once upon a time

 

I just love Taylor Swift.

Not only does she make amazing music that virtually any teenage girl (or older!) can relate to, she is also not your typical basket-case teenage celebrity. She doesn’t drown herself in alcohol or throw herself all over every person with a Y chromosome. She doesn’t pose naked on magazine covers for thousands of dollars or turn to drugs when things don’t go her way. She is as normal as she can be considering her job. She is a good role model. She is also honest, raw, and down to earth. Another awesome quality: she is kind of nerdy, which I love.

I watched her youtube video of the CMA nominee announcements, where she found out she was nominated for five awards. In sweatpants. With her dog. Broadcasting her excitement for all the other nominees, not just herself. It is rare to find a nineteen year old with her charisma, modesty, and talent.

Her music is really good, too. She’s got a great voice, real lyrics, and stories that real teenage girls can relate to. (If only she were around when I was in high school…)

So, I was pretty happy when she won Female Vocalist of the Year…and three other awards. I think she deserves it. She’s had a HUGE year.

When she won Entertainer of the Year? I cried. This is a girl, just like any of us, who had a dream of making music. In the process of becoming a music superstar she has touched millions of lives with her real-life songs, and she’s an amazing role model at the same time. She just looked truly surprised, honored, excited…everything. I think it’s awesome that she giggles on stage and shows her excitement…look at what she just won! She deserves it.

 

Besides, it’s about time Kenny Chesney stopped winning the award.

 

and i think to myself, what a wonderful world

After this weekend, I may or may not have wedding fever.

Jenny & Stephen’s wedding was absolutely beautiful. My mom and I kept saying to each other the entire night “I have never seen a couple look so happy!” “I have never seen a couple so in love!” Really, it makes a wedding that much more special when you can look into their eyes and just know that it’s the stuff fairytales are made of. (Of course, this is even more of a reason why Disney was the perfect place for their honeymoon). I don’t know if anything has ever made me happier than to be able to send them to Disney. I’ve been so excited for them to go ever since we booked it, and all day today I was thinking about them. I looked at the clock at 10:30 – they’re landing now! 12:30 rolled around and I wondered if they’d made it to the resort. I wonder if they are in Epcot yet, I thought at 3:30. Maybe it’s because I LOVE Disney…I’ve just been bursting with happiness all.freaking.day for them. I cannot wait to hear all about it and see their pictures.

The happy couple

Cousins xo

My very own future-husband xo

There is nothing happier than love. Or weddings. Or maybe even wedding planning…which is something that is making it VERY hard to concentrate on my last semester of school. A fifty page paper due in less than a month? A paper due Thursday? Two group projects due in two weeks? A quiz tomorrow? Pshhh… clearly they are all much less important on my to-do list than reading my wedding books!

P.S. I’m 5.4 lbs lighter than I was two weeks ago! Go me : )

and dance forever

Right before John and I got engaged, the infamous youtube video started circulating.

We got engaged two days after I saw the video for the first time. That week, he saw the video for the first time and promptly shut down any ideas I may or may not have had about dancing down the aisle at our wedding.

I still realllllly love that video though.

I’m really glad I am graduating in December because it is almost impossible to concentrate on schoolwork when I could be reading a bridal magazine or spending hours on theknot.com making my wedding website or looking at favors or centerpieces.

Not to mention that I have spent countless hours throughout my entire college education procrastinating by looking at wedding dresses online.

There are soooo many pretty dresses, how do you pick just one??

Pumpkintown, USA

Ryan and me with Barack Gourdama. ; )

“This one is my size!”

Ryan and Uncle Johnny visit Jail!

Ryan goes for a ride with some pumpkin-kids!

“I don’t want sprinkles!”
What little boy doesn’t want sprinkled donuts?? ; )

hello autumn

I dislike how quickly fall goes by. It smells wonderful outside, and the trees are the prettiest colors.

Tomorrow, John and I are taking his youngest nephew Ryan to Pumpkintown, USA. It’s a cute little park for kids with pumpkin people and hay bales and yummy apples and other autumn goodies. Friday night we are taking him to the fair while the older boys are at the Trail of Terror. I love fall fairs…the smell, the midway, the crafts. I really want to go to Gilette Castle too, since this is the last weekend of the season. Hopefully we can squeeze it in on Saturday or Sunday.

Marley is growing too fast, but he gets cuter everyday. He is teething and my hands have the marks to prove it, but I don’t mind. Milo had to go to the vet last week and we found out he had a viral infection via an ulcer in his mouth – his meow sounded awful, like he had a cat version of strep throat or something. He is on anti-histamines twice a day until Friday. He’s not happy about taking them, but he sounds ten times better.

John turned 26 yesterday. I had his family over for taco salad and birthday cake, all made by yours truly. I will post pictures when I get around to putting them on my computer. I’m so proud of who he is and al that he’s done in his 26 years. I loved making his cake, too. I felt like a true (almost) wife.

the happier me

I’ve decided.

School is ending soon (!!!). I’m getting married soon – or not so soon, depends on how you see 20 months.

I’ve always struggled with eating, at least since I developed an eating disorder in 2003.

I’ve always “dieted” and given up.

I’ve always worked out for a few months, only to give up.

Not anymore.

I started another blog, one to motivate myself to eat healthier, lose weight, exercise regularly, and overall, to be happier. To find peace with myself, my body, and the way I eat. I’m tired of feeling guilty after eating anything. I’m tired of feeling guilty for not going to the gym (even though I know I have a legitimate excuse right now – who can fit in the gym on top of working full time and going to school full time??).

I’m ready for a change. Now that I’m on my own, I have control over what I eat and how I eat it. It’s time for me to put myself first and just DO this.

I made the new blog private because there are a couple people in my life that I would rather not read it. If you want to read it, just let me know and I’ll add you to the list. I am pretty sure you need a wordpress user name, but it’s free and easy. If you’d like to try to find a happier you too, the more the merrier!

www.thehappierme.wordpress.com

ways to make homework more enjoyable:

Let your kitten do it for you.

Bless Our Home

As promised, here are some pictures of our apartment!

The den, aka Milo and Marley’s room…my desk/school things, cat food & water, and other miscellaneous stuff that doesn’t belong in any of the other rooms.
Some of John’s military awards, they hang in the den because it’s the only place where the cats cannot jump up to knock it all down!

Our living room. I love our sofas, they are so amazingly comfy. We are working on getting some art and/or photos to hang on the wall behind the sofa. Notice the basket next to the fireplace…it has all my wedding magazines in it! : )

This is looking out from the den. I love the deacon’s bench that John’s sister gave us, and I had to get a picture of the mugs hanging from over the sink…John slaved over that for an hour one afternoon.

Our tiny kitchen! It’s apple themed. I am starting to love my dishwasher, even though I swore I would never use it after having grown up without one. They are lovely though. : )

Looking out from the kitchen into the dining room. A lot of my snowglobes are on display in the hutch…don’t mind the pile of clothes on our table! ; )

Our lovely laundry room / pantry! Overflow food gets stored in here, and I absolutely love having a washer and dryer in our apartment. So convenient!

Our bedroom. The bed is new, and oh so comfy. I can’t decide if I like that or the sofas better. The armoire is beautiful, but I was afraid the guys wouldn’t be able to get it up to our floor…heavy! We need nightstands for this room…and things to hang on the wall.

I love this picture.

And this one too. Sleeping kitties are just the best, aren’t they?

We are so happy here.

home sweet home

We have been in our new place for almost two weeks now. It’s starting to feel like home, walking in the door and seeing my two little guys (or in Milo’s case, big guy) running to see who it is and knowing that I get to spend every night with my best friend.

Have you ever had a moment where you realize that everything in your life is just about perfect? I had one of those moments today. It was a crappy day at work, I was still feeling pretty sore from the unexpected trip the the ER Sunday night, and I wasn’t looking forward to class tonight…but I had this feeling come over me that despite it all, my life was perfect. I can’t tell you how much I love seeing John come through the door at the end of the work day, knowing that I get to cook him dinner and cuddle with him on the couch all night.

We have our newest addition, little Marley, a 10 week old orange kitten who is absolutely fabulous. He plays hard, runs hard, eats a lot, and sleeps like a rock. He is the most precious kitten ever, and I just love him to pieces. He’s become fast friends with Milo, despite thinking that he can nurse off Milo sometimes. They run around our little apartment like crazies, and then collapse on the couch for a two hour nap. It’s so cute to see Marley bounce after Milo wherever he goes…because he doesn’t walk yet, he does that kitten-bounce. So cute.

I got accepted to graduate school last week and was offered an internship that would completely pay for my tuition. I was so excited; the school was my top choice and I’ve been so excited about the prospect of going there…but I think I’m going to have to turn both down. I cannot afford to do the internship and not work, and I cannot afford the tuition without the internship. Talk about a double edged sword. I hate this crappy economy. So, the new plan is to graduate in December and take some time off to save money and hopefully start graduate school at a less expensive school next fall. We’ll see how it goes.

I am going to a bridal expo this Sunday with my mom and grandma. I am very excited, not that we are doing any real planning at this point. We’ve got our venue booked (the Barn at Wesleyan Hills – check it out here) for June 4, 2011. I’m hoping to talk to a photographer that I want soon, and maybe book the DJ also. I think I’m going to wait until school is finished to do anything further, just because I want to enjoy it all and clearly, I can’t do that while trying to write my 50 page thesis paper for graduation.

Also when school is finished…I really want to try the 30 Day Shred again. I haven’t gained or lost any weight since like July, but I really want to just do the 30 days. Has anyone actually done it??

I will post pictures of the apartment once I take some good ones!

it’s been a while

Summer of 2009?

I have no idea where it went. I worked full time. But other than that…I really dont know what I did everyday. The last three months have really flown by.

Oh, I got engaged. (!!!!) John proposed on our 2 year anniversary. It was adorable and perfect and I almost started crying, but I held it together. I will write all about it later — I need to ease my way back into writing. Ha, that is pathetic!

We are moving in together in fifteen days.

I start school in twelve days.

I have a lot to do in the next week and a half!

Here’s a recap of my summer!

Went to see my godmother get married!

Went to the beach a few times with the nephews!

GOT ENGAGED!