Where has this month gone?!

Well, it's already February 18th. Which means, thanks to it being February, there are only 10 days left in the month. Sheesh. I can't believe we're almost into March...but I can't wait for March. It's our one-year anniversary, J's birthday and my birthday in March. :)

I haven't been feeling great the past few days...actually, I felt absolutely horrendous yesterday and Monday. It was weird...but luckily, I'm feeling much better and just about back to my normal self. I figured my eating habits were getting the best of me, so I've made a really strong effort to eat healthier and drink more water. I trick myself into drinking more water by pouring my bottles of water into an actual water bottle and drinking from that. I drank nearly 1 1/2 bottles of water [16.9oz bottles] at work today that way. Weird, but it works! I can already feel the difference and see a difference in my skin, which is great.

This past weekend was Valentine's Day. I'm really not a big fan of it, but it's always a nice holiday when you have someone special to share it with. J and I were supposed to go to Red Lobster for lunch on Sunday, but I felt like trash that day, so we didn't go. I hope we get to go this weekend and have our own celebration. He did, however, get me these:

Aren't they beautiful?! I really wanted flowers this year, but I didn't want red roses - and J caught onto that! The card he gave me was so super sweet...I started crying while reading it. I'm not sure if I was crying because what was inside was sweet or because the outside said "To my Wife." Even after almost 11 months, I'm still having a hard time believing I'm his wife.

Anyway. Our Valentine's Day - because I was sick - was pretty low-key. I spent the day on the couch; he spent the day with JJ. In the end, it all worked out. We also had Orange Tree for the first time, which was pretty tasty. I won't count it as one of my restaurants since I only had yogurt there, but it was definitely worth it. I'll go back when I'm feeling better. :) I slept the afternoon away since I felt trashy, then we watched the NBA All-Star game [which ended up being really good] and cuddled the night away. It was a nice, sweet Valentine's Day - our first as Mr. and Mrs.

I haven't made much progress on the list because...well, various reasons that all sound like excuses. But I've decided that I'm doing Project 365 starting on our one-year anniversary and going to our two-year anniversary. That year will capture when H leaves for the AF/graduates, JJ turning two, our vacation to Vegas, Homecoming...it'll be a great time to do it. I'm excited about it...AND, it'll force me to post my pictures every day and update this blog more often.

That's all I've got for now - oh, and I got a blogger award! I'll blog about that one later tonight. And a new craft challenge - I'll blog about that tonight, too. :) Loves!

Add on to #6 and #19; starting #22 and #97; done with #57!

Writing this entry excites me, because I feel like I'm actually accomplishing stuff. :)

We'll start with No. 6...J and I went to Buffalo Wild Wings on Friday night for wings and basketball. Some people may not consider that a date night, but that was definitely a date night for us [and the perfect one for two wings-lovin', basketball-watchin' people]. Our server was someone that used to live in Stout with me...such a small world! Next weekend, H and I will do a Valentine's Day lunch somewhere and exchange gifts. Still not sure what I'm going to get him...probably something small since our anniversary, birthdays and Vegas trip are quickly approaching.

I added three more books to JJ's book collection. My mom bought three Mary Engelbreit [of course] Mother Goose books from Sam's today that JJ absolutely loves. She started reading them to him in the store, and he was totally into them. He really loves being read to, which is awesome. He doesn't sit still all the time when I read to him, but we do try to read a book every night before he goes to bed.

No. 22 will be coming around at the end of the month. Alicia and I are going to a Thunder game for Girls' Night Out! We have seats in the 200s, get maragrita glasses, will have a group photo after the game AND get a chance to meet a Thunder player. I'm really curious as to who this player will be...I'm super excited about it. I haven't been to a Thunder game in weeks, and now that Alicia's moved out of Stillwater, I don't see her as much. It'll be nice to do this.

I also started no. 97, which is to add comments to other people's blogs. I actually started this one a few days ago and forgot to mention it. AND, I got to cross off no. 57, which was to advance at my job...now that I've moved on to bigger and better things, I feel like I can cross it off the list. So thrilled! I've also written in my personal journal for three days in a row [that's big for me, considering I usually leave big gaps in between my entries] and added more to my freerice.com entry.

Things have been a little crazy lately on our end...JJ's been really sick, which has sucked. We were snowed in last week, and while we were there, he developed a bad cough and cold. At one point, he had a 104 fever, and I was freaking out. I took him to the doc on Monday, and they gave him cough medicine...but didn't say if he had anything else. I'm pretty sure he had the flu, but he was never tested. He also developed pink eye in both eyes AND a double ear infection [not nearly as bad now that he has tubes though]...it's been a rough month for him. He's finally getting better and is almost back to his old self - walking, babbling and eating. It's so nice to see my little boy back to himself [almost], because for a couple of days, I was really worried about him. He's well just in time, too...looks like we're under a winter storm watch for Monday. Joy.

We came home this weekend, and there are trees EVERYWHERE. Lawton got hit by a pretty bad ice storm at the same time we got snowed in, and it's ridiculous how many fallen trees and branches are hanging out by the road. My neighbor cut their tree down...so weird to be able to see straight down the block from their house; that tree's been there since we moved onto the block.

We got our taxes done last week [well, i did them]...so glad that's out of the way. Now, we have to start paying down on the cards and finishing the planning for the Vegas trip, and we'll be good to go. I'm so stoked about Vegas, but I think I'm planning myself out. I need to lay off on it before I wear my brain out. I'm trying really hard to prepare ahead as much as possible though...the last time we were there, we winged it. This time, I want to know that we've got things to do so we can actually get out there.

The Super Bowl is later on today. I'm cheering for the Colts, but I wouldn't be upset if the Saints won. They've been through so much the past few years that this is their moment. It's incredible how alive that town is now that the Saints are going to the Super Bowl. I'll definitely be ready to watch and am excited for the outcome. I'm also looking forward to the commercials...they should be good this year.

That's all I've got for now...I should join my husband in bed, since he's already been knocked out for an hour. More later!

Out with the old.

I would like to note that tomorrow is the last day of January. We're already one month into 2010. Before we know it, it'll be the holidays again. Sheesh. How in the world does time fly by so fast?!

So a couple of entries ago, I mentioned that I was starting a new job in a couple of weeks. Well...trim that couple by one week. This past Monday, I started in the Honors College, and I've loved every freaking moment of it. I feel like I have my life back. I'm not worried about anything anymore. My travel schedule is down to zero. Don't get me wrong...I loved being a recruiter. It was so great to work with the students and parents. But being an academic counselor has been one of the things I've always wanted to do, and I really like where I am. My office is freaking sweet, too. :)

My last day at work ended up being on the same day as another co-worker's last day, and one of our tour guides made this freaking sweet cake so we could all wish us well on our new adventures elsewhere. The party was a blast:

Here's the cake. Three tiers...almost looks like a wedding cake. Bottom layer was white cake; middle was chocolate; top was strawberry. ALL delicious.

Shelby and I cutting into the cakes.

So I guess the party was also supposed to be a dance party, and one of our tour guides made himself a tailfeather. :P

I'm definitely going to miss our tour guides and everyone I worked with...but the great thing about still being on campus is that I still see them all the time. I saw them last week, matter of fact. Twice. :)

My first week there was cut short thanks to another storm that moved in. I'm so thrilled the weatherman was actually wrong about how bad it would hit Stillwater...my parents got hit pretty bad [didn't lose power for too long though, thank goodness], but we were totally safe here. I actually overprepared for once, and JJ and I weathered the storm just fine. I'm hoping we can get out of here tomorrow though, because we've been stuck inside since Thursday afternoon and are going a little stir crazy. There's only so many ways you can entertain a nearly 14-month-old active baby boy before you HAVE to get out. I wasn't brave enough to try the roads today, but I think we'll be OK tomorrow.

So, I'm really starting to get into this whole Vegas trip thing. I've booked dinners, am trying to figure out what kind of spa treatment I want, and I'm just throwing myself into this. I'm hoping that pre-planning will help us make the most of this trip and guarantee that we won't get bored. I also want to learn poker, so I'm trying to find casinos that have free poker lessons and working that into our schedule. I found TripIt.com, which is helping me plan our days out. Love.It.

I'm getting better at this whole cooking thing. Now that JJ can eat table food, I'm forcing myself to cook more and am more willing to experiment with things. I'm not that great at dinner planning yet, but I'm getting there. With February just around the corner, I've got to plan my meals out, figure out which recipes I want to try and stick with them. The main goal is to make meals that I can put together fast - JJ usually eats by 6:30, which leaves me less than an hour from the time we get home to have dinner ready. It's creating a unique challenge, but we're getting better at it.

Time for bed. Back to the list later.

Oh. Ending note. I FINALLY legally changed my last name. Only took nine months, but I did it. I finally feel married. Legally.

I love these shoes.

These shoes weren't expensive, so I'm not going to cross them off my list - unfortunately. But I bought these a little bit ago from HSN. I'm not a big fan of heels since I'm so tall already, but man are these things cute. I finally found a pair of orange and black heels! YAY!

I honestly haven't been working on the list because things have been a little crazy. I've kinda taken a break this month, but there are so many things that I have in progress already that next month will probably see four or five of them crossed off. I start my new job Monday and couldn't be more excited about it. I feel like I'm getting out of my old job just on time and moving into my new one just in time. I'm so excited for this new opportunity...this is exactly what I've wanted to do for quite some time now.

I've started re-planning our wedding but haven't gotten much into it. Third's time a charm, huh? I won't saying anything about it until we have deposits for our venue, photog and church booked...which I hope to solidify within the next two weeks. That's my goal. I think starting this process again will help me get the rest of my life organized. I've let so much go the past 18 months...time to get back on track and get my life back.

Guess that's all for now...I'll be back soon.

Man. Time for an update.

I've been MIA for a few days...mainly because my computer crashed [lovely], and the past week's been pretty crazy for me. So. Here's a recap.

After screaming that my child needs tubes since October, I finally convinced my doctor in December that he needs them. We made an appointment for tubes a couple of weeks ago, and his new specialist said that JJ needs tubes now. We got him scheduled for surgery this past week, and he got the tubes in. He was such a good little guy...he was cranky and sleepy after it was all over, but the whole thing took 10 minutes, and he did such a good job. He's already a different little boy...he's picking up on words and is already getting his balance back. I'm so thrilled that he has them in...maybe we can finally stop struggling with ear infections. I'll have to post some pics I took of him at the surgery clinic. He's adorable in a hospital gown. :)

And now, to some of the biggest news of all...I have a new job! Starting in a couple of weeks, I'll be an academic advisor for the Honors College. This whole thing came up super fast...I went from applicant to hired in the course of a week. Literally. I'm really sad to be leaving my old job behind, but I'm excited about this new opportunity and to be working for a part of campus that was so important to me during my undergraduate career. I'm still kinda taking it in...I didn't think this whole process would move so fast, and my mind's spinning right now. But, don't get me wrong - I'm super excited.

With the way the past couple of weeks have gone, I haven't actively been working on my list...but that'll come to an end this weekend. Now that I'll have more time to myself, I'll be able to take care of more things, read more books, start scrapbooking etc. I'm so excited about the future and what the rest of 2010 will bring! I'm hoping the rest of the year goes as well as the past two weeks have gone.

That's about all I've got. I'm gonna go back to playing Wii Fit Plus - J got it for me last week, and we've been playing it off and on all day. It's really fun! Yoga kicked my butt though...oh my gosh.

Add one to #6, #42 and #65! Oh. No. 75 completely done, too.

Opening note: I don't have a computer cord. Mine broke in the fall, and I haven't gotten around to replacing it yet...hence the sporadic journal entries. I'm gonna order it soon [i need to stop procrastinating and just dig around for one online], but for now, I'm borrowing my sister's. Thanks sis!

Anyway. Over Christmas Break, J, my sister and I went on a road trip to Dallas for the Cotton Bowl - which fulfills no. 75, which was to go on a road trip to an away OSU football game. We left on the 1st for Dallas and met a friend at Razzoo's, this Cajun restaurant in Arlington. I'd never been there before, so this adds restaurant no. 4 to no. 42, which is to eat at 10 new restaurants. Woo! Check out the menu:

This is both my and J's menus back to back, so the menu isn't the length of the whole table. It's still long though! I had the andouille sausage with red beans and rice, along with a Bud with lime. The andouille was way spicier than I had anticipated, but it was still absolutely delicious. Alicia and I got a little annoyed because they had a million birthdays there that night and sang loudly for all of them, but it was still a fun restaurant with a great atmosphere. I'd go back again! I want to try their dirty rice. :)

After dinner, my sister and our friend went to see Avatar, and J and I went to visit family he has in the area. Because of the stupid snowstorm, we didn't get to spend any time with J's family during Christmas break, so we wanted to see this set of family before we left. They have two little girls and were dying to get out [they had a babysitter in the form of the wife's parents], so we all decided to go see a movie. That starts no. 65 on my list - woo! We saw "It's Complicated," and it was so much funnier than I thought it would be. I loved that movie. The ending was disappointing to me, honestly, but the whole movie was really good. I hope to see Sherlock Holmes and finally see New Moon next weekend...three day weekend!

The following day, we made our way to the Cotton Bowl. The Cotton Bowl wasn't held at the actual Cotton Bowl for the first time in forever; it was actually held here:

Ah yes...The House That Jerry Built. The Cotton Bowl was played at the new Cowboys stadium, and that place is INSANE. I love it there. I've never been in a stadium where you walk in and pretty much see nothing but seats and field in front of you...all of the escalators and food places were on the sides of the bowl. It was so neat.

Before the game started, Samsung hosted this concert outside. I don't know who the group was, but they were a cover band, and they were fabulous.

We all had fun dancing around with other OSU fans - seems like they were the only ones around the stage. Anyhoo, after the show ended, we went inside and walked around for a bit. They had this special room set up on the 2nd floor that had the cool Cotton Bowl trophy in it...too bad we didn't take it home.

We made it to our seats, where I took in the view.

I don't care that I was sitting in the nosebleed section..that place was INCREDIBLE! I loved it in there! And, thanks to the jumbo HD screen that goes from the 20 to the 20, there really wasn't a bad seat in the house. I hope to go back for an NFL game next season. Check out the screen...absolutely sick.

That was during coin toss...I got a lot of pics of the screen that day. Ha.

So we sat through the game...it wasn't the prettiest game in the world. OK - overall, the game sucked. We didn't play offense, there were no plays being called, Gundy was too scared to let Zac really do anything, and Perrish Cox had been suspended the day before, so he didn't play. Zac threw like, three or four INTs, including this one on the last play of the game/his college career:

Ugh. It was insane. We lost, 21-7, and finished the season 9-4. I hope during the offseason, Gundy hires an offensive coordinator that can make us a force to be reckoned with and help us keep up with our defense. I had a blast at the Cotton Bowl and in Dallas [for the like, 24 hours we were there, literally] - I can't wait to go back down there! Oh. I discovered an outlet mall in Allen...we are SO going back.

I have more I could probably write, but I'm exhausted and need to go to bed. Another update later!

Happy 2010!

Happy 2010 everybody! Man...I can't believe we're in a new year and a new decade. Where has the time gone?!

In this decade, I will:
-- Turn 30 [2016] and watch J turn 30 [2015]
-- Celebrate my 10-year wedding anniversary [2019]
-- Go to my 10-year high school reunion [2014]
-- Go to my 10-year college reunion [2018]
-- Send JJ off to elementary school [2014]
-- Watch JJ turn 10 [2018]
-- Watch my parents turn 50 [2013]
-- Hopefully have our wedding and another baby...

Man. This decade's going to be awesome. I hope it is, at least.

We're heading to the Cotton Bowl later on today, so I'd better go grab something to eat and hit the road. Update on the bowl game - with pics - later! GO STATE!

Oh. And I finished Eclipse - finally. Breaking Dawn is next!