A New Year

Hi all! Sorry to have dropped off the face of the planet, but since my last post I have basically done nothing but work, sleep and eat. I was off for Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, and the day after Christmas, but we were traveling all over to visit with family which was awesome.

Anyway, it's weird to think this year is almost over. I mean I got married this year, graduated college, moved to a new city, expanded our family, quit a job, and started two new jobs. It's been a big year for us. I'm hoping that 2011 is a little calmer, but I doubt it will for us. Although we've had a lot of positive going on this year there are some scars of negativity that I recall. The first six months of this year were a certain kind of hell (minus our wedding and honeymoon) losing a "friend", my job search, and some various health issues. It hasn't all been easy, but it's been manageable because I have a great partner on my side. So when it came time about a month ago to decide how to end 2010 and who with, we went through the list of usual friends and family and called around to see what was happening. Then I remembered, it all came flooding back to me.

I remembered last New Year's Eve when we tried to have a party and only 3 (very dedicated and awesome friends) showed up, not in that group a supposed best friend that said she'd show but didn't, and I had to take Pepper Anne to the emergency vet after getting hit in the eye with a ball (accident). Then the year before we tried to do a couples thing. Plan was for us and my "friend" and her boyfriend to head out to the bars for a bit, go to a party and have an awesome time. Until friend's idiot boyfriend called breaking up with her an hour before we were suppose to go out. Yeah, that was a great night. The only New Year's Eve that we haven't had a fiasco was the first one we spent together. I think we had planned to go out to a party, but Andy had been traveling a lot recently so we stayed at his apartment. We drank a lot, talked a lot, snuggled a lot, and had one of the best New Year's ever. I had so much fun that I drunkenly proposed. That was an AWESOME night. So that's what we're doing this year. This year we are not hosting or attending any party. We are going to have a nice dinner out, go to the Wildlights at the zoo and then home to drink into the wee hours of the night. I'm excited and crossing my fingers that it is drama-free.

What are your plans for tonight?

Opposites attract

I have an unexpected morning off so I thought what better thing to occupy my time than to blog! So Andy and I obviously have a lot in common, we love to read, we have common goals and values, and family is our number one priority. However, we have opposite views on a few things. Like Christmas, he is all about the practical gifts, examples? Stuff Andy has asked for this year: Long underwear, sweaters, wool socks. I on the other hand, think that Christmas is a time when I get to be a tiny bit frivolous, I get to give some fun stuff, some useless stuff, or something I would never buy for myself. Examples? A kindle, video games, an mp3 player. I rest my case. This is how I roll with Christmas, I want it to be fun. However, this year I'm having a really hard time.

I don't know if it's the insanely strict budget we have been on or the fact that I am actually becoming a (gulp) grownup but I'm having a really hard time shopping for fun things this year. Every gift I think about buying for Andy goes through a rigorous mind test "How much will he use it? What purpose does it serve? How much space will it take up? Does he really need this?" and usually the answer comes up short. I mean seriously, I'm not even halfway done shopping for him. Usually I'm done in November, but this year it. is. hard. I mean in past years I've done a kick ass job if I do say so myself. Some examples: Red Wings Jersey, Califone Record player, Hans Solo Mr. Potato Head. Maybe my creativity is just spent? My best friend since elementary school is going to be in town this week and we're meeting up tomorrow so I am hoping some creative juices get flowing or she can push me along so maybe I can get something great for my husband our first married Christmas together.

Cross fingers for me please!

Frustrated to fantastic

I try not to be too much of a downer, being positive is much more productive in my personal opinion, but the last couple of days has really tested my positivity. I've been working for 13 days straight, I'm tired, and I really have been missing people, my friends, family, and my husband. I don't have a day off from both of my jobs until next Wednesday so I'm a little frustrated. With my working so much and working primarily at night I don't get nearly as much time to do the things I would like to do or spend my time with the people I love. This was the plan, Andy and I knew this was the plan and we knew it would be hard. We understood, that we would be working our butts off for a year to get our stuff in a pile and be able to do the things we want to do. I know this. It's just a lot harder than I imagined it to be. Not only that but I haven't made many friends in our new hometown and we have been here for nearly 5 months. I miss having friends to hang out with, a friend I could call randomly and see if they wanted to catch a movie. I have been a little whiney and crabby the past few days about all this stuff, but my fantastic husband turned it all around last night.

Last night I arrived home and he got me something to eat, got a fire going, made some chocolate fondue with strawberries and had some sparkling wine for us to drink. He took a nap after he got home from work so we could hang out together later and spend some quality time together. As if that wasn't enough, we found a meet-up group for young couples that we are going to check out and hopefully meet some peeps we would enjoy hanging out with! Honestly, he is such an amazing guy, I don't know how I got so lucky. Last night really enforced my belief that being positive is a lot more productive than being negative. I need to appreciate the time I do get with Andy and look forward to the time I will get to spend with a great friend (who will be in town next Wednesday!). Instead of being sad and mopey about something I need to look for ways to improve it.

NaBloPoMo Fail

I failed. I'm a tiny bit upset at this but not really. I had the worst sinus infection/cold ever hit me Wednesday morning and take me out for 3 days. Awful. I hate winter. In other news Turkey Day is approaching and we have lots of family to see and catch up with. It should be a fun time. By the way, my two part-time jobs have become more demanding than one full time job, my schedule is way full right now. I shall try to post more on Wednesday (my next day off) but I wanted to write a little something to let you know I didn't die.

Currently on our DVR

Andy and I have never been huge TV people. Well Andy hasn't, if it wasn't hockey, he wasn't generally interested, I like TV, it helps pass the time and it's cheap entertainment. Currently with our "Reduce the Deficit" plan in effect (which is going smashingly, we haven't eaten out in two weeks!!!) we've been watching a lot more TV because we pay to have cable and a DVR (well I do because I work at night and miss some of my favorite shows). Plus it seems a tad ridiculous to pay $20+ to see a movie when we can rent one out of a machine for a dollar or watch our favorite shows together.

Anyway, currently there are a lot of good shows that we are in to, plus there is the added bonus of the "On Demand" feature which allows you to watch some of the popular shows when you want without having to record them. So what are we currently in to? Quite a few things actually. Wednesday nights on ABC are probably the best shows that we watch jointly, "The Middle", "Better with You", "Modern Family",  and "Cougar Town" never fail to have us laughing. Thursday night is my night with "Grey's Anatomy" and "Private Practice" giving me my chick show fix. Friday nights have "Supernatural" set to record on our DVR. Other than that, I have a few on my own that I've gotten kind of obsessed with "The Event" and "Parenthood" but those I only watch during the day when Andy isn't around and usually because I am bored and have all my work around the house done.

What's currently on your DVR or must watch list?

My favorite things: Gadgets

This is a continuation of "my favorite things series." For this one Andy and I both put our heads together and thought of the most used gadgets around the house.

1. iRobot Roomba 560 Series

• What it is: This is our daily vacuum, with just the push of a button (or not, see below) it will vacuum the whole living room.
• Why we love it: Hello! It's a vacuum that runs by itself! It's seriously amazingly fun just to watch but it does a great job at picking up animal hair. Bonus is that I can program it to run at a certain time of the day for each day of the week. Example: Monday schedule to run at 10AM, Tuesday to run at 9AM.

2. HoMedics SoundSpa Premier AM/FM Clock Radio

• What it is: It is an alarm clock with a built it sound machine.
• Why we love it: I have such issues with sleep. I grew up down the street from train tracks so I am use to falling asleep with a lot of noise. Before we got this alarm clock we would have to sleep with a heater or fan on all night just so I could fall asleep. Andy wasn't exactly thrilled with that scenario. Now I just push a button and fall asleep to my choice of sound. It's marvelous.

3.  Nintendo Wii

• What it is: I'm going out on a limb here and assume you don't live under a rock and you know what a Wii is.
• Why we love it: It's one of our favorite things to do together and a great way to pass the time. We have used it quite a few times when we have had people over as well.  Plus it doubles as a work out system for me!

4. HTC Evo (My phone) iPhone 3g (Andy's Phone)

• What they are: Our main means of communication with the outside world.
• Why we love them: Our phones are crazy awesome. Navigation, social networking, web, and of course the actual phones. These get the most use our of any gadget in our house. 

5. Califone 1005 Record Player with built in speaker for Education and Instruction

• What it is: Does anyone remember those large, black, circular disks with grooves (call records) that when a needle glides over the surface it plays music? Yeah, this thing plays those.
• Why we love it: This is more Andy's thing so I'm turning over to him. ... You really can't get much better than vinyl when it comes to music. The scratchiness adds a whole new level to the music. Elvis knew it; that's why his music sounded so much better on Sun than RCA. But anyhow, I love the vinyl, and this record player is REALLY good quality. Guess that's what you get for it being specifically for speech and auditory therapy. 

So there you have it, the most used gadgets in the SalTal household. More favorite things to come in the future. See you again tomorrow...I hope!

Comfort Food Sunday!

I think Andy and I have decided on a new Sunday tradition. See last Sunday, after we got the news about Maddie's passing, I spent most of the day crying off and on and all I wanted for dinner was comfort food. We ended up making pot roast, mashed potatoes, peas and biscuits. Talk about delish! It was a huge, lethargy-inducing meal combined with a nice fire and some good TV, it was the perfect way to end an evening. Anyway, I had to work today and Andy was kind enough to drive me and pick me up, (I had a long night of driving for a family event last night) so on the way home I ran the idea of another big Sunday dinner by him and he went for it. Tonight we decided on roast chicken, mac and cheese, broccoli and biscuits. I'm thinking about making this our own little family's tradition. Andy and I both thing that it could be a nice thing that we get to do together and it's also relaxing.

What do you think? What kind of traditions have you and your significant other come up with?

Adventures in Unclesitting

So we had to take care of my baby nephew Charlie for around 7 hours tonight. And when I say "baby nephew", I mean 5 month old gettin crazy with the teething nephew. And when I say "we" had to take care of him, I mean me by myself for a couple hours.

See, Amanda had to go up to Sandusky tonight for her grandma's birthday as well as their Thanksgiving, seeing as she's going with me to my family's Thanksgiving. So that just left me, 2 dogs, and a drooling cutie alone in the house. Now, keep in mind that Charlie was the first baby I ever held, period. Was I nervous? I suppose one could say that.

However, did I rock the uncle-ness?
Yeah, I suppose you could say that :) Had the little bugger taking a nice nap within an hour.

Truth is, Charlie is such an awesome baby that I felt like I had things on easy mode. Not saying I ever doubted my taking-care-of-baby skills, but let's just say that I hope being so good is genetic.

Working at the Car Wash...er...not quite

I literally walking into my house about 10 minutes ago and already I'm in sweats with a drink in my hand. So I now have two jobs. Both of which are part-time, which is great. It offers me a nice change up. I have only had two jobs a grand total of a week, but it's been a great week. A little tiring but not at all boring. See for the first time in my life. I love my jobs. I mean I looove them. Both are awesome in their own unique ways. It's fantastic.

Both of my jobs had a little segment in the orientation/handbook about blogging and social networking in respect to the company, which I understand. They don't want you bashing your company, which is totally understandable. I mean how awful would that be to get fired because of some Internet thing where you were letting out steam. Not that I would be that stupid. I mean my blog is out there for the world to see, it's not exactly the forum to say negative things about work. I think talking a little about my jobs is okay as long as I'm not bashing or divulging company secrets.

My first job that I have had for about a little while is with Columbus Metropolitan Library. It's a really great job. It keeps me on my toes both literally and figuratively. I find that I have enough stimulation and movement that I don't ever get bored. Honestly, probably one of the best I have every had in my life. I feel really comfortable saying that now because I have been there for a while and am starting to find my rhythm, it's a great fit for me.

My second job is newer and therefore I don't feel very comfortable talking about it yet. I will say that I enjoy it and that I have a lot of fun there, it's also looking to be a pretty good fit but I'm not even out of training yet so we'll see in a week or so how I feel. I sincerely don't think there will be any problems. I just feel that confident.

Now, I've worked an 11 hour day and would like to go to bed, so see you all on the flip side.

Happy Veteran's Day!

I just want to take a brief moment to thank all the men and women that serve this country and have served this country in the past. You are all my heroes and I respect and admire all that you do for us. Thank you again veterans, you all are amazing, incredible people to do what you do!

On a different note, regular posting will resume tomorrow. I think. I hope. I'm gone from 9:30AM to 11:30PM for work tomorrow, so it may not be me. I'm trying to convince Andy to write a post since he hasn't written in ages. I'm hoping that still counts for NaBloPoMo. If not then I'm screwed because I will have very little time to write something creative and intelligent for you to read. Have a good night everyone!

My Favorite Things: Cleaning Products Pt 2

I apologize for my skimpy post yesterday. I swear I had the whole thing written out and saved, I was just awaiting editorial approval (read: Andy had to read through it). I think Blogger might have just hated me yesterday, I had to re-write that post twice already so when I go home and it wasn't here I was in no mood to write it again. Anyway, where did I leave off yesterday? Oh yes, the last four cleaning products that I can't live without.

2. Pledge Fabric Sweeper

• What it does: Swoosh it across whatever fabric you have in mind (couches, chairs, blankets etc.) and it picks up that pesky fur.
• Why I love it: Four fur babies, 'nuff said. But seriously, when I don't feel like lugging the vacuum around the house to clean things this really gets the job done.

3. Bounce Dryer Bar

• What it does: It keeps my clothes and laundry static free and smelling fresh.
• Why I love it: I always forget to put in a dryer sheet or fabric softener. This convenient little bar sticks right into your dryer so you never have to worry about, well not entirely true, it needs replaced every couple of months.

4. Swiffer Dusters

• What it does: It dusts. Duh. Well it also captures the dust and doesn't spread it around.
• Why I love it: I abhor dusting. It is probably my least favorite chore. These little duster cloths really get the job done and keep the dust from flying around. 

5. Scrubbing Bubbles Toilet Cleaning Gel

• What it does: A little glob of gel in the toilet and it cleans with every flush. When it disappears you add another glob.
• Why I love it: It really keeps the toilets clean and it's easy to know when it needs to be replaced. Bonus is the smell is nice and fresh. 

There you have it, my favorite cleaning products. They make my household a little easier to clean.

So what are your favorite cleaning products and why?

These Are a Few of My Favorite Things: Cleaning Products pt 1

I want to preface this post  by saying these are my own personal opinions and am in no way getting paid by any of these companies to endorse these products (I wish!). Moving on, I really hope that The Sound of Music soundtrack is running through your head the rest of the day because I won't be able to get it out of mine for the rest of the day. I decided today that I want to do a series of my favorite things, I have a few different categories of products and things that I love and use everyday that I thought would be nice to share.

Today's post is going to be about the cleaning products that make my life easier. This has become vitally important lately because with my two jobs I'm getting home 3 or more hours later than Andy on weeknights and I have to also work weekends, which means our time together is precious. Most of these products save me time, energy and work pretty well which is why I love them.

1.  The Scrubbing Bubbles Automatic Shower Cleaner

• How it works: Basically, the user (moi) presses the button after the last shower of the day, then shower cleaning solution is sprayed through a rotating nozzle. Voila! The shower is clean!
•  My Thoughts: I'm a big fan of this product, I got it pretty much as soon as it came out. It's really easy to use (just push a button) and it works pretty well. It doesn't replace the need for a good scrub every once in a while but it does mean I don't need to scrub the shower once a week 

...Okay guys, I had an entire post here, with five items, it was here ready to post after I got home from work, but apparently I'm having technical difficulties. I'm too exhausted to re-write today so the remaining 2-5 items will be on the blog tomorrow. Thanks for the patience!

Da Fever

I don't know what is is lately but I have been suffering from baby fever so badly. There is just something in the air that is making me baby crazy. It probably doesn't help that I have an adorable 4 month old nephew, who is (without any bias whatsoever) the best baby in the world. I'm not being sarcastic, he hardly cries and he sleeps through the night. He is such a good baby and so damn cute. Seriously, look at that face:

 My nephew on Halloween. Seriously, I die.

Anyway, you get it, I want a baby. I think a lot of newlyweds face this. We have both finally gotten into a routine, things aren't chaotic anymore, we've adjusted fairly well to being married and it is kind of like, now what? Well, Andy and I finally had a serious talk about this the other night in bed. (I love pillow talk, it's my favorite time of the day) and we both want kids, in fact we wouldn't mind a kid now. The key word there is mind, meaning if by some miracle of God we were to become pregnant we wouldn't freak out. We both know that we aren't ready to actively try for a kid, we probably won't be ready for a couple years. There are many reasons for this, but most of them come down to money. Our logical reasons behind fighting the fever are as follows:

• We would like to get completely out of debt, meaning all we have is student loans/ house/ car payments, no more credit cards. This seems like a good plan and completely do-able because we have a date in mind to complete this by.
• We would like to own our own house. This one seems like it might take longer than expected so I am kind of hoping that we can negotiate on this one. Meaning maybe we will be renting still until the baby is a few months old but after that purchasing.
• We would like to build up our savings. The reason behind this is that I would like to stay at home with our kids until they are in pre-school. This may change in the coming years but right now my income would cover the cost of daycare/a nanny and that's about it, maybe a bill or two. Looking at it this way, it seems like it would make more sense for me to stay home or at least work only part-time around Andy's schedule so that I am not working just to pay someone's salary. 

There are a couple other reasons but mostly those are emotional. I like where Andy and I are right now, we both love the time we get to spend together and the fact that it's just us and the fur babies. For right now, we aren't willing to give that up. However, I do keep getting these waves of baby fever that isn't really eased by my logical or emotional reasons for waiting and I am torn. Mostly I try just to repeat over and over in my head our reasons for waiting and hope logic prevails. When all else fails I visit with my nephew and try to get my baby fix in.

Any other newlyweds struggle with baby fever? How do you deal with it?

A Dedication

Please press play before reading on.



 Nearer My God to Thee seemed appropriate, especially the lines: "Then with my waking thoughts bright with Thy praise,Out of my stony griefs Bethel I'll raise; So by my woes to be nearer, my God, to Thee, Nearer, my God, to Thee, Nearer to Thee."

Last night, I had some devastating news, I learned that this world lost a great friend and my family lost a member. Our family dog, Madison, died. Madison had been battling cancer for the last month and the cancer won out last night. My sister and my mother fought hard to save her life but there was nothing more they could do. To many this may seem ridiculous, but to me it's like a death in the family because she was family. For twelve years she was there for us, she comforted us when we cried, she was excited with us when we were happy, and all the in between times she was there. Maddie was so sweet, so loving, so loyal and so fantastic, she was the best dog we had ever encountered and it is truly a devastating loss. We all loved her so much. I know that God gained a loyal companion in Heaven last night and I know now that she is free of her pain but I can't help but be a little sad that she's no longer on this Earth with us.

Please keep my family in your thoughts and prayers today. Thank you all so much.

Is it a full moon or something?

I have to tell you there is something weird in the air around the SalTal household. It started a few days ago, our older kitty Izzy started getting more and more anti-social. Now this isn't too unusual for her, Izzy is a very low-maintenance kitty, she hangs out by herself and comes around when she wants attention or food and basically pals around with our other kitty Josie. However, she seems to be extra agitated lately, no one can get near her and she absolutely will not tolerate Josie within 5 feet of her. Andy and I have both picked her up and examined her to make sure she wasn't physically hurt somewhere and she doesn't seem to be sore anywhere, but we thought we would take her to the vet to be sure. Well, Andy couldn't even get her into the carrier this morning to go to said vet. She now is in her own private room (my office) quarantined in hopes that less stimulation will be good for her.

As if that wasn't worrisome enough, our Pepper pup will not go outside. She gets all scared and cowers down and we have to literally carry her outside and then she tries to run back into the house. This started last night. I have no idea what to think except that maybe there is some weird cosmic force at work that my very sensitive animals are picking up on and making them act funny.

Anyone have any experience with some sudden weird behavior in their animals? What did you do, if anything?

Lame-O

Do you remember when you were a kid and it was around Christmas time (or another holiday or your birthday) and you were opening presents, digging into that pretty wrapping and finding some of the coolest things, only to reach one that wasn't so cool, like socks? Then you'd get that fake, frozen smile and say thank you, when really your eyes are saying "What the heck man? Where is the Barbie?" I know that you all know what I'm talking about, now the real question, when does that all change? When do the Barbie dolls and race cars turn into clothes and socks and other practical nonsense?

I say this because Andy and I are currently in the process of making out our Christmas lists to send to our families and I'm looking these over and thinking, really? When did I become so lame? Need an example:

Amanda's List
-Attachable book light for kindle
-The Talavera Split Ender
- Slipper Socks
- Gift Cards to Home Depot or Lowe's

Andy's List
- Sweaters size M
- Craftsman Standard Wrenches
- Big comfy socks (not slipper socks) wool/ not too itchy
- Knife from Bed Bath and Beyond registry

Seriously? We are lame. But in all honesty, it's cool because I'm probably more excited about some of these items then I was about toys when I was a little kid. Maybe I'm just boring or maybe I've grown-up and realized that practical gifts that I will use every day rather than just on Christmas morning are so much better. Oh, and just so you know, those aren't the complete lists, we really aren't that boring. I do have some fun items written down (some that I know for a fact I won't get but it's fun to dream, like a Coach purse), as does Andy but quite a few of them are just like the ones listed above and made me scratch my head.

So what do all of you want for the holidays? Are you practical or fun? Or are you like Andy and I and have a little mix of both?

Bad Newlyweds

We are very bad newlyweds. There are multiple that I say this, our thank-you's haven't gone out yet (Don't judge, I feel awful, the only thing making me feel a little less guilty is Miss Manner's rule that we have one year after the wedding to get those suckers out), we haven't unpacked completely, and we haven't done anything with the wedding pictures. Trust me when I say, we are working on it. Everything kind of took the backseat in the months after the wedding. Between my graduation, both of us getting new jobs and moving, we had a lot on our plate, but the dust is (finally) starting to settle and we are getting things done.

First of all, we finally located the gift list to write out our thank-you's this week so we will be able to write them this weekend. Woo hoo! Cross that momentous undertaking off the list (soon), hopefully the guilt of not getting them out yet will stop and our friends and family will understand why there was a six month delay in getting those suckers out (I think we have a pretty legit reasons). Second, there is finally a light at the end of the tunnel with the whole unpacking nonsense. The garage is cleaned out and there are only 4 boxes with stuff in them still and more than likely it will stay that way. Finally, my project for the next couple weeks is going to be to organize our wedding photos into a photo book. Christmas is just around the corner and I know a few parents that would love some pretty pictures to show off. Plus my hope is that by loading our pictures onto the computer I will be inspired to print a few copies of my favorites and actually have some of the beautiful pictures of our wedding day hanging around the house.

So tell us that we are not alone in being a bad newlyweds, is there anyone else out there that hasn't got any other there post-wedding to-do's done yet?

Kitty & Canine Holiday Blogger Gift Exchange

Yesterday I ran across the cutest and best idea in the world:

A fellow blogger Kelly over at KJPugs and her friend Hannah at GatorTales had posted this and I couldn't resist, I signed up Pepper and Murphy right away. I totally encourage you to participate as well! It should be fun, but take a look at the rules to make sure you can participate:

1. You have to have a living, breathing pet. Unfortunately, your pet rock is awkward.
2. Each pet has to be signed up individually, so if you have 3 pets – fill the form out 3 times! (It’s that easy.)
3. Deadline to sign up is Wednesday, November 24th
4. Deadline to send your gift to a cute little pet is Friday, December 10th
5. If you sign up you are promising to participate. No one likes a holiday Grinch!
6. Please keep the gift under $10 – it doesn’t cost a lot to send some love!

Read the rules? Want to participate? Then Click Here and fill out the form do it, you know you want to.

Newlywed Challenge: The Holidays

It seems like it's that time of year again, the decorations are out in stores, people are making plans and shopping lists, and I log into Weddingbee and see posts about splitting the holidays. I use to love the holidays, spending time with family and friends, tons of food and of course presents. I say use to because this year thinking about the holidays is giving me hives, because I simply have no idea what to do. Splitting the holidays seems to be a big challenge for every couple and we are no exception. It's hard, obviously, you are talking about adding  whole new sets of traditions and places to visit, which logistically and emotionally provides problems. I think as a child I had it pretty sweet, my parents had the holidays figured out to a T, actually, it was more that my parents lucked out.

My grandparents live within ten minutes of each other so for Thanksgiving we would have lunch at one and dinner at the other. For Christmas eve we would head to Grandparent S and stay from early to late afternoon, then the evening would be spent with Grandparents M. We would head off home and spend Christmas morning at our house, just my sisters and parents. It worked out super well. In a perfect world, Andy and I would be able to do something like that but this is not a perfect world and our families live 3+ hours away from each other. Add to that fact that we live 3 hours away from my family and nearly 5 hours away from Andy's family and you see that dinner here, dessert there doesn't work out too hot.  It's frustrating because I want to make everyone happy, but I also have a tiny little part of me that wants to just please me. That part of me is there because it isn't like it use to be, things have changed and it's hard to accept that. More than that I miss my family like crazy. The move has been extremely hard on me because of the time it's taken away from my family, who I am use to seeing on a regular basis. Andy knows how hard it's been on me so he's being extremely patient and kind, telling me that we could separate for Thanksgiving if I really need to see my family by then, but I'm trying to be a mature married lady and present our united front.

So what are we going to do? The answer is simple, I had no idea. So far Thanksgiving is planned out with Andy's family. More than likely we will go to my Grandma's for Christmas Eve and spend Christmas morning with my family then Christmas evening will be ours (which has been our own little tradition for the past three years), but I'm not positive. We have to do another Christmas with my other Grandparents which will be a different day, prior to Christmas Eve, since schedules aren't working in our favor for a one day all-inclusive family fest. Plus we have to do Christmas with Andy's family as well. I know that it will all work out in the end, it's just going to take some careful planning.

What about you? How are your holidays shaping up? Do you have an easy time with the splitting or are your holidays challenging as well?

New Obsession

Ever since the wedding I have had this hole, I mean for the year or so before the wedding I spent my time looking up ideas, trying to find things that I could make myself to make the wedding unique and pretty. When there was no more wedding I had a hard time with all the free time I had and crafting had turned into a drug for me. See I have a lot of nervous energy and I get anxious at times, crafting really helped me to calm those feelings and  let me feel useful. Now that I'm working I feel useful but a lot of the time I still have no projects (other than cleaning) to put that anxious/nervous energy in to. That is until I found http://ana-white.com/ and fell in love. This was the answer to my crafting withdraw. I obviously need furniture for our house and what better way to save money than to make it. So this past weekend, Andy and I set out for Home Depot and bought wood and supplies for this project and this project. The first project (the crate shelf) was my own undertaking, and in my humble opinion the result turned out pretty good:

As for the chair, I'll admit that was a bit too much for me by myself so I more or less just assisted Andy but it is looking like it will turn out pretty well. It is by no means done yet, there was a problem with the leg and I want to paint it too but I think it will be fantastic once it is completed. Here's some pictures from the work site and the nearly completed chair:

There were a few shots of him bending over but I thought he might not appreciate it (trust me though, he looks hot, well, to me). Isn't my husband truly awesome? I think that we might make a habit of this woodworking together thing. It's a great way for us to bond and we have something really great as an end product. Though I think if it becomes habit I'm going to have to learn how to not be afraid of the saw. And just for fun, some future plans I think we might be working on: a headboard (as we currently have none) and a bench/storage (our hall is looking a little drab), plus another chair or two for the deck plus a little coffee table. Love it.

What projects do you and your significant other do together?

Boo!

Andy and I aren't super into Halloween. I'm not sure why. It may be the fact that most costumes for adult women aren't something I would wear outside the bedroom, it might be that until this year we lived in an apartment and therefore didn't have a whole lot to do, but that changed a little this year. This year we have a house and that means we get to hand out candy. Well Andy gets to hand out candy while I work, but still it's exciting. Trick or treat for our neighborhood is tonight and while I'm sad I'm not going to be here I'm excited for Andy to sit out on the porch and see all the kids dressed up. He is even going to have some little helpers:

Murphy's costume is fitting to his personality recently.

Pepper looks so evil but she's such a good girl! Yes that is my wand from Harry Potter land in the first Pepper picture, don't judge.

Hopefully they all enjoy trick or treating and Andy remembers to take some pictures! So what is everyone else doing for Halloween?

Just dance..

...gonna be okay, da da doo doo mmm...

Just kidding. Sort of. Anywho, today I thought I would share some of the music that is near and dear to Andy and I as a couple. These are songs that remind me of very special moments and when I hear them always bring a smile to my face.

"Let's Stay Together" - Al Green



Why? Andy use to sing this to me when we were laying in bed together during the early days in our relationship, I don't know why, he would have to expand on why that song always popped to his head.

"Everything" -Michael Buble


Why? Andy claims he sang this the first time he ever met me at Karaoke. I have no recollection of this. Still every time I hear it I think about that.

"Somebody to Love" - Queen


Why? Multiple reasons, I was singing this at karaoke when Andy came in the first night we actually spoke. The day after we got engaged we were driving to Hershey Park, Andy and I had a CD with this song on it and we rocked it out in a duet. Reason three, it was the song I walked down the aisle to, though it was the Vitamin String Quartet version

"Give Me a Kiss" - Van Morrison

There is no video for this song, which makes me sad, but it was the song we danced to at our wedding. Google it. You won't be disappointed, it's awesome.

"Why Don't We Just Dance?" - Josh Turner



Why? It's our life. This song is how we are every day we spend together. We've been known to break out into silly dances to the record player any given night.

So there you have it, this is by no means the complete list of songs, there are millions of them, but these are probably my top five. So what songs remind you of your significant other? What's the reasoning behind that song?

The SalTals Do Disney: Day 4

The last day of our trip was pretty laid back and awesome. We got to meet up with our friends Pat and Beth who were in town to run the Food and Wine  half-marathon, which was the night before. Since they didn't get done with the marathon until around 2AM and were sleeping in, we hit up Hollywood Studios in the morning to walk around a bit and see what we could see. We checked out Jedi training (little kids fighting Darth Vader = adorable) and the Honey I Shrunk the Kids Playground and just kind of walked and relaxed. A little after noon we called up our friends and we met at Downtown Disney and had lunch at Bongos, after catching up for a bit we headed over to Blizzard Beach for a round of mini golf at Winter Summerland. The theme here is that Santa's elves created two courses, one that captured the vacation fun in the sun (Summerland) and one that captured the winter fun (Winter). We opted to play our round through the winter course. There were some signs that were suppose to be clues to do well on the hole and some were, shall we say, a little dirty (or we may just be 12). I'll let you decide:

After mini-golf we parted ways and headed over to the Magic Kingdom to meet my parents for our dinner reservations at Liberty Tree Tavern. We had a scrumptious dinner of turkey, mashed potatoes, rolls, green beans, mac and cheese, and flank steak. It was delicious. We decided to go back to the room for a little bit and then head to Downtown Disney for some ice cream and last minute shopping. It wasn't an eventful last night but it was a nice way to end our trip.

So that's pretty much it from start to finish our Disney trip. Just an FYI after reading this post you may want to go back and take a look at previous posts since I will be adding the pictures into those posts. Regular whatever-comes-to-mind-posting will commence tomorrow.

Newlywed Problem: Couple friends

Before I dive into this post, I first have to say that I am loving my new job. It's been a great few days there and I am so excited that I don't feel like I'm going to work. Never in my entire work life (for the past 10 years) have I had a job where I don't feel like I'm actually working because I enjoy it. Now, I realize it is still pretty early in the game so there is time to get into it a little more a realize that I don't enjoy it. However, when I talk to everyone there and hear how they have been their for years and what a great place it is to work I feel pretty hopeful. Now I will get back to vacation recaps on Monday but today something else came up.

Andy and I have encountered our first dual snag as newlyweds: the friend issue. I'm not talking about him spending too much time with his friends or me spending too much time with mine, I'm talking about not having many friends in our new town in general. First, I will say our situation has a lot to do with it, the fact that we moved to a new city, away from the majority of the people we hang out with has a lot to do with it. However, I think another problem we face is where we are in life, a lot of people we know are in different stages of life than us. There are people with babies, or people that are single and living it up. Which is cool, I love babies and I love to party, but we are somewhat in between all of that. We're newlyweds, not quite ready for babies but we are for sure over the party all the time life. There are a few people very near and dear to us that are great friends, they are also 3 hours away. We are spending a lot of time together, which isn't a bad thing but we both realize that having some friends nearby that we could hang with during the week or just call up to go out with would be great. Problem is that the people we work with aren't really in the same stages as us and other than work there aren't a lot of ways to meet new people. So what to we do? How to we find some peeps to hang out with? We have joined a class (I will get more in depth on that at a later time), which is a start but I know it's going to take some doing to find people that we have stuff in common with and get along with.

Has anyone else had this problem? What did you do to try to rectify it? Any suggestions?

The SalTals Do Disney: Day 3

Day three was glorious because we finally got to sleep in and just kind of chillax in the morning. We had done most of the things on my "Must Do" list so we could take it easy and basically do whatever we felt like. We decide to mosey on through EPCOT because the International Food and Wine Festival was in full swing. Well, that was...uhh, interesting. Let me explain a little first for the Disney novice, EPCOT is broken up into two separete areas, one is Future World where there are attractions focusing on technologies and advances in the future and the other is World Showcase where 11 different countries are represented around a lagoon that you can walk through and see similar architecture, foods, goods, and even people from those countries. During the Food and Wine Festival little stands are set up around the lagoon (this year there were 28 stands) each representing a specific country offering samplings of food and beverage from said country. It's pretty epic, it's also very crowded. It also gets pretty stupid. When people set up drinking teams whose main goal it is is to consume alcohol at every stand, the festival kind of loses it's charm. I don't find people slobbering drunk at 2 in the afternoon that much fun to be around. I'm all for drinking and all that jazz but with kids in strollers nearby and families trying to enjoy their vacation it doesn't seem like the most appropriate venue.

Moving on, we decided to head over to the Boardwalk to catch the boat to Hollywood Studios where we had dinner reservations at 50's Prime Time Cafe. We had a bit of time before we had to be at dinner so we walked around a bit, cruised the shops and tried to ride the new Toy Story Ride but the wait was 70 minutes, yeah, thanks, but no thanks. Dinner was amazing, I had pot roast and my dad was spoon fed at the table by our waiter, ahh, memories. I'm sure some of you are confused, but the premise behind the restaurant is that it's set up like a traditional 50's kitchen. It has old TV sets that play clips from shows at the time and your waiter is some sort of relative (Mom, Dad, Uncle, Cousin etc.). You have to set the table, keep your elbows down and finish your meal if you want dessert. Well, as you can guess my dad didn't finish so our waiter spoon fed him a bit off his plate. It was hilarious, I should have recorded it.

The rest of the night was relaxing and more window shopping downtown.

Up next: Day 4 and some dirty signs.

The SalTals Do Disney: Day 2

Day two at Disney was an early one, like, the-sun-isn't-even-up-yet early, I know some of you out there are thinking why the heck would you do that, you're on vacation, aren't you? Well, we had breakfast reservations at Crystal Palace. For those of you not in the know, Crystal Palace is actually in the Magic Kingdom, which means if your reservations are before the park opens, you get in early and get to see the place basically deserted, it's awesome. Besides the early bird benefits this place has some memories for me, my family goes there for breakfast every visit to Disney, it's tradition. It's also a character breakfast with Pooh and friends so they come around to your table while you eat. Obviously, we started this tradition when my sisters and I were younger and enjoyed that, but I'll tell you a little secret I still do.

So after we had our delicious breakfast (all buffet style, so I had a bit of everything), we headed into the park to check everything out. The benefit of being there so early and being deeper into the park when it opens means no lines. We literally jumped on everything right away. This meant that Magic Kingdom was basically done by noon. Awesome really, but I was at a loss as to what to do the rest of the day. We ended up going to Downtown Disney and having some Ghiradelli ice cream and walking through the shops. After that we had a nice nap/lounge around time at the hotel for an hour or so and then Andy and I headed to Animal Kingdom to check out the park and grab some dinner.

Animal Kingdom had extended hours that day so they were open until 7 instead of 5, it was the perfect amount of time to ride Dinosaur and Expedition Everest. Unfortunately, both rides disagreed with Andy's constitution so he was feeling pretty sick for the rest of the night. After Animal Kingdom, we caught a bus to EPCOT to meet my parents for the fireworks, which was an awesome end to the night.

Up next, day three! EPCOT and Hollywood Studios!!!

The SalTals Do Disney: Day 1

So I'm a day late, that's actually pretty good for me, admit it. Okay, so our vacation was, in my humble opinion, awesome.We had a really great time and I think I have convinced my husband that Disney is not just for children.

The question is where do I start? Probably at the beginning, that seems best. On Thursday morning at the absolutely ass-crack of dawn (there really is no polite way of putting it, seriously it was 3AM) we got up, got ready and headed to the airport. You know it's an early flight when there is no one even at the desk yet to check your bags. So anyway, we're up super early and waiting for our plane at the gate, it's about a half hour until we are scheduled to depart, so I took a Xanax, yeah, I'm a nervous flier. I'm telling you this because it didn't kick in until about a half an hour into the flight, which was a half an hour too long for me because we experienced some turbulence. After nearly breaking Andy's hand I couldn't take it anymore and decide another pill was needed, which means I don't remember too much from Atlanta to Orlando, but it's probably better that way.

We arrived in Orlando about 10:30 and we hit the ground running. I am telling you what, the pills wore off and I was ready to go. We caught a taxi to Universal Islands of Adventure to go check out Harry Potter Land leaving our luggage to be safely delivered to our room at Disney thanks to some very convenient tags. We got to Universal and I was nearly dragging Andy to the back of the park where the Harry Potter portion was located, I had to remember that he had never been there before and we had the time to slow down and take a look at everything.

Fresh off a flight at Suess-Landing

Finally, oh, finally, we were in Hogsmead and it blew my mind. I felt like I was walking into the pages of my favorite story, like someone had taken images from my own mind and created them in reality. I must say, if you are a fan of the movies or books this is just a must see. It was fabulous. We walked the stores and streets just admiring everything, which was really all that I desired to do. I only wanted to ride the ride in Hogwarts which is the only ride we did, thankfully because that was nausea inducing, worth it but we were both very sick afterward. After the ride, we hit up Ollivander's to get my wand, because I am that much of a nerd. That experience was really cool. However, I think that the design engineers behind that idea could have expanded the shop a wee bit and had more than one person handle the wand choosing. As it is right now, you wait (depends on the time of day, we waited about 30 minutes) go into Ollivander's with a group and only one of you gets the wand choosing experience. I think they could have had about 10 stations to do the same thing and let a few more kids have that special experience. (If you are reading this Universal Design Engineer people, please find a way to expand that shop) After Ollivander's we hit up the Three Broomsticks for some yummy lunch, I had roasted chicken and Andy had a Shepard's pie, he sampled the Hog's brew and I had a frozen butterbeer, which was tasty. After that we bought any other little trinkets that we wanted and walked through the rest of the park. We ended up spending probably about 4 hours there total.

 (from top to bottom: Gates of Hogsmead, Hogsmead, Gates of Hogwarts, Hogwarts, Me in a Ravenclaw Robe, Ollivander's Wand Choosing, Zonko's, Three Broomsticks, Me with a tasty butterbeer)

We then hopped in a taxi and took our exhausted selves to our hotel Disney's Port Orleans Riverside Resort. Once we got there all Andy had to do was flash his I.D. and we got our welcome packet and keys and headed to our room, where our suitcases had already been delivered. We then headed to the food court to see my parents for a minute and grab a drink then we decided to take an hour nap and try to catch dinner with them. I'm so glad we had dinner with my parents that night because it was fabulous. They had reservations at Le Cellier Steakhouse in Canada at EPCOT. It was fabulous. I ended up having a fillet  (only the second steak I have ever eaten in my entire life, but it was to die for) with cream cheese mashed potatoes, for dessert a s'mores brownie sundae. Uh-maz-ing!!! Best part, it was basically free because we were on the Disney Dining Plan which was free with our stay at Port Orleans. We scored a major deal with that, and honestly, highly recommend adding and paying for the plan to anyone going to Disney, it's really easy and more than enough food. After that meal, Andy and I were basically ready to pass out, so we headed back to the hotel to crash for the night.

Gosh, writing it all out makes me tired, I have no idea how we did all that. Anywho, I have pictures for all of this but I need to format them into blogger, which always takes time. I'll let you know when I add pictures in, promise.

In other news, I got a job at the library!!! Isn't that fantastic? Now I just need another job and I'll be set, but I'll fill you in on all that later.

Stupid pictures

The vacation post is on hold since all my pictures aren't in blogger form and take forever to load. I'll get on it this weekend, promise.

In the meantime, I have found the coolest website in the world and I am now making a To-Do list for Andy and I that include making us a bed and some outdoor furniture for ourselves. Check it out. I am completely in love and can't wait to make our Farmhouse bed. It's going to be awesome. But first, we must clean out the garage so that we have the space to make this stuff. I'm excited to get my DIY on again, it's been way too long since I've gotten crafty. We're talking pre-wedding, which is almost 6 months ago (where did that time go?). Tell me, how have the rest of you kept the DIY going after the wedding? What projects have you taken on? Fill me in please, I'm dying to do some crafts.

Have a good weekend!!!

Back to reality and news

Ugh, you can bet your bottom I am not happy to be home at this instant. I mean the puppy kisses and cuddles got me through last night but today it's really hitting me, vacation is over, winter is coming, blah, blah, blah. I want to move to Florida. Anywho, vacation was wonderful, it was crazy and very busy but I loved spending time with my parents and my wonderful husband. I don't have pictures loaded yet because I'm not entirely sure how to use Andy's computer (yes, my computer cord has yet to be fixed/replaced) but I promise to get him on it tonight when he gets home.

In other news and good news at that, I left my job. No, seriously, that's fab news. I was having multiple anxiety attacks/crying episodes and both Andy and I were concerned for my emotional well-being. I can't handle that type of customer service. I hate admitting it, but it's true.It takes a very special person to be able to handle the name-calling, criticism, and emotional turmoil that goes on in a position like that, especially when dealing with something as life-affecting as electricity. It was especially difficult for me because I like to be able to help people, I like to assist and please people, I like to do good in other people's life, and my skin isn't very thick, I tend to take things personally. I couldn't do that at my job, at least not in a capacity that made me feel good. Now don't freak out and think I was a complete idiot, I didn't leave without a safety net. I had an interview for a part-time position last week and was basically told that barring any adverse information found in my background check I could start in two weeks. I do feel like I am jumping the gun a little bit because I don't actually "have" the job, but Andy and I both felt comfortable enough with the information we were given Thursday for me to stop my current job and wait for this other job to start. In the meantime I will continue looking for another job either full or part-time and hope for the best. Wish me luck peeps!

I promise to post pictures and a detailed description of vay-cay tomorrow!

Good vibrations

I could use some today, just some prayers, happy thoughts and general good vibes. Something good may be happening in the Tal household, I just don't want to get my hopes up yet. Trust me if it happens, you'll know. You'll hear my screaming from the rooftops no matter where you live.

P.S. Vacation in 2 days, so freaking excited! Trust me I'll post lots of pics!

P.P.S Does anyone else do this whole Twitter nonsense? I don't get the hype.

Just in case

I am a planner. I don't know if I always have been, I would have to ask my Mom if I packed band-aids and triple antibiotic ointment in my Minnie Mouse backpack. Which, come to think of it she mentioned not to long ago (no, not band-aids and ointment, that was a joke)that I am like my Dad, who coincidentally likes to plan things out as well. He is the organization king that I aspire to be. Anyhow, I can say that I have known that I was a planner since my late teens. I like structure, I like being prepared, I like knowing what to expect. That is me...my husband, however, is a go-with-the-flow-fly-by-the-seat-of-his-pants guy. He seriously loves to just live minute to minute without any expectations for the day. It use to drive me crazy and I use to drive him crazy. I say "use to" because I think my husband has started to accept that being prepared isn't always a bad thing and I have learned to loosen up a little.  I have learned that living in the moment is a lot more enjoyable and Andy has in turn seen that a little planning can go a long way.

I mention this because I'm sitting here before work looking up details on wait times at Universal Studios and Disney in hopes that we might not waste our precious vacation time in line. I have also already shopped for sunscreen, got our suitcases out of storage and made a packing list for myself. Meanwhile, Andy is well Andy and not getting at all ahead of himself. I don't even think he's excited we're going yet because there are 3 more working days ahead of us (after today of course). It's good though because once we get there, he will remind me to live in the moment, appreciate the fact we're on vacation and remind me to relax and soak it up. It's nice that I married a guy who balances me out.

Any other newlyweds have opposite attitudes or personality traits? What are they? Do they balance each other out or do they drive you both crazy?

Sad panda

Sad news everyone, my tattoos will not be done today. My artist had to reschedule and unfortunately if I don't get them done today the tattoos might not be healed in time to go to Florida, which would make for a very uncomfortable vacation. I am a little sad and frustrated by this but I was having some doubts about these tattoos (not the tattoos themselves but the placement of them) so maybe it's good that I will have a little more time to think about it. I am hoping to get it rescheduled for after vacation so we will have to see. In the meantime I am going to enjoy my day off and take care of my sick husband who has a cold. Have a great weekend everyone!

Exploring our new digs

We have lived in Columbus for a little over two months and we have yet to really explore the area. It seems like every weekend we have a family engagement or something planned but we have made strides to see a few places in the area, let me share.

See the last weekend of July was my birthday weekend and I wanted to do a little exploring and find something fun to do so I suggested the Columbus Zoo. One we got there we noticed that memberships were not all that expensive for two people so we bought a membership that last for a year from the date of purchase.  It was a great choice because we have already been twice and plan on going again when the weather is a bit crisper and then around Christmas when they deck the place out in Christmas lights. Not only does the membership cover our admission but also our parking (score!) so the thing has practically paid for itself. Plus the zoo is seriously award winningly awesome, the exhibits are great, it's huge, it's just a great all around zoo. If you are ever in the area, check it out for sure.

The only other area we have really checked out in Columbus is the outdoor mall, Easton which I happen to love to go to take a stroll through, though that may change when the weather turns cooler. It's just a huge outdoor space to take a nice walk and check out a few shops, though it can get a bit crowded at times.

We did take the pups hiking two weeks ago in Hocking Hills, which is only about a hour from our house. It's like the Smokey Mountains of Ohio. That was an awesome day trip for us, some great trails and beautiful scenery. I imagine that there will be many future trips there as well, maybe even a romantic weekend getaway to one of the many cabins.

I do hope we get out a bit more to check out our new city and that I can share it with you all a little more. Hope you all have a great day and I will post again soon.

My nerdy-ness shines through

I'm not completely sure if I ever really let everyone in on the geekery that takes place in our household. Andy is a certified geek through and through, he had a stack of magic cards, played World of Warcraft for a long time, knows the Lord of the Rings movies by heart, all theses things I find adorable and I love about him. I am semi-geek as well Andy says I am more of a nerd, and there is a difference I promise you. Call a geek a nerd and you'll be sorry, in the sense that you'll be lectured on the subtle complex differences of each label (which is BORING). However, I digress. My biggest geek/nerd weakness? Reading, I could stay at home all day and just read and read and read until my eyesight goes bad. Now I know many of you might think, reading, big deal, that doesn't make you a geek. I agree. It is my favorite books series that places me in the nerd category. The fact that I lined up to buy the last couple of books when they were released, I have and will go to future movie releases at midnight to see it on the big screen, and I can lay down trivia about this series like it's nobody's business. I have read this series multiple times, cried when characters have died and gave myself headaches to finish books in mere hours. It is a book series I love so much I am permanently placing a reminder of it in my skin.

Things my dogs have taught me

Since getting Murphy I have learned quite a few valuable lessons about myself, running our household and life itself. I guess Pepper had taught be a few things previously but she was just...easy...that's the right word, she was an easy dog. There were some rough moments in the beginning but she was almost a year old when I found her most of the puppy behavior was out of her system. Except for chewing, like when she chewed on every dining table leg on my parent's formal dining table. Hey, I said we had a few rough moments. But Murphy is a whole 'nother can of worms. I'll be honest, I have never had a puppy, at least not one since I have been out of my parents house. And let's be honest, when you have a team of 5 people taking shifts taking the pup out and watching him, it's a smidgen easier. So what have I learned exactly, you might ask? Well here's a little list for you.

1. Two dogs are better than one in the sense that they entertain each other...growling and wrestling all over the living room while you try to watch TV.
2. Having animals is like parent boot camp, especially puppies, these little stinkers need to be fed, put down for naps, the house needs to be puppy-proofed (see number 4), they need entertained and generally take up a great deal of your time. I can honestly say, I do not want children for a few years after having Murphy.
3. Medical care is of the highest importance. The dogs have been to the vet more in the last 2 months than I have been to the doctor in the last year.
4. Keeping a clean house is vitally important...because you never know what your puppy might find, like q-tips, your laptop charging cord, your shoes (keep in mind most of these things were not in obvious reachable places)
5. My puppy loves me. How do I know? Because he has taken a liking to ALL of my delicates. No matter where they are he somehow finds my bras and underwear. Although I have to admit when he runs into the living room with my bra, Andy's laughing and "That's my boy." statements make me giggle.

That's about all I've got for now. I'll post again after I get a new laptop cord and can post on my own computer again. In the meantime maybe Andy will grace us with his presence with some profound post.

Life is busy...

scratch that...life is crazy. This weekend right now, is literally our only free weekend between now and our vacation at the end of the month, hell,  it's basically been the only weekend we've had free since we moved here. It's crazy, I just don't get it. It's like we got married and suddenly we have no free time. What is this nonsense??? Then, there are the week days, obviously we both have jobs during the week which means my free time is scant. When I do get some free time, I really don't want to get on the computer. It's what I do all day at work. I admit I miss blogging, it's cathardic, it's fun, I like writing, but when it comes down to facing another computer screen after a 12 hour day (yes, seriously, that's been the kinds of days I have had) I just don't want to do it. I think you all can understand. Hopefully, this job is only temporary and I will have one that doesn't place me in a dark nook in front of a computer for hours on end. Ugh. Okay, enough about work. Happy thoughts.

We got on our trip to Florida in just a few short weeks, 25 days to be exact. I'm stoked. We're going to Harry Potter land and Disney World. It will be great to spend five days with my husband and some time with my parents, who will be there at the same time as us. This trip is what gets me through my days at work, I don't know what will happen after the trip is over. I guess we will have to plan something else to look forward to!

Anywho, I wanted you all to know I'm not dead, just crazy busy. I think of you all often, I promise to try to write again soon!

Some updates and jibberish

Update number One: I have learned that puppies are like babies, little furry babies, with sharp little teeth. Having Murphy the past week and a half has really been an adventure. He wakes us up at night, we have to clean up after him, we have to deal with sibling rivalry as Murphy tends to draw our attention, we need to feed him several times a day and put him down for naps. If I was being honest with myself I would admit that we probably should have waited another couple weeks to bring him home, so we could get more settled into our house but c'est la vie!

Update Number Two: My job which I guess I never really did say what it is. I'm working for American Electric Power in one of their customer solutions centers. Doing exactly what it sounds like, providing solutions for customers when they call. I'm going to level with everyone and admit it isn't the job I ever thought I would have after college, but it got us down here to Columbus and it provides a pay check. I want to be upfront and say that I am grateful to have a job at all. I really am, especially one that I find it interesting. But honestly, I know that it isn't something I want to do forever. The people that call in are, well, not all pleasant. When you think about it, it makes sense because generally you never really call your electric company when something is going well. I know some people would really enjoy that kind of environment for work but it really isn't my cup of tea. I'll stay as long as I don't have an offer else where but I'm going to level with all you some more and admit I've already been looking elsewhere. However, the really nice thing is that now I can be a bit more selective, the presure is off, and I don't have to worry if I get called for an interview or not.

As for Andy's job, I'll let him fill you in on that.

Update number three: We still aren't settled in our house. Yes, really. It's actually driving me a bit crazy. We have boxes and stuff everywhere, but Andy and I are so tired at the end of the work day that we just kind of make dinner and chill. Then on the weekends we want to explore our new surroundings so nothing gets done. Well I had a fantastic idea, I decided that we should have a housewarming party on the 21st, so basically we have two weeks to get this house in order enough to have a bunch of people over, meaning basically the lower level of the house needs to be pretty, along with the yard and deck.

One of the biggest problems I think we have is that our living room is kind of in limbo. We have DVD racks to hang on the wall but we also have an entertainment center that would fit everything in it. However, this entertainment center won't fit a larger size TV which we plan to get in a few months. So we are kind of at a loss, should we put up the entertainment center for a few months and have everything in that? Should we hang the DVD racks and leave the TV on a coffee table like it is? I'm not sure.

Like I said, the house is driving me crazy.

I don't have much more for now, I do have some funny Murphy stories to share but I kind of want to compile them into one post.

Tune in soon, I'm going to put pictures of the house up soon.

Adventures in Babysitting

Does anyone remember that movie? Anywho...

Andy and I recently had the opportunity to babysit our little nephew this past Friday night and I have to say it was awesome. Yes, it was hard and it was exhausting but it was really great to see Andy in action with a baby and get an idea of what he will be like with our kids. I have to say as well that we may have not had a realistic idea of handing a baby because our nephew is such a good baby. Really, I mean he hardly cried at all the entire night.

Look at that little guy, how adorable is he?

The problems arose were more because of the puppy than because of the nephew. It was really difficult to manage the baby and the puppy at the same time, between diapers and bottles and taking the puppy out and accidents, we had our hands full. It was a learning experience for sure, we both know that we are not ready for kids any time soon. Being newlyweds with a puppy is enough for now, but we will definitely be willing and ready to babysit the little guy whenever bro and sis-in-law need someone.

Has anyone else had a chance to babysitas a newlywed? Did it make you want kids more or want to wait?

Savoring it

I'm sorry, (I know I have been saying that a lot lately) but I have been eating up the time with my family lately. Between working, moving, and trying to get settled there hasn't been enough time with my husband or our kids. Especially the newest edition, that's right folks, meet Murphy:

To give you an idea of his size Izzy the cat is only 6 pounds. Yeah, he's tiny. How could you not want to spend time with that little guy? It has been a bit crazy around here, between Murphy and Pepper wrestling around the living room and all the boxes filled with crap we're trying to find homes for, I barely get any time to do the things I want to do, like blog.

I have to admit, I took a lot of stuff for granted when I was unemployed. Like all the time I had to do the things I needed or wanted to do. If I ever wanted to see my friends or family I could do it whenever I wanted, if I needed to clean the house I could do it while Andy was at work and then he and I could relax together at night. Even when I was in school last year I still had a lot of time to do what I wanted and needed to do. Don't get me wrong, I am so grateful to have a job and be contributing financially, it's just taking some getting use to. I promise to try to blog more, I'm starting to get a hang of this whole time budgeting thing, it's just taken some adjusting. Come back soon. I promise to fill you in on the move and more pictures of Murphy.

A letter to my husband

Okay folks, I'm warning you now, I'm about to get sappy. So if you are in the mood for some cheese, grab a bottle of wine and read on, if not, take a hike and try back next time (I'll still <3 you, promise).

Dear Andy,

This is it. The final two days we will ever have to be seperated. Finally, the unannounced trips, the drives to the airport, the late night phone dates, are coming to an end. Our dreams are coming true, we got married, we have moved into a beautiful house that we are working to make into a home, we are expanding our family, we have jobs, we are living the life we had always talked about. It wasn't easy, we have worked our asses off to get to this point. There were fights, tears, endless talks, hard times, scary times, sad times, and I'll admit there were times I thought we would never get out of the rut our lives were in. There were moments that I never thought that we would see this day. Let me tell you, all those moments make the coming days that much sweeter. I want you to know that you are my rock, as corny as that sounds, and I want you to know that we wouldn't be where we are if it weren't for your encouragement and never-failing optimism. We make a great team and I am so happy that we get to take this journey together. I want you to know I love you so much and I can't wait to see where this journey leads us.

Love forever and always,
Your wife, friend and partner

" I've missed you, I've missed you all...

...I had a dream about you in Copenhagen, you were there and you and you." Sorry, any chance for a Gilmore Girl quote.

I have internets again!!! Everybody say YAY!!! I think it's going to take a little time to get back on a blogger schedule but I wanted everyone to know I am alive, I just didn't get the internet back until last night. We are still moving a lot of our stuff in so I need to be a good wifey and unpack and nest a bit, but I hope that by the middle of next week I can update everyone on our move and my new job!

And FYI, I really did miss blogging. I've gotten used to it plus there are my loyal readers that leave me comments and make me feel happy, you guys totally rock my socks!

I'll be back, very soon. Promise.

The Crazies

Not the movie. It's what I am currently feeling at the moment. A side note/disclaimer: The only reason I even feel okay posting right now is because at this very moment I'm doing laundry, washing a load of dishes and also getting in touch with potential homes for us to rent. Talk about multi-tasking.

Anyway, I am feeling the full-on crazies at the moment, there is just so much to get done and I start my new job in less than a week. We need to pack the entire apartment, I still need new identification with my new name (note to other newlyweds changing your name, don't put it off!), also to order my new credit/debt cards, oh and the kicker is we still are in need of a place to live. Haha, so yeah, as you can tell life is fairly crazy at the moment. Don't get me wrong, I am happy and excited about this move, but I am also a bundle of stress, nerves, and tension. I'm scared to death of moving away from my family and friends, but I am more afraid of staying here and not having a job. I'm worried about Andy and how this is affecting him, I'm worried about myself and how this will affect me. I have felt a hundred different things over the last few days since we found out and I'm sure I'll continue to feel those things. It's hard, every day the realization washes over me that next week I won't be living here anymore. That is just so mind boggling to me. It's this huge life-altering thing that we are doing and it's happening so fast. I guess I just haven't had time to fully process it and I don't know if I will have the time between now and next week. Gah. Crazy. I know it's our choice but it is happening so quickly.

Have any of you other newlyweds had some life-altering changes come at you fast? How did you process or deal?

It's Facebook Official

You know we mean buisness when something goes on Facebook, we are officially moving. That's right, both (yes, BOTH) our job offers came through in Columbus. I start in just over a week (!!!) while we aren't quite positive when Andy starts. More than likely we will have to be seperated for a few weeks while I work and we manage a move, sad panda, but both of us working means we get to do and have the things we want, like renting a house and Murphy. We are both so pumped, happy, stressed, worried, and a million different emotions and mostly we are overjoyed. I can't wait to share our stories with you, it's going to make for some interesting blogging. If posting ends up being lighter than usually over the next few weeks I appologize ahead of time, but I promise as soon as we are settled in our new place we will both be back at it.

Yay? Blah?

I left you all in suspense last Saturday by telling you we had some big exciting things on the horizon but I never got down to the specifics. I was waiting to something concrete to be heard before I said anything but it's taking a little longer than expected and I'm getting impatient. This last week both Andy and I had interviews in our temporary location. We are both really excited but we haven't heard anything yet, so we will see. We are both hoping that it turns out the way we would like but we have to wait and see. I was really hoping that we would know by today so we could celebrate all weekend long (or spend the weekend recovering from the disappointment if that's the way it goes). But alas, we don't know, we can only hope and pray. So wish us luck y'all and have a very happy and safe 4th of July weekend!