Just got back from the Y.  I was happy with my work out today.  I did 30 minutes on the elliptical, 30 minutes on the recumbent bike and then did some abs and arms.  I was sweating like a pig!

Frustrating!

I hate not knowing how things are going to go. Right now I am out running errands that are taking waaay longer than expected. I did not eat breakfast this morning because I thought I would be eating an early lunch. Now I am starving and cranky and mad that I didn't eat something before leaving my house to get my metabolism going for the day. :(

On top of that my daughter's color guard coach sent out an email earlier in the week saying he was still in need of a parent driver for competitions this weekend (Saturday AND Sunday). I replied the same day saying that I could drive and I never heard back from him. Apparently he told the girls at practice last night that he still needed a driver and my daughter asked if he got my email. He said he did but then did not say anything else about it. So, I still don't know if he is now assuming I will be driving or if he somehow knows I'm a terrible driver and is hoping someone else will step up or what. ;) Seriously though, this is frustrating. I even had my daughter text him to try to find out and still no reply. At this point I'm ready to say eff him, but I don't want to go back on my word I he is expecting me to drive. Ugh!!

Finally...

 After the last several weeks of losing only ~1 lb/week, I finally had a good weigh in today.  3.4 lbs this past week! I think I was holding on to some extra water.  I picked up the number of times I worked out and upped my calories a bit on work out days and that seemed to work out well.  I am finally seeing and feeling the difference.  Clothes that were once snug are now fitting loosely.  I am just over half way to my ultimate goal weight, with a total loss to date of 41 lbs.  If I could lose 35-40 more I will be very happy.  Then it will be a matter of maintaining and toning up my muscles.  At least I know I am on my way to where I want to be!

Ooooh!

It's American Idol time again!  Yay!  Yeah, it's a guilty pleasure of mine. 

Just gotta laugh...

So, I get up to go check on dinner and find this on the counter:


Yes, that is a popcorn sandwich!

Then when I go back into the living room, this is what I find:


Busted! As much as Bella chases Molly around and Molly growls and snaps at Bella in response, maybe there's hope for them after all. :)

Burn, baby, burn!

I sooo didn't want to go out today!  I wanted to stay in my warm, comfy bed.  But, my alarm went off at 7:00 this morning and I realized I hadn't heard my oldest daughter moving around getting ready like I usually do.  I went in to check on her and, sure enough, she was still asleep.  Just an FYI, her bus comes at 6:45.  So, I had to wake her up and after she rushed to get ready, I drove her to school, getting her there just in time.  Good thing too, since this is exam week for her.

I came home and got the other 2 kids up and moving, got them on the bus on time, ate breakfast, and then forced myself to go to the Y and work out.  I hit the grocery store then came home and took Bella for a quick walk.

It worked out well because between my workout and the walk, I completely burned off my breakfast AND lunch calories.  Woo!  Don't worry though, I'll probably make up for it by sitting on my butt all evening! =)

Hmm, decisions, decisions...

I always want to grow my hair out, but when I do, it just starts looking really bad.  So, I'm at a point now where I need to make a decision whether to let it keep growing or get it cut.  I could let it grow out until spring and possibly donate it (though, that would leave my hair a bit shorter than I'd like, I think), or I could just go get a few inches cut off of it now and hopefully not hate it. What to do...?

Stupid Sodium!

While I came in under my calorie goal yesterday, I went way over on sodium and it showed on my scale this morning big time.  I know people always say not to weigh yourself every day, but well, I do.  I can't help it.  I don't have the patience to wait an entire week to see if I'm having any kind of success.  It can, however, be a bit of a bummer to see my weight go up 3-4 lbs in one day. :/  I know that it had to be from too much salt and it will go back down, but it still sucks!

And, while I'm complaining, I'll just go ahead and throw it out there that I am *still* hungry all. the. time.  Sigh. 

What the....

Am I doing something wrong or did blogger change up their entire set-up? I log in and all of a sudden everything looks completely different. I don't like it. I don't like change, blogger! :P

Today...

I had a decent day today. Church this morning with my dad, lunch, then baby shower for my SIL. Came home this afternoon, the neighbor across the street was out with his dog (Bella's buddy) so I took Bella over and let her run off some energy. Then, I hit the gym and came home and took a 15-20 minute walk.

After a shower, I'm now relaxing and watching an episode of Chopped with 2 of my kiddos. In the appetizer basket, the ingredients were frog legs, anchovies, dates, and Bourbon. EW! Nothing about that sounds good to me at. all. Ick!

Next up: lay in bed and watch another episode then go to sleep!

At least I don't feel hungry right now!

I had a decent workout this evening. I did some time on the treadmill (even jogged for 5 minutes straight, woo!), a few arms and abs, and about 10 minutes on the recumbent bike. According to my heart rate monitor, I burned 460 calories in 55 minutes. Maybe that isn't excellent, but it's a little more than usual from just walking (duh!). By the time I got home, I was absolutely starving and craving pasta, so I made some rotini with a little sauce and absolutely inhaled it along with 20 oz of water and now my tummy is not too happy with me. Think I'ma hit the shower and lay in bed with my laptop and a movie! Oh yeah, I gets crazy on Saturday nights!

Feeling discouraged

I have stayed at the same weight now for over a week. I seem to be stuck. (I know I have my other blog for this topic, but I just haven't been using it. I'm pretty sure no one reads this blog anymore anyway.) So, I'm feeling a bit discouraged. I haven't changed anything as far as my calorie goal or anything, so I don't really get why the sudden stasis. I know I need to work out more. I always fall short in this area. I'm not going to lie, I just don't like working out. I don't enjoy it, I don't find it relaxing, or any of that other BS that people say about it, and I really have a hard time making myself work out alone. I have always felt this way, that's nothing new.

I did get a membership to the new YMCA in my area and have been a few times. It is a really nice, brand new facility and there are lots of different things I could do (weights, equipment, track, basketball, swimming, etc), but I just can't seem to feel the motivation I need to get my butt over there! I signed my son up for swimming lessons starting Monday, so for the next 6 weeks, I'll have no choice but to go there at least once a week. Yes, I realize once a week isn't going to do me much good, but it is a start and could perhaps get me into the mood to go more often. Hopefully.

I've got to get out of this rut and get the scale moving down again!

Fruit Bars

I am a big fan of Edy's Fruit Bars! So far I have tried acai blueberry, grape, lime, pineapple, pomegranate, and strawberry. The only ones I didn't love were the lime ones, because they were too sour for my taste. My favorites are grape, strawberry, and pineapple, so far. I like how the ones like strawberry and pineapple have little bits of actual fruit in them! I would love to try them all, but I haven't seen all of the flavors in the stores I frequent. I am going to have to keep an eye out for the new mango and peach flavors. I have a feeling I would enjoy me some those!

Chopped

I never really got into watching the Food Network. I like watching it, but it's just never been my first choice in channels. If I sit down and watch TV, it is usually with the purpose of watching a show I recorded. Well, a friend of mine told me about the show Chopped, and I thought it sounded like something I would like so, I started recording it. I've watched 4 episodes, so far, and I'm hooked! I like the competition, and learning about new foods (some stuff I'd never heard of, or at least didn't know what it was). The only problem is that it always makes me hungry when I watch it. I want to taste the foods! My stomach growls the entire time I'm watching, but I watch it anyway. :)

It's a new year!

My oldest got back from her trip to Florida today. She had a good time at Universal's Islands of Adventure and really enjoyed the Harry Potter stuff there. She was not too excited to return from 60-70 degree weather to super cold and snowy here though, nor is she happy about having to return to school tomorrow. She is, however, glad to be home and no longer on the bus. :)

Right now, I'm getting ready to watch the The Biggest Loser, which starts a new season tonight! It is good motivation. I wish I could be motivated enough to work out 6-8 hours a day. I find it difficult to spend an hour at the gym, but I'm working on it, slowly but surely. I did start out the new year at a weight that I had not seen in at least 10 or 11 years though. So, that's good! Here's hoping 2012 is a good year!

Go, team, go!

Today, I need to do some running around to get my oldest ready for her trip to Florida tomorrow! She's going with her high school band/color guard to perform in the half-time show of a bowl game. She is really excited. I had really wanted to go as a chaperone, but at the time of signing up months ago, I was thinking and hoping I might have a job by now that could prevent me from going. However, I do not, and after going to the parent meeting about the trip, I really wish I could go! It sounds kind of fun! But, it's too late now. (Not to mention, it would be another $1000 for me to go along!) I hope she has fun! I'm glad she gets to go. They are taking a charter bus and the drive is nearly 20 hours! She is one to get car sick, so hopefully she will be in a seat near the bathroom! ;)

Grrrr!

Can I just say...I HATE carpet with a red-hot fiery passion! After about 6 months since having my carpet professionally cleaned, it was about 5 and a half months past due for another cleaning. So, yesterday, I decided to rent a carpet cleaner and do it myself to save a few dollars. Obviously, it didn't do as good of a job as having it done by a pro, but it was better than not having it done at all. All the effort of it (moving rugs and furniture around, hours of drying time, keeping kids and pets off of the wet carpet) and not two hours after returning the cleaner, mud had been tracked in onto the carpet and Bella had diarrhea. Sigh! I'm not sure why I even bother, really.

Movie Date

I'm getting ready to go on a date with my little man. We're going to go see the new Alvin and the Chipmunks movie. I am totally going to sneak in an apple, some grapes, and a SoBe water for my movie time snack. Don't hate! ;)

Love my Bella Boo!

I had a little bit of excitement while out on a walk with Bella tonight. As we were walking around the neighborhood, we passed a house where a man was standing on the porch messing around on his phone. We got about 2 houses down when Bella started walking almost backwards beside me. I turned around to see what her deal was and the guy from the porch was about 4 or 5 sidewalk squares behind me. As soon as I looked at him he asks "he won't bite, will he?". Well I wasn't about to say "why no, strange man walking uncomfortably close behind me, my dog won't bite you", so I just said "ummmm, I don't know. Probably not. But I don't think she's too excited about you walking so close. We'll just go to the other side ".

Usually, she is all about people and gets super excited to see anyone new that might pet her or play with her. This guy obviously made her uncomfortable by walking up so close to us. She didn't growl at him or anything, but she was also not bouncing around, pulling to get to him for petting, or wagging her nubby with excitement. She was just plain staring him down.

I know it's not likely that this guy was out to attack me. Once we had crossed the street, Bella kept her eye on him and he did hurry down the street to his car. So I'm sure he was probably just genuinely in a hurry to get somewhere and was completely unaware of his creeper-like actions. However, it did give me some comfort to know that perhaps Bella isn't just all-trusting with everyone she meets. Even though I know it is highly unlikely that I will ever be attacked while walking in my neighborhood, it makes me glad to have her with me, especially when I walk at night.

Christmas Card

I haven't gotten any professional pictures taken of all 3 of the kids together in quite a while. I had wanted to do that this Christmas, however, I let time get away from me. So, I attempted to take some myself with my non-professional grade camera. Anyway, here are some outtakes from my little photo session:


Girls arguing, son crying.


One good, one red-faced, one teenage attitude


Good, good, aaaand Bella just licked my daughter's face.

Here are the pics that ended up on the Christmas card:






Green-eyed dog pic ended up the smallest on the card because there really wasn't much that I could do to fix it.

And the card:


(I know it's small, but I couldn't get a good picture of the card and the one from where I ordered them was only this big.)

Banana "ice cream"

So, maybe I am late to this game, but I just found this out. You can make "ice cream" with just a banana! What? Yeah, just peel and slice a banana, put it on a plate, freeze it for 1-2 hours, then throw it in the blender and viola! Banana ice cream! I tried it out today and it actually worked. Not to mention, a very tasty treat and great alternative to actual ice cream. Yum!

Christmas Cookies

A group of my friends met on Saturday to bake Christmas cookies and hang out. It has been a long time since we have all hung out together. Unfortunately, I had to decline joining them because my will power is not strong enough to actually NOT eat said cookies. :( It would have been nice to see them all, but I knew I wouldn't be able to go bask in the smell of cookie deliciousness and not partake.

They were, however, kind enough to make me a cookie and text me a picture of it:


Nom Nom Nom!

B-Ball

My son had his first basketball practice tonight. He was excited and nervous to start since he has never played before. He was worried that all the other kids would be good and that he would be the worst player on the team. Well, there's only been one practice so far, but that doesn't seem to be the case. I'm pretty certain he is not the only kid on the team that has never played before. So, that's good for him (and his confidence).

I had to remind him several times to pay attention to the coach because he can be easily distracted, (I have NO idea where he gets that from...), but hopefully he will enjoy playing! And, I'll be honest, I hope he doesn't suck too bad at it. But, my hopes are not terribly high, at least for his first season. My oldest didn't make a basket during her first season until the very end of her last game. But, by her third season, she had become quite a good little player and made nearly all of her shots. Honestly, she was basically the best player on her team. So, here's hoping! :)

No work!

Well, this stinks! I haven't worked any events since the week before Thanksgiving. I'm pretty bummed about that. No work means no money. :( So, what have I been doing with my time? Well, besides a lot of sitting around, I have applied for multiple nursing jobs, nearly completed my Christmas shopping (mostly online), and started reading The Hunger Games. According to my kindle, I am almost 80% through the first book. I had heard that these books were good, and I must say I am enjoying this one.

The weather has not been incredibly conducive to walking lately, either, which is also a bummer. I'm considering bundling up and putting on rain boots and walking outside tonight anyway!

Hungry!

I am SO hungry today! I ate breakfast and lunch, but I just want to keep eating!! :( My stomach keeps on growling! I'm trying to fill up on some water for now. Must...resist...temptation....

More School!

Ugh! I cannot wait to be done with all this! It seems like I have been going to school forever (even if I have been out for the past 5 months)! I never had that sense of relief with finishing up my ADN program because I knew all along that I was not done, but would need to keep going to get my BSN.

So, the past couple of weeks, I have been doing a lot of research into the different RN to BSN programs out there. Right now, I have it narrowed down to the school I went to for my ADN (as they just started a BSN program) or Ohio University. I checked out several other programs besides these 2, including OSU, Grand Canyon University, and Indiana Wesleyan (to name a few), but it comes down to these for the following reasons...

If I go to my previous school: 1) I don't have to worry about courses not being transferable and having to re-take courses. 2) They already have all of my information, making this process that much easier. 3) It is 100% online. 4) There are no clinicals involved.

If I go to OU: 1) It's cheaper. 2) People have heard of OU, making it more respectable.

Cons of my previous school: 1) It costs more 2) When people ask where I went to school, the most common response is "where's that?"

Cons of OU: 1) Possible issues with transferring courses. 2) Science courses are not available online, so I will have to take those at another school (CSCC) and transfer them in. = Pain in the @$$.

So, all in all, I am hoping for the OU option. In the end, it is going to come down to whether or not my classes will all transfer in. I refuse to retake a bunch of courses. One or two, I would consider, but any more than that, and I will likely go with my previous school.

Fingers crossed!

PS: Filling out FAFSA sucks!! :(

ONEderful!

I don't really blog about this subject on here (I have a separate blog for it), but today I weighed in at a weight that I have not seen since January of 2010. In this case, that's a good thing! Still far from where I want and need to be, but it is an accomplishment. One that is still in progress, but this happens to be a decent mile marker, so I thought I would post it here since this is the blog I use the most.

Now I need to keep on keepin' on! Go me!

Road Trips!

My 2 friends and I had a good time working yesterday. Even more so after working when we stopped at some outlet malls to shop on our way home! It did, however, make for a very long day. I had to leave my house at 7:45 am to drive to a friend's house, which, with traffic, ended up taking me an hour! We left there around 9:00 to head out on our 2 hour journey to work a health screening. When that ended at 4:00 pm, we stopped and ate dinner then headed to the outlets. We shopped there until around 8:30 and I finally got home around 10:00 pm.

Today, I worked an event from 7:30 am - 12:30 pm. When I got home, I got a call basically begging me to switch my event tomorrow (about 45 minutes from my house) to an event that's 2.5 hours away. I will again get extra money for drive time and mileage, and someone else will be riding with me to make the trip seem to go a little faster and split gas money with. Bring on the road trips! Nothing like getting paid to drive! :)

Yay!

After not working any events last week (not for lack of trying on my part), I have 2 events scheduled to work this week so far. Tomorrow, I'll be working at an event a little over 2 hours away. Fortunately, they pay extra for drive time as well as mileage. Even more fortunately, I'll be riding with 2 friends from nursing school who also work these events. Today, I was asked if I could work an event in my area on Wednesday. Of course I jumped on that! Seriously, this is the easiest money (not to mention the most per hour) I have ever made! Bring it on!

Can't get this song out of my head...

Never mind, I'll find someone like you
I wish nothing for the best for you, too
Don't forget me, I beg, I remember you said
Sometimes it lasts in love
But sometimes it hurts instead
Sometimes it lasts in love
But sometimes it hurts instead
Yeah

Aww

Bella laying with me this morning! :)

Trick or Treat

My babies in their costumes tonight:

Zombie bride


Darth Vader


Not-so-thrilled "pup"kin

Ew...

Ever cough and have snot fly out of your nose? No? Just me? Ok, well, that's the kind of day I'm having. Blah!

I wish I could just get over this nasty cough already! My chest hurts. :(

Loelsh, RN

This came in the mail on Saturday. Looks good on paper! ;-)

Long Week!

First thing Monday morning, I took the nursing boards. I thought for certain I was failing and left feeling very much less than confident. As of Tuesday, however, my nursing license is now active! I am officially a registered nurse!

A friend of mine started working for a health care company that goes around to different companies all over to do health screenings(height/weight/BMI, blood pressure, cholesterol and glucose readings) and she gave me the information. So, after finding out my license is active on Tuesday, I sent out an email. I heard back from them immediately and was able to go in and work a health clinic on Wednesday! How crazy is that?!

It is per diem, as needed. So, not a full time job, but it is something! And, it gets me some experience to put on my resume. I worked again this morning, and am scheduled to work 3 days next week, so far.

I have been working at a major financial institution that has several different large locations around the area therefore requiring my company's services over several different days and weeks. I'm pretty sure that we will be working at one particular location through the end of November. So, hopefully, I will be able to work it several days a week and save up some Christmas money and some good work experience!

Know what I don't like?

When you go into Subway, even if just for 2 minutes, you leave smelling like subway and the smell sticks to you for the rest of the day. It really doesn't smell as good as it tastes!

Crackle!

I bought some of this crackle nail polish I've heard so much about. It is actually really cool! You paint your nails any regular color you want, then you paint the crackle polish over it and it separates and dries like this:



I'll have to buy some orange polish to wear under it for Halloween! :)

:o

Oh, dear 8 pound 6 ounce newborn infant Jesus, they have it in CHOCOLATE!!!

Yummy Treat!

I heart smoothies!

I'm sure you've seen these advertised, and maybe you've tried them. If not, I totally recommend them! Yoplait fruit smoothies. You add a cup of milk with one package and blend them together and make 2 very delicious fruit smoothies!

On top of their deliciousness, you get calcium and a full serving of fruit (and a little vit C, fiber, and protein as well!). They aren't terrible on sugar either, (10 g/serving). I could seriously just drink these things all day long. YUM!

Picture and info found here: http://yoplait.com/products/yoplait-smoothie-yogurt

Face Palm!

My iPhone charger often comes up missing. I usually end up finding it attached to my oldest daughter's iPod touch. The following conversation occurred this evening:

Her: Can I borrow your charger?

Me: Uh, no, my phone is charging.

Her: But my battery is about to die.

Me: It's not my fault you lost your charger.

Her: I didn't lose it.

Me: Oh? Then where is it?

Her: I don't know.

*Sigh* At least she asked first this time...

Homecoming Weekend

Just a couple of pics of my beautiful baby girl!

Here she is with one of her besties at the football game last night:


And Getting ready for the dance tonight:


It's amazing, seeing as she was just born!! :/

Conflicting feelings

I have been having a lot of these lately. I am really not a fan of it. While there are conflicting feelings going on in my head about other things as well, at this very moment I am dealing with this particular set of conflicting feelings: I am very hungry, yet nothing sounds good, and I feel a little nauseous.

I'm not sure what my deal is. I generally like salad. Granted, I need to have dressing on it to enjoy it, but I like it. I usually try to get by with as little dressing as possible. Well, recently, I have just not been able to eat salad. I have tried, on more than one occasion, to get a salad for lunch and end up having to force myself to eat it. I have been getting about half way through before I simply can't stand another bite of it. This makes me very sad. :( Hopefully, this is just a phase that will quickly pass.

Where did Bella go?

Oh.

Snotty

I had a little bit of issues with my sinuses yesterday, but I woke up this morning feeling like all the mucus is about to make my head explode and I seem to be losing my voice. Stupid sinuses!!

On top of feeling miserable, I'm still freaking hungry! All. The. Time. Seriously, stomach, I just fed you. STFU! Tell me this will eventually go away!!! Arrrgh!

AWWWW!!!

Had a good time with friends this morning. We met for coffee and breakfast, went shopping for a gift for our friend that just had her baby, then went to the hospital for a visit. Oh. My. Goodness! The cuteness factor was off the charts! Oh and the new baby smell!! Sigh....

Here's a pic of her. Now tell me those aren't the cutest, most pinchable little cheeks!!!

Oh baby, baby!

One of my friends had her baby today! She was induced this morning at 8:30 and had baby at 1:26 pm. Not bad! I'm so happy for her and can't wait to go meet up with my gals for coffee in the morning and then go see her and her new baby girl!

Ggggrrrrrooooowwwwlllll....

What was that noise? Oh, that would be my stomach! Ugh, I hate feeling hungry all the freaking time!!

Poor little man

So, a couple of weeks ago, my son slammed his finger in the front door. How? I don't know. I cleaned off the cut and wrapped it in a band-aid with antibiotic ointment. He has been keeping it wrapped in a band-aid ever since. (The kid loves band-aids. He is always looking for an excuse to wear one. "oh look, I have a scab, I need a band-aid".)

Anyway, the school nurse called me yesterday and told me he had come down to her complaining that his finger hurt really badly and she thought it looked really infected. So, when he got home, I took his bandage off and looked at his finger - right by his nail - where it had been cut and it looked a little red, but nothing terrible. Then, I saw on the other side of his finger (finger tip) there was a greenish colored bump! What the heck? How is it infected there?!

So, I ended up taking him in to be seen for it. The doctor had to drain the pus out of his finger then packed the hole with a little bit of cloth to keep it open so any further infection could be "wicked" out. I have to take him back tomorrow to get it removed and checked on.

Meanwhile, he is on an antibiotic for the infection. This antibiotic is very upsetting to the stomach. The pharmacist informed me that he should definitely take it with food and drink lots of water while on it to help limit the side effects. This morning, he took his second dose, but did not eat first....he ended up vomiting it up about 2 minutes after taking it. This should be a fun 10 days!

Poor baby!! :(

Ain't that the truth!

I saw this posted on fb today and thought about how true it is:



I think we've all felt this way at some point in our lives.

Drum roll please.....

It's a girl! Very excited to be getting a niece!

A boy and his pup!

Look who fell asleep in my bed the other night....

Thinking Pink!

Tomorrow evening, I will be going with my brother and SIL (among other family) to their 3D ultrasound to hopefully find out if they are having a girl or a boy. This is their 4th and final baby so, after three boys, they are hoping for a little girl. Of course, they just wish for him or her to be healthy, but adding a little pink to their sea of blue would be a welcomed change. :)

Apples!

A couple of weekends ago, I took my two youngest kiddos apple picking. We got a ton of apples and made a delicious apple crisp! Here are a few pics of my babies picking apples:


Hiding






Young Vanna


I couldn't resist capturing this one! ;)

Shopping

Got to spend some girl time with my oldest this evening. We did a little clothes shopping. Which basically means I walked back and forth from the clothes to the dressing room about 1500 times while she tried on every pair of jeans in the store and a million shirts! In the end, we walked away with 4 shirts, a pair of jeans, a pair of yoga pants, and $20 in Kohls cash. I spent a bit more on her jeans than I would have preferred, but all of the other jeans were way too long on her. Levi's had "short" jeans, so we went with those.

Sometime within the next couple of weeks, I will have to take her shopping for a homecoming dress. That should be even more fun. :-|

59 Degrees

I LOVE this weather!!!

My weekend

Friday: Not a whole heck of a lot. Stayed home basically all day, except for picking my eldest up from an after-school event and then dropping her back off for the football game. Fell asleep kind of early.

Saturday: Met 3 of my friends from nursing school for breakfast. It was so nice to see them! We were missing a couple of people from our "group" but it was still good. I miss seeing them all almost every day! I came home from that and made buckeyes for the Ohio State game then dropped my middle child off at a party.

After that, I decided that, since I had a coupon for a hair cut at First Choice, I would go for it. I am surprisingly not disappointed with the result. I didn't go too short, but did take a few inches off of the length. It's still past my shoulders (at least the longest layers). Then, since I got the cut, I went to the store and bought some color. I found a foam color that you basically put in like a shampoo. None of this separating your hair into a million little 1-2 inch strip business. I can actually do this color completely by myself!

I picked up my daughter from her party and came home and colored my hair. It actually turned out really well. So all in all, total spent on my hair this time: $20. Less than a third of what I would have spent at the salon. Go me!

Today: Nothing really planned other than a parade in town this afternoon. My oldest is marching in it with the color guard, so I will need to plant my butt somewhere and watch it. :)

Old Friends

I just got off the phone after talking for over 2 hours with an old friend of mine. She used to come into town, from Florida, to stay with her grandparents every summer when we were kids and we would be inseparable. I hadn't seen or talked to her in around 13-14 years. We recently reconnected on fb. It was so nice catching up with her! We chatted as if no time had passed since we'd last spoken. My head is actually hurting right now from laughing so hard. I totally needed that!

A hairy situation....

Well, it is that time again. Time to do something with my hair! But what? That is the first question. It definitely needs a trim at the very least. It has been since spring since I had anything done with it at all. So, I have to decide if I want to let it grow out or cut it shorter. I definitely want to go a little darker for fall.

The second question is: do I want I want to make an appointment with my hair dresser, whom I know will do a good job, drive 45 minutes and pay the money it costs to have her do it...or do I want to go spend a lot less and go to a strip mall hair cutting place for a trim/cut and then buy color to do myself?

In the past, I generally end up leaving strip mall hair cutters feeling unsatisfied with the job they did with my hair. And I know that coloring my own hair takes a lot of work, especially since my hair is getting pretty long.

Oh, what to do, what to do??

Weekend Trip

This past weekend, my oldest daughter, my son, and I went on a little road trip to visit some family in Virginia. While we were there we watched movies, played Balderdash (which I kicked butt at, once again), Phase 10, Kinect, Cornhole, and everyone but my son shot some guns. Great stress reliever, I must say! :) Of course, my son was not happy about not getting to shoot, but he's still a bit too little. Here are a few pics of my girly shooting and a little video:







On the way home, my daughter fell asleep, and my son didn't want his picture taken, so he tried to hide:

Hmmph!

I have been feeling really down lately. I really wish I could kick this feeling! It is so unpleasant!! :(

Strangeness...

I'm not sure what it is about 2:00 a.m. around here, but it seems to be the magic time. As I posted here, we got a knock on the door from the police to tell us the garage door was up about that time earlier in the year. Well, last night at 2:00 a.m. the smoke detectors in the house all started going off. It lasted for only a few seconds, and then stopped. What the heck?! Fortunately, after searching the entire house, there was no fire or smoke to be found. But, man, talk about a rude awakening! Not to mention, just plain strange!

Best. Commercial. Ever.

I love it! Cracks me up every time. And on that note, here are my other 2 kiddos as they start out their school year today in 6th and 2nd grades!





I've taken their pictures in front of the fireplace before the first day of school for the past 3 years. As I look back through the pictures, I'm noticing my fireplace is definitely shrinking.

Sniff, sniff!

My oldest child started high school today! How on earth is that even possible? I am not nearly old enough to have a kid in high school!! Sigh. :/

Here she was this morning around 6:45 getting ready to head out to the bus stop:

Another Book and Back to School!

I have another book to add to my summer read list. Over the past few days, I read A Bend in the Road, another book by Nicholas Sparks. I have another one of his books lined up to read next, unless I find something else that interests me more before I start it.

On a side note, just a few more days until the kids are back in school! My oldest goes in on Tuesday. Since she is a freshman this year (wow!) she goes in a day earlier than the rest of the school, for a partial day, to figure out where all the classrooms are. The other 2 go back on Wednesday! I have already taken them all out with their supply lists and finished that up, but looks like I'll be doing a lot of back-to-school clothes shopping over the next couple of days.

The Help

I went with a friend yesterday to see The Help. I really enjoyed it about as much as the book. It pretty much kept with the story line, which makes me happy.

On another note, I have applied for several nursing jobs, but haven't heard back from any of them. I know I haven't even taken boards yet but, I 'm beginning to think I need to move to a state with a nursing shortage. :/

Baby!!

One of my besties from nursing school had her second baby last night! So, another friend and I bought a cute little picture frame and facebook stalked, to get a picture to put in it, and went in to visit them today! Here is a picture of me and the new bouncing baby boy!



And a picture of the picture! :)



Aw, so sweet!

Nap

Well, I got a nap, but I'm still sleepy. Hopefully I will be able to get back to sleep! Think I'll lay down and watch some TV and see if I can make that happen!

A list of what's on my mind:

(Well, at least some of it...)

- I really, really need to go to the grocery store.

- I really, really don't want to go to the grocery store!

- I want to find a new book to read.

- I want to take a nap!

- I should really be folding laundry right now instead of blogging.

- I hope I get my ATT number soon for the NCLEX.

- I hope I pass the NCLEX. The first time!

- I hope I can get a job in labor and delivery or NICU.

- I want to take a nap!!

- I would like to take Bella to the dog park, but it's probably all muddy from the rain yesterday.

- I need to finish the kids' back-to-school shopping soon!

- I can't wait for the kids to go back to school! :o

- I hate my van.

- I want to take a nap!!!

Reading

I really need to keep a list of the books I've read. There are 1 or 2 I've read this summer that I cannot remember! :( The ones that I do remember are:

Running Hot by Jayne Ann Krentz - This one was ok. Not really my favorite, but ok.

Nights in Rodanthe by Nicholas Sparks - I liked this one. Nicholas Sparks is a good writer. I've read a couple of his books in the past and have enjoyed them. I also got the movie for this one, which, as I stated before was ok, but not as good as the book.

The Ghost by Danielle Steel - This one was decent. A little different than what I expected, but it ended well.

Room by Emma Donoghue - This was interesting. Told from the perspective of a 5 year old boy.

Currently I am about 80% done with:

The Help by Kathryn Stockett - I am liking this one, and there is a movie on it coming out this month that I'm excited to see!

Like I said, I know there was at least one other book that I can't currently think of, but so far, this has been my summer reading! :)

Just for fun...

I have seen these all over, but have never made one, so I decided I'd make one just to see if it works.

Ode to Sleep

My dear, sweet, precious sleep! I so desire to be one with you. I lay in bed each night begging you to take me into your embrace and fill me deeply with all that you are. Yet, each night, you push me away. Why, oh why must you always resist me so?

Being sick is no fun!

I think I'm starting to feel a little better. Since Monday, I have been feeling less than well. It started on Monday with really sharp upper abdominal pains, like I have had in the past. I am not sure if it is gallbladder related or just gastroenteritis. Either way, it's not fun! I haven't thrown up since Monday night, but I've still had some stomach pains, though not nearly as bad. Hopefully I'll be back to normal soon!

On another note, I'm trying to get my resume all put together and fill out some job applications. Can I just say that I really, really dislike doing all this? I know it's necessary, but I just want to be done with boards (which I still have no idea when I will be able to take) and have a job. I reeeally want a new vehicle, so the sooner I can start saving up for one, the better!

Girl's Trip!

I just got home from a nice little get-away with my girlies! I took them, along with a friend of mine and her daughter, to Kings Island. We left Monday afternoon, went to KI all day on Tuesday, and then came back today.

It was hot as Hades, but it was still a good time. We had to take lots of breaks and find a place to go inside and cool off a bit, but since it was a Tuesday, the park wasn't crazy busy and we got to ride every ride, some more than once. There were a couple of rides that we would have liked to ride (Vortex and The Crypt) that were closed the whole time we were there, but that's okay.

I left Bella with another friend of mine while I was away. She did really well, but she'd never spent the night away from home before, so she wasn't really sure what was going on. My friend told me that Bella was really missing me because she was pacing around her house looking for me and she didn't eat hardly anything at all. :( She sent me this picture of her looking pitiful:



And posted this pic on fb saying that she had finally fallen asleep:



AWW, my poor little baby girl dog! She thought I abandoned her. :( She was super excited to see us pull up to get her!

Oopsie!

Sooo, I may have tried to trim the bushes in my front yard last night, and I may or may not have made them look worse. :/ They are out of control. I really want to just have the three majorly ugly bushes that are in under the front window (that actually look like one crazy, large bush) removed completely. My thought was to just take my hedge trimmer and trim them across the top and in front to make them look like a rectangle. At least it would look more orderly even if they are still hideous bushes.

However, it is not as easy as it sounds or looks! I got the front half trimmed down and then realized...I can't reach the back half of them! There is a huge lilac bush on one side, and the porch on the other, so I can't get behind them or in between them at all.

On top of the ugly bushes, the lilac bushes need trimmed back as well. There is another one on the other side of the house that is growing out over the driveway and in front of the garage door. I really wish I knew what I was doing or had someone to show me how. But, I suppose my only option at this point, other than leaving them to look like crap, is to hire someone to landscape them for me. :(

Nails

Just ditched the french mani/pedi for some fun summer colors. I love the look of the white tips, but it's a lot of work to do and I just didn't feel like dealing with it tonight, but also didn't want to let my piggies go nekkid. So, I did a blue-green on my toes and a bright pink on my fingers. I was going to go with the same color for both, but then decided to mix it up. May go back to the tips when it's time to redo!





**UPDATE**

I guess didn't get away with not messing with the tips after all. My 11 year old has been begging me to do hers, so I did. At least it didn't take nearly as long as it does to do my own.

Yum!

I really like me some eggplant parmesan, but I've never tried making it myself before. So, I decided, why not? Tonight, I made it for dinner and it actually turned out really well. Especially for my first time making it. The kids, however, are split. One likes it, the other 2 don't. Oh well. I thought it was quite tasty!!

It's Friiiii-day!

Well, my younger daughter is heading around the block to her friend's house for the night. Tomorrow they will be going to an amusement park and staying overnight, so she will not be home until Sunday sometime.

This, of course, means she won't get to play with her softball team in the first game of the tournament. But, she's ok with that (and so am I). She will then have a game on either Monday or Tuesday evening, depending on if the team wins or loses tomorrow's game. I think her team will go pretty far. They've only lost 1 or 2 games all season. Last night they came back at the end of the game from being down 3-1 and winning 4-3.

However, my older daughter is more than making up for her sister's absence by having 2 of her friends spend the night here tonight. Three 14 year old girls in my house at once? I think I might just hide out in my room for the night and read or watch movies!

Tired!

I am all messed up with my sleep pattern lately. I can't seem to get to sleep before 3 am or wake up before 11 am. Grrrrr! Even now, I am laying in my comfy bed, crazy sleepy (as I've been for hours now), but I just can. not. fall. asleep! It is quite frustrating to not be able to get to sleep when you're so tired! I think my main problem is not being able to turn off my thoughts which prevents me from drifting off. My brain needs a power button. *sigh*

Games

Baseball is finally over for my son as of last week, but my daughter still has some softball games left. One tonight and then tournaments starting Saturday. Now, I guess it's time to figure out what they're going to keep me busy with in the fall!

Doggies!

So, when I originally thought about getting the kids a puppy, I had a chihuahua in mind. They're so tiny and cute and can be carried around anywhere we go. But, I also like boxers and have wanted one since I was a kid and one of my friends had one.

Well, as you know, I ended up getting a boxer. I love her and she's so cute and lovey, albeit very energetic and excitable. She will cuddle with me, and I can even get her to sit on my lap sometimes. The problem with that is....she weighs 60 pounds. Which just so happens to be more than my 7 year old son.

Now, don't get me wrong here, I do NOT want to get rid of my Bella, but I do want to get her a buddy and, at the same time, myself a lap dog. I know it's not gonna happen. It's hard enough trying to juggle three kids and ONE dog, let alone adding another. But, I can't help it, I still want one.


Image found here: http://www.lefkimmi.co.uk/web/content.php?page_id=27

Play date

I took my youngest 2 kiddos and Bella on a play date today with a friend, her daughter, and their 2 dogs. We went to a dog park, then walked a trail. While we were walking the trail, there was a little place where the dogs could get into the creek. Her dogs got in and swam around, but Bella is not the biggest fan of being in water, so she went right up to the edge, just far enough to get her paws all muddy, but didn't get in.

After the dogs dried off, we went back to their house and had lunch, then took all the dogs to a car and pet wash and gave them all baths. Those things are really pretty cool! It was only $5 and it was SO much easier to bathe her there than at home in the tub! I really wish there was one of these places close to my house, but so far, I haven't been able to find one.

Movie time

I finished up the book today that I started in on yesterday. I also picked up the movie this evening from the library when I went to select my next book. So, now I think I'm gonna lay in bed and watch it!

**Update: The book was much better than the movie. They changed up too many things in the movie, including the entire purpose of the "story". I hate it when a movie is so much different than the book it's based on. Why can't they just stick to the original story line? Sigh.

Summer Reading

So, I just started in on my third book of the summer. So far, it's decent. I need to start looking for my next couple of books because this one will probably not take very long to read. Ahh, it's so nice to be able to read leisurely again!

Snot, snot, go away!

I seem to be suffering from some sort of summer cold or allergies. I started out fine yesterday, except for a few sneezes in the morning. Then I was pretty much fine until late afternoon, when my nose started getting stuffy and running. (Still not sure how it can be both stuffed up and running at the same time, but whatever.) I think I'ma have to go pick up some lotion-y tissues to save my nose. Hopefully this doesn't last long!

Right now, I'm getting ready to take my oldest to an orthodontist appointment, then the kids are begging to go to the pool. I bought the pass and have only been able to go once so far so, I guess I should probably take them today if it doesn't rain.

Balls!

Once again tonight, I have 2 kids with ball games on the same night. And, pretty much at the same time! Which means, once again, I won't get to go to my son's game. This happened two nights ago, as well as several other times. I guess it's a good thing that I didn't force my oldest daughter to play also, like I thought about doing. I'm not sure how that would work! Sheesh! Oh well. Guess that's just how it goes.

Clean carpet, yay!

I had my carpet cleaned on the first floor today. They were looking very dirty. It hadn't been cleaned professionally in 2 years, so, it was needed. They look SO much better now! With 3 kids and a dog, they take their fair share of abuse.

So, I just need to deal with a bunch of stuff sitting in my kitchen for the next 24 hours until they dry, including the sectional sofa. Oh well, it's worth it!

Now, to find something to do with the kids to keep them off the carpet. They want to go see Mr. Popper's Penguins. So, I think I'll take them to the cheap theater here in town to see a matinee. :)

I made it!

I survived nursing school! This afternoon was our pinning ceremony. The school only holds actual graduation ceremonies twice a year, so ours isn't until October. At first, they told us that it would just be the students and faculty for the pinning, but after some people complained they let us each bring up to 4 guests. So, I was able to take my kiddos with me. :)

Oddly, I don't feel as relieved as I'd hoped I would at this point. Maybe it's because I don't really feel "done" because I'm still going to continue to get my bachelor's degree. I can still take the boards, find a job (hopefully), and work while I'm going to school. I may try to find a part-time job while doing that, but I don't know. I will probably have to take whatever job that will hire me to get started. I just hope I can find something in a department I don't hate!

Even though I'm done with this part of my schooling and will officially (after passing NCLEX) be an RN, I still feel kind of overwhelmed with all I still need to do. However, it does feel good to be this far!

Jump, jump!

The kids and I went to visit my grandma, SIL, and nephews yesterday. We went to lunch then back to my bro and SIL's house because my girls heard they got a new trampoline and wanted to jump. :)



The kids have been asking for one for quite a while now, maybe I should think about it, it's great exercise!

Bella Dog

I've been working on some commands with Bella. The newest one is "roll over". She never really got the hang of that one for some reason when she was younger, so I let it go and started trying again. Seems like she's getting it now.



Now, if only she were this obedient outside...

It did, however, take a couple of tries to get it right. Here's a "roll over" outtake:

14

14 years ago, today, my life changed forever. At 1:12 pm on Monday, June 9, 1997, I welcomed my first baby into the world. I did a lot of growing up in that moment. More than I'd ever thought possible. But, I wouldn't trade her for the world!

She weighed in at 8 pounds 3.5 ounces and 20.5 inches long:



(And yes, I know my glasses were ridiculously large. Ugh!)

And now, well, I don't think she'd appreciate me telling you what she weighs in at, but she's around 5 feet 2 inches tall. ;)



(She wouldn't let me take a picture of her today, so I had to steal one from her facebook.)

Happy Birthday, beautiful girl! I love you!

Ugh!

I am feeling kinda down today. I have a lot of things going through my mind. About school, life, etc. I'm just not really feeling optimistic.

Sick boy

My little boy has been home with me the past 2 days. He went to the Doctor's yesterday evening and found out he has strep throat. :( Yesterday he had a fever and was throwing up and just felt pretty miserable. He feels much better today, but isn't allowed to go back to school until he's been on his antibiotic for 24 hours. So, he'll be going back tomorrow and Thursday for the last 2 days of school for the year. So far, no one else seems to have caught it. Hoping it stays that way!