Beach Bound

The exterior of our hotel, at least according to the website...

We're heading to Virginia Beach this week for the annual VA Roofer's Convention and I have mixed emotions.  I'm pretty much always down for a good road trip, so I'm excited to be going somewhere, excited about a lil shopping, and  definitely excited about some good seafood, because let's face it, there's no denying my love affair with food.  But on the other hand, I'm not really looking forward to the beach part of it all.

I know, I can already see some of your horrified and shocked faces.  It's like someone saying they don't like chocolate. Haha!  One of Jeremi's coworkers asked if I was excited and had any great plans for the beach.  My stupid response was that I had no great plans, and I've never been much of a beach person.  I'm sure he thought I was such a weirdo and not to mention a rude conversation killer.  It's moments like those I think to myself, "Why didn't you just smile and say, 'I'm sure it'll be great.'"

Anyhow, I've never really been the type to enjoy laying out, which is what most people do at the beach.  I just don't feel comfortable laying half naked and soaking up the rays, not to mention I'm already tan.  Lol.

I do, however, love the sunshine and I'm always up for a good book, so I'm sure I won't be bored.  (Well, I never really get bored to begin with...)  Plus, a vacation is a vacation, no matter where you are and I always feel like it's more about the company and the memories...

What I thought most while typing this:  This is a pointless post, maybe I should start over...
What I'm procrastinating/putting off: Reading chapters upon chapters of my developmental psych book.  Oh, and medical billing...
What you might say to me if you saw me: Girl, you desperately need a pedicure.  Haha, or at least that's what I'd say to myself...
Book I'm currently reading: How Starbucks Saved my Life
Current obsession: Fried chicken and pinterest.com

Keep on the Sunny Side

Peonies that were in bloom when we first moved in.

I think about what I want to say on this blog a lot; I look at it as my own therapeutic voice.  I catch myself thinking, "Hmm, I should blog about that..." then I form eloquently stated blogs in my head at random times, like while trying to fall asleep or as I go about by mundane day.  Sadly, a lot of them don't make it on here because I usually forget what it was I was going to say or just don't make the time to say it.  (I know, say hello to my ADD, it's my Jekyl and Hyde, sometimes good and sometimes evil.)

Other times, I sensor myself, thinking perhaps I shouldn't say this or that, it might hurt someone's feelings or be taken the wrong way, but...  it's my blog after all, so stop reading when I offend you.  Although chances are, you'll be shaking your head in agreement and wanting to say, "Amen sister!' or at least that's what I like to imagine.

So, here's what's been on my mind lately.  I'm thinking of deactivating facebook.  I say this all the time, and I never have been a huge fan.  I'm tired of reading people's statuses that are complaining about something in some way shape or form.  Now I'll admit, it's nice to keep in touch with people you otherwise wouldn't keep in touch with and some people get on facebook to share exciting news, like job promotions, graduations and baby announcements, but I see a lot of useless complaining.

So, let's be frank.  Here's what stirred the thought within me.  There's one particular person who seems to always be complaining, whether it's the town she lives in that she hates, what people around have said or done or fed someone, or some other something.  (Yes, I'm attempting to keep some semblance of anonymity.)  Point being, why are people always complaining, and seemingly to me, usually women.  When did my generation become a generation of e-complaining?  Or has it always been that way and I just never noticed?

Anyway, I'm not even attempting to say I'm perfect or that I don't whine and complain from time to time.  But, I do try my best to keep it to a minimum.

But finally really getting to the point, when did we stop appreciating all that we have?  Shouldn't we be grateful that our kids get to eat at all, whether or not you agree with what someone fed them? And I know we can't send all our extra food to Africa or the Philippines or wherever, but shouldn't we be grateful we even have extra food to spare?

I use to keep a gratitude journal, which I've been newly motivated to restart.  We have much to be grateful for: running water, food, shelter, the basic necessities, even the right to marry those we love (at least for some of us).  I have so much more than that to be grateful for.  My birthday is coming up, and I don't have to think, can we afford to buy a cake to celebrate?  When was the last time you thought about people who couldn't afford an indulgence like a birthday cake?  Sometimes it's all in how you look at things, are you complaining about being pricked by thorns or enjoying the lovely smell of roses?

Ok, I'll try to step down a little from the soap box.  (But just a little...)  Just remember Keep on the Sunny Side...


P.S.  I just realized I wrote a blog complaining about people who complain.  Oh the irony...

Back from my hiatus and broadcasting from...

Roanoke!

So much has happened since my last post I can hardly decide where to begin.

The house we're renting in Roanoke in case you were curious.  It's small but has a huge fenced in yard for the dog! :)

We've unofficially moved to Roanoke and pretty much love it here.  I say unofficially because we're still in the process of selling our townhouse.  Also, we haven't exactly moved all of our stuff; a good bit of it is still hanging out at either my parent's house or at the townhouse.  But as they say, home is where your dog is, and the dog (and most of our necessary stuffs) reside in Roanoke.

I'm back in school after a just over two year hiatus and loving it too.  I'm currently taking pre-reqs for an accelerated (btw, two 'c's and one 'l', I misspelled it and feel like I should make a point of knowing how to spell a word that's part of the program I'm trying to get into, what would we do without spell check?) BSN program that I'm wait listed for.  I guess I was re-reminded how much I truly do love school.  I was telling Jeremi before I started how excited I was to buy school supplies and set up my desk in the other bedroom.  Yes, I'm lame and perhaps a geek too.  Nonetheless, I've learned soooo much cool stuff and hopefully I'll be learning so much more.

A few things we've been into aside from attempting to organize the house, move our stuff, and adjust to school/Jeremi's new job...

- Went to our second Michael Buble concert in Pittsburgh which was fabulous!  I included a clip because at the point in the concert when he comes to the middle of the floor, we were soo close!  Have no idea how well it'll load and what it'll look like since I'ver never done this before.  Also hit up the Church Brewery while we were there, which is one of the first "fancy" places Jeremi and I went to when we first started dating; so that was some nice nostalgia. :)

Jeremi and me at the Church Brewery in Pittsburgh.  It's a little blurry, but Jeremi's actually smiling. :)

- Finally went on our first canoe adventure of the year, which turned out to be a little crazy.  The last couple of miles of the float it started to rain, then poured the rain.  We paddled like crazy in an effort to get out of the water in case it was gonna storm.  Naturally, the rain subsided when we neared the take out.  I was plum exhausted given I have no upper body strength and had to help Jeremi load the canoe on the car.  (Yes, poor Jeremi, due to my lack of strength, he did more lifting than me.  Luckily, he's quite the trooper.)  And we're planning on going canoeing this weekend so they'll definitely be more adventures to share.

Caesar's gotten so big as you can see!  You can only imagine how much his movement rocks the canoe...

- Celebrated our second wedding anniversary!  It's crazy to think it's been two years already!  Didn't do anything too exciting since we had just come back from Pittsburgh the weekend before.  Stayed in and cooked steak and crab legs, which were super delish, and broke in our china!  I was particularly pumped because we had yet to use it and I really do love it.  (Seems weird to love china, plus it makes me feel entirely too girly.)

Sorry it's been such a long post, but wanted to catch you lovely folks up.  That's all for now, but I promise to make better efforts to post more.

What I'm reading: Four different sample chapters on my Kindle.  Jeremi, being the awesome hubby he is, offered to buy me a book (I usually cheap out and read either the free ones or the ones less than $5).  I got excited at spending as much as $15 on a book (Isn't he quite the splurger?) and haven't been able to decide what to get...
Favorite New Song: Better Man by James Morrison.  Love love love it, so it's on a constant loop in my head most of the time.
Looking forward to: Another canoe trip and my upcoming bday! 
What I thought most while typing this:  It's sad that I typed this during my 10  minute breaks (Yes, I'm back to the 50/10 if you know what I mean) and during my lunch break.
Random aside:  I would like to share my blog with more people, but I still find it scary.  I just don't see how people can post on facebook and say, "Read my newest blog entry."  I'm just not that person...  So, share with others, but don't post on facebook about it, or if you do, know that it would totally freak me out... (Yes, I know, I'm so weird...)

Al Gore's Greatest Invention

I love the internet... I know it's a strange post, but it's true.  There is a wealth of information, lovely pictures, inspiration, and all at the mere tips of your fingers...

Anyway, wasted some good quality time this morning and discovered these two sites I wanted to share...

www.pinterest.com - This one is hard to explain.  It's pretty much like a virtual bulletin board with an assortment of random stuff.  Some are themed, some are not.  Plus, you can look at what other people pin...  Cool stuff...

http://iammommy.typepad.com/i_am_baker/ - An amazing baker blog.  Plus, she has loads of amazing pictures and tutorials.  So many things I want to try...

That's how I spent my morning...  Recovering my sore muscles (I voiced Musk-kles in my head) from staining the deck via the internet, mostly the two sites above, a little clothes folding from massive amounts of piled up clean laundry, and an amazing cup of coffee...

Leaving you with this photo of our stained deck courtesy of 24 hours of serious staining... Yes, I'm a staining master now... ;)

Our Stained Deck

And now on to the joys of medical billing...

Keeping up with the Joneses

Random Educational Tidbit:  Ever wonder where the phrase "Keeping up with the Joneses" came from?  Apparently it all started with a 1913 comic strip from the NY Times... (at least according to wiki)

Anywhoo, I've never really been one to worry about keeping up with the joneses.  Admittedly I have some nice stuff and I do continue to buy nice stuff, but mostly because I like the nice stuff.  I'm the type to oooh and ahhh over the softness of leather, the brighty cheer colors of a fabric, and the lovely details of a polka dot or some other print.  But I must add that in an effort to be a true tight wad and less materialistic, I've started to be more creative with my love of nice stuff.  For instance, I've been shopping at goodwill more often and am going to learn to sew.  After all, you might be surprised to know that a lot of my favorite outfits usually cost less in total than say... my purse, lol.

But... I have found one area of life that I never realized I worry about what the darn Joneses are doing... a career.  I've always foolishly had the thought that life will be great once all this schooling is over and I can begin my "real" life.  Then came the hiccup of medical school, but I don't want to dwell too much on that again...  The time is quickly approaching that my old class is getting ready to graduate from medical school and I'm starting (or started until this revelation) to see them as the Joneses.  I then begin to panic and start down that old familiar path of... well, life will be great once I get this nursing education stuff going...

But... And here's the PSA you've been waiting for...  Life is great now.  I have much to be grateful for.  My "real" life is the present and what I make of it.  Now, I've got to get off my butt and make something of what's left of the day.  (Although, in my defense, I'd already powered washed the half of the deck we didn't get to last night, had breakfast and did a little vacuuming this morning before I sat down and started wasting time/procrastinating on the web.)

A Not So Normal Day in the Life of Me

So I have what I call "sick" spells.  I get lightheaded, sometimes dizzy, nauseous,  my face gets flushed and I just over all feel yuck.  I've had my thyroid checkout and ruled out MS so other than the vasovagal response stuff, no one really knows what's wrong with me.  As a result, I get to endure various random testing, the current one being a 24hr EEG.

Me attempting to look "normal."  I put a hat on and a shirt on top of my wires.

So, (and yes I started two paragraphs with the word "so" despite knowing that it's against the rules) I thought I'd share the joyous experience with you lovely folks.  I have ridiculous amounts of goo in my hair.  I'm attached to what feels like eight million wires (reminds me of the movie Avatar).  I have a panic button.  It's actually a button to push in case I have an "episode."  I have to carry the little machine attached to all those wires.  And my head has a stocking-ish thing on it wrapped in a bandage.  Fun times.  See the fun times pictured here. Haha.

Me with my bandaged stocking head

Me showing off my machine/purse....

I know... you're jealous of all the fun times had by me.  Yup, this is what my life is currently like...

Focus on the Good and Avoid Perfection

www.reverendfun.com

I wanted to write a post today and struggled to come up with what exactly it is I wanted to share with the world...

Until... After rereading the Love & Marriage chapter of The Happiness Project it dawned on me.  Throughout the books, she lists her own commandments, which are basically things to keep achieving toward throughout the project, very much like your own tailored version of the ten commandments.

Anyway, I came upon my first one...  Focus on the Good and Avoid Perfection.  I believe this is an important one during this month in my happiness project and maybe that's why it came to me.

For example, one of the big muffin's household jobs is to take out the trash.  (Not because this is a "man's" job, but because I despise dealing with the trash.)  Applying my first commandment (randomly, that previous phrase makes me think about having to apply certain rules to prove a proof in HS geometry), I need to remember that while the trash isn't always emptied when it's full (which I refuse to do), this version of perfection isn't important.  Perhaps I should NOT focus on the full trash and remember all the cool little things big muffin does for me... like... buying orange creamsicle lollipops when he's out by himself because he remembers me spending time in the checkout line searching like small child for orange creamsicle because it's soo listed on the sign... lol...  Hopefully you get the point of all that gibberish.

Besides, perfection tends to plague me.  Yes, I was one of those students that aimed to make as many A's as possible, not to please my parents, but because I love the gold stars.  :)  And yes, I'm that person who looks at a perfectly good cupcake and thinks, ehh, it really could use a lot more work...  If I weren't so thrifty (or as big muffin calls me, a cheap @$$), I'd have a huge pile of reject cupcakes, cookies, etc.

Anyhow, that's my first commandment and something to focus on for the month and for for-ev-er.... (Suppose to sound that one out like on the movie Sandlot...)

Now on to some other random things I wanted to share:

- My good friend and Godsister Rochelle has decided to blog too!  Yay! She's the most levelheaded, wise and honestly good person I know so I'm sure she'll have lots of good stuff to share.
Simply Grateful - http://lucerochelle.blogspot.com

- I had a request from my SIL for an email whenever I post.  I added a spot so that she, and anyone else, can receive an email every time I update/post on the site.

- Finally one more random bit, my parents are getting Iphones today!  I find this both very exciting and a little hilarious.  I know they'll both love it, but it's just a little funny to me to picture either one of them with such a gadgety gadget.  Going over there later to help get it all set up later.  Wish me luck! lol

What I thought most while typing this:  I can't help but wonder if I make sense to people...
Something silly I saw yesterday while out and about that excited me:  I saw a 11 year old girl (I'm guessing at her age) with a Kindle!  I was so excited for her and felt kinda stupid about being excited. lol  I would have loved having a Kindle when I was younger and I definitely love it now.
Crazy thing we did this week:  Seriously considered buy a $33,000 house to renovate.