32 Things That Make Me Happy!

I’ve been in a real for real funk lately.  I needed something to slap me out of this sour puss mood and thanks to my IRL Best Friend, Erin she got me thinking about all the things that make me happy and I’m instantly back in the happy lands.

1.  I’m going to go ahead and say it, Phil.  I’m darn thankful to have this guy in my life because he makes it so much better.

2.  A clean house. 

3.  Bubble baths.

4.  My pups, especially when they snuggle.  Not to mention I think they are hilarious, I mean common my dog watches TV and plays dress up.  If that doesn’t make you happy then I don’t know you.

5.  When all the laundry is done and put away.

6.  The sunshine. 

7.  Music.  

8.  That fact that I will get to see my mom in a little over a week!  Yayyyy.

9.  Breakfast in bed.  This doesn’t happen often but when it does it means the world to me.  It always seems to happen when I least except but need it the most.  Bravo Phil.

10.  My friends.  Even if it’s just a telephone conversation.  I love them to pieces and just being able to talk to them on the phone puts a smile on my face.

11.  Crème Brulee.  Best. Dessert. Ever.  Strawberry Shortcake is up there too.  It’s like heaven after one spoonful.

12.  A hot cup of tea with honey.

13.  Days off.  You don’t know how happy that in 2 weeks and 1 day I have a paid holiday off.  I still can’t decide what I am going to do on that day off but whatever it is, It will be awesome. 

14.  Having workout buddy. 

15.  My niece and nephew.  Seriously anytime I am having a bad day I either Facetime these two or steal them for the weekend.  It’s just instant happiness. 

16.  BBQing.  For one thing bbq meat and vegetables is just 10 times better than baked or sautéed.  Not to mention that the bf is the grill master and that usually means I don’t have to do much in the kitchen.

17.  Elephants.

18.  Getting my hair done.  It’s an instant confidence booster not to mention my hair dresser is the absolute best.  It doesn’t hurt that I get a neck and hand massage during it.  I rarely spend money on myself but I splurge every 10ish weeks getting my hair done. 

19.  Surprises.  Whether its flowers for now reason, a party, coming home to the dishes put away, I just love me some surprises.  But don’t’ tell me you have a surprise for me, I just want to be blindsided.

20.  Car naps.  Yup, you heard that right.  At my previous job I had a 2 hour break and started taking car naps instead of wasting gas and driving home.  Whenever I feel like a need a lil snooze.  I head out to my car, set my alarm, put a scarf over my eyes and pass out for 45 minutes.  I wake up a new woman.

21.  Love. 

22. Taking pictures.  Maybe because it reminds me of my brother, he’s a photographer and the fact I love capturing moments. 

23.  A hot cup of tea with honey.

24.  Pinterest.  

25.  Traveling. 

Spain!

26.  Water, as in some kind of body of water.  Boating and sunshine just screams summer. 

27.  Walks around the neighborhood with the bf, Mouse and Dragon.

28.  Leggings.  This things just make everything better.  

29.  Looking through old photos back when I was a weee one.  

30.  That feeling when you get to the top of a mountain.  It's such a rush.  

31.  Eating out.

32.  Being with my family.  They are my heart and soul. 

I could keep going because there are a lot of things to be happy about.  What makes you happy?  Link up with Erin and Sarah!

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Hump Day Confessions

It's hump day and I have been meaning to jump on this whole Hump Day Confession thing.  I've got a lot on my mind and today couldn't be more perfect to confess.  

I confess that I haven't worn deodorant in over two months.  I don't do this on purpose and admit it's pretty fucking gross especially since I workout 4 days a week. But since it's been so cold I don't really need it.  I usually am a regular deodorant applier but somehow it just got lost in my morning routine. Besides, it does keep the creeps away.  Okay, okay I'll go put deodorant on.

I confess that my car is a mess.  I could seriously live out of the thing.  It's a moving closet/fridge.  But I mean I do commute to work so I spend a lot of time in my car.  I've got coats, scarfs, boots, cups, spoons, wrapping paper, gosh you name it and I probably have it in my car.  It's gross.  I'm actually embarrassed to have people in my car.  Thankfully it is starting to get warmer out so I will NEED to spend the day cleaning it.  

I confess that I get scared when I am home alone.  I'm so used to having Phil home that I just feel safer when he is home.  I let Dragon sleep with me in bed when he's gone and she usually sleeps on top of me because I swear she knows I'm scared.  Pup, knows how to protect.  She's a keeper.

I confess that I need a weekend away from my Town/Indiana.  Either one of those would be fine.  It’s no secret that I don’t love the area that I live in but it makes it all worth it because I get to be close to Phil.  And it is growing on me but getting away just helps my sanity because I love new places and trying out different restaurants.  I mean we all know how much I love food. 

I confess that I am freaking out about turning 25 this month.  Yes, I know it’s not old but for some reason I’m really struggling with turning 25.  It’s one of those big milestone ages, you’ve been on this earth for a quarter of a century, like ahhhhhh!  I’m really a grown up.  Maybe it’s because growing up I thought I would have my life figured out by now and well, I am nowhere near close.  And not to mention I am getting wrinkles around my eyes!  I am not okay with this.  I probably won’t be one of those people that embraces getting older.  Keep me young please, k thanks!  Where are the youth fountains?

I confess that I haven’t been making much effort with this blog of mine.  With being sick and just exhausted lately when I get home I just have zero motivation to do anything.  Take last night for instance.  I went to the grocery right after work, got home at 7 and by the time I unloaded everything, made dinner, ate and washed the dishes it was 9 o’clock!  I just went straight to bed. And on other nights I workout and get home at the same time and go through the same routine.  How do people do it all?  

Back in the day with the sister when grocery shopping was actually fun!

I confess that I am upset that my brother Sean announced his engagement/marriage via Facebook before telling anyone in the family and on April Fools day.  I legit thought it was a sick joke, like who would fall for that one.  But come to find out it is somewhat true.  I mean somewhat true in that the marriage part was a joke but they really did get engaged.  Who puts that on Facebook on April Fools if it’s true?  It’s just a rule, you don’t do that.   I’m sad as a sister that he wouldn’t share the news with me via the phone (he lives in NY).  I couldn’t sleep last night because I was so upset.  And of course I am happy for them.  It means the world to me to see him in such a good and happy place in his life.  Have a mentioned I haven’t met her? Okay, so I haven’t mentioned that yet, so yea I haven’t met her yet because they have only been dating for a few months!  I’m in shock.  I honestly don’t know what to think or say.  Am I being selfish for feeling this way?  

Here's to letting it out there.  Now go link up with Kathy @ Vodka and Soda for Hump Day Confessions! 

Blooming Friendships

I'll be honest with you.  I feel like crap and this week just isn't in my favor.  My Aunt Flow came to visit and while I love that she visits me every month, all her baggage that comes with her is not fun. On top of that I woke up in the middle of the night with a sore throat and the sniffles.  It's rare for me to get sore throats as I don't have my tonsils or adenoids anymore.  I was just telling some one the other day that I don't get sore throats and go figure I few days later I get one.  Jinxed myself.  I also yelled at my dogs for no reason this morning and now I feel really bad and just want to go snuggle with them and give them treats.  

Anyways enough of the negative Nancy business.  I wanted to share with you what I was up to last weekend.  I've been slightly friend-sick these days and this weekend was a great fix for that.  On Friday night a bunch of us all went out for dinner and drinks.  It was one of those evenings where I really connected with my friend Lindsay our friendship instantly transformed from our boyfriends are best friends and we hangout to this girl is my best friend.  Yayy to blooming friendships! 

Saturday I spent the morning doing domestic type things such as grocery shopping, laundry and cleaning the house.  The boyfriend helped with the cleaning part, actually he is pretty good about helping me with that.  Lindsay and I met up at the gym to do some cardio and lift. I'm so glad to have finally found my workout routine that is enjoyable and showing results. I have lost an inch and half around my waist since October.  Happy dance.  

Then I got to work baking some amazing cupcakes that I found on this blog.  I mean you can't go wrong with Irish Car Bomb Cupcakes.  

I spent all morning on Sunday cooking an Irish feast cause that's just the kinda Irish girl that I am.  I made a Lamb Stew, Corned Beef and Cabbage and Corned Beef Linguine.  For my first time making all the above it was all pretty good.  I am glad that I don't have these Irish Feasts often because I would be the size of an elephant.  

Dragon and Lindsay might of had a few too many bourbon shots.  Okay, I'm only half kidding. Dragon had got a hold of the bourbon back from her break out of her kennel days. Thankfully those days are over!  

I've never played poker, I know, I know.  I just never understood it until now.  To bad I didn't have that on my List to cross off.  I'm just going to cross that off my list in my head.  It was a lot of fun and I didn't come in last place so that's a win in my book.  It didn't hurt that I was drinking coffee and baileys, which is some of the best stuff on this earth.  Phil won and that means I win because he was in a good mood!  

I should probably get back to my tea and honey and crawl into bed.  But wait I'm at work so I will just have to wait on that last part.  

Before & After

This weekend after the boyfriends birthday celebrations I got really flipping motivated.  I'm not sure if it was because it was in the 50's and I could smell spring but this girl got shit done. This doesn't happen often but I had all these ideas brewing in my head and ran with it.  Over coffee the boyfriend and I were talking about how we wanted to spend the day.  

I had the bright idea to head over to his factory to get some wood pallets so that I could do something with them.  I had a few ideas of things I wanted to do with them.  So we decided to head over there. While we were there we decided to pick up the media cabinet that the bf had designed.  Though the business is commercial cabinet manufacturing the bf has dreams of designing furniture.  His first design is now sitting in our living room.  I like to think that it's pretty fucking cool!  I had to call up Phil's dad to help us carry the thing because Phil is out of commission at the moment.   I had some fun of course driving around the lil cart in the factory.  It reminds me of the first time I came up to visit the bf when we were first dating and he gave me a private tour! :)

This piece of junk served its purpose but it was literally on it's last hinge. Needless to say I was not sad to see it go.  :)

Huge improvement my friends and I am loving all the color pops for spring!  The flowers make me happy because the boyfriend sent them to me at work last week for being such a good nurse during his recovery process.  #Boyfriendpoints.  

On Sunday we went to breakfast with Phil's Dad, Sister and her family. When I got home I spent the whole day in the basement doing magical things with these pallets, power sander and a hammer.  I was sore the next day from all that shenanigans.  If you want a good workout go disassemble a pallet with a hammer and a drywall knife.   But that's all I am going to leave you with till everything is complete! Stay tuned for the finished magic.

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Celebrate - Cause That's What You Do When It's Someones Birthday!

On Friday I celebrated the life of a very important person in my life.  He is my best friend, my other half, my babe and my boyfriend.  Philip turned 28 and I know that celebrating all stapled up wasn’t his idea of a freaking party but we made the most of it. He opened his gifts first thing in the morning because the inner child in him couldn't wait and I think was presently surprised.  He has been eyeing a new briefcase/travel bag for quite sometime and I knew he wouldn't buy it so I went ahead and purchased it for him.  I've had it for 3 weeks and it's been killing me not to give it to him.  I loved seeing his face as he opened it!  After work we went out for dinner and drinks with his dad and he had his first drink or two since surgery.  He wasn't stumbling on his crutches, so that was a win.  Much to be celebrated.  The rest of the evening was spent snuggled up watching Dallas Buyers Club, which Dragon really enjoyed. She literally could not take her eyes off of the TV.

This is a flattering picture of all of us.  My Mom's and the dog facetimed Phil to wish him a Happy Birthday.  I was of course busy sucking down my Mango Margarita.  

I really don’t know if he reads this blog of mine, he says he doesn’t but I think he actually really does.  Who knows.  Phil is a special kind of guy.  And people might say that I am a special kind of girl, others might call that wackadoo, cough cough Erin. :)  But together the two of us have a great thing going on.  I think the great thing about celebrating birthdays is appreciating that person and letting them know all of the great things about them.  He may or may not need the ego boost but you get one special day a year all about yourself so I figured I might as well give it to him. 

Let’s rewind a bit.  I had every intention of finding a guy that enjoyed the outdoors, among other things that I enjoyed.  On a random day I got an e-mail from this cute guy who in his profile picture was wearing a business suit.  Not the typical guy I would go for.  He said something along the lines of “Hey, I’m getting off this thing (match.com). I think you're cute, here’s my number if you want to continue this.”    That was among the less creepy e-mails I received, I gave it a day and on a Sunday afternoon I decided to text him.  I had all those warm and fuzzy feelings when we were texting back and forth like we had known one another.  He asked me out for drinks and even though he was afraid of bugs, I decided to give him a chance and I’m so glad I did because he is the best thing in my life, next to dessert of course. I can't express how much I appreciate him and how happy I am that he is part of my life.  

Pictures from our first two months of dating.  

He is one of the most passionate and ambitious guys I know.  I put those two together because he loves his job and works so hard.  He is always trying to find ways to better what he is doing and looking for new endeavors to undertake.  He never wants to settle and that’s what I love about him.  It doesn’t hurt that he happens to be strikingly handsome.  He is patient with me, I know sometimes I push him out of his comfort zones because I tend to be more expressive emotionally and affectingly then he is.  It’s much appreciated, especially the little things.  I love that he loves music and that two of us can spend half the day blaring music in the house, maybe we are cleaning maybe we are just dancing.  These are the moments that I live for.  I can’t help but to smile when I watch him dance and when I say dance it’s him pointing his index finger, tapping his foot and twirling me around here and there.  And it’s not because I’m laughing at him, I smile because it’s just the cutest thing.  I love that we can just sit on the porch and not say a word but we are able to enjoy our own thoughts and having one another by our side. 

Personality wise the two of us are very similar but our views and opinions are complete opposites.  But that’s what makes him great because the two of us can banter back and forth.  My perspective on things changes because I can hear the other side, sometimes I’m like “wow, didn’t think of it that way” or “yea no you’re totally wrong Phil.”  :)

He brings something out of me that no one has before and I love him for that.  I’m proud of the man that he is and the man that he strives to be. It's been one hell of a year and half and I can’t wait to celebrate 70ish more birthdays laughing with him. Oh and if you are reading this babe, Happy Birthday and I love you more and more everyday and enjoy your new briefcase from your amazing girlfriend.  *End the cheesy, romantic music here.  

P.S.  I’m really not sure why I get so sappy and emotional all the time but maybe that’s what love does to you.  Anyways thanks for reading along and if you need a barf bag now is the time to reach for it.  

Friendships

Life hasn’t slowed down any but that’s okay.  Although, I didn’t go into work yesterday due to the fact that we got about 8 inches of snow and sleet.  I spent half the morning trying and debating if it was worth it to go in so it was sort of a wasted day.  Then I spent the rest of the day with a headache watching Girls.  This is when commuting an hour really is an epic fail.  I did try though, I swear, twice for that matter.

Moving on, what I wanted to talk about today is friendships.   This all kind of got stirring in my head this weekend when my boyfriend was recovering from his surgery.   On Saturday night his friends drove down from Detroit, Indianapolis and Fort Wayne, which range from and hour to three hours away.   Prior to coming to our house they put together a get well basket.   At around 7:30 they all arrived bearing gifts and dinner for us.  It was really the sweetest thing and I actually had some tears pouring down my cheek because it was one of the ultimate gestures.  He has a fucking amazing group of friends. Here are some snapshots from the weekend.  We even got into this fun came called Heads Up, created by the one and only Ellen.  She is seriously the bomb.com.

And I won’t lie I’m so glad that his friends have become my friends but I couldn’t help but be a little jealous.  I do have one amazing girlfriend, Lindsay here in Indiana, that I actually met through Phil’s group of friends. She lives like 2 minutes from me and she truly is a great friend.  I’m not saying my friends from home wouldn’t do this for me but it did somewhat cross my mind if they would.   Do I have good friends?  Am I a good friend?  It makes it hard that my friends are all spread out.  I’m in Indiana, my sister lives in NYC, my best friend Kristen lives in DC, my best friend Tori lives in Boston and my other really good friend lives in upstate NY.  It makes it extremely hard to see one another let alone throw them a surprise party or make a trip to see them when they are injured or really sick.  It sucks not being able to drive over after a crappy day to drink wine and watch trash tv with them. 

Had to add in a Friends gif.

Not one of my friends has ever been out to visit me in the almost 3 years that I have been here.  Does it make me sad.  Yea it makes me real fucking sad.  But at the same time I get it.  It expensive to fly and it’s a really long ass drive.  Not to mention we are all broke bitches.  I’m lucky if I make it home once a year.  We try to get together during the holidays but sometimes it doesn’t work out.  I was supposed to make it to DC to visit Kristen for a fun birthday weekend in April but after looking over my finances it just wasn’t in the cards.  Had it been a year a half ago I would have winged it and said whatever I’ll figure it out later.  But I actually made the responsible decision that it just would be a financially stupid.   Eww, am I actually becoming an adult?  I mean I made a Garden board on Pinterest....Who am I? But it actually hurts me that I can’t go.  I feel like a god awful friend because it’s like I’m not making any effort.

I guess what I am trying to get at is I want to be one of those fucking really good friends. But how when all your friends are spread across the county?  Maybe I could send some fun care packages?  Any thoughts/ ideas on this?   I admit I am not the perfect friend all the time and there is always room for improvement.   At the same time it would be nice to have that in return right?  I often feel like sometimes my friends forget about me.  I am almost always the one that calls them.   I understand sometimes life gets in the way and before you know it, it’s been 3 weeks or even longer since you have talked to them.  Maybe I am having a harder time with this because I have had a difficult time meeting a group of girlfriends out here. Thank the heavens for my girl Lindsay or I might actually have gone crazy.  But no matter what I would do anything for each and everyone of my friends because I love them with all my heart.

Gosh meeting friends after college is harder than finding your one true soul mate if you believe in that sort of stuff.  The most typical place to meet people is at work.  And I have met a few ladies that I hang out with here and there but they have never really progressed to the whole best friend status.  It didn't help when I moved an hour and half away to a smaller town. So yes, this makes me miss my friends from childhood and college that much more.  

Childhood friends, college friends and new friends it's important to have these people in your life.  They are a major part of you and even your health for that matter.  The right friends know you better than you actually know yourself, they pick you up when you are down, push you to be better, just generally make you happy, they're honest and loyal, they let you talk their ear off when you just need to vent and they bring out the fun side of yourself. Friendship really is one of the best things to experience and to have.  Hold onto those good friends and don't be afraid to make new ones.  As they say in Toy Story, "You've got a friend in me."

Just Call Me Nurse Meg

Hello friends, so life has been a little crazy lately and it has kept me away from these parts.  I thought over the weekend I could catch up on some reading and writing but I thought wrong. I'm still just as behind, actually more.  Anyways here's a little snapshot of what has been going on.  

Probably the most time consuming thing that has been going on lately is the fact that the boyfriend tore his ACL.  That means I have become Nurse Meg for the past two weeks.  So, that's been fun.  I wish I had a better story for how it happened but in all honestly he fell in the first 10 minutes of playing volleyball.  He was so excited to go play and even went early to go practice and stretch.  I was home and catching up on things and get a text message that reads "I fell and fucked up my knee."  My first reaction was I laughed.  I'm sorry but I found it funny and didn't realize actually how seriously he messed up his knee.  

On the 6th he had his surgery and I took the day off so I could be with him and take care of him afterwards.  It was a long day but I am so glad I was able to be there for him.  I know this is extremely hard on him because it has taken him away from work and it's also the first time anything medically has happened to him.  It's all scary and new.  I am trying my best to keep his spirits up and do my best to help him.  This was my first experience taking care of someone, usually it's me that's sick or hurt.  It's actually nice to switch roles for a change.  It has kept me on my toes and a lot more active.  If anyone tells you that sponge baths are romantic, they are sadly mistaken.  

Dragon has been by Philly's side since his surgery, yup it's adorbs.

I also have started free weights.  I am officially obsessed.  I may only be at 40 lbs right now on my deadlifts but I am proud to even been lifting. I am finally starting to see the results that I have been trying to get for months. Since October I have lost 1.5 inches around my waist. Wahoo!  For those of you newer to these parts I have hypothyroidism and have gained more weight in the past year and half then I have wanted to.  And for the past year I have been trying to lose the weight and haven't had much luck.  I've become an addict pinning tips on weight lifting for women and new workouts to try. I think I have finally found a good balance in my workout routines that I actually enjoy it now. I think the key is the variety in my workouts. I get bored, keeping it mixed up makes it far more interesting.  I try to keep to this schedule but sometimes that doesn't always happen:

Monday:  Boot Camp Class

Tuesday:  Lifting & Cardio

Wednesday: Off

Thursday:  Boxing

Friday:  Off

Saturday:  Lifting & Cardio.  

Sunday:  Take the dog for a walk/jog.  

I never shared with you what my goals for 2014 are but one of them is to improve myself in anyway I can. High on my list is to improve my health. Sticking to a workout schedule for me has been hard but I have really improved on this in the past few months.  I find it helps to have a workout buddy.  Actually, I don't know what I would do without my friend Lindsay because she has been a huge motivation to get my butt to the gym.  I've also been incorporating fruit and veggie smoothies into my day as a healthy snack.  

Also in other news, I crossed another item off my 101 Things List.  I have been a True Blood fan since the first episode but after the third season I didn't have HBO anymore.  Thanks to HBO go and binge watching I am all caught up on True Blood.  Does anyone know if there will be a season 7 because the last episode left me on the edge of my seat and I want more?!

Between being a nurse, staying healthy and fit and binge watching TV I have been extremely busy.  How have you been staying busy lately?