Tradition!

This week's Spin Cycle with Sprite's Keeper is on Traditions.  I know I've written before on this topic, but...it's a good one, so I'm going to do it again.  Just 'cuz...


So traditions.  What do I think of when I hear the word tradition?  Well, honestly?  I think of Fiddler on the Roof.  Yep.  I'm weird like that.  See, when I was in high school, I play in the pit orchestra for this musical.  It meant practice every night for three weeks straight, hearing the same songs over and over and over again.  I started singing the songs in my sleep.  And this one was my favorite, and I never could figure out why.  The gist of the song is about the traditions we all have based on who we are, where we come from.  Some of these traditions we don't know where they began or how they began.  But that doesn't matter.  Why?  Because....well...they're tradition!  (And here I go singing this song in my head again...)  But really, aren't so many of our traditions just traditions because they've always been that way?  Sometimes they don't even need a reason or explanation.  It's just tradition. 


Like why do I always buy myself comfy pajamas whenever something bad happens in my life? 


Or why my family always has a big mid-day meal on Sundays? 


Or why every time we go to church and I do the sign of the cross with holy water, I put a dab of holy water over my stomach where the baby is...


Honestly, I'm coming up short on traditions here, but you get the point.  When T and I got together, we each combined our own traditions that we developed from our families.  I'm sure at times T would think "why in the hell do they do that?"  I know I did when we would go up to his family's house initially.  Of course, now those traditions are becoming more and more familiar, and now, I've grown to even like some of them.  (I sure hope T feels the same way about my family's traditions...ha)


And the exciting part?  Now we get to create traditions of our own, with our new family, in our new house.  We get to establish our own, in addition the ones we already bring to the table.  So some day our kids can say when someone asks them why they do a certain thing, "why do I do this?  Well, it's tradition, of course!"


This post has been brought to you courtesy of Sprite's Keeper's Spin Cycle...stop by and check out the other spins people have to share!

 

Baby update

Hi everyone!  So I know I promised several of you (Chloe being one of the ones who originally requested this) for a baby update.  I sadly haven't updated much because, well, there's not a lot to say.  I'm preggers. Getting bigger by the day.  (Ha)  But no, seriously, there probably is no excuse for my lack of updates.  So I will do my damndest to truly update all of you (but sorry, no bump pics!)

As of yesterday, I'm officially in my 19th week, heading towards the big 5 month mark.  According to thebump.com, our baby is the size of a mango, though my stomach feels a little larger than a mango.  But he/she is getting bigger every day.  Last week the ears formed so now Mommy needs to watch her language because the little half-pint can hear me when I curse.  Gotta nip those habits in the bud, right from the start, you know.  This week, I believe the site said something about intestines forming and some kind of clear substance coating the baby.  I imagine it's that gross stuff you see on babies after they are first born.  (It's gross.  Don't lie to me and tell me you don't think it's gross, too...)  Unfortunately I don't have any mangoes around the house so I don't have much to compare the baby to at the moment.  Maybe I should go get one this weekend?  Hold it up to my stomach and take a picture? 

Oh wait.  I don't like to eat mangos.  That would be a tragic waste of fruit. 

Anyway, I digress...this Friday we have two very big appointments.  First we will be going to Riley Children's Hospital to have a fetal echo cardiogram done of our baby.  The main goal of this test is to get a good look at the baby's heart and specifically look for the congenital heart defect that I was born with.  I'm praying every day that we receive nothing but positive news.  But I'd be lying if I didn't say I was a little nervous about that appointment.  After that, we have the big sonogram where (keeping fingers crossed) we should be finding out the sex of our baby!  That part is keeping me going this week with all of the stress and tears and just plain awful stuff from yesterday. 

Other than that, I've been feeling pretty good.  I am officially showing a baby bump, which is okay.  It is making moving a little awkward, and my stomach is getting to that rock hard feel.  The baby is moving some, and it's crazy. It feels like little tickles inside my stomach.  However, being the paranoid one, every time I think that I haven't felt anything for too long, I start poking my stomach trying to wake the baby up, and then T gets mad at me for disturbing the baby.  (I can't help it...I have to know!)  I'm eating a little more than I was before, but I'm still feeling nauseated every now and then and no really big cravings.  Well, I take that back...there was that ill-advised decision to order a spicy chicken sandwich value meal at Wendy's last Friday.  Yeah.  It tasted good at first, but man, not a good idea.  But other than that, I'm still not hungry that much. 

My big goal for the next few months is to keep stress down.  I won't go into why but this week has put a lot of stress on me and the baby, and my blood pressure has gone up as a result.  And I can't do that.  Baby comes first.  So I need to relax, let go and let God with this one.  And just be.  And maybe let the baby just be, too, and stop poking my stomach when I want to know he/she is still there. 

I will be back with another vlog to announce the big news, promise!  Place your bets now, folks :-)

  

It's okay....

I've seen bloggers do this thread several times, and I know it's one that links up to another blogger's page.  However, I'm not sure when that thread is done or who started it, but today...I'm in an "It's okay" mood. 

 

 

It's okay....

 

 

That I'm not in the best of moods...

 

 

That my heart isn't 100% into blogging or working or basically anything today.

 

 

It's NOT okay that I absorb other's problems and have let stress get the best of me this week...

 

 

It's okay that I am going to be distancing myself from those things that do bring stress...

 

 

It's okay that two days in a row now I've gotten cheddar sour cream ruffles chips from the vending machine for lunch...

 

 

It's okay that I have a load of darks still in the dryer just waiting to be folded from this weekend...

 

 

It's okay that I might not have any intention to fold said clothes in the near future...

 

 

It's okay that ate way too much pizza last night at my Mary Kay meeting and made myself sick from it.  (It was worth it in the moment.  Baby wanted it.)

 

 

It's okay that I don't always find time to do everything I need or want to do, including working out, responding to every single email, attending every invitation to a committee meeting or event that I get. 

 

 

It's okay that all I want to do right now is hole up in my house with T and shut everything else out. 

 

 

It's definitely okay that I just want Friday to get here so we can go to our doctor's appointment and find out if we're having a boy or girl.

 

 

It's okay when I mess up and when I don't do everything perfectly.  Not everyone is perfect. 

 

 

It's okay when I express my feelings and let people know when things hurt me even if their reaction might not be the best. 

 

 

It's okay. 

 

 

As you can tell, all is not well in Nainville today, but you know what?  It's okay. 

 

What's my motivation?

It's another Motivation Monday, everyone...I wish I could say I'm feeling super motivated, but unfortunately...not so much.  The rainy day and just pure exhaustion this morning has gotten the best of me.  I could just sleep in bed all day, but alas, I cannot.  So I'm at work, trying my hardest to gather some motivation to get me started this week. 


This weekend was a good one, albeit busy.  We had my niece Roo over to babysit all Saturday during the day and night.  She did pretty well, and our first experiment as parents went pretty well, too :-)  She's such a cute kid, and she certainly kept us entertained!  I also had my big $1000 Day for Mary Kay this weekend.  Unfortunately, I did not make my $1000 goal, but I hit almost $600, so that's not too shabby at all!  So my motivation is to keep up the momentum I got from this weekend.  It was definitely invigorating, and it got me excited about the upcoming holiday season. 


I'm afraid this week won't be any easier.  T and I are super booked with something practically every day and night.  (It'll let up eventually....right?)  My motivation is to also just keep focus on the weekend.  We don't have any  huge plans this weekend other than just go out and do something fun, so that's keeping me going, as well.


What about you? What's your motivation for the week?  I didn't get any participants last week in Motivation Monday (insert sad face) so let's see if we can get at least 3 this week!  I feel it, folks...we can do it!  ha


Have a good Monday everyone!

    

Still here!

No worries!  I am still alive and kicking.  Sorry for my lack of posts...work has been extra crazy these past few days, so actually getting to a computer to write something has been impossible. My agency is affiliated with the United Way, so on Wednesday we had several awesome volunteers come to do work around the office for the "Day of Caring," and I also ran a bake sale fundraiser in the afternoon, too.  Yesterday, I was at an all day conference regarding domestic violence and was sans computer for the day.  But I am back, and I hope to make it up to you with an actual post.  And a spin cycle post, nonetheless!

 

 

So this week's Spin Cycle is on morals.  Important things to have, in my opinion.  I was fortunate enough to have two parents who raised me to have my own set of personal morals and were pretty strict in ensuring we followed them.  Always say thank you and please.  I grew up in Alabama and lived there until I was 10 or so, so you always followed that with a "sir" or a "ma'am" when talking with an adult or superior.  (I got looks when I did this in school up in Indiana, but it was how you were taught.)  No talking in church.  No chewing gum in church or when you're talking to someone important.  Don't go to bed angry.  Don't hold grudges.  Always tell the truth because a lie will catch up to you sooner or later.  Be respectful.  Treat others as you would want yourself to be treated. 

 

 

I like to think I did a pretty decent job of sticking to those morals.  Sure, I flubbed up every now and then.  I've lied.  I've talked in church.  I've held grudges.  No one is perfect.  But I do feel like my parents did a good job in instilling a moral code in me. 

 

 

Now that I'm becoming a parent in just a few months, I have to admit...part of me is starting to panic a little bit.  When I was growing up, I did as my parents told me.  Because I always thought they just knew everything.  (Sometimes I still do that.)  I thought maybe they went to "parent school" or something to teach them how to raise a child.  Because it seemed to come so naturally.  Me?  I have no clue how I'm going to be a parent.  Will my own child feel the same way I do about my parents and how they raised me?  Here is this young life that T and I will be molding.  We will raise them to become adults someday, and hopefully respectable members of society.  But...how exactly do you go about doing that?  Where do you start?  Is there a book I can read on raising good children?  You know, the kind that don't talk back?  Who listen to you when you're talking?  Don't misbehave?  Is there a "how to" manual on that?  It freaks me out to think that in just a few months, I will be in charge of another human being.  And as that baby gets older, they start to learn how to act and behave from me and T and what we do.  Am I ready for this?  (Though, even if I said no...I think that ship has sailed.)

 

Damn, I wish I had taken notes as a kid so I can remember all the things my parents taught me. 

This has been Nain's take on morals...to read what other people have to say, stop by Sprite's Keeper and check out the other spins!  And everyone, have a great weekend!!!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

AND, if part of that weekend involves shopping - check out my awesome Mary Kay sale going on this Saturday only!!! 

 

Anniversary rundown

This last weekend T and I decided to take a little time for ourselves to celebrate our anniversary.   Since money is tight with the little half-pint on the way, we nixed our original (and awesome) plans for a NYC trip and opted for a staycation in Indianapolis.  All that we wanted was a little vacation from reality for awhile and just to have a weekend to spend together and reminisce on our wedding day.  We picked a perfect weekend, too.  Perfect weather, the Irish Fest was in town for the weekend (since we went to Ireland on our honeymoon and all), and we found a terrific deal on a hotel stay.  We stayed at the Marriott downtown, and since they were partnered with the Irish Fest, we received two weekend passes for the festival for staying two nights at the hotel. 

I didn't take as many pictures as I wanted, since I forgot my camera.  Cell phone pictures aren't always the best, so I did my best!  Bear with me...

We started our weekend off with dinner at P.F. Changs.  Dinner was delicious, and the little kiddo let me eat for the most part.  The funny thing is I can't eat as much as I used to.  I seem to get fuller quicker.  But was had appetizer, drinks (the nonalcoholic variety for me), dinner and dessert.  We tried to walk it off on the canal downtown and went back to the hotel since we were both beyond exhausted from working that day. 

Saturday we got up, took our time with breakfast and getting ready and headed down a lunch at one of our favorite downtown restaurants, Rock Bottom Brewery.  Here's T enjoying a Rocktoberfest Brew...

 

This pregnancy has made me a connoisseur of lemonade. I chose a strawberry lemonade, which was pretty tasty.  We figured since festival food tends to be pretty pricey, we'd do a big lunch out and then park ourselves at the festival for the day.

It was a beautiful day - sunny, high near 70 degrees, no cloud in the sky.  We brought our own lawn chairs and walked to the festival.  They have about four different stages set up, and different musicians play throughout the day.  It varies from Irish dancing to Celtic music, Irish rock, you name it.   Food booths everywhere, Irish markets for shopping and of course...the Guinness....

Look at that pout.  T feels SO sorry for me not getting to enjoy the Guinness.  (I confess...I had a sip...it was good).  We also did a little shopping.  Look what I found for a little half-pint!

 If you look ever-so-closely you can see a bump there.  This may be your only shot of my stomach because I'm totally not one of those girls who likes taking pictures of her pregnancy belly.  But I just had to have this shirt as soon as I saw it.  A boy or girl could wear it, right????  T got a present for himself, an Ireland jacket, and I got a pretty shamrock necklace.  Sorry, I don't have pics of those!  We relaxed for the afternoon and evening listening to different bands, making fun of people around us, and laughing at the cute kids dancing to the music.  Tension was relatively low for the day, except for when we had to figure out dinner amongst the crowd and both T and I got cranky momentarily.  (I hate crowds.  We can't expect miracles here, people...I'm pregnant!)  But we had so much fun.  It wasn't Ireland, no, but it was fun nonetheless.

Sunday, we got up and had breakfast via room service, which was delicious.  We had to check out by 11:00, so we headed back home and went to mass at our church since one year ago to that day, we got married right at that spot.  Just thinking back to that day and how beautiful everything was...I just felt so blessed.  We relaxed most of the day, looking through photos from the wedding and our honeymoon, watching our slide shows for each dance at the wedding.  T made his delicious chicken sizzlini for dinner, and we had a nice romantic meal:

 

 

We got to use the Waterford Crystal goblets T's parents gave us as an engagement present.  I had wine for T and sparkling grape juice for myself.  I also had our unity candle lit, and we said a special prayer for our anniversary. 

After dinner we enjoyed our wedding cake, which I remembered to defrost before we left for the weekend.  I must say, I was super impressed with how good it still tasted!  Sure, it wasn't as moist, but I think freezing and thawing will do that.  But damn, that is some good cake!

Overall, it was a wonderful anniversary weekend.  I couldn't be happier with how everything turned out.  However will we top this and celebrate our 2 year next year?

 I'm linking this post up with Chantel's Small Treasure Tuesdays!


 ~~~~~ And if you haven't done a Motivation Monday post for the week, there's still time!  Let's get motivated! 

Motivation Monday!

Hope everyone had a great weekend!  Ours was so much fun celebrating our 1 year anniversary.  Unfortunately, it's Monday again...but, the bright side to Monday?  Motivation Monday!  So what's my motivation this week?

I'm motivated to sell, folks!  I've set a rather lofty goal for myself this weekend and for this quarter.  I am shooting for a Ruby Star in sales this quarter, so that I can earn this pretty thing...

I do need a new watch, so when I saw this I thought "this will be my motivation this quarter!"  And how do I plan to get to this goal?  This Saturday I have set a big goal, as well, with a "$1000 Day in Mary Kay" Sale.  I've seen a few consultants do it, and I've been a little chicken...mostly because I don't want to fail, but...I figured, why not?  So how it works is I have a sale going on all Saturday - the earlier that day you make an order, the higher the discount you get off your entire order.  Not too shabby!  And I'll put all of the orders in a drawing before I process them, and one order will be completely free.  So to help me reach this goal, I'm reaching out to you, too, my lovely readers.  So if you're interested, check out the details:



Place orders between these times to receive the following discounts!



9 a.m. – 11 a.m. – 35% off your entire order
11 a.m. – 1 p.m. – 25% off your order
1 p.m. – 3 p.m. – 15% off your order
3 p.m. – midnight – 10% off your order
Pre-orders made this week will receive 35% off your order, as well!



Orders over $40 get a free gift with purchase. Orders over $100 get a free item. AND each order will go in a drawing – the winner to receive a free order!



To order: Email asullivan8395@marykay.com or place an online order on my site: http://www.marykay.com/asullivan8395 (Payments can be made via check or secure online payment)  When leaving an order via email or phone, please be sure to leave your name, order, address, contact info and   credit card number for payment so that I can get the order to you ASAP!


So let's see if I can reach the big goal!  If you have my cell #, too, which I don't think would be a good idea to post on here...you can call or text orders, too. 


So that's my motivation - what's yours this week?  How do you partcipate?  Just write a post about what motivation you need this week, leaving a comment on this post, and I'll link you up! 


Hope everyone has a great start to your week!



    

One year

One year ago this Sunday, I said "I do" to spending the rest of my life with my best friend.  One year ago, I stood before God, my family and my friends and pledged to be there with him in good times and in bad, in sickness and in health.  One year ago, I began a journey with the most amazing man. 

I have so many memories from that day.  They say that your actual wedding day goes by so quickly and you should treasure every moment that day.   I listened when people said that, but I never really realized how true it actually is until it was my day. 


I remember getting up that morning around 6:30 a.m.  I barely slept any at all because I was so excited.  So when the alarm went off that day, I was already wide awake.  We rushed to get up and get our hair done and be at the salon no later than 7:30 a.m.  I was so nervous, not because of what I was about to do, but because this was it.  This was the day we had been planning for since July 4, 2009.  I could hardly believe it was happening, and all I could think about was how much I wanted 2:00 to get there so I could walk towards T, waiting for me at the end of the aisle.

We had chosen to not see each other before the ceremony, as this was important to both T and myself.  To me, it's always my favorite moment to watch at any wedding:  watching the groom see his bride for the first time as she walks towards him down the aisle.  I knew as soon as I locked eyes with T, all of my anxiety, my butterflies would go away.  I just wanted to see him. 

My family did force me to eat something, though, before we walked down the aisle.  This was my attempt at force feeding myself.  Isn't it attractive.  I was so nervous at this point because I knew that just beyond the doors separating the chuch and that room, T's family were taking their pictures.  So I couldn't turn around and peek out the door.  I am proud to say that I didn't spill any of that sub on my white dress.


Soon it was time.  The hour had arrived.  I stayed hidden behind the door separating the main hall from the church with my sister and then my father rambling about how we had nuns at our church, pointing out the pictures in front of me on the wall with said nuns.  I remember my Dad telling me to breath and tears already starting to form in the corners of my eyes.  I held onto his arm like my life depended on it, until it was our turn.  I leaned over and whispered to him to not let me trip. 


We entered the church, and everyone stood.  I remember trying to concentrate so hard on walking and not tripping that I momentarily forgot to smile until I remembered the photographer was taking pictures.  I couldn't see T at this point.

Once I laid eyes on T and saw that look in his eyes, that smile, everything else faded away.  I couldn't look anywhere else.  Sure, I still was clutching onto my father's arm, but this was it.  This was the moment I had dreamt of for well over a year.

Once my father lifted up my veil and gave me a kiss before giving my hand to T, I started to lose it.  I honestly thought T would be the one crying, but nope.  It was me.  All I remember from T was that he couldn't stop smiling or looking over at me and kept whispering "you look so beautiful!"  I clasped his hand, as we stood up before the church and the ceremony began. 


Listening to the readings and songs we had selected, I hardly paid attention.  I kept looking over at T. Sure, we had funny moments like when I reached for my Kleenex tucked just so in my dress when we first sat down, it fell on the floor on the altar, and T had to get it for me.  But everything else just kind of faded away as well.  All I could do was grab onto T's hand and just think "oh wow, we're about to be married."


When it came time for the vows, again, I was the one to cry.  T went first, and I don't think I've ever looked so deeply into someone's eyes before as I did his when he was reciting his vows.  The expression of "seeing yourself in someone's eyes" really was true at that moment.  And of course, that brought the tears.  I barely made it through my own vows, my voice shaking, as I held back the tears.  As I finished my vows and before the rings, T squeezed my hand and smiled.  "Just breathe." 

After we said our vows and lit the unity candle, we sat down at the altar, holding each other's hands.  T squeezed mine, leaning over and whispering "we're married now!"  Ironically thinking what was a private exchange, my father later told T that he saw him whisper that and how happy it made him.  We were finally one.  A family.


Another surreal moment from that day was when we exited the church, the bridal party following us back into the hall where I had spent the majority of my morning.  My niece Erin Lou came running up to T, jumping into his arms exclaiming "you're my real uncle now!"  We waited there until everyone was outside to greet us.  I truly think this picture embodies how I felt at that moment.  It's hard not to see it in my eyes.

I don't think I've smiled as much as I did the rest of that day.  It was one of the craziest but best days of my life.  Just writing about it right now is bringing that smile back to my face.  One year has passed.  So much has happened - good and bad.   So many changes.  And here I am now, married to the man of my dreams, preparing to start our own family in just months.

I love you so much, T.  Happy anniversary...every day I wake up with you next to me, every day I am blessed.  You are my forever. 

(And for your viewing pleasure, and because I am sentimental like that, this is the wedding slideshow we had playing while we danced to our first song - this is our first song, too :-)

   



A Thursday (Saturday) Steal

I hate to admit it, but I haven't been able to participate in Camille's Saturday Steals these past few weeks.  I've honestly not had any real steals.  Everything costs too damn much!  But, I did promise her I'd participate this week.  It may not be Saturday, but since we'll be out of town this weekend, I'm being proactive.  (whoo-hoo!)  So here's my steal.  It's from a few weeks back, and while we did pay for the paint, we received the paint services free, courtesy of T's brother.  This is the first stage of our little half-pint's nursery: 

 

 

Didn't he do a fantastic job?  Sure, it's a little bare in there right now, and the only thing we have are a few onesies and the bassinet my sister is lending us, but we'll get there!  It's just exciting to see things coming together.  And while, yes, the paint sure wasn't free...considering how much it costs to hire painters (T couldn't paint if his life depended on it...there'd be paint all over the place..), I consider it a steal.  What do you think?

 

 

What about you?  What steals have you scored this week?  Stop by this weekend and check out the other awesome steals people have to share at Camille's!

  

Rules, rules, rules....

 

I haven't done a Spin Cycle in awhile...sadly, it's mostly because I'm a huge slacker (Sorry, Sprite's Keeper!)  But I'm going to try my best, so I'm back, and let's see what I can crank out.  I'm not going to lie...I've been staring at this blank screen for awhile.  But I'm taking a jump off the high dive here, so let's get started..

 

 

This week's spin is on rules.  We have rules everywhere.  I like to consider myself to be a bit of a rule breaker.  (Ha, who are we kidding?)  I don't necessarily break the rules unless it involves sneaking in candy and soft drinks into a movie theater (shhh!  don't tell!)  Or maybe speeding or passing in the right lane.  But no, I try to follow the rules as best I can.  It was what I was taught to do.  It's what we were all taught to do.  Stay in line.  Raise your hand to ask a question.  Use your inside voice.  Don't try to microwave your sister's baby doll.  (Doh, I didn't follow that rule either...)  For the most part, I was a pretty good kid.  I followed the rules.  Heck, you had to when your mom was a teacher at your school.  Word gets around, and getting in trouble at home and at school?  Not cool.  So I followed the rules, unless someone wasn't looking, of course.

 

 

Now that I'm an attorney, I have a whole other set of rules to follow.  They teach classes on how to follow the rules...they just don't call it "civil procedure" but they should just title the class "rules" or "boring and confusing rules."  You can say this in court but not that.  If you want to say that, you better lay the foundation in order to for the other side to not object to you bringing that forth in court.  Always end every sentence when addressing the Judge with "your honor" or "judge."  You have 30 days to file an answer, 30 days to answer discovery, 30 days to file an appeal.   Don't ask a leading question.  Or ask a leading question if you are cross-examining someone.  Don't badger the witness.  Don't curse in court.  I can go on and on and the rules would likely bore you, too.  But these rules?  They can't be broken.  Unless you want to get raked over the coals by a judge or opposing counsel. 

 

 

I feel like I'm rambling here, so let's wrap this puppy up.  The point I'm trying to make is that we all have rules that make up a part of our daily life.  Sure they can be simple rules like "Nain, put your shoes away" or "T, don't forget to brush your teeth."  Or important rules like "don't drive down the wrong side of the road" that get us to work safely.  Sure, I will continue to break the rules I selectively trample all over.  That's part of the fun of life.  And the rule of "each blog post should have a point or at least a beginning, middle and end?"  Yeah, I just broke that, too. 

 

 

Sorry for my confusing and random post - I promise to try to follow the rules tomorrow.  (Key word is try.)  Until then...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pregnancy brain

It's official.  I've started to lose my mind.  Some may argue that this process started way before I became pregnant, but...motherhood is starting to take what is left of it.  I've become a little more spacey and forgetful each day.  Basic tasks take a little more effort mentally.  I just don't know what happened.  Case in point:

  

  

No, I am not sparking any new fashion trend or anything along those lines.  This is what I left the house in on Friday morning when rushing out the door to my OB appointment.  I blame this partially on my habit of just throwing my shoes in a pile in the front closet.  Anyway, I finally noticed this when I sat on the examining table to hear the baby's heart beat.  I pointed it out to the nurse, and she couldn't stop laughing.  And no, the shoes are not on the wrong feet...I think it's just the way my feet are angled or something.  But those sure are some mismatched shoes.  I also lost my parking ticket to get out of the parking garage, and what would have been a $1.00 fee ended up being $12.00 for a lost parking ticket.  It was quite an eventful morning, let me tell you.  And yes, I am losing my mind. 

 

 

On a positive note, the baby is growing just fine!  I am officially 17 weeks today, and according to this email list I have signed up for, that means he/she is about the size of an onion this week.  Ears have formed and apparently this week, the baby is forming his or her unique fingerprints!  It's amazing to think of everything that is going on.  I'm starting to show more and more each day, and I've been fortunate to feeling my little half-pint.  It feels just like little flutters right now, but it's nice to have that reassurance that he or she is in there.  September 30th will be our big appointment and the day we find out whether we are having a boy or a girl.  I can't wait!

 

 

Hope everyone is having a good Tuesday!  And yes, I did check my feet this morning...I'm wearing the same shoes on each foot.  Whew!

  



I'm back! Motivation Monday!

 
Hi, everyone!  Back this week with a Motivation Monday post...I wish I could say that I was super motivated today and back in a positive attitude, but...nope, not so much.  But guess what?  That'll be my motivation for the week! 
 
 
I am motivated to keep myself remaining calm and positive this week.  Last week at work and with everything else was a bit on the stressful side.  I hate that because I know that stress isn't good for me or the baby.  So have several sustained days of stress is not a good thing.  For my morale or stress level, which, in turn, isn't good for the baby.
 
 
So my goal this week is to come up with something positive every day so that I keep focus on the good things in life.  My positive thing for today?  I had a relaxing weekend with my husband and had a really fun time with him and a few of our friends on Saturday night, as well as a nice time catching up with my oldest friend, Jess, on her birthday on Friday afternoon.  Oh, and while we are at it, I got to hear my baby's heart beat on Friday, but I'm saving that info for another post.  So those are my blessings for the day.  Let's keep this positive thinking up! 
 
 
What about you?  What motivation do you need this week?  Share your motivation with everyone by writing up a post about whatever kind of motivation you need, comment on this post and leave a link to your motivational post.  And I'll link you up! 
 
 
Hope everyone is having a good Monday!
 



My apologies!

My apologies, my blogging friends, for my absence this week...I wish I had some awesome excuse, but...sadly, I don't.  The stress of this work week has brought me down to the level of "Dammit, I suck at life and as a human being and should be allowed to venture outside my home and interact with normal people."  Sure, that's a bit on the dramatic side, and sure, I blame that somewhat on pregnancy and hormones.  But seriously, this week has chewed me up and spat me out.  And I'm still not done.  Heading into the weekend knowing that I am working on Saturday.  So Nain has been taken over with "Negative Nain Syndrome."  God help everyone in my path! 

 

 

I am hopeful that tomorrow's doctor's visit and getting to hear the little half pint's heart beat again makes it all better.  Until then, I do promise to be back Monday with much more upbeat posts!  (And more of them, too!)

 



Small Treasure Tuesdays!

I'm majorly slacking on what to write today...not sure, not sure, and then I see that Chantel at My Thoughts and Treasures has started doing Small Treasure Tuesdays again this week!  I'm in need of a bit of an attitude adjustment at the moment, so what better a way to adjust one's perspective than to focus on the small but very important treasures in your life? 

One treasure is time with family.  This past weekend T's brother and sister-in-law came down with their dog, Jeff, and spent the weekend with us.  We had a great time visiting, and it was sad to see them leave yesterday.  But it's always a blessing to spend time with family.

While T's brother was here, he painted our nursery!  We don't have a picture to post yet, but it's a light shade of green, and it looks great! It's exciting to see the room finally get started, and I can just picture our little half-pint in there. 

Speaking of half-pint, I have a doctor's appointment this Friday.  Just a normal appointment, but at this one, I will be scheduling my anatomy scan when we'll find out whether we're having a boy or girl.  It's really not that far away!

So those are my small blessings for the week...what blessings do you have to share?  Stop by Chantel's blog and see what other bloggers have to say!

 



Happy Long Weekend!

I'm not going to lie...I'm short on ideas today on what to write.  And I'd also be lying if I didn't say a part of me was a wee bit jealous of my husband who has the day off today, the day before a long, holiday weekend.  Alas.  So my motivation to write an actual post today?  Minimal.  But I love you guys, so by God, I'm going to do it if it kills me! 

 

 

At the very least, I am happy that we are headed into a nice, long weekend.  You have to love those long weekends, right?  This weekend T's brother and sister-in-law will be coming down to visit our house for the first time.  It'll be nice to spend time with them and visit.  I'm planning a nice girls day tomorrow involving lots of shopping (Nain needs maternity clothes!), while the boys work on painting the nursery.  And by boys I mean T's brother.  You do not let T near a paint brush.  It's dangerous.  I like my carpet upstairs without paint on it, thank you very much (sorry, T!).  We've chosen a light green color for the walls of the nursery, and depending on what the sex is, we'll have an accent color with the bedding and decorations.  It's kind of exciting to think of the nursery being painted already!  (Hell, with how the baby has me feeling lately it's kind of nice to have something pleasant surrounding the pregnancy...still having the nausea, lovely!) 

 

 

We're also planning a night out Saturday to dinner, a cookout Sunday and then heading up after they leave to the annual car show up in my parent's neck of the woods.  So it'll be a full but fun weekend.  I will definitely post pictures of the painted nursery when it's done, promise!  It'll be just an empty room, but...it's a start! 

 

 

Now, since this will be a holiday weekend, I am taking the week off from Motivation Monday.  So keep those posts in your head if you had one ready.   But let's make the September 12th installment of Motivation Monday the best one ever! 

 

And in case you haven't checked it out yet, this is the 2nd installment of my Q&A vlog!  It's in two parts because it's so darn long, but I did get to all of the questions - so yay me!

 

 

Oh, oh - and I am having a nice Labor Day Sale through Mary Kay this weekend.  If you should feel so inclined, stop by my personal site!  The deals included are: 

 

Cleansers (all types) – 25% off!


Mascaras – buy one get one half off!


Eye shadows (Including eye shadow bundles and cream eye colors) – 25% off!


Perfume lines – 30% off!


Eye creams – 15% off!


Lipsticks/lip glosses – buy one, get one half off!


Liquid illuminators – 75% off


Weekender eye pencil collection (http://www.marykay.com/asullivan8395/color/lastchance/lastchance/10041012/default.aspx) - 75% off!

 Have a great weekend, everyone!!!

  

What I did on my summer vacation

This week's Spin Cycle brought to you by the lovely Sprite's Keeper is in the spirit of Fall and "Back to School."  What I did on my summer vacation...wait, what?  What's that?  I didn't have a vacation?  Well, damn. 


Sadly, no.  T and I didn't get to take a vacation this year.  All work and no play makes Nain a dull girl.  BUT, I want to participate dammit, so I'm going to tell you what I did this summer, as boring as they may be...these are in no particular order....

Well, let's see...we celebrated 3 years of being together on June 25th - the best three years of my life ever, if you ask me...


I went on a work trip to Vegas and Colorado;


T and I successfully completed the Mini-Marathon in May!  (13.1 miles, baby!)


We had T's parents down over the 4th of July to celebrate T's 29th birthday;


T and I then celebrated his actual birthday on July 9th :-)


July 4th just so happened to be the anniversary of the day T proposed...


We spent one blessed and bittersweet weekend celebrating our family with my Grandpa on July 30th...


In August, T went off on a work trip to Death Valley, and I missed him a TON...


We spent a lot of time just relaxing and spending time with each other while we could in our brand new home...


OH, right!  And then I went and got myself knocked up!  How could I leave that out????  ha



So that was MY summer vacation?  (Using the word "vacation" loosely...I should probably just say so that was my summer).  How did you spend yours?  Stop by Sprite's blog and check out what other Spinners have to share!