12 Goals for 2012

Happy New Year!!!

Hope everyone had a fantastic time last night! Phil and I decided to go out to eat then stay home for our first New Year's Eve as husband and wife! It was pretty great to be able to stay home and be an old married couple! haha

This year I am hoping to complete 12 Goals for 2012 instead of making any resolutions at all... I'm not too good at those!

12 Goals for 2012

1. Learn to quilt!

- one I didn't accomplish last year that I made sound more realistic as an overall just "Learn to quilt" instead of forcing myself to make 3!

2. Continue eating healthy and working out!

- this one may sound familiar too, but it is an important one to keep up with!

3. Make dinner and eat at home as much as possible!

- this is a new one for me & Phil since we have started living together, and we have done pretty good so far, but I would like to make it a goal.

4. Make tooth fairy pillows for my cousins/nephews!

- yes, another repeat but Alec is bound to lose his first tooth this year and I need to be a good dental hygienist aunt!

5. Read more books than I did in 2011!

- I changed last year's goal up a little bit this year! I only read 18 books in my busy 2011, and I just bought 3 new books a few nights ago, so I am bound to complete this goal!

6. Wish all my friends and family a "Happy Birthday" on their special day with either a card or a phone call.

- I am pretty bad about keeping in touch with everyone, and relying on Facebook and texting to convey my message just seems so impersonal.

7. Hang out with my friends more!

- they are special people in my life, and they showed up to the most important day in my life, so I need to be able to let them know I will be there for them!

8. To become full-time with my current job (or possibly another).

- It is hard to work only a few days a month, even though I understand our program is just starting out in my state. I just hope I will be thought of as an important member of the team enough to where they will pick me to work and rely on me!

9. Keep up with housework.

- now that we have our own place to take care of, I wanna make sure that I/we keep our house clean and organized!

10. Be a good wife!

- I want to be the best wife to Phil as I possibly can! I want to be understanding, listen to him, and make our first year of marriage go by as smoothly as possible! (they do say that the first year is the hardest!)

11. Pick back up some of my old blog followers and acquire more!

- during my absence from blogging last year, I feel like I've lost many followers and feel terrible I let them down.

12. Continue to blog!

- I know, another repeat, but I love blogging and hope to continue throughout this new year!

Well, there they are!

What do ya think?

What are your goals for 2012?

Accomplishments of 2011

This year was a totally crazy one! It went by so fast, yet played out in slow motion. I feel like I have accomplised a lot in this past year and want to share those moments with you! Here is my list of my "11 Goals for 2011" that I made at this time last year:

11 Goals for 2011

1. Find a DH Job!

- and I can check that one off the list! I just hope that it continues out to be a full time position and things pick up!

2. Find an apartment/house

- another check off the list! We are loving our new place and you can view it here!

3. Learn to quilt - Quilt a t-shirt quilt, a baby quilt, and a quilt for me & Phil

- I unfortunately did not complete this goal, but I kinda think I dreamed too high with this one with all the wedding planning going on! We did receive a quilt from Phil's grandmother and one from my friend Jeff's mother for our wedding!

4. Continue eating healthy and working out

- I did accomplish this goal until the latter part of the year! The holidays hurt me, but I plan on getting back on track! I will list this as goal complete because I did so well for 95% of the year! (that is a made up percentage so don't even try to calculate that!)

5. Use my crockpot

- check! We have made a couple different dishes in the good ole crockpot, including a potato casserole, thai chicken, and chili!

6. Have fun planning mine and Phil's wedding!

- check again! Planning was definately fun, but also very stressful as well! I am glad it is over with, but it was truly the happiest day of my life!

7. Make tooth-fairy pillows for my cousins/nephews!

- this did not happen! Luckily noone has lost a tooth yet! haha I did make the ring bearer pillow for my nephew, Alec, to hold while walking down the aisle!

8. Get a kitty

- this hasn't happened either, but it can't while we are living in our new place cause we aren't allowed to have any pets except our fishies. We did acquire a kitty friend that most likely belongs to a neighbor that comes to visit us and we call Muffin!

9. Continue to read for pleasure as often as I can.

- this I did! Although I didn't read as many books as I did last year, I did read as much as I could with all the craziness going on! I read a total of 18 books and plan to read more next year!

10. Start paying off my loans.

- I started doing this! Big accomplisment here!

11. Continue to blog!

- although I've had some trouble, I have continued to blog as much as I could! I fear though that I have lost many followers due to my absence!

I am happy that I completed 8 out of the 11 goals that I have set for myself! Many of which you may see again for 2012! Come back tomorrow to see what they are!

...and have a safe and happy New Year's Eve everybody!

This Week...

This week was a very busy one for me! I know Christmas Eve wasn't technically this week, but I will tell you that we went to Phil's family's houses that evening. We celebrated Christmas on Sunday at my house with my uncle, aunt, and parents. We got too much for Christmas! I really seriously felt like we got enough from the wedding and tried to tell everyone this, but it didn't work. We are blessed.

• A couple things we got that were awesome were our new shelves for our pantry! We needed these badly cause everything we had was just sitting on the floor!

• We got Scrabble! And can't wait to play it!

• We also got some Disney movies, since it is our new obsession. We got Bambi, The Lion King, and my favorite, Beauty and the Beast.
  


• We got some new yellow sheets that helps our bedroom with the yellow and grey theme I was trying to convey.
  


• The most evil gift we got was our new Isotonic Memory Foam Mattress Topper! This gift makes it hard to get out of bed at 6:30 am and makes you want to hop in bed after a long day of work! It is like our new little island of comfort and we LOVE it!

This week I worked for two different dental offices filling in for their hygienists. It was nice to be able to do since kids are out of school and I can't go to my regular job. I just hope it picks up some, or I can at least fill in a little more the next couple months!

Tonight, Phil and I are going to our friend Lee's birthday dinner at Hibachi! So excited to see some friends and possibly eat some sushi!

Hope you all have had a great week too!

Traveling West Virginia

I had posted before about traveling for work, so last time I was gone by myself I took some pictures to share with you all! This particular trip took me to Petersburg, but there were some sights I saw along the way.

I took these pictures to depict the snow and the mountains.Here are some pictures of the awesome windmills that I think are too cool!Here are some pictures driving through Elkins.Seneca Rocks from afar.The farm behind the hotel where I stayed.My hotel room had a geese theme. It kinda freaked me out a little!The frosty sheep farm behind the school we were at the next morning. Next to the farm was a cemetary, and beside that was the school's playground!And finally, a picture on the wall in the hall of the school we were at. I don't know about you, but I don't think this kid respects his tooth brush very much!

My work has the benefits of being able to travel around my beautiful state and can be pretty entertaining due to the kids we see!

On The Road

Sorry for the lack of posts after I promised I would be blogging more often. But I have been traveling for my job all over the lovely state of WV! It has been pretty tiring, but my job is slow in my part of the state, so they have been making my team travel to where there is work. I guess I should elaborate on my official job!

About 1 1/2 weeks before Phil & I got married, I accepted a job with a company that travels to schools and cleans/restores the kids' teeth! It is a fun job that makes each week exciting cause I don't know what school I'm going to be at until I get an email with the details the Friday before! I also get to work with children, which can be both fun and tiring. Another tiring part is the traveling and the loading/unloading of the van with all our equipment in it.

I was hired on full-time, but right now I am only part-time cause alot of the counties around where I live haven't hopped on board, and our company has only been in our state since February of this year. Since there hasn't been much work in my part of WV, I am glad they have been sending me places to where there is work, but I also don't like being away from Phil for a week!

I had to leave last Sunday, drive 4 1/2 hours, spend the night in a hotel to work Monday and Tuesday, go home Tuesday, leave again Wednesday, drive 4 1/2 more hours, spend the night again in a hotel to work on Thursday and Friday, then go home Friday after work. Now I am in a hotel as I type this and I am repeating the whole week in different places! I don't know if I will have internet access where I will be this Wed-Fri, but I will try to post again before if I can!

Hellooooo out there!

Can anyone read this? Are any of you still there? I thought the cute kitten in a sweater may get your attention! I know, I know I have been gone for way too long, but I am going to try my darndest to start updating this blog again on a regular basis! This return to blogging is also my 200th post!

Here are a couple events that have happened since I last blogged:

• September 26th - found a townhouse with Phil!



• September 29th - got a job, an actual dental hygiene job!



• October 15th - Phil and I got married!



• October 16th - October 22nd - Honeymooned in Disney World!



• November 21st - brought our fishy babies to their new home!

So, I have been a busy girl! Now I'm just getting used to married/working life and trying to set up our little nest. I'm also awaiting our wedding photos and cannot wait to see and share those!

I'll be back...

Excuses

So yeah, I know I've taken a VERY long break from the blog so hear is my list of excuses:

• What free time I have is on the weekends, and that is when I actually get to spend time with Phil... so it really isn't free time anymore.
  


• I am tired when I get off work and usually have to take my workout clothes to work with me so I won't have to go home to change beforehand. This doesn't give me the excuse to stay home and not workout. To tell you the truth, I haven't really got online that much at all except to occasionally check emails, job listings, and fb stalk... oh and there was this whole researching caterers thing...
  


• So the so-called wonderful caterer Phil & I thought we had called me once in a 5 month period. He had promised, when we had our tasting, to email me a list of things we had discussed (food, plates, glasses, silverware, etc.) with prices for each. That never happened. Phil went to the restaurant repeatedly and told him I needed that email. Never happened. I got the call about 2 1/2 months ago with a total price, he said he'd email me the breakdown. Never happened. Phil continued to visit him and the last time he said he'd email me that night. Never happened. The next day, I called myself and the guy that answered said he was working on it now and would email me in the next hour. Never happend. It never will now cause we got us a new caterer! I let that charade go on for much longer than I should have, but it is okay now and the new caterer is great! I was just a wee bit stressed about that one!
  


• I had been working for 3 months for a hygienist on maternity leave. The people there loved me (yes, I'm tooting my own horn) and the other hygienist is wanting to go part-time, but for some reason the boss man thinks it will be a lot of work for her to do this, so he is resisting... for now. I have an insider, a mole, who is keeping me informed of these details as they progress. It sure would be nice...
  


• That job ended 7/27, I had last week lined up for another hygienist going on vacation, and now I'm getting ready to start another maternity leave for 6 weeks in an office I never worked before! So that will take me up until around 2 weeks before the wedding! I just pray something comes from all this. I really, really need it!
  


• I am obsessed with watching tv. Yes, I watched The Bachelorette. I figured she'd pick JP, but was really loving Ben. I felt really bad that he was so confident. So yeah, tv/tivo has over ruled my online time. There is also Flipping Out, So You Think You Can Dance, Design Star, True Blood... omg I'm addicted again! I think I had mentioned here that I was not going to let the tv rule me, but sadly(?) it has yet again. Okay, I'm not sad about it! Judge all you want.
  


• I am still planning the wedding! And the closer it gets to the wedding, the more things that need to get done. I feel like I've been pretty well organized, but there are just some things that have to wait until the end.

Future excuses:

• more tv


• more wedding stuff - dress fittings, invitations, hair/makeup trial, meetings with other vendors...


• more work


• more tired


• more stress


• more working out

I apologize in advance to the few followers I have accumulated, and hope you'll bear with me!

And I have a small request: If anyone finds a cute pair of reasonably priced grass/kelly/clover green high heeled shoes for my wedding that are cute and preferably 2 1/2 inches or less, please send me the link/store to find them! It would be appreciated :)

Oh, and the last update to the blog I made wasn't even supposed to be posted cause I had planned to add more to it. Oh well!

Week #36, #37, #38, #39, #40

Hello! Long time, no blog! This long weekend inspired me to finally update with my Pic-A-Day Challenge (which, I guess I have failed now, but I keep going!). I am not presenting it like I usually do cause I have more pictures for certain days, and no pictures for other days. Here goes...

This last week in April I have no pictures! I can tell you that I had an orientation, for the temporary job I am currently working, the Monday & Tuesday of this week. The last 3 days of the work week, I was working for a hygienist in another office in the area.

Day 253

The Mole (aka my car) turned 100,000 miles this Sunday! I had planned to take these pictures all week and was happy I remembered to do so! I took the 99999 mile photo cause my lucky number is 9.

The other picture is of my loaner phone from Ntelos. My old flip phone was breaking at its hinges, so I needed this one to get by until Phil and I decided which phone company to stay with/go to together on one plan. We had decided on staying with Ntelos cause we figured it would be cheaper, but they messed up our paperwork and it was going to take forever for our phone numbers (we wanted to keep) to move to one family plan. My service was ending soon, and they made us mad so we went to Sprint. It ended up being slightly cheaper for us anyway. And it somehow was easier for our phone numbers to switch over to another provider than to keep our old provider and switch the phone numbers over to another plan. Go figure.

Day 254

I worked for yet another hygienist in the area 5 days this week! This is a picture of their old pop machine in the lunch room.

Day 257

A perk of working is that I actually was up to see the sunrise! It was a beautiful, foggy Spring morning without any rain!


This Wednesday, I also met up with the place who is making the cupcakes for our wedding! They are actually going to make us a brownie "cake" for the top of our cupcake tower that Phil & I can cut into at the reception! This relieves me that the place I wanted from the beginning will actually do this for us!


The Friday of this week, I took my local anesthesia exam so I could give anesthetic injections. It was a crazy week for me cause I hadn't studied in a year, but also cause I put this exam off til the last minute (some things never change!) and this was a week out from the deadline in taking it! I got it done though and still I'm waiting for results.

This was my first week working for the hygienist who is out on maternity leave for the next 3 months. They have a crazy computer system, that the chief dentist praises that I have learned how to use faster than anyone else that has worked there. I don't think it is necessarily hard, there are just lots of steps to go through to complete a patient note. The whole office is paperless and the x-rays are digital.

Day 267

Today, Phil & I went to his sister's pinning ceremony for nursing school! So proud of his sister for achieving her goal after so many obstacles! The downside of this ceremony was that it lasted 2 1/2 hours... not fun!

Day 269

How could I have not bought nail polish during these past 5 weeks!? Well, I couldn't pass up the sale stickers of 75% off of course! I need to try them out soon!

Day 279

My parent's anniversary was this past Thursday and they took a mini-vacay! So Phil & I decided to do their grocery shopping for them this Friday and went to the Kroger. I had to go to the little girl's room and when I came out I saw Phil pushing around this buggy full of pork rinds! I thought he'd filled up our buggy, but found out it was one that just had them all in there to sell like that. It was funny anyway, so I got this pic and it has that guy's hilarious face on the sign in it too! I think he wants some pork rinds!

I also used some of those Real Nail Polish Strips by Sally Hansen this evening! They were fairly easy to apply and turned out pretty good! I got the Laced Up strips to go with my current lace obsession!

Day 280

This Saturday evening, Phil & I met up with his parents to go out to eat at the mall. After our meal, his mom and I went to Charming Charlies where I got this watch! It is one with the rubber band that I have been eyeing lately!

Earlier this day, I went with two of my bridesmaids and my friend Lee, who will be marrying us, to order their bridesmaid dresses. We had a great time and went to eat lunch together as well!

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Also during these past 5 weeks, I have been running every Monday, Zumba-ing 2 days a week, and for the last 2 weeks, I have been kick boxing! I'm feeling pretty good exercise-wise, but just have to get my eating on track, especially on the weekends!

Well, that's all I have for you for now! I hope everyone has had a great holiday weekend and will have an even better short work week!

Hiatus

Hello friends!

I swear I will be back in full blogging force here sooner or later, but it has been good to take a wee vacation from it here lately! I am getting the hang of my new schedule... going to sleep by midnight every night, waking up at 6:30am to be at work by 8am, getting off work at 4:30pm, then going straight to the Y/Zumba/Phil's house right after work, catching up on my shows, and repeating it all over again! Then I have the weekends of fitting things I can't do during the week and actually getting to spend time with my fiance! I guess I've entered the realm of workdom for the time being, I just hope it can continue!

I have come to the conclusion that I will once more have to rely on TiVo to take of my new shows that are beginning so I can start doing more things throughout the week! haha I just have to finish watching all my finales though! Speaking of finales... I really hated how Grey's and Private Practice left off this season! Aggravating! I hope that The Event and The Biggest Loser will not disappoint this coming week! How are your finales going?

I will also try to catch up on all the Pic-A-Days I have missed. I'm not saying that I will post a picture for all that I haven't showed here lately, but I will skip around and try filling you in on what I have been up to the last couple months!

I've also missed reading many of my favorite blogs, so I apologize to all of you reading this that I haven't been commenting! I will try my hardest to catch up!

XOXO

Working Woman

Hey all!

Sorry I've been MIA for the last week, but I've been working temp jobs nonstop. I have everyday except holidays booked up until the 2nd week in August! Woohoo! Now to try and figure in the rest of my stuff that needs to get done, including sleep and this blog.

Don't worry, I will return... even if posts get backed up for a while!

SMILE!

Week #33

Hey all! How was your weekend? Mine was pretty good, mostly so because of the weather, except for that crazy severe thunderstorm with hail I drove in on Friday! At least it was warm!

Day 225: Today, Phil and I went for a walk around his neighborhood then went bike riding with his nephew! It was a beautiful day as you can see from this picture with the blue sky and pretty spring tree!

Day 226: This is my favorite gummy bear, the clear or pineapple one! Yes, I had gummy bears today! Yum!

Day 227: So I worked at the dentist office again today for the hygienist that hurt her shoulder. I have never worked at or been to a dentist office where they wear the surgical hair nets, but that is what I have to wear there! Too funny!

Day 228: It was gorgeous out today, so I worked out at the Y and at the park! I walked 2 miles and took a few pictures along the way. I would have ran some, but my ankle was hurting and I feel weird running around so many people right now. I still feel like I have some work to do before I get to that point. Here is a pic I took while there, tulips are one of my favorite flowers!

Day 229: I got to work again today too, at the same office. After work, I met up with my friend Rachel to go Zumba! Obviously this isn't a pic I took, but I didn't have my camera on me at the time! Forgive me?

Day 230: Today was just one of those days where it felt like everything went wrong! I woke up early (for me) today to go meet one of my friends for lunch. I called before I was getting ready to leave the house and he said that he didn't feel good, so that ended that. I then decided to do this extravagant online thingy for a certain place that wants me to do temp work for them - it took way too long and all the pages took forever to upload. I then needed to get my TB test read for same said temp job and had to wait an hour because they were way under-staffed, and it only took them 2 seconds to look at my arm and say it was negative! When I got home (mom had driven me before) and was getting ready to leave in my car so I could go to Phil's for the weekend, The Mole (my car, pictured) didn't start. So I ended up taking mom's car and having to drive in the severe thunderstorm with hail in a car I wasn't used to! Then my day got significantly better cause I got to spend it with Phil :-)

Day 231: This day was much better than the last, except that Phil was starting to experience some tooth pain with a tooth that he is getting pulled this upcoming Tuesday. We had gone to Lowe's and to eat lunch with his mom and grandma, then we went shopping for me some wedding shoes and to look at some possible wedding invitations. I didn't find any shoes, but I found these invitations at Target that I like a lot!

I hope this week goes well, and that Phil can get his tooth pulled ASAP cause it is hurting him so much! I just want him out of pain!

Have a great week everyone!