the father of our children and continue all of our crazy adventures together.
So, needless to say, life is good. I'm thankful for everything.... every decision I've made in life that has ultimately made me who I am and gotten me where I am. Tell me the things you're thankful for!!
xoxo,
Chrissi
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