3 months

so it's been 3 months already living my new healthy lifestyle.  things are going great so far.  this past week, i didn't have cheat meals but instead a couple small cheap desserts on the weekend (egees and 1.5 godiva chocolates...so yum!).  i took pictures on the 23rd which is my actual ann date.  i was disappointed to tell you the truth! i really was feeling great about myself and then i looked at the pictures and i didn't know why i looked so horrible.  i know we are all harder on ourselves than we should be but when you're putting in the work like i have been, i expected to look like i do in person in pictures. i showed some of my girlfriends and they definitely see changes.  i want the end product so bad still that it just sucks.  put in the effort and you will (eventually) get the results you want.  it's just going to take me longer i think.

i am only weighing myself at the very least every 2 weeks but i'm going to try to only weigh myself on my ann date.  the scale doesn't mean shit to me anymore...just a curiosity thing. since i'm gaining muscle, i'm not going to lose weight in which seeing the scale makes me sad!

i am way stronger now though.  i benched 65 lbs yesterday 3 sets of 12.  i still hate pull ups with a passion.  it's really my only hated exercise so far.  i just don't understand how i'm strong in all aspects except for that, haha.  i'm squatting 95lbs right now 3 sets of 12.  i'm hoping to up it to 110 by my 4th month!!

i took my measurements today to see if i would feel better overall instead of looking at the pictures.  it helped!

waist: -2.25 in
bust: -1 in
butt: -1.5 in
hips: -3 in
each thigh: -1 in
calves: the same. they went down and then back up with muscle
biceps: -.25 in

keeping my head high and working my body to the max to get fit!

SO proud of myself

yesterday, i had a 15 hour day.  it included 3 jobs for the first 13 hours and then i went and worked out afterwards!!!  yes, i actually stayed committed and didn't just go home because i "had a long day".  i will not get to my goals that way.  i also turned down fatty goodness the past two days as well.  chocolate covered macadamia nuts have been in the frig at work...whattttttt?!? and i didn't even eat ONE! days like yesterday make me super believe in myself that i can get through this shit and be in the best shape of my life by the end of the year.  yesterday, i also squats 50 lbs with the bar for a total of 95 lbs 3 sets of 12 reps.  it really is amazing when you put your mind to it and really work at a goal. 

i'm starting to really love myself again!

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Feeling Good!

yesterday while at the gym, i noticed a few things:

- a couple girls kept looking at me while i was lifting.  i feel like you're definitely making a difference if you're getting stare downs from the ladies!
- a good amount of men were looking at me as well
- i was lifting hardcore and it felt great and super tough!  i left the gym feeling very accomplished.

now these things may be superficial and exterior, but it tells me this: i AM making progress!!!!  you can't always feel your progress and you can get down on yourself from it.  this was a wake up call for me that i need to keep at it even more.  i may not be anywhere close to how fit i want to be, but no matter what, i am in better shape than i was prior.  that's all that matters.  one day at a time.  constantly thinking about it. i'm all in.

Whoa it's been forever!!!

i almost forgot about my blog!  a lot has been going on and life has been changing.  that has to happen for things to get better right?!? so the real new is that i'm 2.5 months into getting my ass in shape and FIT!!  eventually i'll be able to post some pictures but for now it's still embarrassing that i let myself get to the point i was at.

things i have learned so far on my journey:

• do it for yourself. of course you always have your family in mind to make it a better family lifestyle but when it comes down to it, you have to want it for you.
• want it enough for yourself.  you are worth the effort and worth being happy
• get something that makes you excited/motivated to workout...such as workout shirts for myself :)
• just get your ass in the front door of the gym.  the rest will just come as long as you go!
• no one ever regrets a workout....even the smallest workout is way better than nothing at all!
• you DO have the time to workout, you just have to sacrifice somethings that aren't as important such as the newest abc family series!
• speaking of abc family...stop dvr'ing as many shows! that way when you're home and "bored because there is nothing on tv", you will go to the gym or go on a walk
• it's okay to have a bad day at the gym or at home.  you may have not done what you wanted or expected from yourself, but at least you tried.  failure is not trying and giving up.  you'll have a way better day tomorrow.  after all, you can't have amazing days 365/366 days of the year!
• remember that the slower the weight/fat comes off, the greater the chance you have of it not returning.
• trust the process....i freaking hate this saying because i'm not at the point where i can see my gains and full out trust it.  but i'm positive one day i will be saying this as well.  
• keep faith in yourself!

March 16th - London to Ireland

We woke up really early this morning to go to the cafe and get to go before  the taxi came. Derek and I got our laundry done but our jeans were still a little damp on the pockets. Oh well, they got packed up haha. 

Our train was delayed and once the platform was announced, everyone was running. They ended up hooking two trains up together so it was chaotic trying to figure out where our seats where when there was two of everything! Finally settled after having to walk through a few coaches with all our luggage. A girl sat with us, Sam, and she is from Dublin! She hung out with us for the rest of the trip to Dublin including the 3 hour ferry ride. It's my first time on a boat for a prolonged time. It's definitely different! The food was really good on the ferry, I had steak and ale pie. Wish I could get a legit pie back home! 

Were finally on our last country. I can't believe were already been through 6 countries!! I am excited to just chill in one country for a week!! We got a taxi to our hotel. It's the same hotel that we stayed at 3 years ago. The taxi driver was a wee bit crazy! And he told us he's taking tomorrow off to drink. Haha. I'm so stoked to experience St Paddys day! 

Mc and I headed off to city centre to go to pennys :) sadly, they closed 5 min after we got there. So we grabbed some stuff and walked around for a little. We went to Carroll's to get some stuff to wear for st Paddys day. After we went back to the hotel for some "dinner" which was chips and dessert haha. I'm so excited to be back in Ireland!!

March 15th - London

We woke up, sadly, I'm really just not feeling well. The pillow is down and I think I'm allergic to something else as well, maybe the cover. It's different here in Europe because they only have a bottom fitted sheet, they don't have the flat sheet on top.  

We went to our cafe, but we got it to go so that we could get to the London eye (it's a Ferris wheel that takes 30 min to go around). We needed to get there at open cus we had the Stonehenge tour at 11. Sadly, we got in line and ran out of time to go up and still get to our tour on time. So that was a huge waste! 

We got to the hotel that was the meeting place for the tour. We were there a few minutes early and sat on the floor since there weren't any chairs...and then we got yelled at for it lol. Apparently you can't sit down at nice hotels ha. 

In the tour, we got to go to bath. It's the village with the discovered Roman baths. It was so pretty!! It's the only hot spring in all of Great Britain. I really enjoyed the tour of this! It's just amazing how everything was created and how well things stand. This was created by 76 A.D. That's insane!!! 

Next we went to Stonehenge. It was amazing. Some of those stones weigh as much as two adult African elephants. It's crazy how they could lift it up and creat the circle without any pulleys or cranes! They have guards that stand by there all day and all night to make sure the idiots don't mess up the stones by carving in them and such. There's teenagers that try to break in during the middle of the night. Also there are people who try to do weird rituals there and they get kicked out. The Druids are still around and allowed to do their rituals but they have to call ahead and schedule it. I didn't quite understand what they do but they do wear the traditional dress when they go there. 

On the way back, we stopped in the village of Lacock. This is where some Harry potter was filmed and other English movies. They're not allowed to have modern technology visible from the fronts of the houses so it's the most old English town there is. Really cool!  We also saw the old thatcher roofs where the saying eavesdropping comes from. That was interesting!! Also, a village has to have a pub in order to be considered a village lol. 

We got home very late and ended up packing until after 1 am. So tired!

March 14th - London

We needed to find a place for breakfast since our apt wasn't affiliated with any hotels. After walking around in almost a circle, we found a little cafe. It was amazing, the pastries were so good. We decided we would come here for breakfast the rest of the time in London! 

We walked until we found the hop in hop off stop. It wasn't as hard as in Amsterdam to find for sure! London is gorgeous. It went over mostly what we saw already though in the night your so it was a little redundant. We ended up having to switch between three buses cus of driver switch and an issue with the bus. 

We stopped and saw the Westminster Abbey where William and Kate got married. It was really cool to be there and remembering the pictures. Then we walked to buckingham palace. We took some cool pictures there and watched the guards. 

Mom , Mc and I had a tea party to attend so we left the boys to go onto the Winston Churchill war house. The tea party was lovely. We had sandwiches, champagne, desserts, and tea. I had the UK fresh mint tea. We felt so out of place here since we didn't know a lot of the stuff like the strainer to go over your cup so you didn't get loose leaf teas in your cup. It was a lot of fun and good laughs!

Then we went shopping on Oxford street. Always fun. They had every store ever there. Mostly everything was expensive since h&m, so we went there! Then there was a second h&m down the street, so we went there to check if they had the maxi dress I wanted. It was the grand opening that day which was really cool! We got our photo taken at the photo booth! We also went to Nike right after to get Derek his Manchester United soccer gear. Got him the sweatpants, polo shirt and a scarf. I also got him a lebron shirt. Surprised him good for sure!! 

Then we went back to the London Hilton on park lane to go to trader Vic's for dinner. We had a social living deal and the food was just okay. Probably won't go back there! 

March 13th - Amsterdam to London

We had to travel back to Brussels to get to to the channel to go to London. I didn't mind since we were able to get another Belgium waffle ;) 

Our train ended up being cancelled so we had to get the next one. The wait was annoying for sure! You couldn't even really tell that we went in the ocean! 

We got into London and got a taxi to our apt. It was a nice apt! Two bedroom two bath and also had two beds in the living room. I came to find out later that the shower was a little wonky in our bathroom though. 

We dropped off our luggage quickly as a taxi was waiting for us outside. We went on the night tour of London. It was really pretty was but it was a long day so I was glad when it was over and we went home! 

March 12th - Brussels to Amsterdam

Oh it's been hell this morning so far. We were delayed 2.5 hours because of the snow. Damn you snow!!! We had to take trains to get the train station cus the taxis refused to pick us up. Then the train we were on wasn't going anymore so we had to switch to another train. Then we didn't have our same seats cus it was multiple trains on one. Apparently Paris is closed down so it's good we got out of there! I guess we were the last train out to Brussels, the rest were canceled. Crazy! 

We finally made it to Amsterdam! The streets are tiny.  The houses are small width wise but all tall. We found out the reason why is they used to pay taxes per the width of the house. There are canals everywhere and tons of house boats. 

We took a taxi to the hotel and then had to walk to our apt we were staying in. It was across a canal and down the street. The apt was nice but the shower was held up by nails. Awkward!! 

We left and went to find the hop on hop off. It was an irritating time cus we couldn't find it. Then we got on the wrong bus and had to wait again. Once we finally got on it, it was nice to see the sites. I wasn't as impressed as I was with the other countries though, only with the canals. 

We got off at a shopping area and ate. Mc needed to go shopping and of course H&M was there again. I under up getting a little nightie that was so soft!! 

We then hopped on the tram to go to Anne franks house. It was really interesting being there after going Dachau. Put things into perspective even more. The bookcase was original and that was the coolest part to me. It was sad that you couldn't take any photos though cus that would have been cool to have. 

We went back towards our hotel and got dessert at a seafood restaurant. We got the chefs special which was French toast with ice cream and whip cream. OMG so good. Wish it was bigger though, obvi!! I have been loving eating all the desserts here. 

Mom and mc wanted to go back to the hotel and we went out to the red light district. It was interesting for sure. All the ladies trying to lure the men in. It must be weird to be in their positions selling themselves. I felt really awkward looking at them and they would make eye contact and shake their body side to side. There tons of sex shops, strip clubs that I think we're more than just usual stripping. I chose a bar to go in and it was really nice. Tons of different random stuff all over. We also stopped by the bulldog coffee shop to see what the hype was about. They had pictures of a bunch of celebrities that have been there. Very interesting of a night! 

March 11th - Paris to Brussels

We got up early today to catch our train. It's a good thing that I can back track the way we came. No one ever believes me but I'm obvi the best with directions :) We took the M4 to the station. It was SO cold at the station!! We had to just wait until they posted the train platform number. We found out that retard means late in French! 

The train ride was only a couple hours so it wasn't too bad at all. Once we got it, like usual there was a freak out. We found our way finally and got to the taxis. We had to take two taxis with all of our luggage! Ha!

Once we got to the hotel, holy hell, we're on the top floor with no elevators. Awesome! So we went up 5 floors. Rough.

We had to go find our way around to catch the train to the central to catch the hop on hop off. What's interesting is that Belgium credit cards have chips on that so they don't slide. So we couldn't get the tickets. Then what's even more interesting is that places only can give you 5 euro in change at a time! Thank god we had enough change after the 5 in change!!

It was snowing pretty badly at this point so we went to a bar to get a beer and go to the water closet (bathroom). The beer was amazing! I haven't drank so many beers before this trip. 

We found the hop on hop off. Have I mentioned it's the best way to see a city in a short time? It's also one fee for the ticket so it's easier to get around.  I ended up falling asleep an would wake up at stops to take pictures. I am getting wiped out for sure! 

We got off at the manekenpis fountain. It's what my mom wanted to see while we're there. It's a dude holding his dick pissing. Lol. After pictures, we got waffles. There are little waffle shops everywhere. They blew my freaking mind so damn good!!! The one we tried as the sugar pearl one, its heavier. I had nutella, strawberries, and whip cream. It was so much fun. We went into a souvenir shop and got my shot glass. 

Walking, we found the waffle factory. You know I had to get another one, lol. They had waffle sandwiches. I had the one with bacon and cheese. Then I had another Nutella and strawberries. I know it's believable that I ate it all myself, but I shared it with Derek :) 

We walked to the shopping area. I got two pairs of flats. Super cute and only 12.99 euro each! I met the boys at the bar. The opening was super cute and almost Harry potter like haha. We had a couple beers and mom and mc met us there. Then we went to a Danish bar that was actually sold to some Bangladesh family. We thought it was funny. We got drinks and fries, lol. Mc had her first drink, a Piña colada. Mom asked them to make a baileys milkshake haha. Everywhere here doesn't understand why she orders baileys and a glass of milk haha. 

We got another waffle for our walk home, haha. I wish I had a bigger stomach so I could eat waffles every minute of the day haha. 

Got home and packed :( another country down. 

March 10th - Paris

We woke up in the morning to eat breakfast and go to the louvre. The louvre was awesome. I wish we had more time to go through everything. There was just so much to see! The painting were amazing. We got to see Mona Lisa. It's funny cus we kept saying that all the paintings were probably just copies since we saw the Mona Lisa in Italy when we went three years ago. 

After the Louvre, we went to Norte Dame. It was really pretty. I'm still amazed at how they constructed all of the buildings! It's just insane to me without any modern pulleys and equipment. 

After we went to the Arc De Triomphe and that was my favorite. We had to climb up 280 stairs to get the top. It was hilarious cus I had to stop and the old people passed us haha. The view when we finally got up to the top was breathe taking. All the photos were so pretty!!! 

We went to a cafe for a beer and warmth. I got the hot dog and it was really good. It's more like two sausages on a baguette with cheese on it. After we went back to the hotel and took a nap. 

When we woke up, we went to Gusto's Italia. It was the cheapest dinner and the second best I think. The pasta was the best I have ever had and it was just arrabbiata penne! Oh so good! 

March 9th - Paris

Today we got breakfast at the hotel our apt is owned by. And oh man was it the best breakfast we have had. Everything was so delicious. Except for the hot chocolate, it was like dark chocolate or something!! The chocolate croissant was by far the best thing ever. The eggs were really good melt in your mouth as well. I can wait for breakfast again tomorrow!!

We got a late start today. Go figure. Took us a long time to find the hop on hop off bus but we did get some awesome pics of the Eiffel Tower though! It's gorgeous here for sure. The French are not as rude here as we experienced in Monaco. 

I loved seeing the sites on the bus. It's gorgeous. Everything has so much history and passion here. It's crazy to think how old everything is compared to things in America! The pictures I took were awesome. I'm pretty proud, lol!!! 

After the bus we went and stood in line for the Eiffel Tower. Man was that a pain in the ass. It took so long and I was getting seriously pissed off at the wait when we had reservation tickets! We finally got into the lift and started going up. Breathe taking and definitely worth it! The panaroma pics we took were so cool. It was a million times better than the Empire State. 

We went back to the hotel to do some laundry since we have a washer and dryer in our apt. It's a pain in the ass hardcore. It's small and in French lol. It took us a while to figure it out! 

We went to dinner at a small local place. It was freaking amazing. The hospitality, the food, the ambiance, the wine. Oh the wine and food. It was glorious. We had a bottle of Pinot noir that was incredible and probably the best wine I've ever had. It was an expensive dinner to say the least but so worth it!!! I highly recommend Le Florimond whenever you come to Paris!! 

March 8th - Interlaken to Paris

We got breakfast at the hotel again, yay more yogurt!!! I also took advantage and had some bread with butter since you have to pay for bread everywhere! 

We left and went to interlaken ost to catch our train to Paris. We ended up getting there a hour early. After we got on, the first stop of interlaken west. Awesome. Nothing like catching a train to go back to where you just were!!! We stopped in basal, Switzerland and changed trains to go to Paris. The ride to Paris wasn't as pretty, so I slept a bit ;) 

When we got into Paris, the station was incredibly busy. Not to mention there are armed men with huge guns. We finally found the M14 bus that we needed but didn't have tickets. So mom went to go get the tickets and then the armed men told us we needed to leave. They closed it off with flagging tape and made us leave. So there we were fresh into Paris and we lost mom. We finally found her and then her and dad left us with the luggage to figure out the tickets. They were gone for over a hour. They finally came back and we had figured out the trains. Apparently they were trying to catch someone since they told mom that it wasn't safe. They opened the M14 back up and we were able to get to our stop. These people were helping us and taking our luggage to help us through. It was really weird. They ended up following us mostly home but dad stood back so they knew we knew we were being followed. Did I mention it was raining too?!? Awesome! 

We got to our hotel, which is actually an apt. The heat was off so it was cold. It's small too. There's two Murphy wall beds that Derek and I are sleeping on. We changed and went to the cafe central down the street. The food was great and it was a quaint little place. The service is interesting, you have to ask for your bill. I guess it's considered rude if they just bring you the bill without you asking.

We then walked to the Eiffel Tower. Holy shit was it crazy to see it in person!!  It's gorgeous lite at night!! It sparkles every hour for five minutes! We then got a boat ride after taking a bunch of pictures. It was cool to see Paris at night but I couldn't wait to see it during the day time. The boat ride was romantic though even with a bunch of Asians taking pics with their peace signs everywhere lol. 

On the way home, we went to a souvenir shop. Then mom thought we were getting followed but we weren't. So we were just walking while she was freaking her shit out. They ended duo being just some people drinking walking around. It was a Friday night! 

March 7th - Interlaken

We woke up to eat breakfast downstairs. They had bread, hard croissants, cereal, the best local yogurt ever, Nutella, sandwich meat and cheese. The yogurt was seriously the best ever!! 

We walked to the train station and started our trek to the top of Europe Jungfraujoch. The first was a train to interlaken ost. Then we had to change to get the next one to grinderwald. Next we had to change trains again to get towards the top of the mountain. Changed trains AGAIN, but before we did, we got a beer and some hashbrowns. This was our final train up to the top. 

The train ride up was amazing. The views of the town and the mountains were something I will never forget. Just gorgeous!!! I can't believe how much the roofs can hold. The snow on them were at least a few feet high!! 

When we arrived, there was an hour tour to walk. The sphinx, LOOK UP SECOND ONE, and then Jungfraujoch. The first was a little look out where you could go outside. It was snowing! Then you went to another and it had one of the coolest snow globes ever. It was huge and made out of wood. The Swiss are known for their wood making skills also. It also showed a memorial of the people who passed away while making all the train tunnels in the beginning of the 1900's. Lastly, we went through the ice palace. It was super awesome. Everything was ice including the floor! There were ice sculptures and a tunnel. I was glad when we got out of though cus it was getting quiet cold! 

Finally we went outside another time which was where we had a snow fight. It was still snowing so we played around throwing it. I didn't know that with it so fresh you couldn't make snowballs! 

We went down the mountain and ate at a restaurant right at the station in grindlewald. The soup was delicious. It was a Swiss kind. Kind of like a potato and split pea. We also tried a cheese pasta with bacon and a few potatoes in it. It was just as good as the kasespatzle from germany! I had the hash browns with bacon. It also has a fried egg on top. Also had some ice cream, of course :)

Got the train back to interlaken west and packed up our stuff! 

March 6th - Munich to Interlaken

We woke up before 5 am to get ready to leave. It was sad leaving Germany.  We didn't have enough time there. We missed the hop on hop off tour which I think would have sufficed me. I wish I would have seen more the city and learned more info about it all. 

We got to the train station and go some food and beer. No, we didn't pop it at 6 am even though we were thinking about since you can drink in public. I bet you if the states were so taboo about drinking, we wouldn't have a binge drinking problem! We were taking the pipe beer back home to keep the bottles :) 

We got on the train (not without mom freaking out of course) and settled into our seats. Oh wait, we found out they're the wrong seats. Awesome. We were actually supposed to be in first class. We had to move all of our luggage through 3 carts. How embarrassing lol. Once we found our seats, we relaxed. Derek and I watched 3 ninjas. God I love that movie!!! The country side was gorgeous though so I kept going back and forth between looking at the iPad and outside. 

Our next train was 50 min late. It was freezing!! Our train finally came and we arrived in interlaken. The train ride there was amazing. The views were gorgeous!! The pictures really don't do justice for it. The air was so clean and the water tastes great! 

The hotel was good but I miss the hotel in Germany. This one is not even and the floor was so noisy in the room. The pillow sucked too, ha. 

We walked around town a bit and shopped. Got my second shot glass of the trip! We also had a piece of chocolate each. We were disappointed actually in it :( Mom and mckenna had attitude sickness. Mom walked around in a circle. It was like she was drunk haha. Then we went to the recommended restaurant by our hotel for Swiss fondue. And boy did that shit smell horrible and taste horrible :( so much for that!!! Derek and my mom got the hash browns with meat in it. It's a staple here and basically a breakfast bowl. Super good! 

After we went back to the hotel and crashed! 

March 5th - Munich

We had breakfast downstairs again. Yum pretzels! We left to get to marienplatz where the glockenspiel is. That's where the tour starts for Dachau. We took a train ride there then we had to take a bus to memorial. Our tour guide was funny but so knowledgable! We were able to stop at the cafe first where we got a couple of different ice creams that were good. My cinnamon roll wasn't that good though! 

The concentration camp was eerie to be in. The thoughts of what happened there where sick. To know that people would just vanish and never been found again or heard of sucks. Everything that the nazis did was psychologically damaging such as giving them a shelf on their bed but they didn't have any belongings to put on it. They were stripped of their clothes, giving uniforms with a number on it and a colored triangle. The color depended on the "crime" they were sent there for. This is how many people found out "why" they were arrested. They did a lot of manual labor like digging holes and filling them back again, building walls and knocking them down in the same day. It was to weaken them and mess with their minds. They were fed bread and water soup with some veggies in it. Not always was the bread good, sometimes they would bake it with shit in it like sawdust. The officers made everything a joke and sadistic to have pleasure from it. You only survived by not standing out. 

We walked through the whole camp and ended up at the ovens and the gas chamber. It was so weird to walk into the chamber. They were told that they were going to take a shower, so they would take their clothes off before going in. What is disrespectful is that the general public has taken every "shower head" off the ceiling which was low except for one. How sad is that?!?! 

The thing I kept thinking the entire time was how brilliant the nazi party was. What could have they actually done for the world if they used their minds for good instead of evil?!? Everything was an action and a reaction but it almost like they planned it all out beforehand. 

It's so sad how the living conditions worsened and how we will never know how many people actually lost their lives at each of the concentration camps.  The interesting part is that all of the school kids come to learn about the shame they have as a country. Those words were interesting to hear since 

After coming back into Munich, we went shopping a little bit to get the rest of the souvenirs we needed. Had dinner and went home early to pack and sleep. We leave early to go to Switzerland in the morning!!  

March 4th - Munich

Woke up a little late to cure jetlag. Had breakfast downstairs at the hotel. The bed was so comfy and we love the staff! They're so helpful and nice. Sebastian was in traditional dress which was fun to see! The breakfast was mainly breads. Pretzels are a staple here for breakfast and anytime during the day really. I love them with Nutella :) the eggs, they eat raw...so weird!!! Mom wanted to go see the glockenspiel. The guide last night told us that it's boring and overrated. Mom said we needed to get there at 10:30 cus it got busy. What a freaking joke. Barely anyone was there and it was so lame haha. The grand finale was a owl that made some noises. We had some time still so we went shopping at pimkie. I got a high low skirt. 

We got picked up nearby by a taxi to drive us to Wacker headquarters which is one of our larger vendors. We got a free lunch and a private tour of the warehouse. I chose a meal that is german with no english translation. It was really good. Had vegetables and the "pasta" portion was a bread dough like thing.  It was fairly interesting seeing everything go together and learning about the apprenticeships. He also told us a little bit about Germany as well. 

We got the taxi back by city center and went to dinner at a really nice restaurant. I got my cordon blue veal  with roasted potatoes and it was amazing. The apple strudel here was the better than last night!

We went shopping at H&M afterwards while the boys got a beer at paulaners. Got a cute dress and shirt! Went home and crashed!! It was so nice to sleep more. Jetlag sucks!

Pics will be later as I'm not wasting time with that again, haha

March 3rd -Munich

We got into Munich and took the train towards the hotel. We lost the Munich folder. Thank god mom saved the address in her phone so we went to the hotel. Took a little nap when we got there. Went to kurgarden beer garden for dinner. Had the kasespatzle (cheesy pasta with fried onions) and apple strudel. The vanilla ice cream here is amazing! After the train from Laim to the center train station, we got some caffeine at Starbucks. Outside, we waited for the beer challenge to start. Learned that you can drink beer anywhere except for the trains!!  You can just close it by putting your thumb over the bottle. A couple years ago they had a huge nye party on the trains and damaged 8 trains!!! We took the train to paulaner beerhole. I had their wheat beer which is called the breakfast beer. They have beer all throughout the day here because its considered a food. After we went to the hofbrauhaus. The beer wasn't that good but the atmosphere was crazy. Bulgarian traditional dress, liters of beer, loud noise with a band. It was where the nazis declared their party upstairs. The swasika was painted on the top of the ceiling but after the nazi party stopped, they painted them to look disguised but still can make it out since it was part of history. Lastly we went to Augustine which has the best beer! Very tasty. They have what's called the popes beer. It's the ex-popes favorite beer and he only drinks that beer. I got an ice cream sundae here which was heavenly! We also learned that beer was originally created for the monks and their fasting. It was liquid so they could drink it but still had nutrients in it!! After, we went to another little bar for a bit for a free beer and jäger shot. Then we got a taxi home. Not too bad to spend the first night in Munich drunk with your husband and dad!  

I'll add the photos later since I'm having issues right now!

Holy SHIT

We leave TODAY! Omg, I'm so stoked, I can't believe that it's finally here after almost  a year and a half of planning and saving.  This is ridic! I miss Chewy already :(  So we're on our way to Philly first and then we will leave from there to get to Munich! I've got my sleeping pills, hehe!  Next time we talk, we'll be in a different part of the world, so crazy!

Food Poisoning

Yup, Derek and I got it.  It was straight up damn awful!  I haven't called out of work in forever. Actually, I made it to work for 3 hours and then peaced out.  No more chipotle for a long time! They were SUPER nice on the phone when I reported it.  They even called me the next day to see how I was! So needless to say, we were out of commission on wed and then last night was spend trying to get stuff together for the trip.  Nothing much ended up getting done though.  Derek has today off so he'll pack and clean the house since we did laundry last night.  I just have to verify what I'm bringing and pack some more up.  Holy hell, I can't believe that we leave TOMORROW!

Laughing until you cry

This weekend, my friend uploaded this on his facebook.  I'm not sure if it was me being tired after refereeing 7 games, but I was literally crying I was laughing so hard.  SO funny!!  Enjoy

Gallon Smashing Prank

Weekend Recap Again!

This weekend went by SO freaking fast!!  I worked, which I forgot the soles to my shoes, so that was a lot of fun.  I ended up just wearing my bear paw boots because the league didn't care.  They would rather me in a good mood :)  After I went out with Jackie for dinner.  Loved talking wedding with her! She showed me pics of her in her dress and omg so beautiful! We're obvi old and married since we went out for happy hour and got hot green tea, lol.  Yesterday was breakfast with Dunning and then lunch with the family to celebrate Grama.  And no, I wasn't a fatty and had a whole breakfast and then lunch 2 hours later :) After lunch, did my two little cousin's nails and got ready for our sissi photo shoot.  We won it over a year ago but just never had time to do it! SO excited to see the pictures for that!

Today is the year ann of Grama passing..  I can't believe it's already been a year.  I'm wearing the sweater today that I was wearing when I watched her pass away.  Creepy? Probably, haha.  Just is nice to feel something from the last night I saw her.

AND in a positive note, we're leaving for Europe in 5 freaking days and I am getting excited again.  I really need to pack though.  How many times have I told you that in the past month?!? Yeahhhh, too many to count on one hand, that's for sure!!

Workaholic

Work Work Work...is that all that I do?!? I feel like I haven't had some time for life in such a long time.  It will be worth it to take off to Europe, but still, it's exhausting damn it!  I work 15 hour days today and tomorrow and then referee 7 games sat morning.  That is insane and I just want to sleep!  I will probably come home for a nap before I take my girl Jackie out for her bday dinner on sat.  I will most likely be an old woman and drink hot green tea at happy hour and then come home and fall asleep on the couch :)  Sunday, I have brunch with a friend I haven't seen in a couple months and my sissi and I have our photo shoot that afternoon.  Wanna ask what I'm wearing for it?  Good question!!! Yeah, I ask that myself a lot.  Apparently I will be going shopping after lunch!

THEN, we are at hi, I'm leaving THIS WEEK!  I work 12 hours mon and again on tues.  I have dinners planned for wed and thurs with other girlfriends I haven't seen in a while.  So when the hell am I supposed to pack and get my shit together?!?  Sigh, I guess I will leave sleeping for the plane ride!

Getting a little nervous...

Sleep

I went to bed last night at 9:30 and it was lovely!!! I feel a lot better today after sleeping for 10 hours!  I even ended up turning my alarms off somehow in my sleep as well.  I guess I needed it big time.  I was in such a good mood that I stopped and got donuts for all the employees.  I still will probably want to take a nap before my game tonight though, haha. Or maybe I'll watch the hart of dixie that recorded last night instead! Hopefully I will get to sleep early tonight too.

Chewsters

I was playing with mister chewsters last night and kept thinking how much I'm going to miss that kid while we're gone.  I hope he doesn't think we left him :( He loves the people that are staying at our house, but still, it's making me sad already! We've gotten a lot closer over the past year.  People say that the first year of marriage is the hardest...pshhh, it's the first year of living with your husband's dog that is the hard part, hehe! The only good part of coming back will be seeing my little (big) doggie!

Weekend recap!

Yup....got nothing done off my list!  Except I found some jeans which is incredible.  Even more so, they were on sale at old navy for 19 and 22! Very exciting!  Here's what else happened:

- Brought home the bacon working on sat!
- Layed out while reading which was super nice
- Made a lovely hawaiian bbq chx whole wheat pizza.  SO delish
- Did a 5k walk for the hospice of the valley in memory of my Grama.  My mom, sister, and my adopted sister (Mc's best friend) came with me.
- Got a new rook earring which I love way more
- Ate more than I should have which is why I don't feel good today!

We are less than 2 weeks out and I'm freaking about a few things right now.  I haven't done my dry run packing yet! More important, I have my sissi's photo shoot this weekend and we have no idea what the heck we are wearing!! Ahhhhhh!!  Any ideas are welcome for sure.  We were thinking a casual outfit and then a dressy outfit.  Time to raid my closet and see if we need to go buy an outfit! The last thing is I have seemed to misplace my itouch! Ahhhhhhh.  I've looked at the office where I've been keeping it and it's not here.  I looked at home just in case I took it, can't find it.  I'm gonna need some vibes for that one!

Weekend to do list

Oh, the fun never stops!  What do I need to catch up on this weekend?

WORKOUT

- Clean house including dusting...still, haha
- Laundry
- Get clothes together for our trip and do a packing run through
- Grocery shopping!
- Send my girlfriend Jackie all of my wedding stuff
- Buy birthday cards for the month of march
- Figure out what outfits Mc and I are wearing for our sissi's photo shoot next weekend!
- Buy clothes hangers
- update itouch software and music

Thank the Lordy!!

My parents have converted over to iphones!  Finally I don't have to deal with their question about their damn droids! It will be so nice to have legit group convos instead of them complaining that they get the texts separately. wahhhhh, that's what happens when you freaking choose a dumb ass phone people.  We are 3 whites and 2 blacks now!  I guess they had to be different than my hubbi and sissi! I love that we can all track each other in Europe if one of us gets lost as well! It will be so much simpler for my dad to do!  He asked me yesterday why the photo wasn't sending....um you have to write who you want to send it to SMH!!! So at least now, I know the phone so that I can help him all the time. I love my iphone and I'm set for life!  It's the first time that I can remember that I'm not wanting another phone after a few months!

Most of all, I can't wait to screw with them by sending them the emoji icons!!!

Thankful Thursday

Today I'm thankful for:

- My family
- Life in general
- Health
- My house
- My doggies
- My jobs
- My vacay

Gahhh

Hi, my name is Sarah and I belong in a bitches'r'us meeting. I'm just annoyed with everything lately.  Huge vacay fever...it's all I can think about and everything that usually didn't annoy me is totally magnified!!

One thing that will help is that my parents are converting over to iphones!!!  Thank God because I hate their damn droids!  They always ask for help and I would love to help them by smashing them with a hammer :)

Okay, Sassy Sarah has done enough bitching for the day...I'm OUT!








17 days, hehehe.

To do list updated!

Got a bunch off the list even though it didn't feel like I did this past weekend!

- Clean house including dusting, didn't have time to do it this weekend.  Derek vacuumed but within minutes, Chewy already had fur all around the house!
- Get clothes together for our trip
- Grocery shopping!
- Take a picture of my barely used trashed MK wallet and email it to their customer service
- Send my girlfriend Jackie all of my wedding stuff
- Get my dress for my parents renewal taken in
- Buy birthday cards for the month of march and send off before we leave

Nightmare!

Apparently I need to get my ass in gear with doing a dry run of packing for Europe.  WTF Sarah! Seriously, you need to dream that you forgot all your luggage, you get it, and then you forgot your passport.  You forget the combo to the safe to get the passport.  Finally got it.  Then you forget your running waist band that you were planning on wearing to keep all your things safe under your clothes.  Got it.  Oh wait, I forgot to pack things in my luggage and took a freaking empty luggage to the airport.  Okay, I packed.  Then I forget the plane tix!  I finally got to the airport but couldn't find the terminal and then the plane was delayed.  I go to get some candy and Derek wouldn't let me.  What!!!! What was I thinking trying to get candy, I should have been trying to buy a damn drink at the end of this dream!  And we all know Derek would have been down for that!

This week's must do is dry run of packing!!!  19 days.  Whoa.

My wedding band

I get my wedding band fixed today!  It's been missing two diamonds for a while so I haven't been wearing it so the prongs wouldn't get caught on something.  But my jeweler will be in Tucson this weekend so I'm finally getting it fixed! We're going to visit the in laws while we're down there too.  Can't wait for a day trip with my family...even if it is to Tucson..shutter...

3 weeks

3 weeks until we leave for vacay....

Cue freaking out!!!!

To do list

Shitballs do I have a lot on my list to do this weekend, but I'm lacking the time to do it!!

- Clean house...chewy is shedding and there is hair everywhere, thank God for our new dyson!
- Dust the house, where does that much dust come from? I swear I just did it!
- Laundry (Derek will take care of this for me though, he's so lovely)
- Pedi which is obvi super important as it's getting warmer here and I'm wearing flip flops sometimes!
- Get clothes together for our trip.  I know I need some jeans, and I hope that is all!
- Grocery shopping!  I'm tired of hearing "(wahhhh) we have nothing to eat!"
- Buy a ball pump for when I'm refereeing.  Seriously, these people try to play with flat balls all the time, it's so ridic.  A volleyball is supposed to be 4-6lbs.  This crazy girl asks me every week to use her ball.  It's less than 2 lbs, um I said no before and I'll say no again since you never pump it up!
- Speaking of refereeing, I need some damn memory foam insoles.  My feet are just killing me even in new shoes!
- Take a picture of my barely used trashed MK wallet and email it to their customer service.  Which by the way, has taken me since OCTOBER to finally get an answer from them.  Never buy anything online, always buy in the store!
- Get a check from my assignor, I need my money honey!
- Send my girlfriend Jackie all of my wedding stuff so that she can get started.  Less than 48 hours after being engaged, she has a date and a church. whooooaaaaa!
- Get my hair did.
- Get my ring fixed.

Not mention I have a totally different to do list for the house like turning a pantry into a mud closet!

I'm tired just writing this out *runs to naps* oh wait, nope, have to referee after work today!!

I will not!

....be that crazy lady who shops for a non-existent baby!  My mom shows me an ad for JcPenny's Outlet store for this weekend.  They have cribs for $99 and matching dressers for $99 also!!!  Totally amazing deal, but um...did you forget that I'm not pregnant?  I know that you want a grandkid, but seriously, I am not going to have a pre-bought crib set up in my house.  I already have tons of baby stuff that has been given to me in the nursery a bedroom with the door shut including two swings, a pack and play, and a tool shop.  I will not be a crazy lady damn it!  ...Thank God I work on Sat, HA!

Tip of the day

When going on vacay, sign up for the groupons and social living in the area a few months before hand.  We are saving so much $$$ by getting touristy attractions for half price! Also, restaurants! We have at least 2-3 in each country we're going to.  While getting the emails, we looked the places up on trip adviser to get the reviews on whether or not we should buy them.  There were definitely some that were a no-no!!  And there are also some restaurants that I'm wicked excited to try out!  I love saving money so that I can go shopping with it...sorry hunni, you didn't see that ;)

I deserved it

Yesterday was fabulous. Slept in until a little after 9. Laid in bed watching tv for a hour.  Nothing good was on, so I started doing laundry and watching netflix.  How come you spend more time searching netflix than actually watching it? ha! Watched a movie, started another, and passed out for a couple hours.  Woke up, shower, and got ready for super bowl.  Went to hang out at a friend's house before I went over to my parents house.  So relaxing of a day.  I usually spend my only day off cleaning the house and getting things prepped for the whole week.  I gave myself the day off, except of laundry so my nakie ass wouldn't be running around today :) Back to the grind today.  I've got a few more weeks refereeing and 26 days until we leave!

ONE MONTH

Holy shit, it's only one month until we leave for Europa!!! I'm so excited!  I have 28 days to get rid of some weight so that I can eat/drink anything I want to while I'm there :)

I started contacting tattoo shops in Dublin for Derek and I to get our tattoos while we're there. It will be my 3rd and his 4th! I'm glad that mine is super small this time though, haha! You'll have to wait to see what we're getting though!

Ugh, I still need to buy jeans!  Anyone know what brand has warmer jeans but not super thick either?  I have my thermals for underneath but wasn't sure if there were any specifically that I should look at!

Best news?!? Wait for it..... WE HAVE PAID OFF EUROPE ALREADY!!!! We decided that we would pre-pay my parents for all the hotels/airfare/trains/groupons/hop on hop off tours.  So all we have to pay for while we're there is some food (we bought some groupons for some countries!) and shopping :) ahhhhhh is it March yet?!?

License Plate

I ordered my first personalized license plate this week.  I'm so excited.  It's my name in Hawaiian!!  It's on a breast cancer awareness plate which is what I've been wanting for a while now.  I hope it comes super soon because I can't wait to put it on my car!  I have my bling license plate frame and my bling plumeria on my back window already, but I really need to still put up the Hawaiian Islands decal that I've had for over 2 years now! I got it made to have our wedding date underneath it :)  I'll post a pic when I get it in!

HAPPY FRIDAY!!!  I seriously can't believe it's already feb!!

Thankful Thursday

I'm thankful for:

- my family and husband, they're always there for me
- our health
- our traveling this year
- my friends even though we don't get to see each other like we'd like to
- my doggies and their unconditional love
- my jobs
- my clean house

What are you thankful for?

SO Excited!!

I'm getting so excited for Europe.  1 month and 2 days! I already feel the whole wahhhhh I don't want to be at work, I just need a vacay!!! Well I do damn it, it's been such a long time since we've gone!  Not to mention I've been working like crazy to pre-pray the trip for everything except for food, some attractions, and of course shopping (hunni, you didn't just read that, hehe)!  I'm almost there, in the next 3 weeks max, I will have done it!  I'm very proud of myself!  Now if I could pack everything in a small carry on, that would be insane! These are the moments that I wish I was Mary Poppins! I've had my packing lists made for months now, so I just need to go through them, make sure I didn't forget anything and also do a run through of packing to see if I need anything still.  It's crazy that I'm usually such a last minute packer and I want to start packing right now, haha.  It's probably because I had a dream the other night that it was the night before we were leaving, I didn't have a packing list and I still needed to buy a bunch of things.  It was horrible!  I'm definitely not going to let that happen so I need to be prepared and start working on everything.

*sigh* dreaming of Belgium waffles and chocolate...

The Wedding Blog Posts

I wanted to have a different post with just my wedding ones :)

6.18.11

Wedding Day!!!

i woke up, checked my email and hung out with my mom for a little bit.  i called some family and they wished me good luck!  i started to get ready, wearing my satin robe.  the hair and make up lady came at 6:30 am.  she started curling my hair and we all just hung out drinking a mimosa.  i didn't really get to see my bridesmaids because they were getting ready in another room.  my mom ended up getting her hair done as well.  i ended up not liking my make up at all.  it really wasn't like the pictures i showed her and the false eyelashes stopped 3/4's of the way out which was weird to me.  my hair wasn't like the pictures either, but it still turned out well.  it was still the beachy look i was looking for.  we did a first look in the beach house before we left.  it was really nice to see each other and get the nerves out right then.  i still just couldn't believe i was getting married!  it was just so crazy to think.

we ended up being 15 minutes late leaving!  i rode with my family which was nice.  derek rode with our friends.  it was a little hot in my dress in the car, but not too bad.  when we got there, everyone was just waiting for us.  i felt so bad!  we put my hair flowers in (which were one the wrong side, oops.  in hawaii, if you're spoken for, the flowers should be on your left).  i got my bouquet which i was disappointed in because it was not like the picture i sent in at all.  the walk to the beach was pretty rough actually.  but that's why it wasn't so populated.  i walked with my mom and my bridesmaids while everyone went ahead.  it was definitely a secret beach.  it was weird to try to take in everything but still enjoy the moment as it is without thinking about taking it in.  i was so anxious about having all eyes on me including the video that couldn't be changed that much.  we walked over to the part of the beach where the circle of flowers were.  it was so gorgeous!!!  we waited in the shade for the ceremony to start.  i really wish we had more direction at to what was supposed to happen because no one knew what was going on.  the conch shells were blown which tells everyone the ceremony is starting.  the wedding party all started walking in towards the circle flower.  another conch shell was blown and then dad and i started walking in.  it's so weird to have everyone staring at you and you know that you're being video taped the whole time.  every single move was documented.

the ceremony was beautiful and i was so excited to become derek's wife.  he looked so handsome and the background was awesome! i wouldn't have had it any other way!  it was getting soooo hot.  i feel bad because you can tell that i was sweating.  at one point while i was saying my vows, derek wiped the side of his eye. i was like aw, that's cute...i'm going to laugh because to the video, it's going to look like he was crying. only i know that sweat dripped in his eye, hah!!  taking the pictures were long and super hot.  i was excited for them, i hope they turn out amazing!

we missed the reservation that i made for breakfast after the ceremony so we had no where to go to!  someone found maui tacos, but when we went it, it wasn't big enough.  then someone mentioned denny's which i was not about to have my wedding brunch at denny's!!  there ended up being cafe o' lei near by.  they made accommodations very fast!  we got there last because i switched dresses in the car. i was wayyy too hot in my dress!  there was a hawaiian ice on the way up, so we stopped and i got one.  it was amazing to have something cold when i was so freaking hot!  we got up into the restaurant and it was super cute.  it ended up being delicious and everyone loved their food.  it was also pretty affordable!

after being stuffed, we went back to the beach house to chill for a while.  people took naps while derek and i laid on the lani together on a big chair.  it was gorgeous to look at the ocean and just lay with my husband.  then we packed up our stuff and drove up to lahaina with enoch.  it was a good 50 minute drive from kihei.  very pretty though and the ocean comes right up to the highway!  when we got to the condo, we dropped our bags, changed, and then aunt mary and uncle mike came to pick us up and drive us to the old lahaina lu'au.  when we got there, we saw our family and walked in together.  we were greeted by a lady giving tuberose hair pieces out.  then we walked in further to have lei's put on us and a grab a drink from the people walking around with them.  everyone kept saying congrats to us, it was really cute!  we sat down at our table and the view was just gorgeous.  it was started to sunset and the pictures were awesome!  there was some stuff to walk around and look at.  we stopped at the jewelry and maggie bought me some earrings i loved.  then there was a tiki place.  i said we should get one for in our bedroom!  we picked one out and they said they would carve our names with a heart in between and our wedding date under.  we watched them do it there with a chisel and hammer. he also added maui underneath.  such a cute touch and i can't wait to put it up in our new bedroom together!  they also gave us a little turtle as a gift.  we named him squirt.  during this, they pulled out the pig that was roasting underground and the luau was starting!

we sat at two tables, one for the bigger adults and one for the smaller adults, haha.  enoch and "neil" (maggie's fiance, which my mom called neil earlier in the day) were taking tons of pictures.  it was time for us to go get our food.  there was so much yummy food!!  i definitely got two plates!  the fried rice was probably my favorite as well as the kuala pig.  the dessert came next and was brought to our table.  i think my favorite was a chocolate piece with some vanilla mousse in it.  the brownies were really good as well though!!

the show started and with a bang.  the hula dancers were shaking their butts hardcore.  derek said that's why there's so many children made from the hawaiians, haha!!  it was a great show about how hawaii came to present day.  aunt mary said it was the best luau she had been to on the islands!  there was definitely nothing in the "drinks" they were serving.  i think we all had about 6-7 drinks and didn't feel a thing.  well, that's what happens at all you eat and drink places i guess!!

at the end of the show, we said goodbye to enoch because he had to go catch his flight back mainland.  he was such a special part of the group being derek's best man and the only friend here for him.  they were so cute together that most of the time i felt like the 3rd wheel out, hah!  two peas in a pod for sure!  we went home smiling and holding each other's hands as husband and wife.

6.17.11

Day before the wedding

i started out the day with my mom coming into our room yelling, "gooooooood moringggggggggg".  there was a little pow wow in our room and i gave mckenna and jackie their gifts.  they loved them, which i was really excited about.  we went to eat at the kihei caffe for breakfast.  i had the loco moco which was awesome.  it's a hawaiian dish.  i had it with pork fried rice though.  so it's the rice, then a beef patty on top with gravy all over it.  we went to go get our marriage license after breakfast.  it was a good feeling filling it our but kind of crazy and just not so real yet, but kind of real.  it's hard to explain!  i just can't believe that the wedding is tomorrow.  we met with our DOC at kamole beach and went over the ceremony.  our musician that we chose, can't make it to the wedding, so they scheduled our second choice.  thank gosh he was available!  it was nice to go over things and she gave us pointers such as how to put the ring and make sure to look at each other during the ceremony so we look connected on the video.  also not to say random things because we'll be miked up the whole time.  after that, we went to the house to grab beach stuff and drove down to makena so mckenna could enjoy being in the town with her name.  we laid out and played in the ocean.  it was a lot of fun to do this all together!  we went back to the house to get ready for our welcome dinner.  we had a lot of fun at the tiki lounge after we finally found the place.  maggie and nate got there late because of their hotel, but they got upgraded which was fabulous!  i was so happy to see everyone at the welcome dinner.  their pizza is super good!!!  of course, i got the hawaiian pizza!  towards the end of the night, derek's mom and step dad gave me a diamond bracelet. it was so unexpected and a beautiful touch to the night!  it was really nice for everyone to meet and get to know each other a bit before the ceremony the next day!  we went home and hung out for a bit.  i actually got a bug bite on my right ring finger. it was super puffy, so i took an advil pm since it has benadryl in it.  i can't believe i'm getting married tomorrow!!

6.16.11

Everyone's coming in today!

we woke up and had breakfast at the 5 palms.  it was sooo good!  i had the hawaiian sweet bread french toast with bananas and white chocolate chips.  derek and i both think it was the best french toast we've ever had!  we checked into our beach house which was absolutely fabulous!  it had 3 levels, 5 bedrooms, and 4 bathrooms.  the master bathroom was like straight out of a magazine.  we drove down towards makena and saw an amazing random beach that we found.  took tons of pictures and it was full of lava rocks.  afterwards, we turned in enoch's car, rode the shuttle service to the airport, then back to derek's and my car rental place to get ours.  we got a charger, of course :)  then we had to hit up the costco, where i got told by a man that i was way prettier than he was, haha.  jackie was coming in about 2pm, so we were just waiting for her to come in.  there was a cell phone parking lot near the airport that we waited in.  it was hilarious because you would see people answer the phone, then start up their car.  we called it the "booty call".  after picking up jackie, we went to eat at marco's italian.  they had super upright seats, it was pretty funny.  i had a meatball sandwhich which was amazing.  we dropped off the luggage and went to the beach.  we got hit by a crazy sand storm! you could barely see the towels on the beach because sand was blown everywhere on them.  jackie and i moved from the beach onto the grass to lay out and watch derek and enoch snorkel and play in the water.  it was so cold, so we went back to the beach house to get ready for dinner.  we ended up going to fred's mexican food with derek's mom and step dad.  fabulous food and the skinny margs were really good!  my parents and sister finally got in after dinner.  i purposely put derek's and my luggage into the master room because i knew my mom would freak out because she was supposed to get it.  and what do you know, she freaked out, haha!  it was a fabulous touch to the night!

6.15.11

Coming into Maui

in phoenix, i got my hair braid patted down which was very interesting.  we held up the line at the security because we had to get derek's dad's remained checked out.  we had breakfast and i had a bloody mary :)  usairways took my dress the first thing after stepping on the plane.  the one guy even gave us a free box of m&m pretzels  it was emotional coming into land in maui.  i just couldn't believe that it was finally time to get married.  after all the time of planning the past 10 months, everything was about to start unfolding.  it was a gorgeous view outside of the airplane.  stepping off the plane, we got a burst of sea air and humidity.  it was also super windy as well.  our best man, enoch, came to pick us up from the airport.  it was hilarious trying to fit in 6 pieces of luggage into his convertible.  after dropping off our luggage, we went to cheeseburger island style.  it was really good, but on island time for sure!  it was so surreal driving around the island finally seeing all of the places that i've been researching for months.  we went to the beach afterwards.  so amazing!  i love it.  it's so blue and clear.  i didn't think i'd be this calm and collected 3 days prior to my wedding.  derek and i are so happy that enoch is here with us and share a day with us before everyone gets here tomorrow.  i bought new hi roxy shirts and derek bought a new pair of quicksilver board shorts.  it's truly a dream come true to be getting married here.  so far, its a lot more laid back than oahu was.  the houses are also unbelievable.  derek really fell in love with a house in kihei.  i can't wait to bring our future kids here on a family vacation to show them where we were married.

Old Blog Posts

When I started going back through my other blog, I realized that I loved looking back and seeing my posts, so it's more inspiration to continue blogging a lot more now!  I paid for my other site's domain but I'm not going to do so this year, which means all of my stuff will be lost.  I'm going to repost my favorite blog posts here to keep them :)  Most everything is list oriented, FYI! And it definitely won't hurt my feelings if you don't get through all of them, ha!


8.13.12

my house is finally "ours"

i have officially purged and re-organized the WHOLE HOUSE!

we're talking the storage room, kitchen, pantry, laundry room, two utility closets, the bedrooms, the bathrooms, bathroom closet, family room, living room and five closets! we even went through our sheets and folded them properly, stacking them up per summer sheets and winter sheets.

the first thing that people say about my house omg, look at all this storage!!!  well after living in it for 2.5 years with roommates and a year with my husband, i can say it too.  holy heck, we have EMPTY cabinets! it's glorious knowing this and knowing everything has an official place in the house.  it took us so long after d moving in with me because we never had time off together! lately, he's finally had a good schedule that works with mine and we got it all done together!

so now everything is in boxed up in the future "baby room" that we're selling so that it's ready for the yard sale we're having in october. it looks a lot nicer having everything in boxes instead of bags and such.  the last things we have to go through before the yard sale are my 3 sheds and all of our clothes again.

it was a ton of work, but so rewarding!all i do is smile when i walk into my house :)

5.7.12

the new roof!

so are you ready to see the new roof?  i'm SO excited about it still and it's been 4 days since it was completed.  i just love driving up and from my house to look at it :)  here's the before and after shots:

 and here is the shingle pattern and color!

i love how the layered it.  it gives it so much depth and the color is just fabulous! that's one of our new AC units in the background by the way!

what's next on our list? painting the exterior of the house.  derek is totally hating the barbie pink now, haha!  i think the gray roof makes it look nicer, but i have always wanted to paint it too.  we need to get some quotes and save up, but hopefully we can get it done in the next few months!  i'm thinking a light/medium gray with white trim and black shutters at the moment and keeping the doors red.  what do you think?

4.30.12

Life/House Updates

it's been a while since i've wrote and so much has been going on!  first, i feel like it was just february.  where did march and april go?  this whole year has gone by so fast already!

highlights:
-jan was spent working 6 days a week and on sundays, i was over at my parent's house spending family time and seeing my grama as much as possible.
-feb was spent the exact same way until the 25th when we lost my grama.
-march was crazy from dealing with the loss of my grama and then her brother died 6 days later.  it was also one of my best friend's wedding month.  i had something going on every single weekend!  thank goodness i was only working 5 days a week this month.  we had my grama's memorial on the 31st.
april - back to working 6 days a week! i've been just trying to catch up on everything!  we got our new AC units installed!  they are awesome and super quiet compared to the old ones.  it started getting really hot and our electricity bill has only gone up 15 bucks so far!  totally crazy, and i can't wait to see how much the bills are during the summer.  my goal is no more than 300 since it's normally 400.

today we started getting our new roof installed.  i'm so excited for it!  it's going to be gray just like i've always wanted.  next step is painting the outside of the house to match.  i feel like the light pink we have going right now will look better with the gray though which is good until we can paint it.

i also made a list of home improvements to make in the next year.  i don't think all of them will be able to get done, but it would be really nice for sure!  stay tuned for all that in the next post!

2.2.12

what i've realized

that i miss my lists! during the wedding, i always had my giant list going and mini weekly lists.  i liked feeling really organized and i'm definitely missing that in life right now!  i need to get back into my list making to feel better and feel like i have life organized!  the lists that i need to make:

-house improvements
-things that need to be cleaned
-things that need to be re-organized and gone through
-things that i need to catch up on since life has been crazy lately
-things to sell from the wedding
-packing lists for my trips in the next year
-goals for myself in the next year

i've also realized that i have this amazing iphone and i prefer handwritten lists...it's something about legit crossing it off and throwing the list away when it's done with!

1.26.12

thankful thursday

since it's a new year, i really need to make a list of the things i'm am thankful for during the past year. 2011 was one of the most amazing years of my life and it will def be hard to beat!

i'm thankful for:
-planning a wedding and getting married to the love of my life and best friend
-having the opportunity to get married in hawaii.  it's one of my favorite places to be and makes me happy
-feeling so beautiful during the wedding, it's so special
-having so many friends and family celebrate with us, best feeling ever!
-i have the best parents and sister i could have ever gotten, my rocks
-the health of my family, we had a rough year medically and i'm glad this year can bring good health
-moving in with derek.  it's been so great living with him, just so easy!  after chewy got used to the new house anyways :)
-being happy 95-99% of the time. that's what life is all about it.
-every single person who has touched my heart this past year
-my amazing support system of VIP girls
-the bad apples who made my life stronger after they disappeared
-having two jobs that let me keep living the life i love to live
-the best christmas i have had in years, it was perfect.

cheers to 2012 and over halfway to our 1 yr anniversary!

8.25.11

Crazy week!

it's been a crazy week at work and my volleyball season started.  so to vamp up the vball season, here are my top 3 reasons why i love being a referee.

1. it gives me a lot of rewards to help the kids learn and understand the game better.  a lot of coaches think they know what they're doing but they have no idea on the rules!
2. it gives me a big variety in my day by seeing different schools, leaving at different times, and interacting with different teams.
3. the money. hah!

8.22.11

House updates

we got what feels a bunch done in our house yesterday!  my dad came over to help since we don't have a masonry drill and two of our bedroom walls are exterior.  so i've been waiting and waiting to hang some stuff up!  the list of things done:

1. the new toilet was finally installed!  i'm so excited about it, especially since i bought it back in march!  it's high efficiency, taller than the old one, and brighter.  it makes the bathroom look nicer :) loveeeee.
2. hung up our surfboard above our bed! i was really excited to do this since all our guests signed the back of our surfboard at our reception.  also hung up a couple more hawaiian things around the room
3. hung up some artwork in the bathroom.  i really need to figure out how i want to decorate the bathroom.  we also need to re-organize it because i'm taking over it, well rather, i never made actual room for derek.  my goal is to utilize the counter space a bit more and organize the closet better to fit all of derek's things!  i'm also going to re-decorate my perfume stand to match our hawaiian theme better.  yay diy project!
4. measured out the door for a new one.  we have to replace our side door in order to fit the sweet new automatic doggie door we bought a couple months ago.  just never got around to getting the new door!
5. i vacuumed the whole house free of dog's hair.  it probably didn't last more than a minute though!

the next thing i'm completely excited for is picking out which ocean pictures from our wedding trip that we want to blow up and frame for our bedroom artwork!  enoch (derek's best man) took some amazing photos that we can't wait to use!

8.18.11

Two months!

two months ago today, i married my hubby!  one year ago today, he was on one knee asking me to marry him :)  in honor of that, there are two things on my list for today.  the first is re-living the moment that he proposed to me!

"We were supposed to have a family dinner the night he proposed because my cousin was in town. When I got off work, Derek told me he talked to my family and they were just laying around, not sure what they were going to do for dinner. He said he was really hungry so we should just go to dinner. He picked me up and started driving me around Old Town Scottsdale. He said he wasn't sure exactly where he wanted to eat. We ended up pulling into Olive Garden.  While we were parking, I saw my roommate's car who works there. I said I wonder if we'll get her tonight! When we went in, there was no one waiting to be seated. The man at the stand asked for our name and we would be seated shortly. Derek jumped in saying his name. I thought this was weird because I always give my name! We sit down, try to start a conversation and they called his name. We got sat in a booth in the corner. I saw another waitress in the secluded six table room so I figured we wouldn't get Emily, my roommate. All of a sudden, Emily walks up to us. I made a comment how it was weird she got us considering one waitress had the rest of the tables. She made an excuse saying she had random tables everywhere.  All while Derek is being a little nervous and keeps putting his hand over his pocket :)   


After dinner, Derek turns to me and started to profess his love to me! He was being really cute and getting close to my face, haha.  He said he wanted to be with me forever and that he wanted our new chapter of our lives to start where the first chapter began. He then pulled out a ring box! He asked me to marry him and I said YES!!! I called my mom and then realized that my family was next door at the Red Lobster. We walked over to celebrate with them.  


When we got to my house later on that night, he asked me on one knee to marry him again in my family room. It was just too crowded in the Olive Garden to get down on one knee! It was perfect though because I will always remember he proposed where our lives began together and again in the family room of our soon to be home together!"

the second is naming 5 things that i'm completely missing about hawaii

1. the beach, they are just better than mainland!
2. the food.  so amazing and i'm craving a loco moco so badly.
3. the culture. it's just a beautiful thing and i would love to fully embrace it
4. the weather.  it's a gorgeous breezy day almost all the time.
5. the exercise. it's great to walk everywhere, swim in the ocean, do different activities, love it!

aloha!

8.12.11

Long time no post!

i've been such a busy wifey that i haven't been posting! i still need to catch up on blogging the rest of our vacation, but here a list of things that have changed in my life since getting married.

1. i'm living with derek!  that's huge. it's been fabulous so far and i love coming home to him/him coming home to me.  it's been so much less stressful and we get to have the house the way we want it!
2. i'm living with a doggie now!  derek has a 7 yr old akita.  it was difficult to adjust to at first, but now we're buddies and he loves me.
3. we bought a new bedroom furniture set! i LOVE our new bedroom.  i really wanted a new set to signify a new beginning to our relationship.  we already have the homes, so it wasn't like we were moving into a new place together. this was one of the best things we've done. it's my little hawaiian oasis!  we have all of our hawaiian stuff from our wedding/honeymoon out to show and we're going to continue the theme to it.  derek's best man enoch took some seriously amazing pictures of the ocean while we were there.  i plan on getting them blown up, signed and framed as our artwork!
4. i'm cooking!  i have been learning new recipes and cooking a lot.  the past week, we only went out to eat one time.  that's like a record for us!
5. derek and i started working out and eating healthy again!  it's been so nice to have derek on board working out and being fit.  it really helps me and i hope i'm helping him too.
6. i got a smart phone! finally got rid of the dumb phone and it's been really nice!  although i've had issues with the phone and i'm already on my 2nd, possibly almost 3rd since i'm having the same issues again already!
7. i stalk our pictures daily as well as thing about hawaii.  i need to go back asap!!
8. i'm loving being a wife :)

5.22.11

I am finally feeling the last minute stress hit!

i am having such a hard time sleeping these days!  i am constantly having mini check lists going through my head before bed and i even wake up to them in the mornings!  i really need to sit down and get some stuff done so that i can sleep better.  things i need to add on to the master list:

1. DIY stuff for shoes at michael's
2. get flip flops for BM's
3. get ribbon for my bridal charms

and that's all i can think of for right now...but sure that more will come to me tonight :)

5.19.11

News flash:

OMG i can only think of being in hawaii today.  i think like almost every minute of the day i had some type of thought!

*sigh* toes in the sand and the toasty sun kissing me...along with my at that time husband. ow, ow!

5.17.11

I have the travel bug from thinking about vaca next month!

here's 5 places i would love to go:

1. the caribbean
2. australia
3. egypt
4. france
5. england

after the wedding, i'll be planning our 1 yr ann vaca!  we're going to ireland and i would like to go to england during that time to knock a place off my list!

here's the ranking of how much i have loved the countries i've been to:

1. ireland (we're going back because derek has not been there before)
2. spain
3. italy
4. monaco

i was actually in ireland when the iceland volcano exploded.  it was so crazy.  we had no idea when we were going home, our flight got cancelled. we ended up being a stuck for an extra week there.  at the time, it was just nerve racking not knowing when you're going home and all the news talking about the engines stopping mid flight.  all of europe was in a stand still and people were really freaking out.  they needed meds, money, shelter, and food.  we were lucky because had all that and a pharmacy let us refill our scripts there or give us something similar for the time being.  through this, we actually got to see more of ireland than we were going to.  we went west coast and to northern ireland (i won't go back there, it's scary to me). i can't wait to go back and show derek his heritage and how lovey the country is!

ps. iceland was always on my list of places to visit....not anymore, haha.

5.11.11

Top reason why i need to be married already (at this moment)

1. i can't reach the middle of my upper back to put lotion on :)  once derek and i live together after we're married...i won't have to ever worry about it again!

5.9.11

My mommy....

was on TV tonight!  she was on the dr drew show.  she was just so beautiful and honest.  i'm so proud of her for it.  she was so nervous because she has gained some weight back.  the thing she doesn't realize is that she still has accomplished so much that even though she has gained a little bit back, she WAY better off than where she was.  i hope seeing herself on TV tonight has given her the extra push to really be proud of herself.  there's not that many people can say they've been on the dr drew show!!!  it was really cool that allison sweeney was on it too and talking to mom as well!  i know that meant a lot because mom watching the biggest loser and she has always loved allison.  i'm so proud of her and i always will be :)

5.5.11

Why i've been slacking

1. i've been getting my tan on!  my palm tree is really standing out! whoop whoop
2. i haven't even had time to sleep
3. which brings me to drinking 4 rockstars today
4. its 830pm on cinco day drinko and i'm in bed...i'm apparently old folks!
5. derek said today "whoa there, your arm pit hairs are getting long, love".  um thanks, i haven't had time to shave during this week....i figured we could see if you're into me being a european or we can corn row that shit.
6. i've been online shopping instead. sorry cc.
7. i've been too busy listening to some chick say to me "damn that's a big diamond! are you engaged? if you are, i would have already married him because of that thing!" and...you're also 15 yrs old little girl.
8. it's hard to play with scotch tape and type at the same time
9. i've been eating too much...what the heck am i doing with my dress fitting in almost a week?!?
10. i've been having dreams of being ursala from the little mermaid and taking the voices of the two dogs next door to me that like to bark at every little thing.  yes, neighbor, i wasn't joking when i said i didn't really enjoy my 6 am wake up calls.

4.30.11

You know you're working with a bad business when...

1. it takes multiple times for the phone to be answered including multiple hang ups
2. they hang up on you while you're on hold
3. they leave you on hold for ever 20 minutes...like i literally could have taken 2 showers while being on hold and they would have never known
4. they cannot give you an expected ship date or tell you where your package is
5. you tend to slam your phone down multiple times as if it were their heads after you speak to them
6. they take over 2 weeks to get to back to you about your broken  merchandise (they still haven't fixed this with me yet)
7. they never call you back when they say you will
8. they say things such as "if it is your package, would you like us to call you?"  um no, please don't let me know when my items are ready for pick up...i like guessing games.
9. "choke a bitch" sayings come into your head while you're thinking about them and in their shop
10. you can create a blog and read through your 10 reasons why they suck a few times before they get back to you when you're on hold

*sigh*

4.29.11

In 50 days, I'll be marrying him!!!

in 50 days, i will be his mrs!  when we were at 100 days, i wrote him 100 reasons why i am marrying you in 100 days.  to celebrate today, i wrote him 50 reasons why you are marrying me in 50 days!  i won't bore you with posting them all, but i will give you a short list of 18 because we're getting married on the 18th!

1.       i will be the best wifey everrrrr

2.       i make you smile

3.       we have incredible chemistry

4.       i refill your beer without you asking

5.       i will be a fabulous mother to your children

6.       we can communicate and talk things out

7.       you want to wear the ridiculously amazing wedding ring I bought you!!

8.       i respect you

9.       i see your faults as positives

10.       i will sacrifice anything for you

11.       i bought cook books to learn to cook for you

12.       i will be faithful to you always and forever

13.       i will always be proud to call you my husband

14.       i try to make the little things count in life

15.       i know you better than anyone else in this world

16.       I always try to be pretty for you

17.       I can out burp anyone

18.       I fall in love with you more and more each day we are together

4.28.11

The love he shows me..

my fiance asked for my blog website this morning, so i know he's going to look at it today sometime.  hi hunni!!!

my single friends who like to "puke" or "gag" at derek and i...cover your eyes beezies, but i know you secretly love and wish you could be like us!  some of you have even told me this when you're toasted.  haha :)

to welcome him to my blog, today's list is 15 favorite (recent) texts from him that are saved in my phone at the moment.  i have another list on going that i save on my computer of all his cute texts.  if you don't know him, he's not one to write love letters, but he sends me the sweetest damn texts ever that make me smile and fall more in love with him.  

1. you're always going to be sexy to me love. do what you want and makes you happy. then i'm happy
2.  night beautiful sexy amazing bride of mine :)
3.  life with you is amazing
4.  i love you sarah. you make me a better man and you're everything in a woman i could ever dream of
5. i hate being away from you
6. muah! i can't wait to be your husband. i will be the luckiest man ever to be "game over" with you
7. i miss you! i can't wait to spend every night and waking moment with you for the rest of lives together! you complete me in every aspect and make me so happy inside and out! i can't wait till we are husband and wife.
8. you're my best friend
9. sweet dreams my fiancee
10. i love holding you tight and close to me
11. i love showing you off
12. morning my beautiful bride to be :)
13. you're my everything and my all. you complete me and make me the man i am sarah! i never want a day to go by without you there. i love you sarah (insert middle and last name) with all my heart!
14. you're amazing
15. (this one goes back the furthest) love you too beautiful! sleep tight sweet dreams and tomorrow will be your first whole day as my fiancee :)

instead of there's more to life than lists...today it's there's more to life when i'm with him. i love you forever.

4.27.11

10 reasons why ladies are mistaken for bridezillas

1. people don't listen to us
2. people look for reasons to make us out to be one
3. people consider passion mistaken for attitude
4. people help too much/don't help enough or at all
5. people assume they are invited/invite other people not on the list (dumb guest list issues)
6. people try to become close to again to get invited to your wedding
7. people mistakenly think you're at a different point in life and disappear instead of creating a spot in your new part of life
8. people make us stressed beyond belief
9. people act differently about money
10. horrible bridal shops make brides the worst bridezillas everrrrrr!

seriously, just give us our stuff when we're supposed to get it, make sure it's not broken/ripped, communicate with us, and we will gladly get out of your hair.  if not, we will go where there is no coming back.  we will walk around in your bridal shop in our sample gown for hours on end while whispering to other brides, "don't shop here, they have 10 children in the back hand sewing your dress which is why it somehow takes weeks longer to get your dress than expected. and watch out for the mysterious embroidery that says helppppp ussssss across your empire style waist".  oh don't worry...we'll bring snacks, but only small snacks, because we ordered the dress at least one size smaller.

yup, all 10 of those reasons are why other people make us bridezillas...we don't make ourselves that way :)