A Girl in the Real World: February 2009

Wednesday, February 25, 2009

Where I try to catch up..

Hey there! I know I've been away for a bit. I noticed that I even lost a reader (even though I only had five). Ah well, life happens..you know. Actually, nothing much HAS been happening and thus my lack of posting. It's basically been work and working out. lol. I have been very focused on my weight loss.

~ At work, about 10 women (myself included) have started a weight loss challenge. Everyone paid in $25 and we weigh in every Monday (last weigh in March 23). AND, if you gain anything you have to pay in $2 per pound. Yikes! I know, right. Well, I'm not doing so great. I actually gained a pound back on Monday..and out of the 10 I am third from the bottom! That is unacceptable. My Mom even sweetened the pot and told me if I win she will give me ANOTHER $100. SSSooo, needless to say I have been back on track this week. Wish me luck.

~ In seven short days we will be on our way to San Antonio for a long weekend! I can't wait. We need to get the heck out of town for a little bit. We are going to see Jeff Dunham..so, a lot of ha-ha's, and we are going to see The Watchmen at the IMAX, which will make the guys real happy. We'll be eating some good food and doing some shopping. I am just SO excited!!

~ Between our tax return and my bonus we have a little money in our pockets. First things, first...Jeremy went BACK to the dentist. I feel bad for him and wish his teeth would just be healthy already. He's not in any pain this time around, thank goodness, but it was the same problem as the last tooth and so we already know that if we put it off he WILL be in pain eventually. I made him go while we had the money to have it fixed. Dang that whole being responsible business..sometimes it really sucks. BUT, we have money left over! And so we are going to buy a new mattress set. We have never, ever bought a brand new mattress set. We have always used hand-me-downs. We've already been to look and know what we are going to get! It feels nice to know that we will be able to pay for it outright. No more financing!

~ Jeremy sold a bunch of stuff on ebay and made $500!! Can you believe it?! I am so proud of him for finding an alternate way to make some extra cash. After he made all of that money he sat on it, because he knew exactly what he wanted. A ESP Explorer..the orignal body shape. He had one years ago and we had to pawn it..chalk it up to youth. He has been yearning for another one ever since. They come up on ebay every now and again, but he has never had the cash-ola to even put a bid in..until now. So, he has the money and he is waiting and waiting for another one to come up. Of course, nothing. He is getting slightly frustrated and impatient..ha ha. But I keep telling him that it will come..the perfect one. And, it did. He just happened to do a google seach for 'esp explorer' and he found a craigs list ad. We have never used craigs list, so we weren't sure how it worked when the item was in Boston and we are here in Texas. But, I encouraged Jeremy to reach out to the seller and just see what he said. AAAnnndd, the seller was very open to shipping it to us. It's on its way.

~ I have something very special planned as an anniversary present for Jeremy. I can't say anything about it yet..ha ha. Actually, I probably can't give any details until after our anniversary on April 1. But, I can hardly contain myself I am so excited about it. Trust me, it's very..very hard to keep my mouth closed.

~ I'm planning on doing a 'picture a day' type thing next month. I've used my camera less and less this year and that doesn't make me happy at all. So, I want to challenge myself to take pictures every day and share at least one of them here every day.

Sunday, February 22, 2009

Please stop the music

We went out last night to a little local bar that was hosting several local bands. The place was packed, like 'this can't be legal' packed. Going from your table to the bathroom was like navigating an obstacle course. I was rubbed against at least 50 times by people squeezing past our table. Jeremy knocked over a bottle of beer. My eyes were stinging from the thick smoke. But I WAS wearing some kick ass high heeled shoes, which made it all ok. Until the music started.

I've never been a stickler about my music. If it has a good beat and I can sing along with it, I pretty much like it. If it has a good beat, I can sing along with it, and I can RELATE to it then I might even love it. Stuff that I might not like at first can certainly grow on me. Basically what I'm trying to say is my music palette is pretty varied and un-bias. I'm willing to give almost anything a listen or two.

But, being with a man who is wonderful on the guitar and has very strong leanings to music that could be now be classified as 'classic rock' but that we like to call 'heavy metal' has slightly colored my opinion of other bands. *shew..I know that is one serious run on sentence* I am more moved by listening to my husband play the guitar in our living room than I was by any of those bands last night. I had one of two problems with nearly every single band, sometimes both problems at the same time.

One..the music is sloppy. It's very loud and very distorted, which can camoflauge many sins. It makes me wonder what they are hiding..maybe the fact that they can play, just not very well. If they were to take all of that away, unplug, what would their music sound like? And would it be any good?

Two..the lead singers can't sing. Or, if they can, I couldn't hear them because everything else was turned up so loud. And because I either couldn't hear them..or I couldn't understand them (some were loud enough to hear..but then they screamed and my eyes rolled back in my head) I couldn't stay interested in the music.

We didn't even get through the first song of the very last band because the singer was screaming his little emo head off. It was 1:00 in the morning, and I was just done. So, it was fun to be out..it was fun to dress up a little and look cute..it was fun to do a little people watching. But, I'll stick to the private concerts in my own living room.

Wednesday, February 18, 2009

The Happy Couple

What are your middle names?
Mine is Anne, Jeremy's is Allan. Yeah, we have the SAME intials.

How long have you been together?
We have been together, as in a couple, for 11 1/2 years. This April we will have been married for 9 years.

How long did you know each other before you started dating?
We knew of each other for about two years before we dated.

Who asked whom out?
HHhmm, well, I told him that we should go out sometime. It wasn't exactly a date set in stone, but there it is.

How old are each of you?
I'm 28 and he is 30.

Whose siblings do you see the most?
Probably his, but only because we go to his parents house every other weekend. We see my sister on a pretty regular basis too, just not THAT regular.

Which situation is the hardest on you as a couple?
Money is probably the thing that causes us the most stress. Or bills, more specifically, and paying those bills, and which bills to pay when.

Did you go to the same school?
Yes, we went to the same school from junior high into high school. And we both 'did time' at the local college, but neither one of us graduated from there.

Are you from the same home town?
No. I was born here. Jeremy was born in Fort Worth. He is the only member of his family that was actually born in Texas..lucky him.

Who is smarter?
Are we talking book smarts? Definetely Jeremy. He is very smart. According to him, I'm to just sit beside him and look pretty..so I do. lol.

Who is the most sensitive?
I don't know. We both can be sensitive depending on the topic. But neither one of us is overly sensitive about anything.

Where do you eat out most as a couple?
It's usually fast food. I love Sonic fries, so we usually go there.

Where is the furthest you two have traveled together as a couple?
Florida..it's a long ass drive.

Who has the craziest exes?
Ha ha..um...neither. I know, that's such a disappointing answer. But really, by the time we were an item we weren't dealing with our exes anymore. There was no ex drama.

Who has the worst temper?
Probably me. I can get pretty worked up.

Who does the cooking?
Mostly Jeremy, but I do some as well. At least I can say I cook more now than when we first moved in together.

Who is the neat-freak?
He is. If things get left out for too long it really frustrates him. I'm a bit of a pack rat.

Who is more stubborn?
I can be very, very stubborn.

Who hogs the bed?
Neither, we share the bed ok. Now the sheets are a different story.

Who wakes up earlier?
Oh, Jeremy. He is up at 5:30 every morning. I love to sleep!

Where was your first date?
Men In Black at the Southwest 7 Theatre

Who is more jealous?
We aren't the jealous type.

How long did it take to get serious?
Well, we started dating in August and were engaged by Thanksgiving. So, not long.

Who eats more?
Jeremy. But he's a dude, he's allowed.

Who does the laundry?
Mostly Jeremy. I might do a load or two sometimes.

Who's better with the computer?
When it comes to keeping the computer running smoothly, Jeremy is much better. I don't know anything about spybots and spyware..or whatever. Just fix it! But, I think I do better when it comes to blogs, and social sites, and uploading pictures.

Who drives when you are together?
Jeremy.

Friday, February 13, 2009

A perfect day..

Jeremy and I decided last month to take today off. Sometimes you just need a day off for no reason. We slept in this morning, with the covers pulled up to our ears. It was an over cast morning, perfect for sleeping in since the sun didn't come streaming in to remind us what time it was.

When we were ready to get up, we moved about the house quietly. No radio or TV. It was cool in the house, almost cold, since the sun was hidden. I decided it was a perfect time to do some yoga. The thick rug in the living room was perfect for yoga, and I enjoyed it all very much. Well, all of it except trying to relax on the floor only to open my eyes to have Lola nearly nose to nose. She did make me laugh, even though it ruined the vibe of that pose. lol.

We decided yeterday to go for a picnic today, if the weather permitted. It has been crazy windy here all week, so we weren't sure how it would go. We packed up our blanket, food, and the camera and headed out. The spot we ended up at is a public park..er..garden..thingy. It's sunken in, as to be slightly below street level, so even though we were off a major road we could not be seen from the road. The weather could not have been more perfect. It was still over cast, but warming up. And there was just a hint of a breeze. I couldn't have wished for it to be any better.

The menu was simple, everything could be eaten with our fingers..no utensils required. We had a few different flavors of hummus (the orginial is my favorite) with pita chips, red grapes, crackers, and mozzeralla with some prosciutto and basil wrapped inside. Oh, and choclate covered pretzels. After we had our fill of food, we put it all away and laid out in the sunshine.

It was so fun and very relaxing. I can't wait to do it again.

Sunday, February 8, 2009

Yoga..and the evil stationary bike

So, my sister joined a local gym. Yay for her! I would too if we had the fundage (well, we COULD have the fundage, but the money is better spent on other things right now) and we still had a second car. But that's not really here or there. I make do just fine with what I have...my own two feet, hand weights, and workout DVD's. Anyway, I asked my sister if they gave her any sort of guest passes. And they DO. Five free visits, how cool is that?

My sister is a busy little bee so we went back and forth on when we could go together and work out. It ended up being yesterday morning..8:30 in the morning, actually. Do y'all know how hard it was for me to get up that early on a Saturday? I love my sleep...but I want to be skinny more. So, I was up and at the gym at 8:15. Megan wanted to attend the yoga class. Ok, yoga..I can handle that. Easy, relaxing..worth getting out of bed for. And it was a very nice class. I enjoyed it a lot. But, yoga takes a little more effort than I remembered. It was not hard, but to simply hold your arms out to the sides and keep them there for 30 seconds takes more effort than you would think. I feel it this morning, all through my arms and shoulders. Which is a good thing.

I thought we were done after that, but my sister had other plans. We jumped on the treadmill and off we went for about 25 minutes. I was down with that. I broke a sweat, I could feel it in my butt and legs. It was a nice burn. And I burnt nearly 150 calories. Alright! Good workout! Time to go home! Nope, my sister got on the stationary bike. I wrinkled my nose. More? Seriously? That bike kicked my ass. I couldn't do it. I mean, I kept going and did the best I could but I did not finish the 'rolling hills' program we had set. My butt was burning. And I couldn't talk...at all. My sister on the other hand was singing. SINGING! And trying to tickle me...while I was trying to just breath.

She was eyeing more machines but I begged off. I had to go home anyways. We had other things to do. So, I narrowly escaped with my life. lol. Just kidding, Megan! It was a great workout. And I'm glad that she pushed me to do more than I wanted to.