Living life

Not much has been going on over the last week or nothing much worth blogging about.
Gymnastics on Tuesday was more of Presley watching the other girls, she finally joined in during the last 20 minutes...but I guess that is better than nothing! Hopefully over the next month she'll loosen up and do a little more each week (I can dream, can't I).

After going to bed at 9 pm on Friday night (yes, I'm a party animal) Saturday morning I took P to the science center with Colleen, Bridget and Conor. I warned her that she would have to walk, there was no stroller and I wasn't going to carry her. She cried the minute we got inside. She didn't want to walk. I think she was overwhelmed with the atmosphere and people. I did carry her some of the time (which is brutal), I don't want to give in to her crying...but when she is laying on the floor screaming and crying, sometimes I just didn't have a choice. Overall, it was a good time and I hope Colleen will invite us along again (after Night Eyes and this experience, she is probably getting tired of Presley's lack of participation.....like I am)

That afternoon I had two errands to run...go pick up my contacts, ohhhhh eye place isn't open on Saturdays! and pick up my prescription for my eyes, after 10 minutes in the drive thru, with a less than happy pharmacist, he told me it would be $54. Ex-squeeze me? For a tiny, little bottle of steroids for the tiny, little inflammation in my eye? The eye doctor told me if it ended up costing too much that he would just give me another free sample. So I apologized and told the annoyed pharmacist that I would NOT be getting my prescription after all. Strike out, I went home with nothing. Failure.

Steve did a lot of house stuff over the weekend, but he had some fun too and played poker with some buddies that night while P and I hung out. Presley picked up a cold somewhere and now my throat hurts, but I really can't remember the last time I called in sick b/c I was sick! It won't happen! It can't happen!

Five Question Friday

1. What's your favorite way to spend down time (alone or with a significant other)? No offense to my husband or child, but I like to be alone. To sit on my couch, read a book, watch trashy television and take a nap. I occasionally get to do this during P's nap time on the weekends and I enjoy every minute of it! I'm sure it bothers Steve that I take this time to relax while he is busy and running errands, but he would never choose to sit down for 3 hours and do nothing and I have no problem doing it! :)

2. Are you the kind of person that wants things more as soon as you know you can't have it? For sure! Whenever I can't afford something, I can find a lot of things I want to buy....but if I have money or a giftcard, it's hard to find something or pick something that I'm willing to spend that money on!
Steve on the other hand, would love to buy whatever whenever...whether he has money or not. He would love to have a camper, a third car (and fourth car), an IPad and an IPhone and whatever else he searches for on Craigslist. I have to crush his dreams over and over again. Poor guy.

3. If you were given $1000 to spend on yourself, what would you buy? See question #2. Probably clothes and shoes but then I wouldn't be able to find anything I liked. I'm sure there is something bigger and more fun than that, but I really can't think of anything.

4. Do you ever go out to eat by yourself? That would be a negative. I don't go to movies by myself either. I do think now that we have computers and internet, I would be able to sit at Panera by myself....but really, why would I do this now? Maybe if I were back in college and had some homework to do or something.

5. What company would you want to do a blog review for? Target! I feel like we are family. They are my third home (my house, my parents house and then Target!). I worked there over 5 years, both my sisters and mom have worked there. We are Target!

Baconfest!!!!

If you like bacon, you can't miss Baconfest in Des Moines. Sold out crowd, 4000 tickets sold in 25 minutes, they are a hot commodity in this city! Bacon, beer and fun!

Can you pass up hoards of bacon? yummy, crispy, greasy bacon.

Steve and our old bar buddy Jud, in his bacon suit.Our friend Travis and the first bacon-themed vending machine! The chocolate covered bacon had sold out!

Holly (the 2011 Bacon Queen) and crazy Kevin (with bacon bandaids under his eyes) both with baconfest koozies!

It was a lot of fun, we got to see a lot of people that we used to see at the bars all the time (back when we were in the social loop). Jackie watched Presley for us (thanks again!). Presley loves Jackie but is a little unsure of Brock and Ava!

Yesterday, Steve did a lot of work around the house and Presley and I hung out in our pajamas. We played games and did puzzles (over and over again)! It was a nice, lazy Sunday with my baby girl!

Book update

My book list, so far this year I have read 4 books...in two months! I'm pretty happy about that.
1) The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer was good! I read it fairly fast, similar to a quick, Twilight, teenage, easy read...kinda sci-fi....but really good.
2) Kendra Wilkenson...the Playboy playmate. I read this book in 24 hours. I started on a Sunday afternoon and finished Monday night. It was a good, simple and easy to read. Very interesting on what her life has been like.
3) My Booky Wook...Russell Brands book. Very interesting but hard to read. He writes like he talks, with a British accent so it's interesting. It's just crazy what these celebrities go thru and they are still famous!
4) Still Missing....I started this 2 weeks ago and LOVED it! Mystery, suspense, craziness....my mom would like this book. I recommend this if you like this sort of stuff!

Five Question Friday

1. What do you do when you are really upset to calm yourself down? Breathe in and out very deeply, or I have to I walk away from the situation.....b/c if I don't I will either yell or cry.

2. Do you go all out for V-day or is it just another day? It's just another day to me. We don't do presents and if Steve were to send me flowers on V-day....I would be mad! Save yourself some money and send me flowers on another day, a day where not EVERYONE is getting flowers and they jack up the prices. I would want him to make it a little more meaningful (like my birthday or just to say he loves me...not that either of these happen either!) I just don't get it.

3. Are you more or less productive when Hubs is away? MORE! I think I feel a need to prove my productivity if he is gone, which is good! Of course, I'm sure I do things that he never notices anyway!

4. What is your favorite time of day and why? 5:30 pm... when we are all home after work. I would say 4:30, when I get off work but the process of driving in traffic and never knowing if P is going to be willing to get in her carseat to go home is not fun for me.
Or midnight b/c I know I still have a good 6 hours of sleep on weeknights and 8 hours on the weekends! ha!

5. What is your go to karaoke song? This girl does NOT karaoke. I wish I had the courage too, but I'm just too chicken shit....and not b/c I think I'm a bad singer, but b/c I hate attention! That just doesn't sound fun! However, I LOVE watching people sing karaoke!

The men in my life!

So Valentines Day from the 2 men in my life.....my hubby.....

and my daddy (handmade!)

LOL! Love them! I'm one lucky girl!

Random

- We took P to gymnastics last night, just to watch and hopefully participate. We know the owner (a long time bar buddy!) who said we could take her up there and if she liked it then we could sign her up. I thought there was no way she was going to participate. There were 3 other little girls between 3-5 years old, she watched them stretch and do floor exercises....then she saw then run and jump onto the vault...oh man! JUMPING! She wanted to join in right away! Then she did her turn on the uneven bars, but had no interest in the balance beam. Then the most fun part.....the trampoline! It was like a different little girl was on that trampoline! She went with the teacher no problem, followed direction, smiled, laughed and had so much fun! Now we just have to sign her up and let her go on her own...without us there to hold her hand thru it! Our baby girl is growing up! LOL!

- We are still looking at houses, but our main focus is getting our house ready to put on the market. Mainly little things that Steve can complete and condensing and cleaning our crap! We have realized that a 3 car garage is not negotiable....2 car garages are just too small on 95% of houses and Steve has way too many tools. We are more interested in ranch style houses, it's all I have ever lived it...and I think I'm too lazy to go up and down the stairs all the time, especially since we want a finished basement too. Of course, Steve just finished a room in our current basement but I think he has proved to himself that he can do it and he is over repairs and upgrading!

- I'm sad about Whitney Houston's death, but it just pisses me off when people die from alcohol or drugs! These celebrities have all the money and help at their disposable and they just don't care or try. Some of them think they have all the power and nothing can hurt them and it just makes me sad that over and over again this continues to happen with celebrities!

- Our nephew Zac made it to state wrestling for Creston high school! Nicely done Zac!

- I'm reading! I'm half way thru my 4th book this year! Four books for me in one year, and this is two months! I'm actually really excited about it! I'll recap once I'm done with this book and let you know what is good and what you can skip! :)

- Steve and I are going to Baconfest on Saturday! We found a sitter...thank you Jackie! (and I'm already sorry for how P will freak out when we leave!) Presley has only been left with family and Andrea (who is really like family too! ) so this should be interesting! I think she'll be fine once her and Ava start playing but it still makes me nervous...not for Presley, but for Jackie! LOL!

Two things.....

Don't judge our closet full of shoes, this is just stupid. We have a problem and this isn't even all of them. I think maybe we need to purge and organize this mess.

Two things they don't make for toddler girls....plain colored underwear (they all have characters on them) and Toy Story underwear! So I bought some little girl size 4 underwear and took the decals our friend Susie gave us (thank you!) and made P some of her very own GIRL Toy Story underwear!

Okay, just a couple more!

It's hard to tell in this small pic, but I love the look on everyones faces after they jumped. Smiles all around!

Presley

Her 3 year stats, which I'm not totally convinced these are very accurate but oh well. One pound or a half inch is such a minimal change in kids but huge on the percentile scales.
She is 36.5 pounds, which is about 90%
She is 37.5 inches tall, which is about 50-75%.

She has started stuttering when she talks. She has never been a great talker and her speech is sometimes hard to comprehend but the doctor says this can be typical for her age, so we'll just wait it out for a couple months and hope that it corrects itself.
On the other hand, in the last couple weeks she has put together longer, more complete sentences so that is good!

Five Question Friday

1. How often do you shave your legs in the winter? Twice a week....or until my legs itch so much I can't stand it! LOL

2. Valentine's Day cards for your spouse: funny or romantic? Honestly, I have no idea. I don't know if we buy each other cards and if we have in the past (isn't it bad that I don't remember) I have no idea if they are funny or romantic. Knowing me, I probably buy one of each.

3. What are you most looking forward to about spring? The sun. Winter makes me want to hibernate.

4. What's your favorite way to pamper yourself? Haircut, highlight, pedicure....if I'm really lucky a massage.

5. Does your tax return go into savings or do you spend it instantly? Usually we payoff any credit card debt we might have, then the rest goes into savings. It's one of my favorite times of the year! LOL!

Days 4. 5, and 6

Saturday after the wedding was a headache, hangover morning for me! After spending the night drinking white russians and dancing in the disco....this girl was in bed until 11:30 am. Most of the group went on an excursion that day and Steve and Brandon spent some quality time together while I sat myself down in chair by the pool for the afternoon. It was perfect and good time alone reading in the sunshine!

That night we all went to the mexican restaurant, it was Sarahs birthday that day and they all sang to her! Not embarrassing at all! ;)

Sunday was our last full day of vacation! We hung out by the pool and the beach.

The kayaks were a hit, Steve still thinks he is sore from either this or the football they were playing. Football americana!

Then Steve tried some windsurfing....which looked extremely difficult but he wanted to give it a try.....

and he kept falling off and then eventually got kicked off....they told him he was no good. HA!Then Steve got ahold of the camera....and there are way too many pictures of girls asses on the camera....but I thought I would give him props on this blog and entertain any males that might read this....so here you go!

Monday morning we got up and enjoyed the last couple hours we had at the resort. Some people went deep sea fishing in the morning.....which was a disaster. They were actually just happy to get back alive....after the huge waves, sea sicknesses and no life jackets! (if you get the chance try to watch Brandon Cross's video on Facebook in regards to this boat trip!)

The airport when we were getting ready to leave...grass roof, 6 planes parked right outside that you just walk out to and board on the runway. Love it! I'm ready for another trip!

The Wedding

It was a beautiful day for a wedding! Congrats to Nick and Sarah and thank you for inviting us to spend this time with you! I have a TON more pics but don't have the time or capacity to put them all on here! You guys will get a special wedding CD full of pictures! Enjoy!

Day 1 and 2

After a long day of traveling we finally got checked in to our resort early afternoon on Wednesday. It was amazing, awesome, beautiful and huge!
The whole group (about 30 of us) ate at the steakhouse and then headed over to the sports bar (shocker for a bunch of Americans, huh?)
Steve and Brandon posing for the camera.

Steve, Brandon and the groom, Nick

Of course, we tried to get a nice picture and Brandon just had to be a part of it. Now, if you know Brandon he is always the life of the party. He is social, hilarious and loves the camera (probably why he moved to Los Angeles a couple years ago to pursue acting).

The girls at the Disco after a couple hours of some dancing to mostly songs in Spanish! (Katie, Randi, Logan, Sarah, Kristin and the bride Sarah)

Thursday (my birthday!) we walked up and down the beach, in amazement at the number of topless girls, thongs and guys in speedos! This resort was completely NOT Americanized! There were mostly Europeans and South Americans and hardly anyone but the staff spoke English. We found the biggest difference is self confidence in the people from other countries (from their minimal amount of clothing and their willingness to pose with trees, fountains and animals like they are posing for Playboy) and the lack of clocks (we had one in our room and that was it, NO JOKE!), they aren't in a hurry, they have nowhere to be (which we shouldn't either since it is vacation), they don't say excuse me or sorry if they are in your way...it's just different.

That night we had dinner at the Japanese restaurant, it was AMAZING! It was our favorite place to eat!

Me, Cari and Randi outside of the restaurant.

Randi getting some experience at the grill.

Thursday was an early night for me b/c I was exhausted and it was my birthday so I got to do whatever I wanted! It was a great way to spend my 33rd birthday!

Sneak peek : Dominican Republic 2012

I have almost 600 pictures to go through, you will get tired of the pictures that I'm going to post on here but too bad! LOL!