Day 3

So author John Gray (author of Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus) says that the book that I got should be required reading for every bride. So far the book brings up some excellent points. I almost feel like a student though & want to take notes. I guess you can tell that I crave structure even when school is out for summer? :))

Anyway, I am still at the beginning of the book, talking about the bride's innner turmoil. It actually isn't as bad as the chapter's title suggests. It's just saying that there is a lot that no one has the heart to tell the bride & to be prepared for the impending change coming my way. This chapter brings up 3 good points like believing you can be happy in a marriage (like don't fall victim to all the naysayers that say that marriage is a farce) Then there is challenging conventional thinking (like try not to look at marriage as this instutionalized set of expectations)
Finally, it says to make your own marriage up as you go along (that there are many marriages that are just as zany & liberating as single life---but as just as devoted & committed)

Anyway, today I'm not doing a ton of research on the web, as I'm still trying to move my things in to my new digs. (well kinda new) As a resident, I am trying to orkganize all of our things. We aren't very good at organizing---but when I have some time over summer break----I get better each year. The problem is---I only do this type of house cleaning like once a year :(

Day 2

So I'm only on day 2 & I don't possibly know jhow I am going to be able to keep this up AND plan a wedding at the same time. Went home yesterday to Louisville & talked to mom about it. She has already started buying magazines. How cute is that? However, I can't help but get a little more overwhelmed about planning 3 major events: wedding in FL, honeymoon in undetermined area, & a reception. I have gained advice from others from co workers today at lunch that sugggest that giving your mom some responsibilities for the reception is a good way to start. Therefore, during summer break when I go home to cut grass at the house I will have a weekly meeting with mom about htis very thing: the reception!!! What a daunting task within itself!!

Day 1

I know that these blogs are all going to be from the same day, but I actuially started the process a couple of days ago so I am catching up. I am reading the follwing book, "What No One Tells the Bride: Surving the wedding, second thoughts, wedding cake freezer burn, becoming your mother, screaming about money, maintaining your identity, AND being blissfully happy despite it all."
Now that's amouth full. However, I bought 2 other wedding books as well. I figure if I'm gonna go ahead & do this----then I might as well jump in with both feet. I am now reading the chapter entitled, "Love's identity crisis: The Modern Bride's Inner Turmoil. Personally, this is not a good way to start a book. In fact, it seems a little frightening that there might be turmoil ahead in my life.......hee hee. I guess thats what I get when I buy a book titled ----"What No one Tells the Bride". I am very intriguiged about this upcoming turmoil???? I will update as soon as I find out what my inner turmoil could possibly be. :) As you might be able to tell, I'm not taking all of this stuff too seriously

Long Time, no talk

It never fails. Every couple of summers I inevitably go back to bloggiong & trying to journal. This year is no exception. I get a summer off of work & have to try to process everything that has happened in the previous school year! Instead of doing that, I am going to try to blog about the engagement & marriage process. I loved that movie called "Julie & Julia", & thought it would be something that would force me to journal on at least a weekly basis. While writing for 365 total days seems like a daunting task, I think I am up to the challenge. I am sure there will be many days that I will be unable to do this----but I am going to try my best nonetheless. I definitely know that I can do it for the whole entirety of the summer! So.........while I know that no one will read my useless ramblings about planning an event a year out......I will know that I completed this goal, right??

In the world of Facebook, I feel like I read abiout the lives of others in snipits, captions, & sentences. I want to get away from that for awhile. I have so much to say-----but never in a witty, quick-witted sentence that comes in the form of a status update. Instead, I would like to look at this blog a year from now----looking at an accomplishment. Of course, this is totally self-serving & I know this----but it's also my own blog, right? Blogs for the most part are self-serving in their own right by nature so-------here goes.

Catching Up

Since last blogging, a lot has happened. Here are some highlights:

February
This is the 1st year in a lot of years that I actually celebreated the Valentine's Day holiday by doing something other then drinking myself into a stupor with girlfriends. Instead, Tim took my to a special Valentine's Day Couples meal at The Melting Pot. It was very romantic, & restored my faith a little in the Hallmark holiday.

This month I also started a class that was offered through IUS to learn about educating second language learners. Since my school is a magnet school for this, I took the class on Saturdays. The class actually paid teachers to come to it through a grant that was offered. This month I started the class in an effiort to not have to get a summer job.

March
We were actually off several days for school due to snow. Yep, snow in March.
For Spring Break I went to New Orleans.

April
This was a fast month. For my birthday, I went out to eat at Kabuto, one of my fave places to eat in Indy and a party afterwards. The rest of the weekends in April were spent on chores at Tim's place and getting the loat ready for boat season.

1st Week off of School

I feel like a huge weight has been lifted off of me. I have been completely unhealthy the last couple of weeks as I was tieing up loose ends & ending up the school year. I can't tell you the last time that I excersised. I have been eating terribly. I have been drinking too much over the weekends.

It is a time of complete stress every year for me when I approach the last 2 weeks of school. I am completely overwhelmed, & it is hard to complain to others that are not in the teaching field exactly why it is so stressful---because the answer always is, "well you're off for the summer so I don't feel sorry for you." type of answer.

The fact of the matter is that there is a lot of paperwork associated with the end of the year. There is a lot of organizing . (something I continually struggle with) There is a lot of details to cover, & I am not a detailed person. I came home every night last week & went to sleep by 9:30. I never do that. I know how I act when I am completely stressed out--- & I am a sleeper. That is how I deal with stress. I promise that next year I will get more prepared for the last two weeks of school. I know that I say this year after school year, but I really mean it. I can already tell a difference from the first year that I was teaching; I get a little better at it each year.

Anyway, this is my 3rd day off of school. Yesterday I went to the track with a buynch of people from work & had a good time. I didn't win very much, but I only lost $12.00, so the day wasn't a complete loss. It was just fun to do things with people from work. The day before I got all of my laundry done. there is something so comforting in knowing that all the laundry is done.......

Today is my first day to really play on the computer a bit. I always seem to have to blog & journal on my first week off of school. It's like my mind needs to process everything so I can go on to the next chapter of the summer. I am definitely noticing patterns of the summer. I have been off enough summers now to know what I like to do & how I like to spend my time off.

Today

Today I have a couple of things that I need to get done before Tim gets home from work. I need to go get stamps. I need to find a place to work out up here half of the week. I am also trying to help him redo his kitchn. It's so nice to have the freedom to go back & forth from Indy to Louisville now & not be stressed out about it. It was sucking my will to live there for a second.

Summer Goals

This summer I have a couple of goals that I want to accomplish & have already gotten started on them:
1) Redo Tim's place
I want to try to get the wallpaer off of every room in his house. There are three rooms to tackle. I am hoping to have all three done by July 4th. This seems to be the time of the summer when I start to get tired of working on projects.

2) Work on my backyard
I have a wonderful backyard that was in impeccable shape when I got the house last year. I have had the place for almost a year & there are a lot of projects back there that I need to perfect. I definitely need to get some weeding done & find out a little more about the variety of landscaping that I have back there.

3) Spend time with my family
This past yeqar I have spent a lot of my extra time with Tim. Understandably so, since we were in a long distance realtionship. Thererfore, thsi summer I am going to make an extra effort to do a ton of stuff with tthe kids. Natty will be in 4th grade & Jack will tackel 1st grade next year. 1st ghrasde is such a hard but learning year. Heather will have her hands full next year. Heather has settled into the empty nest syndrome this past year incedibly well, so I am sure that she is up to Jack's challenge. At any rate, I definitely need some family time with everyone!

4) Exercise & lose weight
This is always at the top of my list for over the summer. Last summer I kinda fell off the band wagon after meeting Tim. My goal this year is to excersise off all of the alcohol that I consume. Getting older is changing the way that I gain weight & extra beer calories do nothing for me except yearn for younger days.

Gators

Before we went on the cruise, we spent a couple of days with Tim's dad & step mom in North Port, FL. They live in a community that supports local wildlife. Directly outside of their home was a pond that featured animals such as snapping turtles & gators. Here is a shot of a little guy that was literally right outsidetheir patio. Every morning became "gator watch" (amongst being waited on hand & foot while down there)

Shots

This lady came around with shots & was relentless. However, it was worth the money for the pics that came out of them.

Cozumel-Thursday

I know that this thing is out of order. I had the Cozumel pics uploaded, & then it punked out. Anyway,Cozumel was a fun time. We started the rainy day out at Fat Tuesdays for a drink. Then we did some shopping. Bought t-shirts, tequila, cigars,magnets, & jewelry. Finally,we went to Senor Frogs & finished out the rest of the day there. We danced the afternoon away by doing shots & buyng yards of margartitas.(yes, yards) It was a lot of fun.Enclosed are how some of the shots went down.............

Rock City

Okay, so we totally were not ready to give up on vacation.Therefore, we stopped in Atlanta for the night on the way back after we departed the ship. On the way back from Atlanta, we kept seeing signs for Chatanooga, introducing us to some "Rock City". At this so called Rock City---there was an attraction called Ruby Falls. Ruby Falls is this waterfall underground in this cave. Anyhow, it was a good side trip to take on the way back, & gave us time to stretch our legs during our long voyage back to Indiana.

Grand Cayman-Wednesday

Today was so much fun!!! I have plenty to write about. First, we started the day walking 7 Mile Beach. As you can tell from the pics, the beach was glorious!! Everyone had told us how clean/wonderful it was---but it's definitely better in person.
Next, we went to Margaritaville before getting back on the boat. We had a blast there. They had a water slide at this one. It was way different than the Indy location. We grabbed a few drinks there, listened to the cool bartender tell us stories, & then took free tequila shots.

Lastly, we had to take a ferry (tender boat?)back to the ship. A storm rolled in just as we were boarding the boat to get back on the ship. The waves were so high that we were on the boat for 2 & 1/2 hours. We had to go to the other side of the island & have the actual cruise ship come & get us. Talk about high adventure. Woohoo!!!

Finally, the evening was spent with more adventure. It seems as if we were riding right into a storm. They put steel windows over our windows, as not to have the waves crash the windows. It felt like being on a rollercaoster. Ordinarily, I wouldhave beenlike the otherhalf of the boat puking my brains out.Instead, Tim bought me these pressure point wrist bands from the gift shop that kept me from barfing all night. I was none the wiser & ralphed none.....

Ship Day-Tuesday

Today was spent on the ship doing a couple of things:

1) Realizing that even cruises have happy hours. However, they try to get ya. The happy hour is 9-12 in the morn. Always thrifty, the bloody mary & mimosa special was just my size......

2) Met some people at breakfast today. They were a son/mom from Boston. They were highly entertaining & were as obnoxious as Tim & I. They had a fatty VIP room that we partied off of (deck) to boot. People keep Tim & I around because we laugh at everything, so we were a good audience for the duo.

3) Ate way too much. There is something about someone else making my sandwiches for me that made me want to try different varieties at my leisure. Did I mention that there was an ice cream machine as well? Thank God we got off the boat on certain days.

4) Today I got to redeem myself a bit at dinner for my ridiculous behavior at the dinner table on New Year's Eve. It was very apparent that Tim & I were the funnest couple at our table. However, everyone else was nice. We sat next to a nice couple from Tucson. Therefore, we decided against being Chi Chi & Clark. We fessed up to our real names of Tim & Starr.

New Years-MONDAY

Headed to Tampa on New Year's Eve. What a kick! Seemed like ages ago that we were counting down from 165 days. We boarded the ship at 4pm, said bon voyage with a bunch of rum, & then got ready for the evening. It was definitely a night of overindulgence, as our 1st meeting with our 8pm dinner seating was met with me asking people questions over & over. Needless to say, we didn't stay for dessert. Oh well, that's why they call it "The Fun Ship", right?

Christmas Break

This Christmas Break was a whirlwind. The good part of winter vacation was that I did not have to go back to school until Jan 7th. With that being said, we did not get out until Dec 21. This did not leave a lot of time to spend with Natty & Jack---but you only get to go on a cruise every once in awhile.

As soon as break came at 3:20 on Friday (no that I was counting or anything) Tim & I finished last minute gifts. Saturday we took a quick road trip to Evansville for Tim to put together his mom's new computer. Sunday, I wrapped as much as I could. Christmas Eve was spent during the day with dad as usual. Then Christmas Eve night we went to Tim's moms to visit her for the holiday. Then, this year we tried something different & went to Heather's for Christmas Day. We did this so the kids didn't have to travel all over the earth & got to stay home & enjoy their toys.
Finally, finished up Christmas day at Grandma Hock's & then headed home. The whole long weekend was a blur. 2 cool gifts that I got were new speakers for the ipod.
(Now I don't have to lug around my dilapitated speakers to the hottub every time) & a wine making kit. Everyone else pretty much gave me travel money for the cruise----which I greatly needed!

Pending Holiday Break=Stress

So I have waited until the last minute. What else? I guess I work best under the gun.......
Anyway, I get the pleasure of going on a West Carribean cruise to Cozumel/Grand Caymans with Tim over winter break. I am so excited! I have never had such grand plans for New Year's, much less with someone that I adore on top of it.

At any rate though, this had all of a sudden made me realize my pending doom of trying to shed at least 20 lbs before the big event! While I started working out at the beginning of November regularly in the mornings, it hasn't really made that much of an impact on my wasitline. Therefore, I have been trying to go at night as well too. Trying to diet throughout the holidays is really hard, especially with my compulsive tendencies. What the hell? Therefore, I enlisted the help of a weight loss aid in an effort to get this whole diet thing jumpstarted. I will wait a week & updatethe post hopefuly with good news. I am really concentrating on the thing--& I anticipate results due to some extra help. Keep your fingers crossed...........there are 2 dress up nights & dresses to fit into!!!

November

So all of a sudden it's Novemeber & you might think that I was Betty Crocker. There is something about colder weather that draws me in to put whatever concoction that can fit into the Crockpot. So I have beentrying a ton of ercipes. It'snice to have a place---I really like to entertain now. I have cooked for Tim a couple of times & dad even! Now, if I could only cook outside of a Crockpot..........hee hee.

Have spent some time in the hot tub. Its cool to go out there with a glass of wine & watch the steam from the cold air come off of the water. I have made a hot tubplaylist that Ihave worn out a bit as well. My latest addictionseems to be listening to as much Blue Ocotber as I possibly can. The playlist is awesome. Gotta love the 'pod............

Fall in Review

This fall has gone extremely fast. I cannot seem to get a hold of time at all. To be sure, the past 6 months have seen a lot of changes that have made things seem to go a lot faster than usual, but I also think that it has to do with teaching & how quickly things go in the school year.

September-
This month was a lot about adjustment. Since buying my house in New Albany, I had barely been in the house due to every-other -weekend trips to Indy to see Tim & friends. This month I got a little more time to spend in the house. This month I also got more adgusted to new school/grade level.

October-
At the beginning of October I had my 1st housewarming party & had people over for a Fall get together the same weekend as Harvest Homecoming. Then, on Halloween weekend mom had a party & we dressed as vampires.

Thanksgiving Weekend

I have not jumped on this thing for awhile & am not sure when I will get the chance to update again, so I will hop on here & leave a couple of posts pin an effort to keep everyone abreast of fall developments.

Had a relaxing Thanksgiving weekend, which is hard to achieve on this particular weekend. Haven't had that relaxing of a Thanksgiving weekend in awhile. The last couple of years I have been out on Black Friday & needed to get gifts and/or electronics. This year, being a homeowner, I didn't go out & aquire any of these toys due to budget constraints. Therefore, having a relaxing weekend was a good trade off instead--- & a welcome change. It didn't really bother me to not get up at the crack of dawn for a bargain. To be sure, it is the thrill of the hunt that is so much fun to find that 75% bargain. However, I am trying to be more thrifty the next couple of months & try to get the debt under control more.

Anyway, enough about that. Friday Tim & I went to the comedy club with mom & George. That was fun. Saturday we did movies all day. We went to see the Stephen King movie "TheMist". Then we went to the dollar movie & saw "The Bourne Ultimatum" with Matt Damon & "The Heartbreak Kid" with Ben Stiller. Both were pretty good.

Then on Sunday, we completed our Robert Ludlum book to movie adaptation of Jason Bourne & watched the other 2 Bourne movies. Lastly, we rented the newest Die Hard. I definitely feel as if I got my fill of action/adventure movies this weekend! I am stocked up for the month!!!

Fall Party

Halloween