I Love Him

Last night Dan had a dinner to go to in Fairfax with some of the people he works with so Lex & I were left home to fend for ourselves for dinner - I, of course, opted for mexican & made burritos. Yum! After dinner Lex & I snuggled up on the couch & watched one of my shows because Grey's was a rerun. :o( Instead of going to bed early like I had planned, I got sucked into watching Teen Mom on MTV & didn't get to bed until 10:00 p.m. Around 11:30 p.m. I texted Dan because I hadn't heard him come home & usually Lexi barks her face off when she hears anyone come in the house & she hadn't so I thought he was still out. Here is our text conversation:

Me: I'm hoping you're coming home soon.
Dan: I am home babe, I didn't want to wake you up.
Me: You are?
Dan: Yep, been home for awhile.
Me: Well I keep waking up because I think you're not here.
Dan: Sorry, I didn't want to wake you & Winker.
Me: Can you come up & give me a hug?
Dan: Love to :)

After my hug & our 10 minute conversation I was able to fall asleep. I am so lucky to have Dan in my life & able to call him my husband. Even though his requests for hugs & kisses come at times where I am either carrying a hamper upstairs, doing dishes, or washing my hair in the shower I love that he gives me that affection. I wouldn't trade him for anything. I love you soul mate.

Groomers On The Go

Someone needs a haircut & yep you're right, its Lexi. Those of you that have dogs & specifically a poodle mix, know that they have to be groomed regularly. I was aware of this expense when we bought Lexi but Dan was not. He thought her grooming could be taken care of by one of us & trust me I have tried but it is more stress than its worth. I had actually borrowed a grooming kit from my co-worker Valerie & that lasted about 3 weeks until I realized that I was spending my Saturdays combing, brushing, bathing & blow drying Lexi & when I say Saturdays I mean ALL DAY on Saturdays. I would even freak out worse than I do now when she gets dirty because I would think about grooming her again. That was the end of that. Dan's still not too excited about paying for Lexi to get her haircut every 4 - 6 weeks but he goes along with it. He never asks me how much it costs anymore because he just complains after I tell him. Since we moved to Sterling, I am on my second groomer. The first place I took Lexi to was called Dog-A-Do & after a few times of taking her there she would pee after walking through the door & shake uncontrollably. Now that started to make me wonder what was going on while I wasn't there with her so in an attempt to keep her from having a heart attack I found another groomers that was down the street & they are Canine Carousel (cute names don't you think?). I have been with them for over a year now & there was a definite improvement in Lexi when I changed to their place because even though she still shakes a little, she doesn't pee & doesn't look like she's having a seizure. I'm sure she will always hate getting her hair cut but its a must for her. I really like the girl Nikki who cuts her but I received an email the other day saying that they were increasing their prices & now I just can't afford it. I was getting a little worried about finding a replacement groomer when I came across Diva Dogs. They come to your house & groom your pet in their van. I had heard of mobile pet grooming when I saw one of my neighbors having their dog groomed by Dunkin' Doggies in their driveway but I always thought they were too expensive. Diva Dogs is actually very reasonable & cheaper than Canine Carousel now so that was a plus. The convenience is great also. Before I would have to take Lexi to the groomers & drop her off & 6 hours later I would get to pick her up; that's just too long so I scheduled Lexi for an appointment on Monday morning because Dan will be home while she's getting her hair done. I'm excited to see how she turns out & if she does well with John so I'll keep you posted.

Week 1 of 30 Day Shred

I have completed my first week of Jillian's 30 Day Shred & I must say that the second & third day was absolutely miserable because I was so sore that I literally could not move. I'm sure I have said this before after starting a new workout but I don't think I have ever been that sore. Not being able to straighten your arms is a huge pain in the ass. I have seen some improvements though, such as, more endurance during the workout & being less hungry. Since I am logging my food intake during the day I see what I'm taking in & how many calories it is, etc. Wow, I was eating a lot of food that was not good for me. I guess you don't realize until the totals are looking you in the face. My calorie range is 1200 - 1400 per day & I'm doing well so far. Last night I did cheat & had some milk duds (yummy, right Dad?) but I only had about 5 or 6 & then I just didn't want anymore which is a huge shock because I have eaten the entire box before in one sitting. Chocolate is definitely my weakness & probably always will be. I am starting Level 2 of the 30 Day Shred tonight so we will see how it goes. I know its going to be harder but I am feeling good & staying positive. Here is a short list of my progress so far:

~ I'm up to 12 push ups per set now & not the girlie ones where you have your knees on the ground.
~ I increased my weights from 5 lbs. to 8 lbs. & pertaining on which exercise I'm doing I might kick it up to 10 lbs. to feel the burn.
~ I have lost 2 lbs. since last week. :o)

For those of you that are doing a workout program, I hope you are seeing the results you want & keeping it up; I'm doing the same thing you are & I'm right there with you & hopefully you all look as cute as this little guy does in your workout outfits. :o)

Let There Be Color...

As most of you know, this weekend was my weekend to paint. Dan & I picked out Glazed Pecan for an accent wall behind our fire place in our living room. I did two coats & I really, really like it. I didn't realize how much color one wall adds to a room. I think it brings out the other colors that are in our house too. I do plan on painting more but I just haven't decided where and what color to use. I definitely want to paint the kitchen but that will be difficult because a lot of walls run together & I'd prefer not to use the same color throughout but we shall see. Once I figure it out all I'll have to do is pick a color - yikes! That was the hardest part. I just couldn't make up my mind. There are way too many colors out there. I have an idea for some colors that I think would look good together but you never know until you actually get there & look at them up close. The last time I went to Home Depot I did drag Dan with me & he really wasn't a huge help but I liked having him there because we were doing it together instead of me just coming home with what I liked & putting it up. I really did enjoy painting this weekend & I had fun even though it was only 1 wall.

Here are the before & after photos:
Before:
After:

Going Bye-Bye

As I'm sure most of you did, Dan & I had today off of work so after we woke up & laid around this morning Dan had an idea to take Lexi to the football field at the high school so she could run around & get rid of some of her cabin fever. I thought that was a good idea because we did have nice weather today - it wasn't too cold & the sun was out. Lex loves going "bye-bye" in the car & I love seeing her ride in her car seat; I always laugh after I put her in there. When we got to the school most of the field was covered in water because it had rained all day yesterday so of course I was freaking out because even though Lexi is a dog, I hate it when she gets dirty. Before we left the house I had packed her little pink Nike bag with some bottled water, a towel & some biscuits so we were OK if she got filthy. We took her off her leash & let her run around the practice field so she got quite a bit of zoomies in which is when she runs around as fast as she can until she gets tired; its hilarious to watch. By the time we got back to the house she was lying down in her car seat so needless to say she was out while Dan & I went to Home Depot to pick out paint for our living room. I enjoyed my long weekend & I hope all of you did too.

30 Day Shred & New Friends

One of the blogs that I read weekly on Blogger is Ex Hot Girl. I found her after I signed up & I have been hooked on her blog ever since. Her writing always makes me laugh. I found out about Jillian Michaels' 30 Day Shred from her site because she started doing the program & raved & bitched about it. So last Monday night I drove over to Wal-Mart & purchased the DVD. I was planning on starting it Tuesday night after work but I couldn't work up enough energy after making dinner to start it so Tuesday turned into Wednesday, Wednesday turned into Thursday & here I am on Sunday & I have finally popped it into the DVD player. I'm hoping that my energy level will increase after about a week of doing the DVD because as soon as I get home from work & finish cooking dinner, I'm exhausted; I can't wait for 9:00 p.m. so I can start getting ready for bed.
I noticed some similarities in Jillian's workout & the P90X workout, for example, she does legs & arms together, back & biceps, & the three level method - strength, cardio & abs. The DVD is a 20 minute workout with no breaks & I will admit it was difficult. I was sweating my ass off & breathing heavy within the first 5 minutes. My legs are very sore & I did tweak my bad knee while doing lunges but I pressed on! I also signed up for the online program to keep me on track the entire 30 days & there are some great receipes & workout tips on there. I highly recommend it. Jillian is having a special right now where you get the first 30 days free & then you pay $4 a week after that.
In order to keep myself on track with this workout I have been trying to talk my co-worker Valerie into doing it with me so I could have someone at work telling me, "are you working out today?"; "don't eat that!" For some extra moral support, I joined my neighbor Laura in her little group that she started called "10 in 10" which is a goal to lose 10 lbs. in 10 weeks because lets face it people, its so much more fun to workout with a buddy. I have a tendency to quit a workout after a few weeks because I get so bored with it or because I'm just too exhausted. I refuse to be a quitter this time around & I am forcing myself to do the entire 30 days which lets face it, is not that long. Wish me luck!

On Saturday morning I had to go into the office to get caught up on some filing & so, of course, I took Lexi with me. At work on Friday Valerie found out that I was coming into the office on Saturday morning & she said she would stop by the office after she picked up her standard poodle, Remy, from the groomers so they could meet & have a play date. I thought that was a great idea. :o) Their first interaction at the office was to bark at one another & get the smells in but after that they just walked around minding their own business; they weren't too worked up about anything so we decided to take them outside. Here is a photo I took of them: They played chase on the grass in front of our office & it was hilarious because Lexi is very quick & Remy would try to chase her & wouldn't even come close to catching her. Remy got tired quickly so the play date was cut short. I'm glad Lexi got to meet him though because Val has been saying how she wants to babysit Lexi so if Dan & I need to go away for a night or take a short weekend trip she will be able to watch her. That is very sweet of her to offer & we might just take you up on that Val. :o)

Haiti :o(

All of you know what is going on over in Haiti because it is all over the news. Since the tragedy occurred, I have noticed that some of my friends on Facebook have been asking and wondering what they can do to help out. I thought I would use this post to take you to the right websites so you can assist in any way that you can. While driving into work this morning & listening to my radio morning show, I heard them warning everyone to make sure that the relief organizations that you donate to or send supplies to is legitimate because there have already been complaints about fake organizations pocketing the money that people donate. How terrible is that? The list below have all been approved by Good Morning America:

World Vision

Unicef

Mercy Corps

Red Cross

My thoughts & prayers are with the people who are suffering, assisting, have lost loved ones & volunteering in the Haiti tragedy.

The "Perfect" Gift

On Saturday I received a great Christmas gift from my sister-in-law Kelly & Dan & I were so excited about it that we ended up using it Sunday night. Now I'm sure everyone has seen the advertising commercial for Perfect Brownie. Well, that's what Dan & I got! Since the first time I saw the commercial I have wanted it but I'm the type of person that sits & watches all of those commercials & thinks, wow that would be great to have & would help me do this & that but I never buy any of it. The reason for this post is to recommend the Perfect Brownie to everyone because I think it's amazing. While Dan & I were waiting for the brownies to be done, we were like little kids staring into the oven & waiting for the timer to go off so we could try one. I usually don't make a lot of brownies, in fact, I don't think I have made any brownies since we moved into our townhouse. I'm more of a cookie person actually but these brownies were fantastic. In the words of Kelly, "they are like fun size brownies" so they are not huge but a perfect snack size. If you decide to purchase one for yourself, here is what you get:
~ brownie pan
~ divider
~ stand
~ receipe book
~ decorating stencils

As I said above, Dan & I made ours Sunday night & it is now Tuesday & we have already eaten the entire pan of brownies; I remember Dan saying last night, "oh man, all of the brownies are gone that is so sad". Hopefully yours will last a litter longer than ours did. Thanks Kel!

Christmas In WV

On Saturday Dan & I drove up to WV to have Christmas with his family. Since we go to my parents for Christmas every year we try to make it up to WV at least the following weekend after New Year's or as soon as possible. Unfortunately, that was not the case last year & we ended up exchanging Christmas gifts in February; needless to say the in-laws were not too happy about that & I agree; if we had done that to my family they would have been very upset. Anyway, we took Lexi up with us because after all she is family. :o)
Our first stop was at Tom & Kristen's house (Dan's brother); we thought it was very unfair for Jackson to go without his Christmas present another day so that's why we went there first. During our Secret Santa draw in November, Dan & I got Tom & Kristen so that was pretty convenient. We got Tom some new brown dress/casual shoes because his other pair constantly squeeked when he walked & Kristen had pointed out after he opened the shoes that he was still wearing the same ones that we had bought him several years ago for Christmas. What's funny is when we went up to my parents house for Christmas my Mom had bought Dan the exact same shoes that we had bought Tom, same color & everything; I thought that was pretty funny. We got Kristen a Lenox angel candle holder (she loves anything from Lenox) & a gift card to Target. Now its time for JT's gift. I took some photos of him while we were getting him to open his big present:
(He was more excited about the stuff in my purse than the huge present behind him.)
(Now we got him refocused & there's a smile!)
(Dan trying to put JT's car together & I stress the word TRYING because this thing took forever to put together.)
(He just couldn't wait to get in there.)
(I was trying to distract JT from taking Dan's tools while he worked so I gave him some crackers - look at those big blue eyes.)
(1 hour later we have a finished product - JT's cozy coupe!)
(I think he liked it don't you?)
Our second stop was Aurie & Glenn's (Dan's sister) to give our nieces their presents. Arden is very into clothes & bags so Dan & I got her a denim jacket & shirt from Abercrombie & a brown suede gold studded peace bag - she loved them. Skylar is more into the Nintendo DS games so we got her a game called Style Savy & 2 shirts. We were only able to stay for a little while because Arden & Skylar were going to a friends bowling birthday party that afternoon. Before they were suppose to leave Arden asked me to fix her hair for the party so she plugged in her hair straightener & I straightened her hair for her. While we were in the bathroom Skylar came in to keep us company while she played her games & asked us what outfits looked best for her "customers"; it was nice to have some girl time with them. Here is a photo that Kelly (Dan's 2nd sister) took of them before they left for the party:
(Aren't they cute?)
Our third stop was Dan's parents house. It was great to see them & all of their dogs. Dan's Dad got custom golf clubs from all of the kids (we all pitched in to get them for him) & Dan & I got him a putter for his birthday so we gave that to him - he was very happy. Dan's parents also joined a Wellness Center so we decided to get Dan's Mom a workout outfit & the Star Trek DVD (she loves movies). Our gift from Dan's parents were our plane tickets to Barbados this summer. We couldn't believe it; he bought all the kids their tickets & that was an amazing gift, we are so thankful because we have been saving up for those & now like Dan's Dad said, "we can spend that money on other things while we're there & just have a good time". :o)
Thanks for all of our wonderful gifts everyone, we love them & we hope you loved yours.

Easy Lennie

So last night when Dan & I were relaxing & watching TV I told him that I thought my shower nozzel was broken & that I needed a new one because the water that is coming out of it is not the normal amount. In other words, I have to run around in the shower in order to get wet & yes the nozzel is clean & not clogged, I checked it to make sure. Dan instantly said, "you gotta be kidding me?! you are not getting a new shower nozzel!" The first thing that came to my mind was, wow your reaction is not normal because he was truly annoyed. He then went on to say that I have broken every knob, handle, etc. in our entire house. I started laughing & denying that because there is no way that is possible...BUT when I crawled into bed last night it hit me...I HAVE broken every knob, handle, etc. in our house! I couldn't believe it. I started going through my list: (1) the handle on our downstairs bathroom drawer the day we moved in; (2) the flush knob on all 3 of our bathroom toilets; (3) our dryer start knob; (4) while waiting for the replacement start knob to arrive, I broke the attachment that holds the start knob on & had to replace the entire thing; (5) the lock on our downstairs sliding glass door (Dan doesn't know about this one but the cat is out of the bag now - maybe this will give him an idea of why the lock sticks & it never did before because I fixed it myself); (6) one of our kitchen cabinet knobs while putting dishes away; (7) the towel bar in my bathroom while hanging up my towel. I think that's it, actually I hope that's it. Now in my defense I think all of these knobs, handles, bars, etc. were just poorly made & they were bound to break sooner or later but they just happened to do it near me. I'm sure Dan will enjoy this post because I am constantly denying that I broke all of the above & I am finally owning up to it. What can I say, I'm my father's daughter & I inherited his strength & his klutziness. I Love you Dad! :o)

Christmas Break Recap

Dan & I returned to VA on Saturday evening after being in PA for 10 days. We had a nice relaxing vacation & I'm glad we were able to spend so much time with my family. A few of the things that I did not get to mention in previous posts were Dan & I's Christmas presents this year. Dan got me a sweater & dress shirt from Banana Republic (my favorite store) & the cutest Jessica Simpson bag I have ever seen. As you know, I am obsessed with her handbags. The Hubster has great taste & I have loved all of the gifts he has given me. Dan's big gift this year was 2 tickets to the Boston Red Sox v. Washington Nationals baseball game on April 3rd. I only had one condition...he had to take me. :o) We have pretty good seats too, trust me, I paid for them so I know. Here is a photo of the Nationals stadium so you can see where we will be; our seats are Section 207, Row A: (Click to enlarge) Dan's other gift was a Boston Red Sox clock for his "man room" but unfortunately when it was shipped to our house it got broken so I have to return it; bummer. He did love it though so I'll have to get him another one.
Christmas day we took some family photos because we finally figured out how to use the timer on mine & my Mom's camera. Here are a few of my favorites:
(LOVE this picture)
(Sibling love <3)
(My cute Mom & Dad)
(Miss Priss was sleepy so Grammie wrapped her in a blanket while we took photos)
In my New Year's Eve post I mentioned that we were able to celebrate with some friends from college. Here are some photos that I took before & after the ball dropped: (Jenni & I)
(Jesse, Brian & Dan aka the guys doing some "bonding")
(Jenni & Jesse - the song Jesse's Girl was playing so everyone was singing to him)
(Dan & Brian)
(Jes & I)
(Dan singing Journey - notice my little friend on the right side of my face? Painful!)
While we were up in Pittsburgh I finally got to meet Luke, Jesse & Jenni's baby boy; he is such a sweetie. Here is a photo of Dan & Luke coloring: Luke was so much fun; I had a good time playing cars & trucks with him. :o)
The night that we got back to VA we made plans to see our friends Meta, Doug, Ashley, Jo Ann, Mike & their babies Keegan & Dane. It was great to see them. Unfortunately I did not take any photos while we were together but its always great to spend time with them. This weekend Dan & I are going up to WV to have Christmas with his family; I will be sure to post some photos when we get back. Happy 2010 everyone!

Someone Turns 31 Today...

Yep you guessed it, its my brother, Ben. I can't believe he is 31 years old already. The other day he was saying that it felt like he just turned 30; time sure flies these days. Dan & I are so glad that we're able to celebrate with him this year. The past couple years we haven't been able to come up for his parties so we would have to send his presents to him. Unfortunately the weather today is not going to cooperate so we can take him out to celebrate. The high is only going to be 18 degrees & of course its snowing. I took Lexi out this morning after we woke up & I was absolutely freezing! Dan & I got Ben a few movies for his birthday because he is such a movie fanatic; if you can't think of anything to get him for his birthday, get him a movie, it never fails. We ended up getting him The Ugly Truth with Katherine Heigl & Gerard Butler & District 9 which is some kind of alien movie that he has been talking about since we got here for Christmas; I think he liked them. ;o)
This morning while I was drafting this post I was looking through some photos that I had of Ben & I; here are some of my favorites: (For some reason I always have the zoom on when I try to take a self portrait of us - its pretty funny)

(The zoom was on again!)
Happy 31st Birthday Bud! We love you & hope you have a great day! xoxo.

New Year's Eve

Last night Dan & I were lucky enough to ring in the New Year with some of our friends from college. We drove up to Pittsburgh around 5:00 p.m. & got to see our friends Jesse & Jenni. I couldn't remember the last time we got to see them, it was definitely over a year ago. We left their house & went to eat at Interchange Lounge with a group of their friends & our food was fabulous. After dinner we went to pick up our friend Brian & drove over to Jesse's friend Jeff's house who was having the New Year's Eve party. Unfortunately when I got there I had a huge headache & was completely miserable so I had to sit & watch a few of the games they played until I felt a little better. Once my headache went away I was able to join in on the fun & we had a good time; Jeff had a full house. After the games, we all sat around listening to music & waiting for the ball to drop. After all of the Happy New Year's & kisses, we hung out for a while longer & drove back to Jesse's to get some sleep. I realized this morning that we didn't get to bed until 3:30 a.m. & that is definitely not like me. I'm usually the one that is passed out on the couch & Dan has to wake me up right before the ball drops to get his New Year's kiss. This year was different & it was fun to stay up the entire time but I'm really feeling my lack of sleep today. I will probably be going to be early tonight.
This morning I got to meet Luke, Jesse & Jenni's baby boy, for the first time. He is sooo sweet. It took him a while to warm up to me but once he did we were having fun playing with his cars, trucks, etc. I did take photos throughout the night & some pictures of Luke coloring with Dan but I forgot my adapter at home so I can't upload any of my photos until we are back in Virginia. I will be sure to post them this weekend for everyone to see.
I hope everyone was safe last night & had fun celebrating the New Year. I hope 2010 will be as good to you as 2009 was to Dan & I & that your New Year's Resolutions will be kept longer than a month, unlike mine. I always make a huge list of resolutions & then they all end up going out the window. This year I decided not to make a list since it doesn't get done so I'm just going to take things as they come. Good luck with all of yours!