Date Night #2 and #3

Chris was in charge of Date Nights 1 and 2.... two was my birthday weekend with the in-laws so we got to actually go out ;)

Date Night #3 was my first time to plan one... I decided to do cookie sundaes and board games.  We wore our nice comfy pjs and shared a cookie sundae... check out our pics!

I set the mood with candles and flowers :)

This is us getting ready to dive in to the big bowl of ice cream and cookie :)

This is our dog being creepy and trying to use his Jedi powers to get ice cream...

This is the board after our first game...

Guess who won twice....

Always use the barrier method...

Happy date night :)

Fitness Thursday # 4

FAIL # 2

Didn't get anything in this week.  I've been tired after work... need to find some motivation somewhere.  You'd think finding skinny pictures would do it... nope!

Cute idea for V-day

I just saw this on Etsy and thought "I could SO make that!"... I'm thinking all I need is a heart shaped cutter, 12x12 paper and colored paper.  SO cute!  Anyone have a heart shaped cutter?

It's going to be interesting...

Grad class started last night and I'm not sure how I feel about it.  The class is scheduled from 6:30 to 9:00 pm and we're supposed to meet for four sessions which are not mandatory... which  to me means you must come.  There's a book that is highly recommended but not required... which to me means, buy it.  Aside from that, the class started on time... the professor is SO not like my last professor so that will take some getting used to.  From what I could tell from his voice, he's older, organized but kinda clueless at the same time.

As always, I'm the youngest, most inexperienced person in class but I don't think it will be a bad thing.  Everyone is already working in Instructional Development so they have a bit more background knowledge to work from.  The whole class is a group project and the groups will be chosen by the professor by a Myers Briggs survey we took and an Asset Assessment.... I'm worried about that.  He's going to assign each of us roles that we would have in Project Management and some will have to take on more than one role.  I hope I'm in a good group!  We have to meet online until May 5th when our final online course is due.  Yes, we're making a whole online course from the ground up.  God help me!

One conversation that made me shake my head last night was this one:

Student:  "Why is it important to use headphones?"

Professor:  Um, so you can hear?

Ugh, really?  If you listen over the speakers and you're trying to talk, there will be feedback... not common knowledge?  I really hope she's not in my group.

Count your Blessings Tuesday #20

Today I am grateful for: (it being WEDNESDAY... this morning I thought it was Tuesday... my week just got shorter :) )

• peace of mind knowing my grades are done and turned in and my grad school assignment for next week is already turned in as well :)  Oh and my taxes too!
• date nights -- man, it's so easy to neglect your relationship with your spouse when you have so much stuff going on... it's nice to have a special time reserved to reconnect
• laughter -- it fills my house and my heart with so much joy and all because of a little boy
• Skype-- I love watching T being able to share special moments with his Abuelo.  They were drawing together and it was the cutest thing ever.  "Draw a fire truck Abuelo!"  "Good job Abuelo!"
• having a healthy kid.  I just found out that my five year old nephew has cancer.  Please keep him in your prayers.

This is kinda fun...

You can sign up for this website and share the link with people you know.... they can then ask you anonymous questions you answer (or not).  Go ahead and ask that question you've always wondered about and never really got around to asking me ;)

http://www.formspring.me/guryshka

Birthday Weekend

It has come to my attention that I have not updated my blog with my birthday weekend photos and perhaps that person should join FACEBOOK and see them when I post them there!    In any case, I will post a few extras on here that I didn't post there...

My birthday weekend started with a GORGEOUS sunset on our way to dinner:



It was then followed by a yummy dinner at the Asean Bistro and a trip to MaggieMoos for dessert.  I had the BEST strawberry ice cream with crushed oreos, real strawberries and hot fudge.... heaven in my mouth!

The following day-- my birthDAY... we were going to go to the Walters Art Gallery but I decided I wanted to do something different.  I REALLY just wanted to go to the mall without a screaming two year old that screams when we set foot in any clothing store "I don't LIKE that store!."  We went to Arundel Mills and entered through Outdoor World where we took the following photos:





We also went to the LEGO store and a few clothing stores...


We had lunch at Chevy's and then went to the movie theater to watch "The Lovely Bones" (not that great).

Strawberry daiquiri... yum!

Crab and shrimp quesadilla with mango salsa we shared....

Sopapillas with ice cream...also shared :)

Waiting for the movie to start...


A big THANK YOU goes to the in-laws for watching T and making this awesome weekend possible.

CSA - Grass Fed Meats

I'm looking into starting to get my meat from a local farm rather than a grocery store.... not just any local farm but one that supports organic and natural practices.  I narrowed it down to this one:

http://www.fergusonfamilyfarm.com/productsprices.htm

I wanted to join a CSA but realized that it would be more wasteful to get a whole box of fruits and veggies every week seeing as I am EXTREMELY picky with what fruits and veggies I eat.  I also wouldn't know what to do with half the veggies they put in the boxes.  In this case, I will just go to the farmer's market and just grab whatever fruits and veggies suit me but I'd still be supporting local farming.  Win-win I say :)

Fitness Thursday # 3

No pictures but....

Sunday I went to an hour of yoga :)
Tonight C and I did The Biggest Loser 30 day Jump Start DVD

Plans for next week:

Yoga Sunday and C and I are going to try to pop that Biggest Loser DVD in at least every other night.

Yay!

Blast from the past...

Ever since I was little, I never really spent a lot of time with my Mom's side of the family.  I never got to sit with my Abuela and look at photo albums of my Mom and hear stories about her childhood and I recent that.  My Abuela Gina is gone now so I'll never got to hear about it from her point of view but I do hope to someday see Mom's album.  It's in Puerto Rico so what better excuse to visit than that?

In any case, what brought on this post is that my uncle (Mom's brother) has been posting OLD pictures on facebook (I'm a bit scared... a handful of me have popped up).... and he posted this one of my mom:

How AWESOME is this picture?  I want to know more about it... how old she was... who did her hair... why I can't look more like her.  I hope she gets on Facebook tomorrow because I have a LOT of questions to ask ;)

Count your Blessings Tuesday #19

Today I am grateful for:

• productive long weekends
• creating memories and new traditions
• the nice break I've had between grad classes which is coming to an end next Wednesday
• taking care of myself first so I can take care of the rest ;)
• having something to look forward to
• early birthday presents :)

Birthday Week :)

Next Saturday is my birthday :)  The in-laws are coming Friday so that C and I can go out both Friday night and Saturday (yay for in-laws!).  I just scheduled a facial/wax for me Wednesday night-- need to look fabulous for my 28th year!  I also plan on sending flowers to my mom on my birthday since without her, I wouldn't be here!

I'm feeling better about my 28th than my 27th -- here's to getting older!

Accessories by M ;)

I made this necklace/bracelet set tonight using ribbon, pearls and beading thread.  I've seen necklaces like this for $30 and up... I paid $10 for supplies and can make more should I want.  Not bad, huh?

Date Night #1

C was in charge of our first date night.   We set up the living room with tons of blankets and pillows on the floor in front of the TV, put on our nice PJs (not frumpy!), got ICEE's and popcorn and The Hangover.  We had a great time :)

<3 Ikea <3

Not great photos but this is our new addition!  I still have to get one more canvas box thing for T's toys at the bottom (note the second hole from the left) and better decor for the "adult" boxes on top but all in all it's WAY better than what we had.  I love it!

Annoyed

I called my grandfather in Puerto Rico today because I've been a bad granddaughter and haven't called him in a while.  We're talking and he asks me about how Mom is doing.  I told him I thought she was ok but a little depressed and he proceeds to tell me that everyone in PR (family) thinks she's depressed because I didn't go to Florida for Christmas.  I told him she's been depressed since before Christmas and I have nothing to do with that.  She's depressed because she suffers from depression and her medication is off and she's been SICK.  I already feel guilty for being selfish for once and staying home with my family for Christmas... I didn't need to hear it from others.  

Fitness Thursday # 2

FAIL... not really but kinda.  I did elliptical Saturday and my exercise for tonight is going to be putting together our new IKEA bookcase!!!  I plan to head to yoga on Sunday with my friend Jen.

Count your Blessings Tuesday #18

Today I am grateful for:

• having had the guts to start my photography business-- it's really starting to take off (slowly but surely) and it's pretty cool
• home improvement projects
• blogs-- it's SO great to see so many creative ideas out there
• T's emerging creativity-- the kid loves to draw and his drawings are starting to LOOK like things... it's pretty crazy
• my new contract with hubby... can't wait for Friday!

Another contract!?

Some of you know that C had to sign a contract before he could even date me... well, we're both signing a contract tonight!  It's called Project 52: Date Night and I got the idea from the Simply Modern Mom blog. The contract is for us to take time for ourselves and our relationship every week and I hope some of you married ladies reading this blog join us!  Here's the contract:

We, ______________________ and ______________________ have pledged to have date night once a week. We have set ________________________ from ____________ to ____________ as

our weekly date night. This will be our time to get to know each other better, create memories, learn and try new things, be creative and have some fun.

We have set the following criteria for our date nights…

·      Can't do the same thing twice in one month.

·      We will rotate being in charge of date nights biweekly.

·      No children allowed, if applicable.

·      Must create a date-like atmosphere. No frumpy clothes or pajamas. Make it a special event. Mind the details. But most of all, keep it simple. 

Fun Collaboration

... no, not the work kind ;)  My friend A is a DJ and he likes composing/mixing some cool music... we're going to collaborate on a fun pointless project in which I am going to take photos of things that represent "BLUE" and he's going to compose a piece of music that is "blue."  I'm excited... should be fun!

When we're both done I'm going to put the photos in a slideshow with his music.  :)

Productive weekend :)

I wish I had a before and after of my big project today but all I have is an after!  Ikea kinda messed up my plans of a HUGE makeover so the makeover will be in two parts.

Inspired by C's Christmas gift of her shoe shelf-- I did away with my chair with the plastic bin underneath and upgraded to this:

The red bins hold our shoes and the holes are for my work bag, purse and camera bag.  the top will be used for keys, dog leash and such.

We were supposed to get another bigger shelf like this to put on the opposite wall but in the time it took us to go home with this and for Chris to go back to fit the big shelf in the car, someone had bought ALL the shelves that were there.  UGH
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Today I also bagged up a whole bunch of stuff to give to Goodwill, made a dessert for S's birthday (which was a big FAIL... gotta think of something else to do) and finished putting away all Christmas stuff.

Yay for productivity!  If only it would happen at work as well...

O-M-G! Potential client!? YES!

So I just received an e-mail through my photography website.  Someone referred them to ME!  They inquired about me doing a small wedding on July 4th.  I'm not big on weddings but it's supposed to be small (50 people) and she just wants pictures before the ceremony, during the ceremony and afterwards... not getting ready and all that jazz.  I think I'm going to e-mail her back after I stop freaking out ;)

Fitness Thursday # 1

Technically, this was done yesterday... but the point of Fitness Thursday is not necessarily WHEN I do it but rather that I did exercise during the week.  I decided to have you participate a bit by having you vote on what the next week's fitness activity should be.  This week you have no choice-- I used the elliptical!

Here I am... big dork on the elliptical... my hair looked too nice to be on there...

Just do it!

Your choices for next week:

a)  Carmen Electra's Striptease Workout

b)  Pilates Target Strategies Workout

c)  Biggest Loser Workout

In lieu of my Etsy finds today...

I'm posting about my new home improvement plans that I've been brewing up in my head.  I told you my creativity wanted out!

The targeted room:  master bathroom
The project:

       -- painting the vanity cabinet black
       -- framing the builder mirror in black
       -- painting over the patched up hole in the wall
       -- replacing the faucets with brushed chrome ones
       -- adding hardware to the cabinet doors
       -- if I find cheap tiles, and get the guts to do it myself... tile the bathroom floor
       -- cost permitting... new lighting (probably not gonna happen)

The amount of money I want to spend:  Less than 300
What I want it to look like:  click here to see what I'm aiming for (their bathroom is just like ours)

Count your Blessings Tuesday #17

Today I am grateful for:

• the nice long break I was able to have due to the snow... I know I'll have to pay for it in the summer but it was SO worth it!
• people who are supportive of my photography... it's great to see satisfied customers who like their pictures enough to refer me to others!
• my funny little man who keeps me laughing and who's growing just WAY too fast.
• keeping our Christmas decor on longer than most because we celebrate Three Kings Day!
• the creativity that has been flowing through my system lately... it wants out!
• my friends who make coming back to work not so bad....
• my awesome hubby who's trying to dress nice for me ;)  It doesn't go unnoticed!

M in the kitchen!

I made two especially yummy meals this past weekend... thought I'd share!

1.  Fetuccini alfredo sauce with sun dried tomatoes and white wine, farfalle pasta and Old Bay seasoned shrimp.  Yum-o!

2.  Baked mac n cheese with shredded smoked gouda, aged wisconsin cheddar, colby jack, mozzarella and blue cheese with a splash of white wine, milk, butter and macaroni-- topped with panko bread crumbs and bacon.  I like this grown-up version of mac n cheese... very tasty.

Randomness...

1.  So C asked if the stars in the picture were mine... they're not.  These are mine and I don't know if I'll ever make enough to fill a jar!  I decided that I'm just going to bring strips of paper to all our faculty meetings and just make stars... that should fill up a jar in no time!



2.  On another note... this is the sexiest man alive :)  What makes him sexy?  Aside from his new wardrobe he has been sporting, note that he's carrying fresh laundry which he's going to put away... now THAT is hot my friends ;)


3.  NOT looking forward to tomorrow... at all.  I forgot how to teach... I didn't grade s*** and I don't even know if I can talk to teenagers anymore.  To top it all off.. it's faculty meeting day.  YUCK!

Fitness Thursdays!

With the new year I'm introducing "Fitness Thursdays" in order to force me to exercise at least once a week (starting out small) and document it.  To prove that I have done something, I'm going to have C take a photo of my fitness activity for the day for me to post here :)  I figure since I like to blog and you guys check it, it will hold me accountable.... please give me a hard time if I don't post something for Thursday!