Arizona Chronicles

Green Onions

2012-01-15T16:38:00.000-07:00

Did you know you can grow green onions without soil?! I recently read that all you need to do is put the white portion of the onion in water and put in front of the sun and watch them grow! I currently have 3 whites in a juice glass with some water sitting in front of the glass block window in my master bathroom. I got pretty excited when I saw the green of the onion appear! So far I don't smell the onion, so we'll see if an odor comes with more green. I don't seem to have much of a green thumb, but maybe I have a green thumb for green onions! :) Happy growing.

Finally, my ornament wreath!

2012-01-11T12:01:00.000-07:00

I have been wanting to make an ornament wreath for a while now. I finally went for it this Christmas, although, I made it after the holiday, but that's because I needed to buy a few more ornaments on sale. I was trying hard to make a pattern out of it, then when I would lift the hanger up they all fell to where they wanted to, so I dumped the "pattern" out the window and just started stringing them however and in a quicker fashion. When I ran out of room to add anymore I lifted it up and it turned out like this:

I still need to add a ribbon to hide the hanger, but I'll wait until next year when I'm ready to hang it up. Until now, it sits in the closet waiting to be hung. I would like to make a small one using bells though. I think that will be my next project when I find enough bells (currently I only have 8). I felt pretty accomplished to finish my first crafting project! :)

Long time again...!

2011-11-20T20:54:00.000-07:00

August 22 is the last time I've blogged!! Having a baby consumes all your time! And when you do have some time, you want it for yourself. I'm sitting on the couch at my parents house. We drove from AZ to NE for a week, maybe more. It's nice to have the family around, have someone else (mommy) cook and play with the baby. I love how food magically appears! I wish it did that at home too ;) We had Jackson baptised today. He was so silly during the whole mass, but no crying or tears. We went out to eat at Summer Kitchen afterwards. It was soooo good and I have been wanting it since I was pregnant.

Record Heat

2011-08-22T13:51:00.000-07:00

Ugh I'm so over this hot hot summer! I've never looked forward to winter so much. This week is supposed to be record heat for August.

With that being said. It makes it hard to cook using the hot oven. But today I've decided to not only turn the oven on to cook pork chops and roasted potatoes, I might as well bake a cake at the same time.

We'll see how it all turns out tonight!

Cleanig is a Drag

2011-07-27T12:16:00.000-07:00

Cleaning is such a drag. You think that the stuff looks nice, but wait until you have to clean all those edges, borders and crevices.

I've been on my hands and knees in our kitchen floor scrubbing grout lines. Something that needed to be done before we moved in or at least not this late in the moving process. I've only been able to do small sections at a time since I can only manage to work on it while Jackson is napping. The black grout now looks white again! Using my little grout brush and some Zep bathroom cleaner, it's looking like new again! Who knows when I'll need to do this again! Hopefully it will last 6 months or more :)

Blinds are another pain in the butt! Slowing working on those too

Hair Falling Out

2011-07-25T20:36:00.000-07:00

I knew that your hair falls out after pregnancy. I wasn't sure when that was going to happen until several weeks ago. It was finally happening. My hair is falling out like crazy! I guess it's making up for all those months when I lost nothing. When my hair was getting thick from pregnancy. It's all over now folks. I guess around the 3 month mark is when it starts to happen. Tons come out during shower, during combing and during blow drying. It looks like I could make a sweater out of it and you'd think I'd be bald by now!!

Ellen Trance

2011-07-20T16:42:00.002-07:00

Jackson's eyes are peeled to the screen. Ellen is on! He's laying on the floor facing the TV listening to a little boy ramble about Presidents. Maybe he is learning about Presidents! Should I send a picture of him watching Ellen to Ellen? Maybe she'll phone me! :)

Recent Movie Rental Reviews

2011-07-19T21:37:00.000-07:00

We rented 4 movies over the weekend. Who knew you could watch so many movies and mess with a newborn at the same time! We'd start watching them during feeding, that way he was quiet and calm after the feeding or while he was napping. One time I sacrificed sleep to stay up with hubby and watch a movie and enjoy our time together. Even though that night I think Jackson woke up every hour, or at least I saw every hour go by and think I got 3-4 hours of sleep that Friday night. Oh well, it was worth it! :)

Here goes my reviews of the rentals:

Just Go With It: Good fun cast. It was decent, typical Adam Sandler (the new-older Sandler that is) As always I'm an Aniston fan. Was a one watch kinda movie though.

Lincoln Lawyer: Loved this movie. Kept me thinking and interested. Love me some Matthew!

The Company Men: I never heard of it, but Jason rented it since he read what it was about. Good moral of the story. Great cast! Slow moving, I got disinterested towards the end.

Hall Pass: Funny Funny Funny! Been wanting to see this one since it hit theaters. Love the golf scene the best! I always enjoy an Owen Wilson flick.

I'm sure there are many more movies I'd like to rent. Wouldn't you know the Redbox upped their prices too! Of course, they get popular and up the price :(

Sesame Street

2011-07-15T08:31:00.000-07:00

Is it bad that I let my son watch TV? It's not like he's watching violent shows anyway. He loves to watch Sesame Street. In fact he's watching it while I type this. But once it's over he's done, he doesn't like Curious George that follows.

I grew up on Sesame Street and I still love it, even though it's not the same as before. It's still educational and catchy. I hope it's still around when Jackson is a little older and they do the Sesame Street tour so that I can take him. Man, I guess I am a Mom...I'm already looking forward to taking him to kid stuff! :)

He also loves to watch Golf and Baseball with his daddy. I suppose it has a little to do with the neon green grass that is showed in high def, but he still loves to sit on your lap and watch it!

My New Favorite Cleaning Product

2011-07-14T21:30:00.000-07:00

I've used a lot of cleaning products and am always trying news ones out to find the perfect one. I've been a recent fan of the Method products, but I recently bought Green Works-All Purpose Cleaner. It smells great, cleans good (so far) and the best thing is not only does it shine up the granite, but also disinfects the counter. I no longer need to buy a separate granite cleaner! I'm not sure how their other products work, but I'd be willing to give them a try also.

If you're looking to buy a new cleaning product that is safe and cleans well, try it out!

Nicantoni's

2011-07-12T14:31:00.000-07:00

I need to get back to my restaurant reviews and "outings". Although the majority of our outings are to the grocery store, a familiar restaurant or Target, there are places we aspire to visit.

I started checking out Groupons more often now. I signed up for Groupon years ago when it first came along, but never got into the craze of it. Now I am addicted and be sure to check my emails everyday for the days latest deal. So far I've only bought 4, two of which were for Jason and golf. The other two are for pizza places. Pizza, imagine that...pizza, we LOVE pizza!

We used our first pizza Groupon this past weekend. A place in Gilbert called Nicantoni's. We took Jackson for his 3 month pictures at JCPenny and decided to hit up the restaurant afterward. It was around 3:00 p.m. when we arrived. No one there of course. It's in a strip mall and doesn't look like a very busy-classy place. I figure the hole in the wall places usually end up with good food, my kind of places! The decor was interesting and had a bit of a hippie feel. Some sort of writings all over, band member pictures on the wall. Tables decorated with band, or American themes. A couch at the front. I don't know why people think a couch is cool to have in a bar or restaurant. A regular couch, nothing special about it, nothing classy about it. Negative for me. We decided to order cokes, garlic bread-Sicily style and a regular pepperoni pizza. Sicily style for the bread was...add cheese. French bread with some seasonings and a slice of mozzarella cheese on top. The bread was over cooked. I couldn't even bite it off. Negative #2 for me. Of course Jackson just had to have a diaper blowout while we were there. Off to the bathroom we went. No diaper changing station, on the floor we go. Good thing I have a diaper changing mat! Jackson stuck out his lower lip and started to cry. I think he was scared because it was dark in there and the fan was loud and deep sounding. We managed to get it over with and outta that dark pit! It's a pizza place, not a club! Part of why it was dark in there was because the walls were painted black. On to the pizza...It came out about 10 minutes after I got back to the booth. I was feeding Jackson, so I only had one arm available to eat with. I had to use a fork to cut the pizza since it was so hot and fresh from the oven. The cheap fork wouldn't cut through the extreme thin crust pizza. Negative #3. I hate cheap silverware. The pizza was decent, nothing to boast about. For a large pizza it was $11, the Cokes were a cheap $1.25 and the garlic bread was about $2.50. I bought the Groupon for $8 and it was worth $16. I guess if we had water instead and no garlic bread the Groupon would have been more worth it. But we ended up saving maybe only $5 with it all said and done. Not sure it was worth the buy.

Here's to hoping the next pizza Groupon is more worthwhile!

First Father's Day

2011-06-22T19:38:00.000-07:00

I posted this on my baby blog and thought I'd share:

What a day this was! Lets start off with, Jackson went to sleep at 10:30 pm and didn't wake up until the next morning at 6:00 am! Longest sleep thusfar, have had several 5.5 hours or the usual 4 hour stretch and a one time 6.5 hours, but never 7.5 hours! I fed at 6:00 and laid him back down. Around 7:15ish I heard some fussy noises, sucking and "talking". I didn't go in and check, I just let him do his thing and was going to wait until he cried as I usually do. This continued for about 10 minutes then I heard some crying, not hardcore, but it was worth checking out. I walk in and see him laying on his back, sideways, feet sticking out the slates! He rolled over! Since I laid him on his stomach, opposite end of the bed too, I knew he somehow managed to end up on his back way down the other side of the crib, sideways at that. Dang, an active kid we have here! I exclaimed "You rolled over!" ran to grab my camera for proof. He was in such a good mood the whole day too. Very happy and smiley. He played with daddy most of the day.

He slept during the majority of our breakfast at Sweet Tomatoes. He took a 2 hour nap in the afternoon, so did mommy :) and daddy took a small one too. It was such a nice quiet afternoon and much needed. Later that night he was more fussy during our supper at Tom's BBQ, but we made it through by lots of holding. Daddy was presented with a picture frame for his desk, 3 pictures of Jackson holding D and A to spell out DAD.

Jackson loves his daddy. He smiles and coos and has a great time with him. I think we all enjoyed our first Father's Day together.

Vent...

2011-03-17T20:59:00.000-07:00

Oh and stop calling me MAMA!!

Vent

2011-03-17T20:58:00.000-07:00

Stop commenting on the way I walk or how slow I walk. I'm pregnant, carrying 6 or more pounds extremely low, baby sitting on my bladder, what do you think!! Stop saying I look like I'm going to pop. Stop asking me every single day "how am I feeling" "when are you due again" "what are you having". The same people over and over ask the same questions over and over. Listen, open your ears, If you're really not interested then don't ask every day. Thank goodness I only have 1 more week of work left, so I only need to put up with this one more week. Then my "vacation" before baby arrives. Looking forward to sleeping in, enjoying the nice weather outside, quiet time, naps, relaxing. All the good things before all hell breaks loose!

Home and Baby

2011-01-31T18:03:00.000-07:00

I can't believe I am a mere 9 weeks away from giving birth and seeing my little one. The pregnancy has not been enjoyable, but I can't wait to see what we created together. As we finish settling into our new home we are slowly getting everything ready for baby. We've taken our hospital tour and that is when it all sunk in for me. I have to deliver this baby! I don't know how it's going to happen or what will come of this, but just as long as our baby arrives safe and healthy. I can't wait to hold the one that kicks me, hiccups, rolls, tumbles and stretches inside of me all day long.

I hope Tory will be able to adjust to the newness and all the madness that will follow. I know Tory will be motherly and sweet, just like she always is.

Jason and I start our childbirth classes tomorrow. They will be once a week for 4 weeks. After these 4 weeks there will only be 5 more weeks left until birth! Crazy!!

Quickie

2010-12-28T21:05:00.000-07:00

Here are a couple pics of the baby's room.

Baby Update

2010-12-01T20:04:00.000-07:00

I have been writing on my baby blog that I keep private, so I haven't been updating this blog much at all.

Crib is in place, playpen is put together, monitor bought, dresser and nightstand bought and in place, crib mattress just arrived today, crib bedding set to come this week, bouncer coming this week too. Next big purchase is the car seat and stoller. We love the Chicco. The Graco's are so flimsy and crappy feeling. The Chicco is a bit expensive, but hey, it should get a ton of use with this baby and the next. Plus safety and stability is important. I bought a Bumbo chair with tray for $30 at Once Upon a Child (second hand children's store) and a boppy with the cover (looks never used!) for $14. I bought several clothing items and a couple of blankets at garage sales. You can't beat paying a quarter for a onesie that was never worn! Or a quarter for a blanket never used.

The sickness finally wore off at 17 weeks. I still take my prescription everyday for the acid reflux (Gerd) and take Zantac once or twice a day on top of that. This acid reflux stuff is the pits! I don't know how people live with this stuff every single day. I sure hope it goes away after birth!

I can't believe I'm 22 weeks and only have 4 more months to go! I can't believe I made it this far either. Those four months were miserable. The hardest thing ever! Now my belly won't stop growing and my appetite is off the roof! I can barely bend over since my stomach is as hard as a rock! I'm still tired and a lot of days I'm short of breath.

At our last ultrasound the doctor said I have a low laying placenta. I have to go back in for another ultrasound in December so they can monitor it. They said it should start to move up when I gain more weight. I hope it works out so that I don't have to have a C-section.

The Crib

2010-11-02T20:10:00.000-07:00

I ordered the baby crib from Babies R Us about a month ago. J put it together a couple of weeks ago and it looks so nice! Not bad for ordering off the web without seeing it in person! The price was even better at $86, free shipping :)

House Pics

2010-10-09T17:03:00.000-07:00

Here are some pictures of our new house. The furnishings in it are not ours. These were the pictures used when the house was listed. The house has 4 bedrooms, 3 full bathrooms, den, dining room and 2 living rooms.

Pregnancy

2010-10-04T17:58:00.001-07:00

We are finally unpacked, well except the boxes that we never unpacked with the first move. Those things you hang onto for no reason except maybe memories. We have officially announced my pregnancy to family and friends. Today I am considered 14 weeks and the first day of the 2nd Trimester. I would love to say my sickness and acid reflux is over, but it's not. It's a daily struggle to live. I'm hanging on by a thread now. I hate riding in cars, I hate driving in cars worse. I don't know what it's like to feel normal anymore. I wish I could have been one of the women that could enjoy her pregnancy and be happy and excited. Right now, I take it one day at a time and deal with it to the best that I can. I could go into more details and complain more, but I'll spare you. Both of us don't need to be miserable!

Now back to the house... Jason worked on cleaning up the weeds in the backyard. The garage is now cleaned up so we can park both of our cars in it. Laundry is caught up. It will be time to work on the small list of things to purchase. Lawn mower, curtains for the sliding glass door and other little organizing things. I love this home! It's so quiet on our block. Sometimes you can smell the nearby cow farms which reminds me of back home. Soon I will decorate for Halloween! I wonder if we'll have any trick or treaters!? I can't wait to lite the house up for Christmas! I can't wait to start the new chapter or our lives in this house and make tons of memories!

We Have Finally Moved!

2010-09-25T18:40:00.000-07:00

It is Saturday and we are offically done moving! We did a walk through with our renters this morning. Our first house together is now called "The Rental". It's a good house, but this house is more us. I love this house. I love the location and privacy. I love being able to see the sunsets and sunrises. I love being able to see several mountain ranges from our yard. I love the space, color, upgrades.

Movers moved over all furniture and did all the heavy lifting.  Jason did many, many car loads back and forth all week.  We did the final cleaning of the rental on Friday night. It's such a relief to be done with the move and all the cleaning (both houses).

Tory is still adjusting.  She follows us around a lot, but I think she really digs the yard.  I think she might miss all of the tile at the rental though.  She used the tile to keep herself cool. Now our only tiled area is the entryway, kitchen, laundry and bathrooms.  I find her in the kitchen cooling herself off the most.

I have the majority of things unpacked. Over the next couple of weeks I'll need to spend some time organizing.

Offical Move Day

2010-09-19T09:34:00.000-07:00

Who wants to come pack this house for me??? Movers come tomorrow and nothing is packed yet! Talk about last minute! Renters are due to make their appearance on September 27th. Glad we got that taken care of just in the nic of time! On to our next journey.

Toffee Crunch Cheesecake

2010-08-08T07:55:00.001-07:00

This is the best cheesecake ever!

Philadelphia 3- Step Toffee Crunch Cheesecake

Prep: 10 min. Plus refrigerating * Bake: 40 min. Makes 8 servings.

Ingredients:

2 pkg. (8 oz. each) Philadelphia Cream Cheese, softened

½ cup firmly packed brown sugar

½ tsp. vanilla

2 eggs

4 chocolate-covered English toffee bars (1.4 oz. each), chopped (about 1 cup), divided

1 Honey Maid Graham Pie Crust (6 oz.)

PREHEAT oven to 350*F. Beat cream cheese, sugar and vanilla in large bowl with electric mixer on medium speed until well blended. Add eggs; mix just until blended. Stir in ¾ cup of the chopped toffee bars.

POUR into crust. Sprinkle with remaining chopped toffee bars.

BAKE 35 to 40 minutes or until center is almost set. Cool. Refrigerate 3 hours or overnight. Store leftover cheesecake in refrigerator.

Great Substitute: For extra chocolate flavor, substitute 1 Oreo Pie Crust (6 oz.) for the graham pie crust.

***Use 4 Heath bars instead of toffee. The chocolate touch of the Heath makes it fantastic. I've had it both ways and much prefer the Heath bars***

Movie and Restaurant Reviews

2010-08-07T07:55:00.000-07:00

We have recently watched a few movies, well I have, not so much J.

Hot Tub Time Machine- funny and I loved the 80's throwback!
Bounty Hunter- Not that great, predictable.
She's Out of My League- had some funny parts, predictable, different.

Arriba Mexican Grill (San Tan Mall-Gilbert) We hit this up on our way to Costco. It's always busy when we drive by. We thought it was more of a fast food Mexican restaurant instead it was very much a sit down restaurant. The meal range per person was $10-$12. Looks like they are known for their margaritas considering everyone there had one! I think they have a happy hour where they are .99! They have huge ones that two people can share. Our waiter was outstanding! Our food was good. They have a brewery there, which is odd since Mexican restaurants never have brewery's. J decided to try a sample though and said it tasted horrible (our waiter told us that too). They make and sell their own salsa, it was good as well. We would probably go back to eat there.

Joe's Real BBQ (Downtown Gilbert) It's Friday night and time to try out a new BBQ place! Rated the best BBQ in the East Valley. Based off of other reviews, we decided to wait until after the rush from 6-7:30. We got there close to 8 and waited in line. It's a cafeteria style. You wait in line, grab a tray, utensils, cups, fill up your drink then tell them behind the counter your order, where they yell back your meat choice and they dish up your side choices. They have some throwback candy like button candy, candy cigs, sugar daddy's, etc. We saw a little boy buying 4 packs of candy cigs! LOL I had the homemade root beer, pulled pork sandwich, corn and pit beans for my sides. J had the same except he had potato salad instead of corn. The corn was sweet corn cut off the cob and the beans were a mix of several different kinds of beans. It was all really good! Filled up my cup for another refill of root beer for the road. The place was very busy, but we managed to find a picnic table inside. There are a lot of big families and parties there. There is plenty of seating outside too. We will be going back sometime for sure!

Name Change

2010-07-20T21:35:00.000-07:00

It's been over a month now since I have officially changed my last name. Boy, it sure is a lot of work!  You start off by changing your name at the Social Security office then change your Drivers License. That takes care of the big items then onto the small items... Changing my name at work (I finally did my badge today!) took a couple of days. Changing beneficiaries, credit cards, car title, car insurance, bank accounts, vet and doctors office name, passport (this is next!) and I'm sure there's more. I still don't haven't tackled all of those items, but I'm working on them.

The one thing that is probably the biggest pain is email address. I've used the same address for a long long time and I get a ton of stuff! Slowly changing my email and sorting out what really interests me is how I've decided to tackle it.

I never really thought much about losing my last name or that it's a big deal to change it. I just knew that I would do it when I married. I got asked so many times if I was going to change my last name. It got annoying and made me think it's sad that is a question in people's minds and that society has brought that to their minds.

I may have lost my last name that I held for 28 years, but I have gained a new name with a new responsibilities.

Weekend Recap

2010-07-19T18:21:00.000-07:00

This last weekend was a laid back one. Friday night we ate at Flordinos. We tried the pizza muffins for our first time and we ordered our usual. J gets the all meat calzone and I love their baked spaghetti. The calzones are huge! J has yet to finish it in one sitting (surprising!).

Saturday afternoon we went to the movie theater to see Grown Ups. It had been a while since we had been to the theater.  Grown Ups was ok, more of a rent than a theater movie. Afterwards we went to Helzberg to drop off my rings.  I am finally getting them sautered together. After months of the wedding band spinning around my finger it was time to make them into one . Clarks was the next stop. J needed some nice sturdy flip flops. After wearing nothing but sandals/flip flops for the past 2 years it starts to take a toll on the feet. Time to stop buying the cheap $2.50 ones (they are cheap for a reason!) and start buying a sandal with support and cushion to save your feet/heels/back. Later that night we decided to use our gift card to Applebees.

Sunday we hung around the house, did some pool time and grocery shopping. The weekend was pretty hot as the temps have been hanging around 110*115* the past couple of weeks.



Today's Temp: 105*

The Drunken Lass

2010-07-10T09:21:00.001-07:00

For the Fourth of July J and I headed 2 hours north to Prescott. My favorite bar was The Drunken Lass.
We visited it 3 times in our 2 days there! When we were bored with another bar we said, lets go to the Drunken Lass. They have live bands all day long! Cheap shots, cheap beer and friendly-quality bartending. Our first time there we had their special shot of AIDS (American Independence Day Shot) and drank $1.75 PBR's on tap. We met some locals and chatted it up with the bartender Joe. You know you're a regular when a bartender named Joe says "Welcome back" (we were just a couple of regular Joe's ourselves!). The bar even comes complete with dog treats for your best friend. The community of Prescott is very dog friendly. Nothing like taking your best bud in the bar with you to throw back a few! The bands were fun and different than your typical honky tonk bands. Most of the bands there were one man with guitar. Making up their own songs, drinking beer, taking shots and having a good ol' time. The Lass was my favorite because it felt like your hometown bar where everyone knows your name (Cheers song...) It was very laid back and had a good "Irish" vibe. Definitely worth your time!

Gold Canyon's Hometown Holiday Recipe

2010-07-01T21:30:00.000-07:00

Hometown Holiday

A medley of fruits and florals that evokes the scents of sweet summer pies and a hometown holiday celebration!

16 oz. Currant

11 oz. Red, White & Berry (U.S. only)

10 oz. Serenity

Ahwatukee Farmers Market

2010-06-30T19:00:00.002-07:00

Last Sunday morning J and I visited the Ahwatukee Farmer's Market for the first time. We discovered a native Nebraskan had a booth there . He runs Pork on a Fork. Pork raised in Nebraska and shipped here to Arizona for sale. It was so hot at 10:00 AM that we kinda got in and out pretty quickly. We bought some red potatoes, carrots, red onions and a red pepper. I chopped the red pepper up and have it in a baggy in the freezer. I did that with green peppers too. I love to have chopped peppers ready to be used at any moment and they stay fresh just as they were before.

We've been to the Chandler Farmer's Market before, but they shut theirs down for the summer. There are a few markets that stay open in the summer and some move to indoor building.

I need to start introducing more vegtables to my diet and branch out to try other things. Maybe someday...

Fourth of July

2010-06-29T10:00:00.001-07:00

This year J and I are driving up to Prescott for the 4th. We'll head up on Saturday morning and stay until Monday morning. They hold the World's Oldest Rodeo and it's the home of the famous Whiskey Row. It's nice that one of our hotels is 2 blocks from Whiskey Row and our other hotel is at the corner of Whiskey Row (we couldn't book the same hotel for two nights). We'll be stumbling to our rooms! :) The elevation is higher up there, so the high temperatures will be in the 90's. That will be a cool down from what we've been used to the past couple of weeks. It will take us about 2 hours to get to Prescott and I can't wait! I've been wanting to go there for a long time now. It's supposed to be beautiful, fun and there is a lot of history in that town. I love old cowboy towns!

Carefree & Cave Creek

2010-06-28T20:43:00.001-07:00

In May J and I took a road trip. It's been a while since we've discovered a new Arizona city. I've been wanting to visit Carefree for a while now. I've read a lot about the quaint town in the Phoenix magazine we subscribe to. We took off early in the morning so that we could stop by the Roadrunner Restaurant & Saloon in New River to have breakfast. The breakfast tasted like your typical home cooked. It's defiantly a biker bar. It appears as though they take horse shoes seriously though as they have several pits with lights shining down on them! You know you're in the desert when you see a mouse creep around a corner outside and snatch a fry and run off! Yuck, I can't believe I saw that! I despise mice!! The service was great and the food was too. On ward we made our way through the town of New River. Home of the Shangri La Ranch. This is a nudist RV park. Of course I got curious since I've never seen one and made J drive down to it. It was gated, I guess you have to call ahead of time to get a code. We couldn't see anything beyond the gates. So we kept on making our way to Cave Creek. It's very small so it was hard to tell where it started and ended, same goes for Carefree. Both towns offer lots of unique restaurants with unique shops. We had to stop at the famous Town Dump and The Horny Toad. I could spend a ton of time and money at the Town Dump, but J wouldn't let me :( We stopped to grab something small from The Horny Toad. I had to try the bbq sandwich since they smoke their meat. It was really tender and tasty. J had a burger and enjoyed it just as well. We didn't get it because we were full enough, but they served my favorite dessert. Strawberry Shortcake and it was a beast! It could feed four people. We want to go back to Harolds Corral and Buffalo Chips Saloon to check out their night entertainment. They are both country bar and grills and they have live bands at night along with real bull riding! We defiantly want to go back to visit for a afternoon into the night. It's not too far from the house, so it's do-able anytime.

Carefree also houses the largest sundial. It's cool!

Deal of the Day

2010-06-20T21:39:00.002-07:00

I can't remember if I've ever bought a brand new purse below $20, but I'll remember it now! Macy's had a 1 day sale on Saturday. An additional 30-50% off including clearance. J was with me, so that meant I only was allowed a few minutes to browse. Since my strap broke on my faux Coach bag a couple weeks ago, I've been on the look out for a new purse.

I look for a few things in a purse. The straps have to fit on my shoulders and stay there, I prefer the flat-squarish shape. I like the bottom to have feet or a flat surface. No magnet, buckle, etc. for closures; I like a zippered closure. A medium size. There needs to be two open side pockets inside, one for my car keys/chapstick and one for my cell phone. I'm not real picky about color. I usually go with a black because that goes with everything. I don't mind a brown or tan. Love to do a fun color like purple. I haven't had a yellow or a turquoise purse yet, but would love to!

My steal of the day was a Etienne Aigner purse that was marked down from $58.00 and clearanced to $29.00 with the additional 50% off. I was excited to pay the mere $15, but when she rang it up, it came up to $12.00.!! I'll take that for sure!!!

Gold Canyon's June Wedding Scent Recipe

2010-06-19T10:19:00.000-07:00

Scent Blending Recipes are carefully selected recipes of individual candles that when burning together, create their own unique, blended scent experience.

To maximize your fragrant experience, use the exact sizes and quantities noted in each recipe – a slight alteration can be like adding salt when you needed sugar.

FIRST: Arrange the candles on a heat-safe surface with the largest in the middle and smaller candles interspersed throughout. For votive and Tealight candles, use a holder to protect the surface.

SECOND: Place each candle approximately two inches apart in your arrangement.

THIRD: Light each candle and let the aromas mingle for at least 30 minutes to create your new fragrance experience.

Featured Blend:

June Wedding

Create the elegant warmth of a summer wedding with softly scented florals and sweet fruits. A shimmer of luxury shines through for a beautiful blend.

· 8 oz. Powder & Violet Fleur

· 8 oz. Burning Bright

· 10.5 oz. Enchanting

Is a Birthday a Funeral?

2010-06-01T21:51:00.000-07:00

I was surprised by getting flowers on my birthday from three different people! Work peeps surprised me with an ice cream cake from Dairy Queen (my favorite!). J said I had so many flowers it looked like a funeral. Could turning 28 be a funeral? Isn't 25 the downward slope to 30? After you turn 21, it doesn't matter so much anymore. The time between 25 and 30 is the most crucial in my opinion. So much happens and the time flies by!

Today's Temp: 98*

Crispy Chicken Tenders

2010-05-30T16:25:00.000-07:00

I made chicken tenders in our deep fryer for the first time two weeks ago. They turned out very well! If you don't have a deep fryer, you can easily use a skillet with oil.

I bought chicken breast tenders all ready trimmed and good to go from the meat section. In a bowl, soak them in buttermilk (I only had half & half in the frig.) for 15-20 minutes or more, whatever you feel like. A bowl full of flour (about a cup or so) and Lawry's seasoning salt (use whatever seasonings you'd like, I added red pepper flakes as well), add a little bit of buttermilk to the flour mixture and stir it so it looks clumpy. Dip the chicken tenders, using a fork, in the flour mixture to coat well and place them on a clean plate so that you can transfer them to the deep fryer or skillet. The clumpy flour mixture makes for a crispy crust :) I used tongs to place the tenders in the fryer. It only takes about 1 1/2 minutes to cook in the deep fryer (375*). About 2 minutes on each side in the skillet should work.

Added some crinkle cut fries to complete the meal!

New Restaurant Review

2010-05-24T22:04:00.000-07:00

Saturday night after going to the San Tan Mall to watch Shining Star, we tried out a new restaurant! For a month and half the San Tan Mall has a live band on Saturday nights for 2 hours. Since I love live music and local bands, this gives us something to do on Saturday nights. The nights are perfect to sit outside and listen to music, people watch and reminisce. The Shining Star band was really good. The woman lead singer isn't afraid to do any song. She sang, Black Eyed Peas, Taylor Swift, Earth Wind and Fire, Journey, Miley Cyrus all kinds of songs/artists! It was great!

Back to my restaurant review... Every time we drive by it J makes a comment, "We need to eat there." Finally we did! It's called Blue 32 Sports Bar and Grill. I decided to try something I've never had before and it was their specialty-the Monte Crisco with homemade coleslaw that had bacon and blue cheese crumbles. J opted for a burger (the Smokehouse) with the homemade blue baked beans. Everything was delicious! Next time I'm going to try out The Grinder!

Todays Temperature: 78* (windy)

My New Bike

2010-05-21T16:32:00.000-07:00

J and I bought bicyles a couple weeks ago! It makes me feel like a kid again! My favorite past time is riding my bike all over town for hours and hours. I just had to be home by dark :)

We basically ride around our neighborhood. It's nice that we have a bike lane so we can use that in addition to the sidewalks or walking trails.

The Boycott is Over

2010-05-12T21:22:00.000-07:00

I recently made a few trips to Wal-Mart. I haven't been to Wal-Mart since December when I made several trips there for our Christmas party. J and I were in the mood to buy bikes so we had to compare prices and review choices between Sports Chalet, Target and Wal-Mart. Wal-Mart had the most choices and the best price for bikes. A few days beforehand I had ordered some photo books that were rolled back. I like to use them for all photo related projects and do the site to store option. These last few days I've come to enjoy our Wal-Mart. I've always had friendly service in the photo department, but have had several experiences over the past week with the 4 times we've been that have changed my mind a bit. The cashiers, the guy who worked in the gun department who helped me take my two bikes to my car, the dude in the toy/bike department who assisted and chatted with us all about bikes were all very friendly- helpful people! I wonder if this particular store is just cool with great employees or if there has been some changes made over all of the stores. I'd like to think our store just has cool employees.

Anyway, I recently found some new shorts and t-shirts I am real excited about! Shorts these days are either way too short or you buy bermudas. I have several bermudas and am in need of some regular shorts. I found some at Wal-Mart! For only $10, Faded Glory brand, they are perfect length, soft and comfy (a tiny bit of stretch), I bought one pair and went back for two more different colors. Many colors to choose from including denim. I also bought a $4 Faded Glory t-shirt which is tag less, long in length including the sleeves, soft and comfy, also came in a ton of colors including solids or stripes.

Back in the day I was sorta about name brands, but I wasn't raised that way and am not that way these days. That was mostly a high school phase. So if my $10 Wally World shorts fit my body and the wallet then it's good enough for me!

Today's Temperature: 80*

Countdown to Honeymoon!

2010-05-10T20:43:00.000-07:00

Friday couldn't come fast enough! Four days of work will feel like an eternity. Friday at 9:00 a.m. I'll be leaving on a jet plane...well, not a jet, but it's a good song. On our way to Mexico to a resort just outside of Cancun. The Secrets Silversands awaits us! Where we won't do anything but sleep, eat, drink, lay on the beach and bask in the sun. This resort is a small, all inclusive, adults only resort. We haven't had a beach vacation for over 2 years!! The last vacation was our engagement in San Diego, but that was a short weekend versus a week in Mexico. I think I'm going to bust out the suitcase early and start packing. Something I never do until the night before. This way I can enjoy my "night before flight" (or try to, maybe easier said then done). Tory will be heading to Uncle B's for her week vacation.

Today's Temperature: 84*

Scent Recipe- Romantic Garden Bouquet

2010-05-02T10:13:00.001-07:00

Scent Blending Recipes are carefully selected recipes of individual candles that when burning together, create their own unique, blended scent experience.

To maximize your fragrant experience, use the exact sizes and quantities noted in each recipe – a slight alteration can be like adding salt when you needed sugar.

FIRST: Arrange the candles on a heat-safe surface with the largest in the middle and smaller candles interspersed throughout. For votive and Tealight candles, use a holder to protect the surface.

SECOND: Place each candle approximately two inches apart in your arrangement.

THIRD: Light each candle and let the aromas mingle for at least 30 minutes to create your new fragrance experience.

Featured Blend:
Romantic Garden Bouquet

A wonderful way to welcome summer! This sweet, romantic garden blend combines soft florals, hints of musk and the calming harmony of lavender vanilla to start the perfect relaxing summer.

8 oz. Sweet Amour
10 oz. Harmony
Love StruckTM votives (3)

Oriental Ramen Noodle Salad

2010-05-01T07:54:00.007-07:00

Ingredients:
1 pkg. coleslaw mix
1 pkg. Ramen noodles (beef flavor), crumbled
1 cup sunflower seeds
1 cup almonds slivers (optional)

Dressing:
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup oil
1/3 cup red wine vinegar
beef flavor packet

Directions:
Mix slaw, noodles, sunflower seeds, and almonds. Mix sugar, oil, and vinegar; pour over slaw mixture.

*Make it about an hour before serving. The noodles soften in the dressing mixture.
*Add in green onions and/or raw broccoli.

Not Much Happening Tonight

2010-04-26T21:21:00.009-07:00

J made it home on Sunday night. He missed me :) That was the first trip away that wasn't work related. This week his nephew is coming in for a golf trip; Thursday through Sunday. That's a lot of golf! I'll be cooking on Thursday night, trying out a new recipe. I'm sure it will be successful, if it is, I'll post it.

I have been counting down the days until our honeymoon. May 14th couldn't come quicker! I'm ready to do absolutely nothing at all but be a beach bum. I'm ready for you Cancun!

Today's Temperature: 93*ish

A Beautiful Day

2010-04-24T21:53:00.013-07:00

Today held such a busy day! I didn't get up until 9ish, so I achieved my wanting to sleep in! I finally left for Ikea around 11:30ish. When I pulled in I was like "crap it's busy". The place opens at 10 and is always busy no matter when you go. I grabbed the few items I went there for and got out pretty quickly. I left pissed off because I was so tired of the rude people in there.

The afternoon was the busiest. I watched the other rental, Old Dogs. I thought it was funny and is worth seeing. I washed up all of my Friday night purchases at BBB. Threw in a few loads of laundry. Walked Tory. Went back to BBB to return a too small comforter for our spare bedroom. Headed to Dillard's to find a comforter in the correct size and it was on sale! I was ready to go home and watch the third movie ( I can't even remember the name of it, it was that bad. I didn't finish it. It had Tim Allen and Sigourney Weaver in it).

I took the movies back and decided to try out a new place for supper. I tried out Los Favoritos Taco Shop. I was real leery about it when I got in because the employees spoke little English. I asked the lady in front of me who did a call in order, if it was good. Her eyes lit up and said it was very good and that her husband craved that place. They keep a menu in their car and do call in orders. I ordered the #5, 2 beef tacos (I opted for shredded beef instead) with rice and beans. Got my order to go and headed home to try it out. The place had steady business. I had to wait in line to place my order and there were more behind me to place theirs. The place is really small, so I assume most people get their orders to go. Taco shops are supposed to be small anyway, right? I got home and dug in. It was really good. The beans and rice weren't your typical. These were authentic. The tacos are great! They don't have tomatoes on them, so that makes it way easier for me to order (I always do no tomatoes). The Mexican restaurants we go to around here are all pretty much authentic anyway, but they all do rice a little different. This place had the best rice of all.

The day was beautiful! A slight breeze, upper 70's, low 80's. It was perfect! The weather really made me want to buy a bicycle. That will be my next purchase. There is something about a bicycle that makes you feel free. Maybe it's the wind that blows on your face. As a kid I biked all over town! I'd be out on my bike for hours upon hours. Bike back and forth to friends houses or just go out and bike.

Friday Night to Myself

2010-04-23T22:51:00.016-07:00

It's almost 11 p.m. here in Arizona and usually I'm not awake. My husband is out of town for the weekend (my first time using the word husband on the ol' blog!). So what else do you do when your spouse is out of town?
Shop!!
I went to my fav... Bed Bath and Beyond. A.K.A BBB. I knew I wanted the Cuisinart mini processor and a king size pillow. You know, you always find a hundred other gadgets and cool things. I found lots of cool things and some of them I'll be testing out this weekend. I found this tiny spatula named the cookie spatula. It's nice and small to use to take your cookies off the pan. I always have the issue of the spatula being too big and running into other cookies when trying to take them off the pan. I also thought I'd try the cookie spoon. It's about the size of a tablespoon and has a flexible rubber bottom so you can flip the dough out of the spoon and onto the pan. My cookie press from Pampered Chef broke a while ago. It will be interesting to see if it works like I'm hoping! I also bought a small salad spinner, the Good Grips brand. I never get the water out enough when it's in the colander and I know the spinners work. Something I've been wanting for a while.

On my way home I stopped by Bashas to get some movies at the one day Blockbuster rental machine. There was a deal that if you bought 2 movies you get the third free. I figured I'd have plenty of time to watch movies and went with the deal. I watched Love Happens. I like Jennifer Aniston, so I see every movie she's in.

Well, I have managed to make myself tired. I'm looking forward to sleeping in, then I have plans to head to Ikea to browse (more shopping!) then back home to watch the other two movies before they have to be returned at 7 p.m.

All About J

2010-04-22T20:44:00.013-07:00

Tonight I went with J for his HOA certificate presentation. Before the wedding he attended a 6 week HOA (Home Owners Association) class. Since this is our fist time living in an HOA community it struck his interest to learn more about HOA's. The certificate presentation was held at the City of Chandler council meeting. This was our first time attending a council meeting. They start out with a prayer and the pledge of allegiance. When was the last time you said the pledge of allegiance? Do you remember saying it every morning in grade school?! It's sad that the pledge is never said anymore. We didn't stay for the council meeting since those things can go on all night, so we bailed after he received his certificate and headed to Dilly's Deli for supper. This was our third time hitting up Dilly's. It's a tasty sandwich shop actually owned by one of the city's council members.

In addition, J is running to be a board member for our community-Cooper Commons. The election is in May, so he's starting to get literature printed so he can start going door to door to get votes. We'll be busy for the next couple of weeks!

J is going to see his mother this weekend in NE. I'm staying home and Tory and I will be doing some bonding and girl time! That means, she's getting a hair cut and bath from her mommy!

I can't believe the weather has gone from cold to hot and back to cold-rainy all in one week! I'm so ready for the cold and rain to be gone! Bring on the hot desert weather we moved here for!!

DVR or Tivo

2010-04-21T21:12:00.006-07:00

How do you record your favorite T.V. shows?
I don't have either.

The two main reasons I would want a DVR would be to fast forward through commercials and record all the shows then watch them on 1 day (which would be a timesaver). I also think the pause feature would come in handy when you're watching "live" T.V. It's bad that I like to plan things around my shows and it's not that I have a lot of shows I watch either. The Monday night and Thursday night lineups are classic for me and I look forward to them each week because they are all comedies. I live for comedy! Comedy makes me relaxed and de-stress. Plus laughing releases endorphins which make you feel good. I enjoy laughing. I laugh at stupid things, or think of things and laugh, or J thinks I'm laughing at him, which then makes me say to him 'lighten up' :)

I don't know anyone besides my sister who has Tivo.
Is $10 extra a month worth it? Should I bust out my old VCR and put it to use?!?

Today's Temp: 65* (very windy-dark clouds)

How Do you Take your Coffee?

2010-04-08T19:55:00.003-07:00

Black, sugar and/or creamer?

I recently tried the flavored Coffeemates and now I'm addicted. I love the Peppermint Mocha! Instead of paying $4 + at Starbucks getting a white chocolate peppermint mocha, I can make my own with the compliments of Coffeemate.

I don't know how my coffee addiction got so strong over the years. It seemed to happen suddenly. When I was younger I used to use a ton of sugar and some milk. I graduated to a ton of sugar only and now I'm at a little bit of sugar. Creamer packs on more calories and fat, so I need to watch my new Coffeemate addiction.

The Caramel Vanilla is heavenly also! Did you know there is a chocolate one too?!

Today's Temperature: 87*

My Wedding at Graceland Wedding Chapel in Las Vegas!

2010-04-05T19:41:00.003-07:00

I thought that before I write about my wedding, I'd post the link so you can watch it.

So much happened that weekend that it will be a loooong post!

Let me start by saying, it was a blast and I wouldn't have done it any other way!! I'm glad I stuck with my gut and did what I always wanted to do.

Enjoy it here!

Gold Canyon Scent Recipe

2010-04-01T16:46:00.003-07:00

My Parents Visit

2010-03-30T20:43:00.028-07:00

My parents drove all the way to Arizona from Nebraska for our wedding. They arrived on March 19 with mutual friends Tom and Della. The Friday night they arrived we thought it was a good idea for them to relax a couple hours before we headed to grab something to eat. We took them to Red, White and Brew as we always seem to take our guests there on their first night. It was a fairly nice night to sit outside and enjoy listening to the band they had playing inside. Afterwards, we all called it a night because we had some things planned for the next day.

Unfortunately, Saturday held some issues. Their car had a few issues that needed to be addressed and we weren't sure how serious they were unless we took it into the Buick shop. Thinking it would only be an hour, the boys headed to the dealership and I decided to take the girls to the San Tan shopping mall which was next to the car dealership. One hour later, we found out it was going to be another hour. Fine with us, 'cause we were doing good on shopping! Two hours later, found out it was going to be another hour. OK, so I thought Johnny Rockets for a shake was a good idea. Another two hours later, it was finally complete. We ended up meeting back at the house and relaxing the rest of the afternoon. Since our plans were shot we decided to just relax for a few hours and make up for it on Sunday. We decided to take them to South Mountain and just grab Mexican food at Si Senor. That would complete our Saturday.

Sunday, we got going fairly early. Stopped at the Mesa Swap Meet, visited Goldfield Ghost Town (old gold mine town) then headed onto Canyon Lake for the Dolly Steamboat ride in which I had gotten tickets ahead of time for. They loved it all! Especially the boat ride. Afterwards we decided to have supper at the Old Mining Camp restaurant in Apache Junction. We were entertained by a few local old guys dressed up in western gear who one played the guitar and the other guy played the tub and they also told jokes. That concluded our Sunday jam-packed day!

Monday they hung out around the house, glued the ribbon on my veil and then visited Uncle Bill. Once I got home from work it was off to Scottsdale for supper at George and Bev's (Tom's sister). They own a townhome and winter in Scottsdale for a few months. Tom, Bonnie, Ray and Barbara all met us there as well. We enjoyed drinks, BBQ pork sandwiches, pasta salad and Arizona pie. Then Tom and Della stayed with George and Bev for two days and mom and dad went with Ray and Barb to their condo in Surprise. They all arrived back to our house on Wednesday.

Wednesday night we took them to see the landfill park a few miles from our house and then to downtown Chandler. We ate at Keegan's Grill afterwards. We have heard on many occasions that Keegan's Grill was tasty so we opted to try it out for our first time. Generally, if I'm going to take a visitor to a restaurant I like to try it first, but we broke the rule! I'm glad it turned out really good! We'll be going back for sure.

Thursday it was time to leave for Vegas!

Method

2010-03-13T10:22:00.015-07:00

I see Method in Target and Bed Bath and Beyond and I really didn't know what it was. I didn't know if it was a knock off of another product or just another cleaning product out there to take up space on my shelf. I was reading one of my usual blogs and there was a coupon for Method and a little explanation about the product. The coupon link sent me directly to Method's Website where I learned all about their company and products. I became informed and very interested in their products. I went to Target and found a whole Method section! Mind you, I have a shelf in my laundry room filled with a vast array of cleaning products. I bought a few more, the Method brand. I LOVE them! I bought these: The Multi Surface Cleaner (Pink Grapefruit), Daily Shower Spray, Tub 'N Tile Bathroom Cleaner. On their Website it shows the product as costing $4-$5, but at Target they were $2.99. I love the way they smell, so fresh and clean. I don't cough when I use their bathroom products like I do with other products. They are made up of all natural ingredients. Eventually I'd like to get rid of all the other products that take up my shelf space and only carry the Method brand. Their product works very well. I keep the Multi Surface Cleaner under the sink in the kitchen and spray down the counters, stove, cabinets and the sweet smell of grapefruit lingers nicely.

One last product I bought using the coupon was the laundry soap. It's a pump which is easier to use, no product drip and mess, plus it barely takes up any room on my shelf!

That was my Method preaching to you all! Now go buy some and enjoy!!

Today's Temperature: 73*

If the Shoe Fits

2010-03-10T21:26:00.006-07:00

Ugh I'm exhausted. I couldn't get to sleep until after 1:00 a.m. last night. After work I rushed to bag up the comforter set and headed to the mall. I spent an hour in Bed Bath and Beyond, returned the year old comforter with no problem and found curtains for our bedroom in exchange; it was nice the curtains were on clearance! I also decided to get some new sheets that were also on clearance. I love that place!

I trudged over to JoAnn Fabrics afterward and wondered around trying to remember all the little things I came there for like (forgot my JoAnn coupons) fabric glue, pins, and other things that ended up in my hands that I didn't need. Onward to DSW to see if I could find some better shoes for the wedding. I have tried twice to "break in" the shoes I bought from Macy's and they are just terrible. Who are the people that have feet for these kinds of shoes?! I need a heel, so I can't just do a flip flop. I found some sexy shoes that have a strap around my ankle, now I won't have any shoes slipping off and most important they are light weight and don't hurt my feet! I finished my shopping trip with In and Out Burger! YUM

Today's Temperture 60* and very windy

Cake Ordered

2010-03-09T23:13:00.007-07:00

The cake has been ordered and I'm so excited about the design! It is going to be awesome! Everything is set up to go, now we just need to show up and have a good time! Presents have started coming to our front door. I wish every holiday or occasion was like that :)

My sister has lined up a limo service to pick up our guests at their hotels and take them to the chapel and then to the restaurant. I'm glad she took that over, I was worried about transportation. She is also working on getting us a Cabana for a day! Maybe I should had her be the wedding coordinator!

My parents will be here next weekend and their schedule is busy! We'll have them busy on Saturday, Sunday and Monday. My uncle will have them busy on Tuesday and part of Wednesday. Thursday they will be able to hang out and relax at the house while J and I head up to Vegas.

I guess there is only 1 thing left to set up...a caretaker for Tory. Since none of the hotels accept pets in Vegas and our usual sitter is coming to the wedding, we'll need to see if someone will be able to watch her for a few days. It shouldn't be too hard since she's very well liked by everyone.

Today was another cold, windy rainy day :(

Today's Temperature: 55*

Curtains Galaore

2010-03-08T22:09:00.014-07:00

It's Monday night, what do you do? Watch the Bachelor wedding? Nope I completely forgot about that! Do laundry, yep, did some of that, dishes, yep, watch T.V., did some of that too. One thing I bet you can't guess I did...ironed curtains. Yep, I have ironed 3 out of 7 curtain panels. When we put these up a year ago I just hung them and thought most of the wrinkles would work themselves out over time. Well, they didn't. I've ironed the 4 curtain panels in the upstairs bedrooms over the weekend and I'm not sure if I should do the dining/sitting room. I am going to buy MORE curtains for our bedroom this week so we shall see if the ironing continues! I'll probably finish the living room/kitchen over the next couple of days. The next major thing is to clean the base boards. They sure get dusty! The entire house is lined with them too.

If the rain ever lets up, I'd like to work on the yard that I've neglected. It rained all day on Sunday and although it didn't rain today, it was cloudy and gloomy the whole day. More rain to come tomorrow :( I really hope this rain stops and the sun comes out over the next 2 weeks!

J purchased a suit over the weekend and I picked up a new comforter. The one I bought a year ago has been a real pain. It makes a lot of noise, too heavy, not breathable, has white patches all over after receiving it back from the dry cleaners. I'm packing it up and sending it back to BBB where they will return it to the brand. Luckily I did not wash or use the two sheet sets it came with. I got a great deal on a reversible comforter with bedskirt and two shams from Dillards. Oh, and 100% cotton is the way to go. Don't buy that foreign fabric, shiny looking stuff.

Today's Temperature 58*

Current Wedding Plans

2010-03-02T10:36:00.002-07:00

The next couple of weeks will be extremely busy. I need to up my gym time. I've only been doing Pilates and Yoga once a week and although my body is sore after each workout, I need to get the cardio in. My goal of losing a couple of pounds before the wedding haven't been working out like I wanted. I know that in order to burn fat, cardio is the only answer.

My engagement ring was sent off to be rodium plated along with sizing my wedding band. Once I receive them back this week, the rings are taken care of! J received his wedding band a couple weeks back.

As far as wedding plans, I have the wedding cake left to choose. Our dessert menu includes 2 desserts and a wedding cake! The hotel, chapel, resturant, dress, rings, hair, accessories are complete. J needs to decide on his attire, I need to work on my veil and wear my shoes around to break them in. We submitted our menu selection on Monday. My sister has lined up some things for us too.

My parents are coming down a week before the wedding and they are already making plans with friends that are down here visiting for the winter. We'll have a full house and be on the run for 2 weeks straight. I'm excited for my parents to come down and see what Arizona has to offer them. I'm sure they will enjoy it just as much as I do (as much as they may not want to admit).

J will be traveling to Chicago next week. This is the first work related trip he's been on in 2 years due to budget cutbacks. While he is away, leaving me in this house by myself for the first time, I'll be busy cleaning the house and getting it ready for our guests.

Today's Temperature: 75*

Pittsburgh Willy's Gourmet Hotdogs

2010-02-21T22:12:00.023-07:00

I think I need to change my profile picture. I still haven't posted the pictures of the newly painted house so this picture looks drab now.

Tanning is going very well. I think I'm as tan as I'm going to be. With as many times as I have gone you'd think I'd be really dark. My skin just doesn't hold a tan for long. But on the flip side my dress alterations are complete and either the dress looks really white from the cleaning or I look tan! Haha. Now I don't look so washed out and as white as the dress! I had to hang the dress up in our spare bedroom closet as my first dress keeper is having issues with her cat and the closet it would be kept in. Long story... This means J is not allowed to peak! The dress also stinks; it must be the cleaning product they used. I'd like to air it out, but I don't want wondering eyes to see. I can't believe the wedding is only a month away!! I've made my hair appointment at The Mirage and we have confirmed that the Graceland Wedding Chapel has our name reserved (had to make sure you know, it was over 3 months ago when we booked).

Every week has been busy. Between getting the house cleaned, looking at new houses (possibly moving to a ranch style and renting this house), going to the gym, running errands, tanning, working and all the other things life brings. I enjoy my Pilate's and Yoga class to relax and breath. The Pilate's really works your entire body and the Yoga class isn't called Challenge Yoga for nothing! It's defiantly challenging!

It is also Lenten season which means I've given up something. This year I've decided to save everyones life around me and stick with coffee and give up soda pop. I didn't think it would be too hard since I don't drink a ton of it, but when I eat pizza I have to have a pop! Today I found myself craving a sip of diet Pepsi or Coke, but I didn't give in. Water and I have been getting along really well lately.

Today we tried a new place called Pittsburgh Willy's Gourmet Hotdogs. I had the Wild Willy and J opted for the 3 Legged Chili 'N Cheese and I also had to try their pierogi's. It was all very good! There is just one guy there that takes your order and cooks the food (cook to order). It's inside the antique mall so you can browse while your meal is being prepared or walk it off afterwards.

Trader Joe's and Sprouts

2010-02-15T09:12:00.027-07:00

A couple of weeks ago I dragged J to check out Trader Joe's and Sprouts. Trader Joe's is a organic store and Sprouts is a organic locally-grown supermarket. Since I wanted to lose a couple of pounds before the wedding I wanted to cut down sugar as much as possible. I found organic sugar and sweeteners to help me out. I have not added sugar to coffee in a couple of weeks now! I am a sucker for sweet tea in restaurants though and have had about 3 sweet teas in the past couple weeks...*sigh. Now I just need to cut out sweets and I'll be set! There isn't a Trader Joe's near the house so we trekked up to Mesa to check it out. Upon arriving this place was so busy! Probably didn't help we went on a Saturday :) They have tiny carts for kids to push and boy were there a ton of them! This place is pretty small as J said it reminded him of a small supermarket on the corner in Chicago, a type of place you could buy a little bit of everything-quick one stop shop. The staff was very friendly and knowledgeable as I had to utilize them to show me around and slow down my stimulated brain (meaning the place was so busy and I had no idea where anything was and there is so much stuff in there-anxiety set in). I knew I wanted to get some freshly ground coffee, organic sugar and some high fiber snacks. I grabbed a can of coffee and used their grinders to grind the beans-very convenient! Talked to a couple staff members about organic sugar then found some high fiber-chocolate chip mini cookies and picked up some peanut butter cookies for Tory.

The Blue Agave sweetener is actually sold in most grocery stores here. It is derived from the Agave plant which can be found everywhere here!

Sprouts was larger than TJ's and had a more organized layout. I bought a few items from them as well.

Overall both stores were interesting and fun.

Gold Canyon's Valentine Scent Recipe

2010-02-07T18:29:00.004-07:00

Annual Checklist

2010-01-31T18:15:00.006-07:00

Are you familiar with Linda Cobb, AKA The Queen of Clean? If you're not, buy her books and read up! She tells you how to get rid of anything and everything, from kool aid stains, pet stains, hard water stains, rust, mold etc. Anyway, in her book: A Queen for All Seasons (A year of tips, tricks and picks for a cleaner house and a more organized life). She has a checklist you can use for cleaning your house for the entire year. I've actually created a list in Excel and printed it off to keep handy and check off once complete. Since I can't attach the spreadsheet to the blog, I've posted some of it on here for you to see a sample of. If you want the whole list, comment me and I'll email it to you!

Daily
Make beds
Put dirty clothes in hamper
Hang up clothes
Clean up spills
Wash dishes
Wipe counters and stovetop

Weekly
Sweep floors
Dust hard furniture
Dust knickknacks
Do the laundry
Change sheets
Clean sinks
Clean showers and tubs
Clean the toilet
Clean bathroom mirrors
Empty trash cans, put out garbage (clean can if odors remain)
Sweep porch, patio and doormats

Twice Weekly
Vacuum carpets

Bi Weekly
Vacuum stairs
Dust TV/DVD/stereos, etc.
Mop floors

Monthly, Quarterly, Annually and Twice a Year are left to complete the checklist.

Today's Temperature: 70*

Battleship

2010-01-27T19:47:00.015-07:00

The tanning has been going well. I've burned in a few places and not in others. I'm trying to decide to cover up the burn parts until it evens out with the rest. At least I still have plenty of time to get even coverage.

The past week J and I have busted out some board games. Have you realized how expensive your favorite board games are now? It's $20 for Connect Four nowadays! Occasionally Target or Walmart will put them on sale for $10. J had a few of his own games, so we played Battleship. This was my first time playing Battleship and now I'm hooked! We were at Target this past weekend and Sorry was on sale for $10 since I've played that one before and enjoy it, I decided to buy it to add to the collection. I would still like to buy Trouble, Jenga and Connect Four. I used to play these three games all the time with my mom or brother. It's good to play these games, keeps your mind moving in a different direction, relieves stress, makes you feel like a kid again! I think J wishes he hadn't showed me Battleship as he'd rather play checkers :)

Last week I took my dress to get altered. Bra pads will be added as well as a bustle. I had no idea there were two ways to bustle! I had to have the cute little old lady show me both ways twice before deciding which way to go. It will be ready for pick up on February 17. I just hope the bra pads will be enough for my chest! Since they don't provide any real support or any sort of push. We will be purchasing our wedding bands very soon. I have a great coupon from Helzberg which expires on February 14 that will help for my band. J will be getting his band from Michaels Creative Jewelry. We found Michaels at the Mercedes Benz event we attended. I accidentally tried on one of their 3 carat diamond rings that was prices at $20k. She was a beauty! :) Anyway, J found some wedding bands in their store that he prefers.

Can't wait for the weekend to come!

Today's Temperature: 60*

Coupon Mom

2010-01-24T20:34:00.004-07:00

A quick post about a site for everyone who wants to save money buying grocery's or going to restaurants. Check out Coupon Mom to learn how to save tons of money on items like groceries. Be sure to download the free ebook to learn about couponing and be sure to watch the videos to have a better understanding.

My deal for the day: Target has Tide 32 loads liquid detergent on sale for $5.99. Pair it with the $1.00 off coupon that expires on 1/31 and get it for $4.99. I bought two bottles and used two $1.00 off. Nothing like getting 64 loads for $9.98!! (their regular 1 bottle of 64 loads of detergent is priced at $13.99 in my area)

Go check out Coupon Mom and learn how to coupon and save money!

Rain Storms

2010-01-22T22:21:00.016-07:00

It has been raining here all week. In fact the past two days the rain has been coming down all day long, flooding is happening everywhere. Last night Scottsdale had a tornado watch issued. Nothing happened, but they were treating it as a serious event by telling everyone on the news and t.v. weather interruptions on how to prepare for a tornado. They don't even have sirens here or practice their yearly drills like back in the Midwest. The last time a tornado has hit Arizona was 1983 in Mesa. Water pools up in every low spot, wash, ditch, parks etc. because the ground is so hard it doesn't absorb moisture. It's funny to see and hear everyone freak out about the storms we've had the past couple of days. Strong winds, cold temperatures and lots of rain; this was the biggest storm many people have ever experienced in their life and this was just another day in Nebraska to me. The last biggest storm was in 1994.

Tanning has been going well. I did 8 minutes the first two days and yesterday I did 10 minutes which resulted in some pink/redness. I took today off and will continue tomorrow. Wednesday night I did my free trial at Planet Beach. It included a 20 minute hydro massage, 20 minute full body steam thingy (temps reached 118*), tanning bed for 8 minutes and I opted to not do the luminar facial since it required me buying product for it. I loved the full body steam thing and wouldn't mind going in for that every now and then.

J and I have quit the Fitness Works gym. We have moved onto the Tumbleweed Recreational Park. Fitness Work's was getting to be too dirty and going down hill even though it wasn't too old. I do miss two of the instructors though. I've done the Pilates and Yoga class at Tumbleweed and was really sore after the Pilates class. Since it's city ran, it's kept really clean and orderly.

I also received my new phone this week. I had ordered the LG Lotus for free from Sprint online and it was also free shipping and activation. I've been pretty excited about my new modern phone!

Today's Temperature: 56*

Tanning and Coupons

2010-01-18T18:53:00.017-07:00

Today I signed up for tanning. I wanted to be sure I have a tan for the wedding (coming up quick!). I've checked out a few other places before deciding on Fahrenheit Tanning. They had Monday Madness special of purchase 2 months get 1 month free, with it only be $49/month for the basic bed, it was the best deal I could find anywhere! I will start my official tanning session tomorrow on my way home from work. I was really impressed with the saleslady. She was very nice, professional, knowledgeable and easy to talk to. Last week I had visited Planet Beach down the street and was overstimulated! The 2 girls in there were so wired and very Valley (and they were probably in their 40's-50's). Their prices are way to expensive, but I decided to sign up for a 1 day free trial which includes every bed and facial steamer there. This place is considered a spa, which means a machine does the work. They have a hydro spa bed for massage and facial steamers for their "facials". I'll at least get to try it out and get a free tan! Even though I have no intention of using their services at least I can get a free water massage :)

Friday I came home from work early. J had gotten sick last weekend and has passed it onto me. I pretty much changed into my sweats and laid on the couch the whole day. We rented a movie and J picked up a great deal from Bashas! They had a deal where you get a large pizza, breadsticks, salad and boneless buffalo wings all for the low price of $11.99! It was all very good. We had a few leftover buffalo wings so I decided for supper on Sunday I'd use the remaining salad and wings to make a buffalo chicken salad. It was just as good as ordering one in a restaurant.

We didn't get out a whole lot this weekend mostly due to me being sick, but we managed to rent 3 movies:
Public Enemies- really good
The Goods- not too bad, several funny lines/parts, lots of famous actors
17 Again- I like teen movies, so I found it funny, light and decent

Last week I also scored some great deals at Target clothing clearance. I got a sweatshirt for $1.92, sweater shirt thing for $4.28 and love it 'cause it's soft and stylish, fleece v-neck long sleeved for $2 something, collard short sleeve polo for $2 something and a few short sleeved collard polo's for $8 a piece (not sure why the gray one was for $2-last years?).

I also have been doing well with the couponing these past few days. Used $20 of coupons in WalMart the total was originally $70, the coupons took it down to $50. I did well at Safeway, .99 cent 18 count eggs. BIGI Tyson chicken strips would have been $3.99 for 2, but used my $1 off and got 2 bags for $2.99, they also had Angel Soft 12 pack TP clearanced out to $4 (unfortunately I didn't get a coupon printed off for that one yet, so I didn't save my .50 cents) so I only spent $8.

It is supposed to rain all week long. Record!

Today's Temperature: 60*

Some Updates

2010-01-16T15:29:00.007-07:00

I've added the blogs that I currently follow to my blog roll. I read these daily. Some are for fun and others are for couponing. You can receive a lot of advise for couponing and links to print out coupons. I have learned from these ladies how to save some money on grocery bills. Although these ladies can manage to get tons of items for less than $100.00 I am still trying to figure out how they do it so good. Seems like their grocery ads are way better than my stores here. Hardly do our grocery stores have double/triple coupon days. They also don't discount meat items toward the end of the night. It is addicting though. Once you start couponing and get great deals, you become proud of yourself!

One of my all time favorite stores is Bed Bath and Beyond. Not many people know that you can use one coupon per item. I never go there without a coupon, in fact, this is the only way I was able to afford curtains for the whole house! As you know curtains are outrageous to buy. They also don't have a return policy. You can return your items at any time, so if a year goes by and your item breaks...return it. If you don't have your receipt, you get a store gift card. My sister and mom often mail me BBB coupons ($5 off or 20% off) as they don't go as often as I. When I lived back in my apartment in NE I'd get a coupon in the mail and then scour the trash can next to the mailboxes to pick up the coupons people threw away. That's throwing away a lot of money to me! Now I receive the previous owners coupons :) One last thing, their coupons never expire. I've used coupons from 2007! They also would accept Linens and Things coupons, but now that they aren't in business anymore, there's no need. I always have a nice stockpile of BBB coupons.

The current Gold Canyon promotion is buy a 26 oz. Heritage candle and you could Strike it Gold! Receive a gold coin in your candle and win up to $5,000! By purchasing a 26 oz. you automatically receive free product, free shipping or other free offers. Also, check out the new Soy aromatherapy products.

Today's Current Temperature: 64*

Gold Canyon Candles

2010-01-07T20:52:00.009-07:00

I am now selling Gold Canyon Candles! Since I've only been in Arizona for a year I thought this would be a great opportunity to meet new people and network. I bought my first candle from a lady at work who was doing a fundraiser for her sons football team. I've heard a lot about the candles from coworkers and wanted to check these great candles out! I've tried so many different brands including Partylite and nothing is comparable. Gold Canyon candles are by far the best! Not only do they burn evenly, last hundreds of hours; their scents are superior to any other candle on the market. They offer more than just candles! From their air fresheners, car fresheners, household cleaning products and body products every product is made with excellence.

You may purchase your Gold Canyon products by visiting my website at: www.mygc.com/vickimick. If you have any questions, please use the Contact Me tab.

Thank you for your patronage!

Vicki
demonstrator id: 219289

Need to Lose Weight...again

2010-01-04T21:12:00.009-07:00

J and I have started walking this past weekend. This is my attempt to loose some of this weight gain. I need to start working on my eating/drinking habits though in order to take full advantage of this. For the past month, I have been back on the major coffee drinking every single day. Sometimes 2 cups a day! I don't add creamer to it, but add plenty of sugar. Sugar is what I need to cut out! So, I need to get on the green tea/black tea band wagon again minus sugar and omit pop and see if maybe I can scale back on the coffee. Sugar is your biggest weight gain enemy. I need to start eating fruits and veggies and lay off the starches! I love potatoes and bread, so maybe in just moderation. The weather has been decent enough to walk outside without being too cold. The goal is to walk 3-4 times a week at about 45 minutes to an hour each time. Our gym membership is going to expire very soon, so we will need to weigh our options about that. Should I get a bicycle? The only goal this time is to get rid of my November-December bulge. Just need to have this gone by wedding time, which means I'll have 3 months to shed 7 pounds :)

Happy New Year!

2010-01-03T21:33:00.026-07:00

A new year and a new post! To recap the month of December... J and I saw the Nutcracker for our first time. We saw it at the symphony hall downtown Phoenix and ate beforehand at Mi Amigos. I wasn't sure what to expect from it, but enjoyed it. The same week I had taken the 17th off to prepare for the Christmas party. Did lots of baking and cooking including a pork loin cooked in the slow cooker that turned out great! I made a few of my favorite Christmas desserts which some of them were my first time making them on my own. They turned out great, just like mom would make :) The 19th was the big Christmas party. We had a decent turnout of 17, not including us. The majority were our neighbors. They were really thrilled to have been invited and all got a chance to talk and get to know each other more rather than the usual "hello" and wave exchange. This year I'd like to have a BBQ. I had intended to have an end of summer BBQ, but time got away from us and decided to have the Christmas party instead. The rest of my weekend was pretty mellow. I had also taken off that Monday in which J and I saw The Blind Side and had lunch at McDuffy's. Uncle B decided to throw a Christmas party on Christmas day. He had a good turn out as well, with 20 people. Between all of the food and eating habits this past month I have managed to gain weight back from what I had lost. It's really the only time of the year that I like to eat a lot! We've also rented several movies and saw Couples Retreat and Up in the Air. We saw The Hangover and Four Christmases again. We've registered at Bed Bath and Beyond/Target and I just ordered our invitations. I finally tackled that calendar for my parents and if anyone is thinking of doing that be sure to start early as it is very time consuming. I also quickly threw one in for us to have at our house. We went to The Temple in Mesa to see the light display and drove through Ahwatukee to see all the amazing lights and creative light decorating. Had M and B over for the Holiday Bowl to watch Nebraska kick butt against Arizona(0-34)!! Went to the Insight Bowl game compliments of Tony (again) to see Iowa State win by one point against Minnesota (13-14). I decided to take on selling Gold Canyon Candles. Love these candles! Dishwasher was installed and working wonderfully! New disposal installed courtesy of J :)

Everything I just wrote was not in any particular order, but I wanted to throw it all out there. I'm sure I'm missing a few items.

I'm sure this new year will hold just as many adventures as 2009 had. Many more places to explore, honeymoons to take, vows to exchange, vacations to be had, maybe some house hunting or updating. I can't wait to see what this year will have in store for us!!

Today's temperature *70

Busy Times

2009-12-14T20:21:00.014-07:00

Times have been very busy! Planning a Christmas party, buying Christmas gifts, sending out Christmas cards, making a calendar for my mom (very time consuming), cleaning, decorating, going to the gym to keep sane and then trying to spend regular time on other non-Christmas related things.

This last weekend was a lot of fun! Friday night we relaxed with a nice dinner and a drink at Ruby Tuesday. Hit up Target afterwards where I did my shopping for niece and nephews. They were really busy at 9:00 P.M.! Saturday I managed to do a ton! Finished up the Christmas cards, wrapped up the gifts and sent them all off in the mail. After a trip to the post office we headed over to Lowe's to purchase a Bosch dishwasher. They had a really good sale and we got a great deal on the high end Bosch! It should be arriving this week and J will install a dishwasher for his first time! Saturday night we used our free tickets to the Showstoppers at Casino Arizona in Scottsdale. The impersonators were Elvis, Marilyn Monroe, Reba McEntire, Natalie Cole and the Four Tops. They all sang Christmas songs and the show lasted an hour and half. It was so much fun! I took lots of pictures and took a video of Elvis singing The First Noel. Seeing an Elvis up close made me really excited for our wedding in Las Vegas. It was almost as if it sunk in a little that we were getting married soon and in the Graceland Wedding Chapel! Only 3 months away already!

I've been trying not to spend too much time on the computer at night. I've been getting headaches lately at work and think it could be computer related. I'm trying to lay off the laptop at night and give my eyes and brain a break. It's hard since I spend a lot of time on it every night keeping up on everything.

On a different note, found out today that my brothers baby who is due in May is going to be a girl!

Today's Temperature: 62*

Weekend Recap

2009-12-07T21:12:00.014-07:00

It's been a while since I've been on here. A lot has been going on as our weekends have been busy and full. We are having a Christmas party, need to reserve our hotel for the wedding, need to create and order the invitations, buy presents, send presents and the list goes on and on. December is full and going too fast! The Christmas party is on the 19th and I have taken the 18th off to cook, bake and prepare. We've invited a few neighbors, new Arizona friends and J's family. It should be a decent turnout and a good time, don't have to worry about drinking and driving! The last time I had a party was at my apartment in Papillion and that was a poker party. The decorations are complete including hung mistletoe, the tree is twinkling and the external lights are all hung.

Sunday J and I went to the AMC theater in Awatukee to see Couples Retreat. The movies are $5 before noon and you get free refills on large pops or popcorn. Afterwards we ate a late lunch at Abuelos.

Saturday M and B invited us to lunch to their favorite catfish restaurant in Florence. The rest of the day was spent doing housework then watching the NE football game against Texas. Unfortunately, we lost by 2 points. It bothered me very much, took me a while to settle down and be able to go to bed that night.

The weather has chilled down a lot! The lows are in the 30's and the highs are in the 50;s-60's. Flagstaff is getting pounded with snow today though! We had clouds, rain and strong winds all day today.

So much for nice sunny weather! :(

It's Been A Week!

2009-11-23T17:20:00.010-07:00

I've been MIA for over a week! The Christmas lights are up and boy are they bright! Took 3 days, but the LED is awesome! The inside is mostly decorated, the tree we'll put up this weekend. We've been invited to Mary and Barry's for Thanksgiving this year. She has it all covered, except I'm bringing the rolls, green bean casserole and a dessert.

Here is a site you can listen to full songs. I usually go to Amazon to hear the songs before buying the CD or the song off ITunes, but it only plays a portion. Now I can listen to an entire album all the way through! Check it out Here.

So, I've been reading tons of blogs about couponing and learning all the tricks. When I have a bigger family I'll be all set and should be a master by then! I'll post the sites in Blogroll soon so everyone can check them out. It's nice to get a good deal. It gets pretty exciting when I can get cheese for $.77! Albertsons had Kraft shredded, bar, and singles on sale for $1.77. I used my $1 off coupon to get them for $.77, I also did two transactions so I can have plenty of cheese for a while. Cheese is expensive, so I had to stock up while I could! Same for cream of mushroom and cream of chicken soups. Target had them for $.49 a can, so I used my coupon and got 4 cans for $99!

Last night I made out our Christmas Party invitations. We are going to invite our block of neighbors and our Arizona friends and family. The party is on the 19th, I took the 18th off to do lots of cooking and baking!

That's all for now, until next time!

Today's temperature: 75*

Some Deals

2009-11-15T21:06:00.011-07:00

Looking for some good deals?

Target has Angel Soft toilet paper, 36 double rolls for $15.99. You can pair that with the $1 off coupon for your $14.99 total. I had a $5 gift card so the total for me was $10.99 (already used my $1 off coupon last month). Pay attention when Target offers a $5 gift card on some of their items, they come in handy later on. I got the gift card for buying 2 Vaseline pump lotions, I also had a $1 off coupon for the lotions. They have a few gift card deals going on now. If you buy 2 packages of Chinet plates you will receive the $5 gift card, those plates can come in handy for Thanksgiving or Christmas...

Amazon has Bon Jovi's new CD for $3.99!
Also, Pinks Funhouse for $3.99! I've not downloaded from Amazon before or bought a CD from them, but I might just have to buy Pinks album.

Walgreens has Blistex chapstick on sale for $.99 and you can pair it with the current Blistex coupon for a grand total of only $.49! I'll be hitting that up since that is the kind of chapstick I use daily.

The Rest of our NE Trip

2009-11-14T20:55:00.006-07:00

Saturday we drove to Wymore to spend the day with J's mom. We ate lunch at Runza, stopped at Pamida then hung out around the house. We watched part of the NE game before we hit the road around 8:30.

Sunday we had our much needed sleeping in time then hung out. We went to a late lunch at Keno in Plattsmouth before heading off to the airport.

The trip went fast as usual, but we conquered quite a bit in the time allotted.

Now that we're back home, it's time to start getting ready for Christmas and finalizing these wedding plans!

Part of the NE Trip...

2009-11-10T20:47:00.021-07:00

We are back from our Nebraska trip. It was very successful and fun. With the timezone change, it makes it alot easier to travel to the Midwest. An hour ahead is waaay better than 2 and what a difference just 1 hour makes!

We arrived in Omaha at 10:30, ran to get our rental car (PT Cruiser) then made our way downtown Plattsmouth to meet some friends at the Waterhole to get our drink on! This was J's first time drinking in PTown, I've yet to drink in his hometown. All was good, we just ordered our 3rd drink at midnight and had to be booted out due to a bomb threat. Some ass decided to call the bar and issue a bomb threat! So we packed up and headed down a few stores to the next bar to finish the last hour. Rusty's was recently remolded and didn't look like as much as a dump as it used to! They even added self serve popcorn and peanuts! Of course the police and firemen were checking out the bomb scare, but they didn't stay long. We found out on Saturday that it was some random guy who just called it in. The guy is dumb because the bar has caller ID and all he did was pick up the phone and dial, so needless to say, he was traced within minutes, LOL. At least he made our night more interesting and something to talk about and remember!

Friday was a busy day! We hung out with my family that morning. At noon, me, J and my mom headed out to do some minor shopping. I went to Peels to get my must needed products, well, actually I love this one product and it is like crack to me! It felt so good to get home and start using it again! I know I'm a freak, but you find something you love and can only get it at one place and have only one chance to get it especially since the last time you were there it was all sold out, you become pretty excited to see it in stock! We then headed to Husker Hound and made a few purchases. Back in town we picked the nephews up from school and spent some time with them. We had to get ready for the Friday night wedding. The church was on the Creighton campus and it was beautiful! The reception was held as the DC Center. Afterwards we met up at Ameristar to see Lemon Fresh Day and friends. Always a good time at Amerisports!

To be continued...

Halloween and Things

2009-11-01T19:46:00.022-07:00

Halloween has come and gone. I put all the decorations away on Sunday. Now the house is all clear for LED lights! We had 44 trick or treaters. The costume trends were pirates and ninjas. We only had one without a costume and 1 adult dressed up as a Rock 'N' Roll Dad, complete with long black curly wig, hat, and his real tattoos; reminded me of Slash. He also had his own bag to catch treats in, that mooch!

The temperatures have finally risen back up. Last Wednesday was only in the 50's! Can you imagine going from 90's one day to 50's the next?! At least it came back up to the 90's, I'm not ready for the coolness.

Saturday I found some more nifty items from Goodwill. (we went to the NE football game Saturday morning at the bar, which is next to a Goodwill) I found a few more Fourth of July items and a set of Christmas spreaders. A few more Southwestern items as well. The spreaders will come in handy for a Christmas party we're planning on having.

We've notice a trend lately. Restaurant-bars are having all day happy hours on Sundays. It makes it a good deal to eat out for half price and still be able to have a good time. We figure if we're going to eat out once a week, we may as well do it on Sunday and get if half off! Unless we have a coupon for another restaurant, which usually consist of buy one entree get one free. We use those all of the time!

Lately we have been doing the wedding planning. Looking for hotels and restaurants. Too many to choose from which makes for a lot of Internet-researching time. It can be frustrating!

And lastly, we're headed back to NE this weekend for a wedding and quick family time.

Yum

2009-10-30T16:51:00.000-07:00

Mmmm, spice cake mix + cream cheese frosting= great tasting cupcakes to put you in the mood for Halloween and fall!!

I Love This Bar

2009-10-26T19:34:00.001-07:00

Friday night J and I met some of my work friends at Toby Keith's I Love this Bar & Grill. J and I attempted to eat here back when his family was visiting and there was an hour wait to eat at 8:30 that night (that was right after it opened). This time we arrived at 8 and got right in for a table of 6. J and I decided to share the BBQ pulled pork sandwich with fries. The rest of the gang were late, so we gave up our table after waiting for an hour and took seats up at the 85 foot guitar-shaped bar where we stayed the remainder of the night. A country band came on at 9:00 and the place started to get packed. They have a couple VIP rooms, a mechanical bull and a dance floor with stage. Most everyone was holding their 32 oz. mason jars of beer! The only thing I didn't like was mixed drinks were sold in plastic cups, I don't get why some bars do that. The music was good, the people were fun and we stayed until 1:00 a.m.! J and I want to go back just to eat sometime. They have a good menu with average prices. There were a lot of big parties and of course several birthdays happening, since they announce the birthdays Texas Roadhouse style (which annoys me). At 12:30ish a special guest arrived...John Michael Montgomery! That was pretty sweet!

Outside Projects

2009-10-25T09:30:00.000-07:00

Instead of finding a ladder at a garage sale, J found a great deal on a 10 foot ladder at Ace Hardware. Less than $100 for it! Now he can hang Christmas lights with ease. Here's a picture of him trimming the Mesquite tree with it:

J also took down the basketball hoop. The previous owners bought a mobile hoop and sunk the base in the ground. The hard part was digging that out. The base was full of water. Here are some pictures of this job:

Choggs

2009-10-24T17:00:00.002-07:00

Wednesday night we went to the Arizona State Fair. If you bring a bottle of water or a new pair of adult socks the admission is free (on Wednesday only). What a deal! We saw the Budweiser Clydesdale's and checked out the exhibits. Among all of the food vendors this is where J and I had our first chogg! A chogg is a cheesy corn dog and it's pretty tasty! J bought tickets to see Lady Antebellum which started at 7. The concert was great! Afterwards we shared a funnel cake and watched a hypnotist. The weather was perfect to spend the night outside!

Saturday's Garage Sale Finds

2009-10-19T18:53:00.003-07:00

Buy toilet paper or go to garage sales? Garage sales it is! I managed to get J to go with me this Saturday morning. We are on the look out for tools such as an extension ladder, rake and I'm still on the look out for a couple side tables and as always, holiday decorations. If I had kids, today I would have made out like a bandit! Every sale we saw had tons of baby and kids items.

Here is what we picked up today:

Large pumpkin $2

Three strings of Christmas lights, $1 a piece (they work!) and a heavy duty staple gun, $3 to put up all of the Christmas lights!

This is what I picked up 3 weeks ago from another sale, total $4 for 2 ceramic pumpkins

Hong Kong Bistro

2009-10-17T21:15:00.012-07:00

Last night we tried out a new restaurant. Every time we drive by this place J makes a comment on how much he wants to eat there. It's in Chandler off of Gilbert Road called Hong Kong Bistro and it was great! We had pot stickers for the first time as an appetizer, which were free with our coupon. They substituted the soup for crab puffs (crab ragoon) for me and egg roll for J. We've been to 4 Chinese places here and this is the first one that would substitute. I won't eat the soup or egg roll so I'd rather sub it for crab puffs, which no one ever allows, which I don't understand. We had great service and plan on going back soon! We got a lot of food for less than $10 a plate.

Does anyone watch that show Say Yes to the Dress on TLC? I'm addicted to it!

The Chicago Trip

2009-10-17T15:13:00.018-07:00

Our Chicago trip went well. The bitter coldness, wind and constant dreary-cloud covering made it kind of depressing. When you're used to seeing nothing but blue sky's and sun or have the ability to walk outside without shoes, sweatshirts, coats and jeans, it makes you appreciate your home. I'm used to walking around in tanks, shorts and flip flops! We spent a lot of time with my sister's kids, ages 6, 2 1/2 and 8 weeks. We met J's friend on Sunday afternoon for lunch. We took the kids to the Halloween store where they had a blast! We ate out several times including Panera Bread! Twice! It tasted so good! I even took over the baby at night so my sister could get some rest. We had a good time with the kids and hope to see them in March for the nuptials.

I managed to snap a pretty picture of what fall looks like, something we won't really see much of here.

Today's Temperature: 98*

Goodbye, Farewell

2009-10-09T22:44:00.007-07:00

Well I'm winding down to bedtime. I'm all packed for our trip to Chicago to see my sister and kids. Tory has been dropped off at Uncle B's and J is finishing packing. I can pack in about 20 minutes, J on the other hand, takes a while, a while like at least an hour. I find it hard to pack for cold weather since my wardrobe consists of tank tops, shorts and flip flops. My long sleeved clothes are old, faded and I haven't worn in a year. You know what they say, if you haven't worn it with in the year, get rid of it. I think I should do that :)

When I come back, I need to post some pictures that I've been promising.

Something I've been craving is Panera. There aren't any Panera's in Arizona and I miss their white chocolate mocha's and broccoli cheese soup! I'm hoping to find one in the area in Chicago. Oh, and of course I miss the cinnamon crunch bagels!

Good Grocery Store Finds

2009-10-06T20:47:00.010-07:00

Albertsons had 1 lb. packs of strawberries for a $1, Swiss Miss hot chocolate for .88, Sara Lee bread for $1.37, Simply Orange $1.99!! I couldn't believe how good of a deal these were! I bought 3 packs of strawberries last Friday and made strawberry shortcake for the United Way trivia night at work. That was a hit! 2 loafs of bread, went straight into the freezer. Today I decided to go back for more strawberries and Simply Orange, but they were out of orange juice, so I opted for more bread and strawberries. The strawberries will be cut up and I'm going to make another strawberry pie and use them for smoothies. When you run across good deals like this, stock up!

I forgot to mention I had my very first dental appointment in Arizona last week. It was rather long at an hour and 45 minutes, but they did a very thorough job. Well, I had to go back today for a cavity fill. I didn't even know I had one, but it showed up on one of the 18 x-rays they took! Yep, 18 x-rays. I've never had so many pictures of my mouth before. They used the pen to take digital pictures too. I've already set my appointment for my 6 month checkup. I need to get back on the 6 month program.

This week is countdown to Chicago. We're leaving Saturday morning and won't return until Wednesday night.

Yesterday after work I stopped at Tropical Smoothie Cafe for their happy hour special. Buy one get one free. It's a really good deal to get a free smoothie from them. I opted for dessert this time in which I haven't had yet. I went with the peanut butter cup smoothie. Boy was it tasty! It tasted smooth like it was ice cream and chocolate, you wouldn't even know that it was ice. I'm normally a blimey limey person, but this one hit the spot. I recommend that when you're having a bad day, make it Tropical Smoothie Day! That's what I do :)

Today's temperature: 84*

October Already...?!!

2009-10-04T20:16:00.019-07:00

Well another week and month down. I can't believe it's October already! My Halloween decorations are up and the house is freshly painted! The paint job looks great, I'll post before and after pictures later.

Tuesday night we tried out a new restaurant. We ate at Native New Yorker off of Gilbert road. This place just opened about a month ago and every time we drive by it's packed. Tuesday night is 40 cent wings. I only opted for 6 wings, 3 honey BBQ and 3 garlic parmesan and tried out their pepperoni pizza. The pizza was really thin and greasy, but it was OK. Their wings were crisp, crunchy and had a good amount of sauce. They were really tasty. Afterwards we checked out the new Shoe Carnival and JCPenny which is next to Native.

Friday was a big day because J reserved the chapel for the wedding. The date is now official! March 27 will come quick I'm sure :)

Today's temperature: 91*

Happy Anniversary!

2009-09-30T21:47:00.003-07:00

Today marks 1 year since we've moved to Arizona. On this day last year we were moving our things into the house, unpacking, eating McDonald's for lunch, buying and moving the refrigerator in and we at Jack in the Box at 9:00 p.m. that night, our first time eating at a Jack in the Box!

We sure have come a long way over this past year! The year sure flew by! Time flies when you're having fun :)

More Arizona years to come and onto the next chapters of our lives :)

Random Life Events

2009-09-23T21:12:00.009-07:00

Wow! The temperature has cooled down nicely! It's been in the 90's and the nights have been perfect! I think it's time to throw an end-of summer BBQ and invite the neighbors over.

In 2 more weeks we'll be heading to Chicago to see my sister and new nephew. I haven't seen them in over a year!

My Yoga classes have been going well also. I've been doing it all summer and generally do it twice a week. It sure helps me relax from crappy work and makes my body feel much better.

We're in the process of getting our house painted. One of our neighbors has a painting business and he proposed an offer too good to pass up. Times are tough so you can get some really good deals right now.

I think this weekend I'll be bringing out my Halloween decorations. It's time to get the house spooky! We had a decent turn out last year and with very little decorations, the kids screamed and got scared. Just wait until they see the floating ghost swinging between trees!

Accidentally on Purpose

2009-09-21T20:22:00.025-07:00

My new drink to order at a restaurant is an Arnold Palmer. It consists of half lemonade and half iced tea. I had my first one at Gordon Beirsch a couple weeks ago. I assumed theirs must be a specialty since they list it on their menu. I had 2 big glasses and took 1 to go! Awesome stuff!! In case you don't know, it was named after the professional golfer, Arnold Palmer.

Saturday night we were invited to a neighbors b-day bash. It came complete with a huge spread of food, like ribs, brisket, hot dogs, corn on the cob,cake and a DJ! We had a good time and met a lot of different interesting people. One guy even used his teeth to take off metal beer caps!! He said it's easier, LOL. The DJ was shut down early due to the cops being called.

Yesterday's steal of the day was from Anne Taylor Loft. I bought a white, dressy-ish, casualish shirt for only $4.88! I also bought a couple shirts for $10.00 a piece. It's a great time to buy short sleeved shirts, tanks and dresses since all of the fall sweaters are moving in. It's weird to see sweaters out while it's over a 100* here.

Tonight was a great night for new shows on TV. How I Met your Mother, new show starring Jenna Elfman called Accidentally on Purpose, Two and a Half Men and The Big Bang Theory. I really enjoyed Jenna's new show. I love her and it's great to see her back on TV!

Today's temperature, 107*

Goodwill Finds

2009-09-19T11:08:00.025-07:00

I've decided to jazz up my page a bit and added a background. Today is NE game day, at least this weekend it's showed on regular TV so no need to go to a bar and be there 2 hours early to get a seat! Last Saturday was Goodwill's 50% off everything sale and I found some great finds! I had went a couple days beforehand to scope out what was there so all I needed to do was grab and go. I knew I wanted to be right when they opened the store at 9, which worked out perfect since the bar opened at 9 so we could get a seat for the NE game. Jason got a table for the game and I went next door to go shopping. I have been on the lookout for Southwestern art and decor and holiday decorations. I only spent $28.00 total! I found 3 southwestern pictures and plenty of holiday decor. Here are some pictures:

(I have issues with putting pictures on here, if someone knows how I can put them up across the page like I see other bloggers, let me know. All I can do is get them going down the page, which I don't like. I've spent a lot of time in the edit Html tab-is this normal?)

Labor Day Weekend

2009-09-10T17:08:00.023-07:00

Once again, not in the writing mood. But it's September 10th now and a lot has been going on. I'll start with last Friday. Friday I took Jason out for his Saturday birthday dinner. He chose Texas Roadhouse, which is always a great place to go, not to mention, my favorite restaurant. Before we went, I let him open 1 of his gifts. He's very eager about opening gifts and if it was his choice he'd want a gift for everyday for at least a week working up to his birthday. He had a steak and I had the ribs.

Saturday was Game Day and Jason's birthday. An honor for Jason since his favorite thing in the world landed on his birthday. I had ordered a chocolate cake with chocolate frosting from Basha's grocery store and picked it up that morning. He opened the rest of his presents and we broke into the cake. Then it was time to get ready for the game. We left at 2 for the 4:00 kickoff. We thought getting to Skip and Jan's an hour and half early that there would be plenty of seats. We found the last two chairs with a guy who was there by himself. It was nice to met a new NE fan, someone who I'm sure will be our football watching friend now. He just might be more obsessed with NE football than Jason. After the game ended we ate Mexican food at Si Senor.

We had it planned to visit Tombstone on Sunday. We left the house around 8 and arrived there at 10:30. It took us the full 2 and half hours to get there and we had to go through some rainy spots on the way. We were hoping it wasn't raining in Tombstone because you spend the whole time outside. It was forecasted to get rain the entire weekend. When we saddled up in Tombstone, it was chilly and cloudy. I had a sweater on along with my tank top, shorts and flip flops! The temps were in the 70's. We found ourselves in the old Oriental Saloon and a new friend named Sue. She gave us some history about the Saloon and the famous bar and bartender from the old west times. She then asked if I wanted a coffee, so we walked up to the general store to get "the best coffee in town". At 89 cents a cup, she even bought it for me. We chatted a bit while she poured 3 coffees for her work friends. I helped carry coffee back down to the Saloon and we chatted more. She was my new Tombstone friend! We decided to make our way on to the attractions and by noon, the sun was out, my sweater was off and the town was very busy! We ate at the Crystal Palace for lunch, went to the OK Corral gun fight show, the Boothill cemetery and checked out many little shops. It is defiantly a place you can spend a whole day as we didn't leave until after 4:00.

It was nice to have Monday off to just have a day to do nothing and that is pretty much what I did.

This Past Weekend

2009-09-01T20:22:00.029-07:00

Happy September 1st! I can't believe August is over, summer is over, well, most of the summer for me anyway. Since summer seems like it lasts until November, then fall comes in December-January; that's when I notice the trees and plants change color. I've been slacking in the blogging department lately. Lots to write about!

Last Saturday, temperature 114*, I took Mary to Scottsdale. She had never been and I wanted to check out some consignments stores and was looking for shoes for wedding day. We started out downtown poked around lots of little stores, southwestern stores mostly. Up a few blocks to 5th avenue, I found the consignment store called Back to the Rack. I was also in need of a new purse. I spent about 10 minutes deciding between two, appeared to have never been used, leather, in great shape, Gucci purses. At less than $100.00 I bought a Gucci, black, medium sized, leather purse with separate compartments. It had the cell phone and key pocket, which is a must for my purse requirements. We ate lunch at a quaint Mexican restaurant called Frank and Lupe's Old Mexican restaurant. The place is so small, it has about 15 tables total, but the food is excellent. We continued on for more shopping at the Biltmore Fashion Park. It's right outside of Scottsdale, classified as Phoenix. I found my shoes at the Macy's there! It was time to wrap up our day and there is no better way to end a day of hard shopping like stopping at the Sugar Bowl for ice cream! We bellied up to the bar, Mary ordered the Tin Roof Sundae and I opted for the Desireme Banana Split. Holy Cow! This was awesome!! We have decided that anytime we come to Scottsdale, the day needs to end at the Sugar Bowl. J was golfing all day in Queen Creek so I decided to bring home a couple slices of homemade apple pie (one for me later) for his snack.

Saturday night we hung out at home and I rented 'Then She Found Me' with Helen Hunt, a so-so movie, not a big deal to see. Friday night we rented 'Valkyrie', a must watch!

Sunday I had a few things I needed to finish shopping for. I stopped at TJ Maxx and bought a pair of black, Bandolino peep-toe dress shoes for only $10.00! That wasn't on m list, but was a nice find ;)

I'm still enjoying my current read!

Today's temperature 107*

Friday's Grilled Steak... and other things

2009-08-26T20:39:00.018-07:00

Last Friday J and I were invited to P and S's house for supper. If you remember I went to their house for the Wei of Chocolate party a few weeks back. When we arrived P was in the kitchen playing chef. As he was cooking, we were snacking on cheese and crackers he had already sliced up. He cooked up a top quality meal! We had steaks from the grill, cooked perfectly, fries which he cut and fried himself, snow peas with some oil and sesame seeds and all kinds of other flavorful seasonings and a tomato salad. I was worried about the salad because I don't like tomato's. The salad consisted of sliced tomato's with gobs of red onions and blue cheese crumbles on top, then you add olive oil and vinegar on top. It was SO good and refreshing! I didn't taste the tomato at all! The snow peas were so good too, and I can't remember if I've even had snow peas before, maybe in Chinese food? After supper we watched the movie Taken. The movie was all action packed and predictable, but it was so action packed that it didn't seem like a very long movie. During our movie P put in a dessert. Nothing like watching a movie eating dessert, a warm crisp cookie dough topped off with ice cream. He had to tell me how me made it because I can see myself craving it often!

The entire time we were at their house there was a big monsoon, so big that on our way home we saw many branches all over the streets. So big that it actually cut power out in some parts of town, it certainly made the news the next day! The plants here don't have long root systems so they easily fall down with very little wind. We hope someday it would get so windy that it would blow our mesquite tree down out front. That tree is a big pain in the ass! It never stops growing and has to be trimmed back at least twice a year, but it has to be trimmed so it's not top heavy, if it's top heavy then it will likely fall over from the wind. J decided to tackle the tree trimming for the first time yesterday. It's such a big job!

I started reading a book called The Chocolate Lovers Club by Carole Matthews. So far it's a great read!

Today's temperature high: 103

Scottsdale

2009-08-23T17:36:00.040-07:00

Saturday morning I awoke around 7:15 and sat outside to read my Phoenix magazine with a cup of coffee. It was 80 degrees out and beautiful! It was such a nice cool down, even though the humidity was up to 80 as well. I haven't been able to sit outside in the morning like that since the Spring! I think I relaxed out there for a good couple of hours when J finally woke up and joined me. We chatted about how I was thinking it would be a good day to check out the Scottsdale Fashion Square. We hadn't been to Scottsdale yet to check it out and I wanted to see what all the buzz was about. We drove around downtown Scottsdale to check it out the have lots of quaint stores, restaurants, and art galleries. We didn't get out to walk around, but I'll probably head back soon. We continued onto the mall. The first thing we did was eat at the Yard House. They have the worlds largest selection of draft beer which was a big draw for J. I ordered the summer salad which had strawberries, oranges, blue cheese crumbles, and avocado with a spicy vinaigrette dressing and J went with the spicy Thai pizza. The food was excellent and came out very fast. Another great restaurant to add to our list!

The mall is extremely large indeed, but it is just a plain ol' mall. Sure there was a Crate and Barrel, Neiman Marcus, Jimmy Choo, Kate Spade, Coach and all those fancy stores, but I don't shop those stores so they aren't necessary for me. I love my San Tan Shopping mall just 15 minutes away! It has everything I need and then some! I guess this mall is the IT mall in Scottsdale, the place where celebrities and wealthy people go to shop, but it's just a plain mall to me nothing special. I didn't really notice the Plastics that Scottsdale is known for though. Maybe I should have sat down to do some people watching. The chick at Jimmy Choo gave me a once over look top to bottom, which annoyed me. I guess my Old Navy flip flops weren't a hit with her ;) My only purchase I made at the mall was from Bath and Body Works. If you love the air refreshers refills then they had a 6 pack for $24.00, another steal for me since the two pack refills cost $12 regularly. After the mall, we drove through Paradise Valley, which has million dollar houses, I'm sure there are plenty of celebs living amongst.

The drive continued to Fountain Hills. Fountain Hills is a small town, population about 26,000. I would love to live there because it has everything you need for a small town, plus it has great views of the city below and mountains, but isn't too far away from the Phoenix airport. This town hosts the worlds fourth tallest fountain! That was my Scottsdale trip in a nutshell :)

2009-08-23T16:53:00.031-07:00

I read a lot of blogs on here in which ladies furnish or accessorize their house only by finding good quality items at inexpensive prices from garage sales, Goodwill, or regular stores. Being frugal is something I'd like to think I am. I only buy if it's on sale (has to be a real-well worth it sale) or if I have a good coupon. An example of a recent great deal was my wedding dress from David's Bridal, a steal for a brand new dress at $99.00. I also purchased 2 tanks tops from A'gaci for $2.99 a piece, that is under $5 with tax! Those tanks are perfect for my Yoga class!

I've stopped at a few garage sales in the past month and have only found a couple good finds. I'm actually on the look out for southwestern art and accessories and two side tables. Now I know I'm not pregnant, but I hope to be someday in the future so when you find $20 books marked down to $1, that's a steal! Another week I found a small chili pepper dish for only .50 cents. Would you believe that I found a vail for my wedding dress at JoAnn fabrics for only $10! I'm going to jazz it up with some white ribbon around the edge, only $1.99 for a spool of ribbon. I'll be posting more of my frugal finds soon!

Dress Has Been Boughten

2009-08-18T20:26:00.026-07:00

....and NO I haven't set a date. That is the #1 question everyone is asking. There are many things to think about when it comes to selecting a date, plus I don't like to plan that far in advance. I can tell you I've narrowed it down to sometime between January and April in 2010.

Over the weekend I decided to take a gander online David's Bridal. They had a sale that just started on the 14th. I looked through 15 pages of the sale dresses and created an account so that I could save some as my favorite. I saved 4 on Saturday then logged back in on Sunday to see if I missed anything. I added 3 more that I decided I wanted to look at.

I asked M if she wanted to go with me. She's an older lady who's never had children so she was trilled and tickled to death. She cancelled her appointment of donating plasma to join me on my dress quest. We went right after work on Monday and I had my print-out pictures of the dresses. After someone finally came to ask me if I needed help; I had a deer in headlights looks I'm sure, I was introduced to a lady who I gave her my instructions to. I stated I wanted to see 3 dresses and the rest I know I wanted to try on and that I'd either be leaving with or without a dress that day. She laughed and asked if the wedding was very soon. She was very nice and understood what I expected. It was time to get down to business. She advised me to pick out some shoes so that we can have an idea of dress length. When I was finished with finding my shoe size, she had all the dresses pulled and ready for me to start trying. It was interesting trying these on. All of these dresses have been tried on so many times and had broken hooks, buttons and makeup all over them. I can say that lace looks a lot different from far away or on a picture than up close. I found one that I thought wasn't too bad, but I really wanted to try on the steal of the day! It was the 2nd to last dress I tried on and it fit perfectly! I don't think many women could say they need no alterations. The dress fit perfect and it was the last one! For a mere $99.00!!! I'm all about sales! I will get a bra sewn in since you can kinda see the strapless in a couple of places. I'll need to bring it back in 6 weeks prior to wedding day for them to clean and press and add the bra. Right now my classy-elegant dress is sitting in a garment bag in M's closet. I've decided to keep at least one thing traditional and that is the dress. For that price I wouldn't have even been able to buy a white prom dress, so I might as well go for the real deal :)

Sunday J and I took my ring to Helzberg to get sized and to look at wedding bands. My band is already selected, but J had his narrowed down to 4. Afterwards I spotted a beautiful diamond necklace and matching earrings on clearance and thought they would be great jewelry for wedding day and for lifetime. I purchased the necklace and put the earrings on layaway. The necklace is a total 1/2 carat and the earrings are a total 1/2 carat. It is all going to look stellar when pulled together!

It's funny to hear the lady at DB call me a bride. I didn't think of myself as a bride and it didn't really hit me until she said that. Last week I realized that J is my finance and that's what I will be calling him at this time. It's weird to say and hear those words! It that just me?! I didn't waste any time at the dress store. I had my camera with me, but totally forgot to pull it out. So that I could remember that day. Some of the dresses I tried on overly exposed my chest and all M could do was laugh at me! It would have been funny to capture those moments. I had a nice experience at DB, although I've never intended to buy from them, but if you find a deal you roll with it no matter where it is. Most women take days, weeks, months to find the right dress and maybe sometimes it takes people to find the right dress, but for me, I did my homework, kinda had something in mind already and just tried on what I thought would work within a price limit. If you don't set a price limit you can easily fall in love with a very expensive-one day-dress.

Humid

2009-08-13T20:35:00.015-07:00

Some of the interesting things about moving to another state is you get to experience the weather for the first time, all year through. This time of year is considered monsoon season, which means the dewpoint has to be above 55 degrees usually for 3 days before it rains. I can definitely tell when it's humid out now. It's not anywhere near as bad as Nebraska/Iowa, but there is a difference. My biggest tell all is my hair is a little frizzy and my skin is oilier. The air is also heavy. Generally monsoon season starts the first week in July and last through mid September. The lightning here is crazy! Most of the nights when I'm driving home from the gym I can see lightning in the distance. I'm not sure if this is a heat lightning or if there is actually a storm somewhere south. I've never seen so much lightning before moving here. I think I am now able to predict a "monsoon" or a drizzle of rain. The summer heat hasn't been bad at all. Not nearly what other people say or think. 110 is not a big deal. Over 110 is hot though. 70 is getting chilly and 80's-90's are perfect! I have a feeling this winter is going to be a tough one for me. I foresee many jacket and jeans wearing.

The Trip...scroll down

2009-08-11T19:04:00.003-07:00

I started writing about our San Diego trip, but apparently Blogger doesn't post it as a recent post. You'll need to scroll down for the San Diego report.

Chocolate Party...With Wine

2009-08-09T19:41:00.016-07:00

Thursday our realtor's wife, Sheila hosted a girls night out for a Wei of Chocolate party. She was kind to invite me to meet her friends. I wasn't sure what to expect from this party since I've never heard of this type of chocolate, I just heard the word "chocolate" and decided to go check it out. Sheila had a nice spread of fruits, cheeses, dips and lots of wine. 2 glasses and some mingling later, we started our chocolate party. It was actually two parties in one, one for flower essences (Lotus Wei) and one for chocolate infused with flower essence. These two ladies have been long time friends and are now business partners. They sell their products world wide from hotels, to spas, to boutiques. It didn't dawn on me how important these women were until I read up on them online. They've traveled the world and have started their own business in which is booming and thriving world wide! We got to smell all kinds of flower essence sprays and ate flower essence infused chocolate. Each is a remedy for what you're in need of. If you're in need of dissolving stress then Inner Peace would be your chocolate of remedy. Going to that party made me realize how much of a laid back person I really am. All those women were all high strung, bad energy, ball of messes. Needless to say, they were buying up the essences and the chocolate while I heading home to a good night's rest in my comfy bed...essence free.

Engaged!

2009-08-08T16:23:00.003-07:00

I'm excited to annouce J and I are engaged. Last Saturday about noonish J dropped to his knee and asked if I'd marry him. We were in San Diego, on the beach on Coronado Island. What a cool place! We are thinking marrying on a beach somewhere or there is always the option of Las Vegas!

San Diego Trip

2009-08-05T21:01:00.032-07:00

Friday at 2:30 I rushed from work to get home to jump in the car and head to California. Many border patrol stops later we arrived for the night. We decided to drive part of the way and stay in a less expensive hotel for Friday night. We stayed in El Centro California. The hotel was very nice! It was newer and there were tons of shopping around. I had researched a place for us to eat and it was only across from the hotel. A place called Burgers and Beer had good reviews. Naturally we ordered burgers and yes, they were awesome!

We woke Saturday morning to have a great breakfast at the hotel then headed out around 9:30. A couple hours later and we were in San Diego and headed for Coronado Island. We arrived at the Island about 11:30ish, parked a block from the beach and went down to see the ocean. We started to make our way up to the shops and restaurants in the downtown area when J dropped to his knee and asked me to marry him. Some pictures and phone calls later, we finally headed to the downtown area. We walked a little bit, but I was eager to be on the beach instead. We headed back to the beach and stayed a couple hours. Around 2:30 we headed to our hotel for the weekend. We stayed near the airport, next to the San Diego Bay. This was another great hotel! Nice views, good location, privacy and quietness, just what we were looking for. We settled in and relaxed a bit before heading over to Oggi's for pizza. We just had to walk across the parking lot to this good pizza joint!

Sunday we drove to Ocean Beach and walked the bridge out over the Pacific Ocean. The bridge was pretty cool because you are walking over the ocean and looking back at the beach. There is also a cafe on it. It was cloudy so not much sun was peeking through. We walked down the beach to check out the dog beach. San Diego has several designated beaches for dogs. It was amusing to watch the dogs, they love the beach and water! Ocean Beach was definitely a busy beach with lots of good people watching. There seemed to be a lot of hippies and locals occupying this beach. We thought we'd head up to check out Mission Beach and grab some lunch there. We couldn't find parking anywhere, after spending nearly an hour looking for parking and dealing with people and traffic we decided to forget it. We were wasting precious time we could be spending somewhere else near water. We headed back towards our hotel and grabbed lunch near the marina on the San Diego Bay. Sitting outside watching the boats enjoying the weather for our lunch was just fantastic! We hung out at the marina a bit and enjoyed the city views and people watching.

Sunday night we went to the Gaslamp area of downtown. There are tons of restaurants and bars to choose from. A lot of Italian restaurants, fancy mostly. We stopped for a drink at The Whiskey Girl then searched for a place to eat. After all of our eating choices we went with Nicky Rotten's. J ordered the pizza and I opted for the chicken parmesan with spaghetti. It was great! The homeless folks were out and about. I've never seen so many homeless people before. I guess if you're going to be homeless, San Diego is the place to do it.

All good things must come to an end. Sunday at noon we were out the hotel and back on the road. This trip was filled with many first for me and lots of good laughs, experience and adventures and a time I'll never forget.

Valley Fever

2009-07-29T21:19:00.010-07:00

Have you heard of Valley Fever? I just learned about this a few days ago. Check out that link. I heard about it at the vet clinic when I was picking up Tory's diet food. A lady was telling a story how her dog has Valley Fever and she was talking like it wasn't a big deal. I would think it would be a big deal especially with pets. I just hope I don't acquire this fever!

After work I stopped at Fry's and bought a gallon of milk and a dozen eggs for a total of $1.88! Fry's has some really good sales, not to mention that is my grocery store of choice.

The Yoga classes have been going well. I'm surprised how sore I get the next day. I've been going every Tuesday and Wednesday and the class lasts an hour. I have definitely lost weight as my pants have been a clear indication. That make me a couple pounds away from my goal weight!