The winter break has officially began and so far being lazy has been my main focus. Monday I spent most of the day sleeping and watching daytime television. I love ER reruns. At night Scott, Steph, Dustin and I made cookies all night. It went over really well and Dustin and I came home having made several dozen of a couple different kinds of cookies. However, today I am getting back on my diet, so I won't be eating much. The past two weeks I have pretty much just eaten whatever I wanted and gained a couple of pounds in the process. However my total at the moment is just over 15 pounds. I am hoping to get up to a total of 20 lost pounds by the end of January. I set a goal (with help from my husband) that if I can maintain a 20 pound loss for 2 weeks I will get an appointment for a massage. We'll see how well I do while traveling through the holidays.

Today I am heading to my mom's work to volunteer for their Christmas parties. I really love volunteering there. I just wish it wasn't so far away. I am going to have to spend a night away from Dustin and Quinn and I hate being away from them, even if it is for only one night. I am such a home-body. I never want a job where I am going to be away from my family at all. My Dad travels overnight all the time for the army. I could never do that. I love eating breakfast and dinner with Dustin and Quinn at my side.

Sonic Buffy

Sonic Willow and Tara

Tag

10 years ago: In the fall of 1995, I was starting my freshmen year of highschool. I really enjoyed playing soccer and being in the "pit" in marching band.

5 years ago:In the fall of 2000, I was starting my sophmore year of college. I had plans to be a musician and tour all over the world.

yesterday:I went to school around 6:15 AM and taught classes until 2:00, sat with students who had detention until 3:30, graded open response until 4:30, came home to leave for Weight Watchers, found out I've lost a total of 12.4 pounds, met Dustin, mom, Jarred and Kelly at Oh Chucks for dinner, mom took us to Wal-Mart for a free grocery trip on her, and then we went to Dairy Queen for my weekly Cherry Chocolate Love Blizzard, came home to unload groceries, and off to sleep.

5 snacks I enjoy: Edy's Swiss Orange Ice Cream, Applebee's Nachos, dry Trix cereal, Rally's Fries, and Red Vines Candy

5 songs I know all the words to: Under Your Spell sung by Amber Benson on season six of Buffy, To Martha by The Smashing Pumpkins ; At Last sung by Etta James; You Learn by Alanis Morissette; and Everything by Lifehouse.

5 things i would do with 100 million dollars: Buy a house that was complete, buy new hybrid cars for Dustin and me, pay off loans and bills, help any of my family finished their college degrees, invest the rest and hopefully retire early with Dustin.

5 places I would run away to: France, Ireland, Japan, Australia, and any Sandals resort (Dustin would have to be with me for all these trips.)

5 things I would never wear: daisy dukes, go go boots, spandex shorts, spiked heeled boots, or a leather cowboy vest

5 tv shows that I love: Buffy, Roswell, Smallville, Scrubs, Boy Meets World

5 bad habits: popping my knuckles, picking scabs, working too late at school, rarely shaving my legs, and leaving my bra where ever I take it off (which is usually the living room.)

5 biggest joys: My husband, my family, my Quinny, my home, my friends

5 favorite toys: my Megan doll that my grandmother made, my Harry Potter book collection, my Buffy DVD collection, my Katie porcelain doll, and my laptop (only when it is working perfectly)

Total of 12.4

So I have finally passed the ten pound mark. After 7 weeks of dieting, I have now lost a grand total of 12.4 pounds. I'm actually kind of surprised that I have kept it up this long. I honestly thought I would have given up by now and continued to be depressed and overweight. However, I am determined. I really want to loose quite a lot more weight. I figure by the time I get down to my goal, it will be just in time for me to get pregnant and gain in all back. :) I guess that's life :0)

Another 1

Well the highlights of my week have included receiving my brown belt in Karate and loosing one more pound this week. However, my lowlights are taking over. School is pretty stressful and the "higher-ups" add more and more for teachers to do and yet don't give us any time to do it. I have been staying at school until about 5:00 everyday. When you go in at 6:30AM, that's a lot. And yet I still don't feel like I am even close to getting things done. I feel like I am going to crack and we've only had 5 days of school. I guess all I can sing is, "Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow." I also found out that my step-dad has a lump that his doctor couldn't remove because it bled so much. So he is now headed to a specialist to have it removed and sent for testing to see what it is. I am so worried. I unfortunately can't think of anything but the worse. It makes me so stressed and worried.

The night before...

3 more pounds making the grand total 6.8. I'm very excited and hope to keep it up.

Wish me luck on my first day of schoo tomorrow!

1 more

I lost one more pound last week. I am pretty impressed especially since I went to Gatlinburg. I saved all of my flex points for the weekend away and it paid off. My grand total is 3.8. Wish me luck for this week.

Likes:
broccoli with fat-free mayo
sherbert
watching back to back ER
watching Quinn sleep
Star Girl by Jerry Spinelli

2.8 sounds good to me

After a week of dieting, I lost 2.8 pounds. I am so thrilled. I really stuck to my diet and never cheated once. One week down. Hopefully this week will go over equally as well. I'll keep you updated.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JARRED!!

So Far So Good

I have successfully been on my diet for two days. Compared to the diet my doctor had me on, I feel pretty full most of the time. I really think when school starts and I don't have time to snack, I'll be able to keep up with it even more.

Likes:
sour cream
reading children's books
watching illusions
date books
sun rises

Starting Something New

Yesterday I started something that will hopefully change my life. I started the well known diet plan of Weight Watchers. I have ever since I was probably 10 years old had a weight issue. You notice I don't call it a weight problem. I have always been self conscience about my weight. I looked at people who I thought were beautiful and dreamed of looking like them. This idea of wanting to be someone else didn't stop until once I was in college, and I actually did gain weight. I looked back at pictures of myself from high school and saw that I actually was skinny. I continued to gain weight through college and now I am going to do something about it. I realize that as a teen I wasn't happy even though I was at a perfect weight. However, now I know what a healthy weight is for me and I now have a healthy goal. I hope I continue with this determination and actually keep up this diet.

Likes:
reading in bed with my husband
green grapes
epic movies like Braveheart
watching plants grow
finding the perfect pair of jeans

More Likes

Likes:
diet Barq's rootbeer
dry kid's cereal
Klimt's art work
reading Harry Potter
hot shower

I'm having a hard time coming up with dislikes today. I guess it is better to be positive anyway.

Likes and Dislikes

So I've decided that each week, I am going to post 5 things I really like and 5 things I really don't like. Add your own opinions if like.

Likes:
middle of the day sex
addictive TV shoes like Buffy and Scrubs
cherry blizzards with chocolate chunks
reading Kevin Smith's blog
previews

Dislikes:
being late to anything
when there's nothing on cable
onions
weekends that speed by
recordings trying to sell you something

Tuesday June 12

So Tuesday really wasn't much different than Monday. After waking up multiple times with Quinn in the early morning and having breakfast with my husband, I watched a movie called Home Room on Showtime. It was an interesting movie on how two girls who are very different deal with a school shooting. Quinny wanted to spend most of the day outside so I took advantage by showering and doing laundry without worry of her shitting or pissing on the carpet. I spent the rest of the day bull shitting on the internet and watching the first disc of Roswell season one again. When Dustin got home we made love and then got cooking on some spaghetti. I made the comment that I just wanted to stay home instead of going to karate and have a "movie and sexcapades night." Dustin just laughed at my silliness but ended up deciding to stay home since the spaghetti wasn't going to be done in time anyway. I think he was just interested in "movie sexcapades night." We ended up watching Meet the Fockers which is by far one of the best sequels out there. I honestly think I like it better than the first. We also played a new game called Zigity which is a mix of rummy and Cranium. Before watching an episode of Lois and Clark, we kept up with the sexcapades and made love again. After Lois and Clark we went to sleep after watching our regular double dose of Scrubs (because you know you can't just watch one episode.)

On a side note, I find it interesting that in Kevin Smith's blog he can say that he and his wife "fucked" where I can't refer to sex with Dustin that way. If just doesn't seem right. I guess in my mind there is a difference between sex and fucking...

Monday June 11

I woke up at 5:30 dieing to go to the restroom, but trying to hold it so that I wouldn't wake up Quinn. Finally I gave in, took a leak, and of course took Quinn out. We got back to sleep for about an hour before Quinn got restless and decided she needed to go out again. Dustin fed her and we ate breakfast together. I was determined to sleep in later than seven so I put Quinn outside on the chain and went back to sleep until about 8:30. I spent the rest of the day finishing up season six of Buffy and chatting to Dustin online while he was at work. Next thing I know it was noon and I was still in my pj's and I hadn't brushed my teeth. Quinn took her usually nap for the rest of the day and I finished up the afternoon with brushing my teeth and watching the special features on seasons 3 through 6 of Buffy. I stayed in my pajamas all day. Dustin came home and we watched Little Black Book which was cute and made enchiladas while I unloaded the dishes and cleaned up the ones in the sink. After the movie we got caught in watching a Family Guy which was hilarious as always and went to sleep after watching some season 1 of Scrubs which I find to be quirky and addictive.

One Month Later, And One Month To Go

It has been a month since I last posted on my blog. I really thought I would post more often, but I guess it is somewhat excusable. Exactly 16 days ago my life changed forever. After over a year of being engaged, Dustin and I got married. The days leading up to the wedding are a complete blur. I honestly can't keep them straight. As for the wedding, I keep trying to play it over and over again in my head so that I don't forget a moment, but as the days go by, I keep forgetting the tiny details. I hope that my dad gets a copy of the video to me soon.

Some of the important details that I do remember are first waking up the day of the wedding and scurrying to get ready and finish packing for Jamaica. At 6:30 we headed to the park to start setting up chairs and putting up decorations. At 7:30 I left the craziness of the park to go and get my hair done at Regis Hair Styles at the mall. I normally am not to concerned when it comes to my hair. I usually wake up, take a shower, brush my hair straight, and go letting it dry through the day. I actually don't even own a curling iron anymore. Well, for my wedding I wanted my hair to be simple but pretty. Everyone would be looking at me and I didn't want my hair to be a worry. I had gone to Regis a week before the wedding to the hair dresser so that she could do a test run. It looked great and I felt confident about the "big day." So the morning of the wedding I got a little worried when the hair dresser acted like she had never met me before and had no idea I wanted. First she tried to put it in an updo when I wanted to wear it down and then she tried to put it in a bun. I was so frustrated that I told her not to finish and I left. In tears I made my way back to the wedding site and prayed I could figure out how to fix it myself. Luckily one of my Dad's friends, Sarah does hair and she made her way to me without even worrying about getting ready for the wedding herself. Sarah did an absolutely awesome job. It was exactly what I wanted...Simple, elegant.

A few other glitches occurred, but in the big scheme of things, they really didn't matter. The music began and the wedding had started. I walked down the aisle with my step-dad half way and my dad the other half. We walked down to "The First Day of My Life" by Bright Eyes. It isn't a well known song, but it was perfect for the day. I remember walking up the steps with Dustin and David speaking beautifully about the commitment of marriage. Dustin and I were both teary eyed as we spoke our vows to one another. It was perfect. The reception was great; filled with dancing, food, a wonderful cake, and lots of picture taking. Dustin and I left around 2:00 and headed for our suite in Lexington. We made love passionately and laid in each other's arms until we drifted off to sleep. We woke up around dinner and went to Miyako's Japanese restaurant where Dustin and I ate the first night we met. The food was wonderful as always and we stopped at Baskin Robbins for some ice cream before heading back to the suite.

The next morning we headed for Ochos Rios for our honeymoon. Sandals resort was incredible. Dustin and I ate and drank Pina Coladas by the pool and the ocean. It never rained, and we rested, relaxed, and made love throughout the day. It was the most perfect week. Now, Dustin and I are back on our normal schedule. I have been lazy, trying to enjoy the last of my summer vacation before school starts up again. I've been reading books and rewatching all of the seasons of Buffy. I only have one more left and then I'll have to start watching something new. Dustin is back to work and we are doing Karate four times a week. On Sundays we have just started obedience classes for Quinn at PetSmart. Hopefully they will help her get along with other dogs.

Hopefully at least for the next month, I will be able to keep up with my blog. School starts on August 10, so I am going to be lazy for one more month!

Its now Friday

This week has sped by. Tuesday I spent some time with Dustin at work again and then we headed to Bone Fish to celebrate Angela's birthday. It was fun, and we had some great fish to eat.

On Wednesday, Angela came over to hang out and meet Quinny. The Quinnster warmed up to her immediately. She performed all of her tricks and cuddled up with her on the couch. Later I met with Kelly and her aunt to order the flowers for the wedding. I am hoping that they find something close to what I want. I met Dustin at Karate and then we came home to eat roast. When we got home we found a big surprise. Quinn had gotten out of her cage and decided to play with everything she could get her paws on. Clothes were on the floor, one of Dustin's shoes were in the comforter, and a bag of sour cream and onion chips were on the floor. She tore into the chips, but she didn't like them, because they were all pretty much there. Also, my bobby-pins were spread all over the floor and clothes were spread throughout. She didn't really rip up anything; she just spread it around everywhere. I guess because none of our stuff was ruined, I found it pretty funny. I guess we know that she can't really be trusted on her own. On the bright side, she didn't pee or poop anywhere!

Thursday was a lot less interesting. I spent the day at home chatting online with Dustin, trying to make decisions of what songs to use for the prelude. I know we needed to start the music about a half an hour before the wedding. I spent the rest of the day watching Buffy. I met Dustin after work at Wal-Mart and then we came home for a quick dinner and off to Karate. I ended up falling asleep to season one of Louis and Clark. By the end of the day I felt pretty stressed because I felt like the day was wasted. I didn't get nearly enough done.

Today however, my plans include lots of laundry to get ready for guests who arrive on Wednesday. I also plan to repot some plants and possibly clear off the wreck of a kitchen table that I have. Maybe I'll even get started on cutting some ribbon for the favors before I go to Karate. We'll see how much I actually get done. Wish me luck.

Wedding Errands

On Monday I woke up early with Dustin so that I could go to work with him. His bosses were headed to Bloomington so he had the office to himself. After stopping at Live Wire for a vanilla latte and an apple cinnamon scone, I headed to his office. Dustin had some accounting to do, so I caught up on my blog, made important phone calls for the wedding and emailed friends and family. When I am home all day by myself, besides laundry, I don't seem to get very much done. Usually I get caught up in Buffy, walking or laying out and don't really do anything for the wedding that is in 18 days!!!! However, at Dustin's work, I actually made it a point to make my phone calls to confirm information with the park and photographer.

Later I read a pretty good chunk of Maximum Ride- The Angel Experiment by James Patterson. I love his When the Wind Blows series and this one is good too. It is a teen book, which I like because it has more humor. What I don't understand is why Patterson would put out a book that had the same character's name and many of the same problems as another of his books and yet say they are completely different characters. In this case, Max is the main character who is a genetically enhanced by scientists to be part bird. She is friends/family with other kids that are the same way. In When the Wind Blows, Max is a girls who has also been mixed with a bird by evil scientists and has a flock of friends with her. Both books have a set of twins as part of the flock and another male human/bird that is a crush for Max. And always they are trying to escape the evil scientists. I just don't get why Patterson doesn't say they are the same Max. Instead he writes a side note to the reader saying that yes the idea did come from those books, but most of the similarities end with her name, Max. Well, I'm about half way through and I can't help comparing the two and intertwining them in my head to be the same. Hopefully as I keep reading I be able to distinguish the two.

Back to my Monday...
Dustin and I then hooked up the projector to watch X-Men and played around on the internet the rest of the day. We came home to our Quinny and found bride and groom shirts that my brother had made for us. It was very sweet. The rest of the evening we decided to start season one of Angel. It was pretty good. It doesn't compare to Buffy, but definitely has potential. We waited around for the Adelphia guy to come because our internet has not been consistent and ended up falling asleep to a Family Guy.

The Weekend

Friday
I got up early and headed to my hometown of Brandenburg to help my mom with my cousin's rehearsal dinner. Once I finally got there, we loaded up the trailblazer and headed to my aunt's, where the event was to happen. We went ahead and set up tables and began cooking. Rain kept pushing us back because the dinner was supposed to be outside. However, my mom had no "plan B" for if it were to rain. My aunt's house really isn't big enough to hold tables, chairs, and twenty to thirty people. Luckily sprinkles past and the sun came out just as the soon to be bride and her bridal party arrived.

Saturday
Ron, Mom and I made it to the wedding and met Dustin, Kelly, and Jarred at the church. The wedding was nice even though the fundamentalist church thinks women are second class to men and that people with "secular" jobs are sinning. The wedding however did bring up thoughts of how many things I have left to do before my own wedding which as of Saturday was only 21 days away. I started to get stressed and making list after list of things I must do before the big day. After the wedding and cake, all six of us (plus Jack) headed for Richmond. Ron and Mom decided they had better get him measured for his tux before they ran out of weekends. That night we ate at Outback. Gotta love the dark wheat bread, and went back to Dustin's and my house to play a game. However, little did we know that having Jack, Sam, and the Quinnster all together in one room would be enough of a hastle that games couldn't be played. I must say that Quinn is very rough with other dogs. I think she is so jealous and protective that she growls, barks and fights with any dog that gets anything she doesn't. Jack and Quinn do not play well at all. However, for some reason Quinn tolerates Sammy and even likes to playfully wrestle with him. All I can figure is that Jack is a couple of years old whereas Sam and Quinn are both puppies. Maybe they just don't want to play with the old guy. Later after Ron, Jarred, Kelly, and Sam all went to sleep, Mom, Dustin, and I stayed up sorting out our vows. It is so hard to pick the things you want said at the wedding. I kind of wish that David, out preacher, would just do it how he sees fit. That lasted until 1:00 in the morning.

Sunday
We woke up and went to Cracker Barrel with Mom, Ron, and Jarred. We ate some yummy breakfast and then headed back to drop of Jarred and get the dogs to head to the park where the wedding will take place. Ron wanted to get a better idea of what he was working with on the gazebo and we wanted to check out where we should put parking signs. A couple of little kids came over wanting to pet Quinn and Jack. I was a little worried since Quinn had never been around little children before. I wasn't worried about her growling or biting, but I was worried about her jumping. Quinny acted wonderfully and just sat as they petted her and complimented her bright blue eyes. Mom, Ron, and Jack left for B-burg from the park, and Dustin, Quinn, and I left for home. Dustin and I spent the rest of the evening watching Van Hellsing, Bridget Jone's Diary, and a couple of hours of Animation Domination. Jarred joined us to watch Simpson's and Family Guy and they headed home. Dustin, Quinn, and I went to bed falling asleep to season one of Futurama.

Presents in the hallway from Quinn

I have decided after the last couple of days that computers will be the downfall of human civilization. I hate that they are not consistent or predictable. For example for the past couple of days (when I haven'’t blogged) the internet has sucked. I could chat with Dustin online but I couldn'’t get websites to load completely or at all. It has been driving me crazy.

Today I woke up at 4 AM to let Quinny out and again at 6 to feed her. I hate that she has a new habit of waking up in the middle of the night to go "“potty."” I liked it much better when there was only one wake up call. I ate breakfast with my babe before he went to work and then hopped back in bed until 9. At 9 I woke up, let Quinnster out yet again, and ate some Fruit Loops dry while I watched some of season 4 of Buffy and chatted with Dustin online. The episodes were so funny that I kept watching them one after another until it was time to meet Dustin for lunch.

When returning from the Crapper Barrel I took a nap, and Quinn decided to let me know how much she loved being crated up by peeing and shitting in the hallway. Needless to say, she spent some time outside. I made dinner which consisted of a Teriyaki Beef mix in a bag and rice. It sucked so bad that Dustin and I couldn't eat it. We opted for Campbell's soup instead. Dustin and I left to hit the mall so I could get my shoes and look for a bra for the wedding. ONLY 22 DAYS LEFT UNTIL THE BIG DAY!! I can'’t believe it is this close. After the mall, we went to Karate and then back home. We spent the rest of the evening watching Wayne'’s World and paying bills. Man, there are a lot of bills when you grow up. I hate having to act like a grown up. Dustin and I gathered Quinn's toys and fell asleep watching Family Guy on Adult Swim until about midnight.

New Blog Name

I've thought about it, and I decided to start a new blog. My main reason for this is because if someone were to "google" my name, they would get my old blog. I don't mind that, except for the fact that I am a teacher. So if a nine or ten year old decided to look up anything on their teacher, they would find my page, and therefore I really wouldn't be able to tell all of my thoughts about school, students, parents, and so on. So now I've decided to be more candid about my name so that I can use my blog as a journal for all my thoughts and not just my PG rated thoughts.

This morning, I again slept in until nearly ten even though I got up a few times early in the morning to take Quinn out and feed her. Once I woke up, Dustin and I decided to let Quinn out while we decided to take a shower. Quinn decided to take up a new past time of digging holes by the sidewalk. I guess the whole family had fun.

Later Dustin and I went to Wal-Mart for groceries. We picked up some essentials along with a wading pool and a new rug for our bathroom. Again today we came to the conclusion that it is impossible for us to go to Wal-Mart without spending around a hundred dollars. I can't imagine what it will be like when we are feeding more that just two people and one very intelligent dog.

Once we got home, Dustin and I changed into bathing suits and decided to give the Quinster a bath with the hose outside. She did amazingly well and allowed us to rub her down and spray her off. We also decided to start filling up the 15 inch deep, 8 feet wide pool that we bought. I can't wait to float around on a raft and get a tan. Kelly and Sam will probably join Quinn and I for a dip tomorrow.

After finishing the first season of Dark Angel and Charmed, Dustin and I decided to grill out some chicken for dinner and pop in A Guy Thing to watch. I love the part when Jason Lee's character acts like he has the runs during the rehearsal dinner. Its hilarious. Well, that's about it for Memorial Day. I hope tomorrow is just as relaxing. I plan to do everything I can to make it that way!