Work, School, And Life Oh My!

Quote Of The Day:

"So much time and so little to do. Strike that, reverse it"

-Willy Wonka

Job News:

Well, I spent all of my spring break working but it was way worth it. I’m enjoying just about every aspect of my new job. We are constantly busy running around trying to get the store set up. I must say that I had no idea how much work goes into retail jobs. Having never worked with any of the product we sell, I’m learning lots of new things daily. The best part of my new job is definitely my coworkers. I have made a lot of new friends which is nice. Since everyone is new and in the learning process we are all equals which is super. Next week I get to do some training in the Santa Maria location so I’m pretty excited. =) Also, I got a second job today working for an up and coming production company in the Bay Area. For now I will be doing all of my work through phone, email, and snail mail corespondence. When I move back up north I have a guarenteed office job waiting for me YAY! The best part of the job is being able to help out a friend. My friend chris owns the company and being able to work closely with a great friend will be really fun.

School News:
I can't lie... All of the assignments I planned on doing over spring break never got started. I'm really kicking myself now because I'm going to have to do all of my work in the next week. I have been having a hard time adjusting to my crazy new hours. Tomorrow I have to run a few errands and then I have the whole day to get some stuff done.

Food News:
I have made several delicious dishes in the last week but due to the fact that I’m now a space cadet I have forgotten to take pictures. I made Black bean Enchiladas, Chicken and Spinach Lasagna, Irish Carbomb Cupcakes, and Cookie Dough Cupcakes. Every recipe was a hit so I’ll be making them all again soon and I’ll make sure to take pictures and post them.

Life:
Last Saturday was Nick's bachelor party and it was so much fun. Things were really relaxed and we all had a great time. It was a great send off for Nick the single guy. In two days he will be a married man and I'm so happy for him. The wedding is hawaiian theamed with an open bar so needless to say, fun will be had by all. I picked up my bridesmaid dress from my alterations lady this afternoon and it looks great. I'll be taking Kinsey to her pet resort in the morning and as soon as Dan gets home from work we are getting in the car and heading up north. We will be making a pit stop at the Sonic in Gilroy for drinks!!! I'll be spending the night with the ladies in a nice hotel with plenty to drink. Due to the fact that I have to be at work really early on Monday, we will be driving home right after the wedding. But the following week I'll be relaxing on a cruise so I think I can deal with a crazy schedule for a little bit longer.

Have A Happy Night
-Free

Crazy Crazy April...

Quote Of The Day:

"Flying is learning how to throw yourself at the ground and miss."

- Douglas Adams

Job News:

I had my first productive day of work yesterday and I had a lot of fun. Everyone that I worked with was super nice and none of them seemed as though they were lacking in the brains department. I’m super excited to go back tomorrow even though I have to get up super early. It has been really nice that my first week of work and spring break coincide with each other. Next week is going to be a tough week though. It has been forever since I have had to juggle a job and a full load at school. I’ll figure it out though.

Month Of Hell News:
Well, April is here now and that means I’m going to be a little a lot crazy for the next 30 days. Here is the lineup so far:

•  Work- all month

• School- all month

• Gym- all month but I don’t know how I’m going to find the time and energy for this

• Crazy Baking- this Friday after work

• Bachelor Party- Saturday

• Easter with Parents- Sunday

• N&L Wedding Prep- Monday through Thursday

• Drive Up For Wedding- Friday

• N&L Wedding-04/10 YAY!!!

• School- taking exams early and turning papers in early

• Packing for the cruise

• Work- Grand Opening YAY!!!

• Cruise

• School- prep for finals

I’m so excited about all of these things but I wish they weren’t all crammed into one month. Maybe I’ll lose some weight from all the running around ;)

School News:
Currently I’m pulling my hair out over this semester but the time has come to start thinking about summer classes. I was finally able to check out the summer schedule and I’m pretty stoked about the class offerings. I’ll be taking Crisis Management, English 101 (I can’t figure out how I managed to forget to take this earlier), and Hollywood and the American Film. These three classes bring me to a total of 10 units for summer. I wish I could take the summer off but I have to take the classes before I can start my internship in fall. I tried to make things a little easier by taking two online classes and only one on campus. I was even smart enough to look at the required reading for all of the English 101 instructors and I selected the class with reading material that I will enjoy. Summer should be fairly painless, and if its not at least its only six weeks of torture.

I'm going to kick April's butt!
Have A Happy Night
-Free

Happy Tuesday

Positive Quote Of The Day:

"Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow."

- Albert Einstein

As you can probably see, I have been changing things around. I haven't quite figured out a layout that I love yet so the changes will probably continue until I do.

Healthy You Challenge:

I joined the Healthy You Challenge last night. This is a community of bloggers who want to lose weight, get fit, and maintain a healthy life style. Members can share their ups, downs, and all-arounds throughout their journey to improve their health. At the beginning of my weight loss journey, I had 50lbs to shed to fit in to my wedding gown. As of right now I'm down to 43lbs left. Last Friday, I made a meal plan for the whole week. All of the meals are fairly healthy and homemade. This has kept us from eating out and it seems as though our waistlines and wallets are quite a bit happier.

Wedding Stuff:

I know I already have my dress but I found this dress by Jim Hjelm last night.

I know its a little hard to see the details but I LOVE this dress. If I didn't already have my dress and if I had the money I would totally snatch this dress up faster than you can imagine. Here is a link to a his website if you are interested in getting a better look. jlmcouture.com

Food:

Last night I made a healthy beef and veggie stew. It was really good and the best part is we will have leftovers for a few days.

The Picture isn't all that great but it was delicious.

I also made banana, raspberry, and blueberry bran muffins. As usual this is a recipe from annieseats.com and it was super simple and tasty. There is no sugar in these muffins and they are made with bran so they are really healthy.

This recipe is a winner and I will be making them often.

Last week I stumbled upon the website ziplist.com. This is a website where you can store your recipes and make your grocery list. You can click on your stored recipes and it will add all of the ingredients to a grocery list that is put in the order of the layout of your local store. I tried it out last week and it was so efficient and it cut my shopping time in half. Also, there is a feature where you can have your list sent to your mobile device. This site is pretty cool you should check it out. zip list

Job Stuff:

I'm really excited to go to work tomorrow. It will be the first day where we will actually be working instead of watching orientation videos. The very first shipment of stock will be arriving tomorrow morning and we will be able to make the store look like a real store instead of an empty warehouse. I'm really excited to see all of the product but, I'm even more excited to work with and get to know my fellow teammates.

Have A Happy Night

-Free

Happy Campers

Quote Of The Day:

"I always like to look on the optimistic side of life, but I am realistic enough to know that life is a complex matter"

- Mr. Walt Disney

Pet News:
Yesterday we took Kinsey out to Laguna Lake to go for a swim and play in the dog park. It was such a beautiful day here on the Central Coast. The sun was shinning and there wasn't a cloud in the sky. Laguna Lake is our favorite place to take Kinsey on a nice day. They have a floating dock and its perfect for her to jump into the water. She was one happy and tired puppy by the end of the day.

Raves:

We finally got a Chipotle Grill in San Luis Obispo! It is right in the center of downtown and they are busy. I love Chipotle because the food is fresh, tasty, and you get a lot of bang for your buck. Their burritos are HUGE!

Dan and I have been addicted to Damages on FX. It is currently in its third season and it is awesome. The star of the show is Glenn Close and she plays a methodical lawyer. If you have not seen this show yet. Go rent it because you can't miss it.
My new favorite thing to eat for breakfast is Chocolate Cheerios with soy milk. I was a little skeptical at first but they are so yummy!

Food News:

Last night I made pasta with soy beans, turkey and prosciutto meat balls, and a spinach and almond pesto sauce. It was really good! Tonight I will be making beef stew for dinner and muffins for breakfast. I'll post pictures later.





Job News:

After a year and a half of being unemployed, I finally found a job. Its nothing fancy but at this point a job is a job. I'll be working for a department store which is opening next month. Over the next few weeks we will be setting up the store and unloading truck fulls of product. I was concerned that they would rescind their job offer once they found out that I will be out of town the week of the grand opening. They said that as long as I can work the day of opening it should be ok. I'm really hoping that this is true and I'll be crossing my fingers and toes until I see the schedule for that week. We'll see how it goes...




Have A Happy Night

-Free

Fun and Smart Stuff

Positive Quote Of The Day:

"All of our dreams can come true, if we have the courage to pursue them"

- Mr. Walt Disney

School News:

This last week I have been super busy studying for midterm exams. The grades have been posted for two of my four exams and I managed to get A's on both. The third exam I was supposed to take got postponed because the teacher thought the exam would be to hard for us. I'm really quit irritated about this because the first exam we took in her class was so easy. The people that failed to actually read the instructions didn't do so well but that is their problem and not a problem with the exam. Spending a lot of time to prepare for this exam was a total waste of my time. So, I'm left waiting for my grades from my fourth exam.

In my positive psychology class, we have to give a presentation on some aspect of positive psychology for our final project. We were instructed that we had to make it personal to us. I have decided on my presentation topic and I'm so excited to start putting everything together. My topic is.... Learning Positive Psychology Through Lessons Taught By Disney. All Disney films have some sort of positive aspect so I will be sitting down in front of the tv and watching Disney movies over spring break. YAY!!!

Wedding News:

We ordered my wedding band about a week ago and the scheduled delivery date was yesterday. I stayed home all day waiting for the UPS man to come. Our house is a granny unit behind the main house and most delivery people can't figure out where our house is. This always ends up with one or both of us trying to track down the package and having to wait a few days to pick it up from the distribution center. I heard the UPS truck at 4:00pm and I booked it out side to catch him. When I opened the gate, my favorite UPS man from Blockbuster was standing there holding my package. It was great to see him and I was able to explain where our unit is. He said that he would make sure to drop off future packages to the right place.

ok on to the ring...
This is not the original ring we were going to go with. My engagement ring had a matching band to go with it but I found this ring and it is nicer than the matching one and quite a bit less expensive. You can't beat less expensive. This is what we went with...

If you look closely, the top row and the bottom row are separate pieces. I love this because I can have 5, 3, 2, or 1 depending on what I want to be wearing. I'm very happy with it except for the fact that I ordered it half a size too small. But that isn't a big deal.

Friend News:

Wednesday night my friend Robert called and asked if he could stay with us for a night on Thursday because he was passing through town on his way down to San Diego. So he got here around 9:15pm and we went out to dinner at Chili's. He slept on our tiny couch and Kinsey had to take the floor. She was not to happy about the arrangement. It was really nice to start off my spring break spending time with him.

Honeymoon News:

I was finally able to get all of our flight tickets for a really good deal. Spending hours watching the rates go up and down was not my idea of a good time but it was worth it. As of right now, it looks like we won't be able to book anything else until the first of August. That is when Disney puts out their 2011 rates. Besides Disney the only thing left to book are our shore excursions for the cruise. We looked through the current shore excursions and we have picked out two that we are interested in. I'm pretty sure we have to wait until August to book them but our travel agent will let us know when they become open for booking.

Food News:

Due to my crazy schedule this last week, I have not cooked anything. While I was waiting for the UPS man yesterday, I was watching The Martha Stewart Show and she had her personal financial guru on the show. They were talking about how much money you can save if you plan your menu for the week and make one trip the the grocery store. This cuts down time, gas, eating out, and impulse shopping. So yesterday I pulled out the weekly ad for Albertsons and clipped coupons as well as I was able to put together our menu using the items that are on sale for the week. Both of us are really excited that we don't have to sit and try to figure out what we want to eat and then make several trips to the store throughout the week. Our menu item for last night was Red Chile Chicken With Rice and Black Beans. I found the recipe on annieseats.com and as usual it was super simple to make. Both of us gave it two thumbs up.

This recipe was quick, simple, and healthy you just can't beat that!

For breakfast this morning I made cinnamon rolls. I made the dough and did all the prep-work after dinner last night. This morning all I had to do was pop them in the oven. I found the recipe on allrecipies.com and it was fairly simple but I want to use the recipe from annieseats.com and compare.

The whole house smells like cinnamon now and I love it!

From making the dough for the Cinnamon rolls I learned that I need to purchase a few tools before I make anything else that involves dough.




A pastry Brush

A timer

and most of all a rolling pin

These are things I don't think of needing until I'm in the middle of doing something. I think a trip to Bed Bath & Beyond is needed after we go to the dog park.

Have A Happy Day

-Free

Crazy Ideas And Goodies In The Mail

Quote Of The Day:

"If you believe in yourself, you are on the first step of success's stairs"

-Seema Bhatia

Look what came in the mail....

Yay!!! Both of us got our passports way before we expected to get them. Our cruise is in 29 days, Mexico here we come!

School News:

I'm doing really well in all five of my classes this semester. In two of my classes I haven't even opened the text books since they came in the mail. So when I got an email from school saying that it isn't to late to sign up for late start classes I came to the conclusion that I should add on another class for this semester. This will put me at 19 units which is nuts but I just want to get done with school as fast as possible. I figure it is only a month of hell and I can make it through a month. In preparation for adding on this class, I'm spending all weekend completing all of my big assignments for my current classes. The only part that sucks is the fact that it's so beautiful outside and I'm stuck inside instead of going to the beach with Kinsey.

Twilight News:

As you all know I'm a Twilight freak. Last night New Moon was released on DVD at midnight. Yes I was one of the many people waiting anxiously at Walmart in the middle of the night. I'm so glad I went but I couldn't wait until today to watch it so I'm exhausted today. It was way worth it. Go Team Jacob!

Wedding News:

The wedding plans have been at a stand still for quite awhile. We are waiting to hear back from our reception venue, ceremony venue, and the photographer. We did place our order with the bakery and we ordered our rings. Dan's ring came yesterday and we are both very happy with it. There was a lot of deliberation before we ordered it because Dan is always really rough on his hands. We were advised to go with tungsten for durability and most of the tungsten rings are pretty ugly. Once we came across this ring we were sold. Dan is really happy about the ring having a black design on it but a little less excited about how heavy it is. It weighs 18 grams! I'm glad I don't have to wear a ring that heavy. Well here it is...

Have A Happy Night

-Free

Busy Bee

Positive Quote Of The Day:

A man is the product of his thoughts, what he thinks he is.

-Ghandi

School News:

Wow this week was crazy! I have been going at warp speed all week and I got a lot of stuff done but, now I'm pooped. This semester I'm taking life management . My instructor told the class that this would be a semester of change and she wasn't kidding. She told us that a goal is not a goal unless you schedule daily tasks to make your goal a reality, its just a fantasy. We have been working on a goals project. This project made me write down my long term goals, my intermediate goals, and my daily tasks that will put things in action. I have been aware of my long term goals and my short term goals for quite awhile now but I haven't been doing anything to move forward with my goals. Since I could physically see what I want and what I need to do to get there I became really motivated. All though if you were to ask Dan right now he would say I'm way to motivated. I have been up until about 4am every night this week and since our shack is so tiny I have been disrupting his sleep. I feel bad but I can't help it.

So far this week I have gotten the following items done:

1. Organization- my filing system is updated, my calendar is updated, There are lists everywhere, and my desk has been rearranged to increase productivity.

2. I polished up my resume

3. I have made spreadsheets for everything ie. school assignments, degree requirements, travel, chores, and financial.

4. The dreaded credit report- I have been avoiding this task for a long time because I was of what I would find. I was pleasantly surprised YAY!!! I was really worried about my student loans but since I'm still a full time student they are deferred for quite awhile and not accumulating interest. Score! So now I have some light cleaning up to do and then my score should shoot up pretty quick.

I'm pretty excited about getting so much done. I'm planning on landing a job in the beginning of May because April is to hectic to start a new job. But the ball is rolling =)

Advisory Board News:

We had our March meeting yesterday and there was a lot of talk about budget cuts and whatnot. This is probably my least favorite part of being on the board because it is almost always bad news and the mood in the room tends to be pretty gloomy. On a positive note, when I got to the meeting my business cards were sitting there waiting for me. I know I'm a dork. The best part of the meting was a video we got to watch about teen drinking in our community. It was put together with students from San Luis Obispo County and it was really well done.

Cooking:

I found a recipe for oreo cupcakes on annieseats.com and I had to make them. They came out really good. Due to my current diet plan, I had to get them out of the house so I brought them to school. My classmates loved them and they were really happy to get cupcakes in class. YUMMY!

Have A Happy Night

-Free