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?

Don't Worry, Be Happy!

I am definately a worrier! And recently it seems like it has got worse, like with Phil's tooth, the wedding, and how other people feel about various things... But now I've decided I'm not going to spend so much time making myself upset because other people are upset, I'm going to be happy! Of course I want everyone to be happy too, but I'm going to put myself first and not worry so much if others don't want to be happy, no matter how hard I try! And with that I present you this video:



I can't think of this song and not think of 6th grade! One of my friends was spending the night with me and it was back in the day when requesting and dedicating songs on the radio was a big deal! We had a teacher that we didn't really like cause he was a major Debbie Downer, so we thought it would be hilarious to dedicate this song to him on our local radio station! I seriously don't remember if it ever got played, or we worked up the courage to actually dedicate it to him in the first place, but I just remember that we cracked up everytime we thought about it!

Remember: Don't Worry, Be Happy!

Week #34

So it's pretty sad that I really don't remember what I did this week, and had to remind myself from the few tweets I post! I just didn't sleep well all week for some reason, except for the first part - I do know why... Day 232: Today Phil was in major pain because of his tooth! His face was starting to swell, and in hindsight I should have just taken him to the hospital. I reluctantly left his house that day, couldn't really call and talk to him cause it was hard for him to open his mouth. I didn't get much sleep cause I was worrying so much. Didn't take any pictures... sorry!

Day 233: I got up early this morning and drove back to Phil's house cause I was so worried! He had already set an appointment to get this tooth pulled previously for Tuesday, but he was going to call this Monday morning to see if they could get him in since he was so bad. They could and I was glad I was there to drive him. They pulled it even though it was infected and put him on an antibiotic (for the second time). They said that if he swelled any more to go straight to the ER. So today I took care of him. I know I'm doing bad but no picture today too! My worrying got the best of me. When I went home again tonight I didn't sleep well again.

Day 234: Phil was okay today and I didn't worry as much, but still didn't sleep well. It was like I would get my hours in, but didn't feel rested when I got up. Anyway, I had to do stuff today like go find wedding invitations. I found these at Target that I liked, but when I went with mom today to get them, they only had one box. Sooo, I was frustrated cause everytime I find them the place doesn't have enough or you can't order/find them online. We decided to go to a place in town that designs/prints them for you and it is for a good price. This pic is of the paper we want, you can't tell very much but it is a ivory color with a bit of sparkle!

Day 235: Today, was my bub Adam's birthday! I also finally got to the Y! It was a hard workout mostly because I was so exhausted. Also, this morning my dad calls me up to talk to him before he was leaving to go to work, and I look him in the eyes and one of his pupils is dilated and the other isn't. I freak, thinking that he's had a stroke or something and tell my mom to come look. They start laughing at me while I have tears in my eyes! Turns out dad had gone to the eye doctor that morning and they only had to dilate one eye! It was okay, but it was a bad joke on me!

Day 236: Mom and I went for a walk in the park. We walked to the place where *I think* will be the place in the park that we are having the ceremony(pictured). Later today, I went to Zumba with Rachel again! So much fun!

Day 237: Phil is feeling much better now with the help from his antibiotic, and got to come to my house for the weekend! The lymph nodes under his chin are still a little swollen, but the rest of his face is much better! Those swollen nodes are stopping him from getting some early Easter treats!

Day 238: Phil got a new game for the DS that I decided I would try out before him! It's called "9 hours, 9 persons, 9 doors" and sort of feels very "Saw"-ish to me. There is a lot of reading to this game but you do get to figure out some puzzles, get to know some people, and search some rooms to get through the 9 doors.

So that was my week, and I'm happy to say that Saturday I had a good night's sleep!

Week #29

I hope everyone had a good week! I got up to the 200's on this week's Pic-A-Day! I had a busy week, and it's looking like this next week is going to be a busy one as well!

Day 197: Yup, I still have my little Christmas tree up. I had planned to take it down before but my ankle got in the way and I just really haven't thought about it since. Maybe this week it'll go to sleep for the rest of the year!

Day 198: I woke up so nauseated this morning and figured it was from the dinner I had out the night before. I continued to feel yucky the rest of the week off and on and figured out my mom had the same thing the week before. I really do love the taste of Pepto and I'm much better now!

Day 199: Went out to eat lunch with my Maid of Honor/BFF - Sarah, then we went to go look at bridesmaid dresses at various places. After all that, mom and I met with a wedding coordinator who is going to help us with just the "Day Of" events.

Day 200: Today I had an interview with pretty much my dream job, a pediatric dental clinic. It scares me to even type that out thinking I'm going to curse myself! I feel like it went really well, but we'll see!

Day 201: Went out with Sarah again today! This time we went looking for her some wedding dresses! It makes me wish I could try more on, which I guess I could if I wanted - there are so many pretty ones and she looks good in anything :)

Day 202: Phil and I met another one of my bridesmaids - Corey, and her husband/possibly our ceremony musician, in Charleston this weekend at a new pizza place there called Pies & Pints. I had me a pint of rootbeer on tap and each couple got their own pizza with two different kinds. We shared them all: one was 1/2 Margherita Pie 1/2 Eggplant & Red Pepper Pie (pictured) and the other was 1/2 Cuban Pork Pie 1/2 Chicken Gouda Pie. My fave was the Cuban Pork!

Day 203: Phil and I went to our tasting at the Buffalo Diner today! Everything was yummy and we got lots of things sorted out to get estimates. This food was so much better than the other tasting we went to! Yay!

I don't know about you, but daylight savings is screwing me up right now! I have to work a temp job in the morning (it's Sunday night when I'm typing this) and to me it should be 11:45pm and I'll be getting in bed early (for me), but it's actually 12:45am and hopefully I'll be good to go early! Have a good week everyone!

2 years ago...

I became engaged to the man I am going to marry in just 8 short months! You can read about our engagement here. That may sound like a long time to you but I have a feeling it's going to go fast for me with all the planning I have to do!

It also feels weird that we have been engaged for 2 years. It seems like a lot of people rush off and get married ASAP after they are engaged, which isn't a bad thing but just didn't turn out that way for me. I know we did it this way because I was in school for most of it, and I figured I'd have a DH job by now and would be busy working and planning at the same time, and there is the fact that I was stuck on having our wedding outdoors in the autumn. That didn't turn out to be the case with the job, but I've enjoyed taking my time and being engaged to Phil.

Now to figure out what to get him for Valentine's Day... there's always this option :-)

Week #23

I hope everyone had a good week and will enjoy week #23 of my Pic-A-Day challenge!!!


Day 155: Today we celebrated my mom, aunt, and cousin Zach's birthdays! My family got together and ate some cheese fondue, pizza, and ice cream cake. My little cousin Asyra made this picture for my mom using some glue and leftover confetti from her mom's baby shower! Isn't it cute?!

Day 156: I started reading Breaking Dawn for the second time today. I had borrowed the book when I read it the first time, but when I got it as a present for Christmas, I decided it was time to read it again! I'm almost finished with it now.

Day 157: I have been obsessively going through the new WV Weddings magazine since it came out! Love it!

Day 158: I had gone over to Phil's house the day before cause I felt like just being a normal couple and getting to see him whenever I wanted. It's hard just being able to see eachother on the weekends! Anyways, I left from his house this morning when he left for work and it's a good thing I did cause shortly after, it started pouring the snow!

Day 159: Mom and I went here to Nandel's so I could try on some more wedding dresses. The people and the dresses were nice but it just didn't compare to THE dress that I'm going to go purchase today!

Day 160: Dad cut his fingers on a countertop he was moving so bad that he needed 19 stitches! His hand looks like Frankenstein's!

Day 161: I was at Phil's house again this weekend and we went to go eat at the Buffalo Diner. This is who we want to cater for our wedding! The food is sooo good! I got the stuffed chicken, pasta with garlic sauce, green beans, and garlic cheese bread! Mmmmm...

This coming week is looking fairly busy for me, so hopefully I'll have an easy time getting some pics to share with you all for next week!

The Day We Ate Soup

Once upon a time, my friends Lee, Heather, and I used to have a "Soup Day" every Tuesday. These were the days before Morgantown that were set aside for us to get together and eat lunch where soup was most likely involved (because we loved soup).

It wasn't until recently, since I've been home from Morgantown, that we have started Soup Day up again. We have all decided that we have stayed in our little caves (houses) long enough and needed to hang out again. I know that I haven't really been very social since I've been home and their friendship is much needed in my life!

About 2 months ago, we started Soup Day up again by going to eat at a new deli that is downtown. They ran out of their soup, so no soup for us that day. Two weeks ago we tried again when we went to the Harry Potter midnight showing. The menu the restaurant had for this premiere did not have soup on it, so strike two on no soup for us! Then finally, last night we went to our old favorite soup destination of the Marshall Hall of Fame Cafe and enjoyed some lovely french onion soup together! The picture below does not do this soup justice! It was definately delicioso!


We are going to try hard to get Soup Day back to being an every week occurence again. It may be hard to go on a Tuesday every week, but at least will get to be together!

PPQ: Love

Week #8

Welcome to Week 8 of my Pic-A-Day Challenge!

Day 50: I went to a pumpkin patch with Phil and his family! I don't know how I have not heard in the last 5 years that we've been together that there was a patch 5 minutes from where Phil lives. I got a lovely green pumpkin that now, a week later, is orange. Oh well!

Day 51: Columbus Day was a lovely fall day! This is a pic taken while I was driving Phil to get his rental car.

Day 52: These are my new feather earrings (Adam!) I got at the Pumpkin Festival the weekend before and my new favorite shirt of the season. Today I went driving around with my friend Lee and we ate lunch in the park!

Day 53: I also got these concord grapes at a market the past weekend and they are so yummy!

Day 54: This is most likely the location of my wedding ceremony! Right there on that patch of grass in front of the pond.

Day 55: Phil took me out to eat to an italian restaurant we have never been to for our anniversary. This was a couple days after our dating anniversary, but it was on the day that marked exactly a year before we are getting married! This picture was in the bathroom of the restaurant and I found it an odd place to be (plus an odd place for me to take a pic!).

Day 56: We treated ourselves to some Maggie Moo's this fine Saturday! I got the kiddie-sized cotton candy that turned my lips and teeth blue, but it was pretty tastey!

Have a great week everybody! And don't forget to carve your pumpkins!

5 YEARS

Before it turns midnight and the day is over, I just wanted to let everyone know that Phil and I have been together now for 5 years! There have been ups and downs, along with distance due to my schooling and because we don't live in the same city, but we have made it work and I love him with everything I am. I cannot wait to be his wife 10-15-2011!

The Day I Got A Note

Okay, I'm sure everyone here most likely sent notes and received notes when they were younger, it's something really nostalgic for me and I have a bunch in a shoebox somewhere that I kept. They were mostly from middle school which was the height of note passing for me and were usually folded into houses and triangle footballs.

Anyway, I was in 8th grade the day I got this particular note and was walking to the band room. One of my friends gave me this note and said they want me to read it by myself. So I walked down the hall a little ways and unfolded the note shaped like an envelope. On the outside it said: "Mariah Private". The note began with a "Dear Mariah" then went to talking how we'd been friends now for a while and how he'd really given this some thought. It said that in the beginning he liked me but then other people swooped in there and started dating me first. Then last night he had a dream where we were dating and it brought it all back. It ended with, and I quote: "So now I'll pop the question: Mariah, will you date me? Cause honey you must be tired you been running through my mind all day long." And it was signed with his name which will not be disclosed since many people reading this blog may know who he is! I randomly think of this note and it always makes me laugh! It's like a guy in a bar throwing out pickup lines, but so innocent since we were so young!

Isn't that note so middle school?
Did you ever pass notes?
Were you ever asked out in a note?

BSDH

I am officially a graduate for the last time!

My graduation was held on Satuday, May 15th at 8:30am... too early, I agree! The day before we had our graduation practice at 7:30am and that is what time we had to get there Saturday before graduation. Both were very long and hectic days filled with visits from family, getting a mani/pedi with my roomie for the last time, a pointless banquet with crappy food, packing up the trailer, good-byes to friends (sad), and good-bye to Morganhole (yessssss... finally!).

The week before graduation we had a cookout at my friend Kristen's house. It was great to hang out with my closest DH girls for (almost) the last time before graduation. We ate, played some games, and burned our DH books that we hated the most!

Now to rest up and prepare myself for the rest of my life!

No More Drama Please!

I am getting ready to graduate for the last time ever! Thank goodness for that cause I don't know how much more I can handle! This round of school was especially hard because I had already been through 4 1/2 years of college, had been on a 2 1/2 year break from school, and was in a class with 21 other girls! No boys at all.

I really dislike the drama that can come from so many girls. I have 6 friends that I'm closer to than the rest and there is still drama in that small of a group! I am ready to get away! I am excited to finally leave Morgantown and begin the rest of my life! The sad part really hasn't hit me yet that I am leaving my friends. I figure it'll hit me on graduation day (May 15th) or after I have been home sitting on my butt for a week or two with no friends to hang out with.

I may or may not go to Charleston and back on Wednesday to screen a back-up patient for my board exam. I have not been able to get ahold of this patient so that is still up in the air. My actual board patient that I have had for the last month told me last week that he wasn't sure if he would have to work the Friday of my exam! WTF!? So I offered him money for the time he'd be missing work and he told me he'd let me know Monday. Then I called him back today and he said it was cool and could get out of work that day! He seriously made me hold my breath for the last 4 days! I just hope it will all work out! I guess the offer of money was good enough. I need some good in my life right now in the form of my board patient showing and finally passing this time! Then maybe I can be happy & sad about graduation with no nervousness in the way!

Drama! Drama! Drama! I cannot wait for it to end!

My Worst Break-up Ever

I have been a little preoccupied lately. A very big event happened in my life this past Saturday, and it took up most of my time and thoughts preparing for it: March 13th, 2010 was the fateful day that SRTA broke up with me.

Let me give you a run-down. SRTA stands for Southern Regional Testing Agency. Instead of having a National Clinical Board, someone has decided to divide all the states into their own testing regions, and they even overlap states to make it more confusing. Anyway, I decided to take this test with the mindset that if I ever moved away from West Virginia that it would be somewhere to the warmer South. Like you all know, I was pretty worried about my patient showing up for the test and qualifying. These were my main worries… And here is how my time spent with SRTA was like a relationship:

• A relationship starts off with a hope, just like me preparing for this test and hoping for success for my future career.

• In the beginning of a relationship there is always a little worry that the guy doesn’t like you as much as you like him. This is like my worry that my patient wouldn’t work out.

• In a relationship, there should be butterflies in your stomach whenever you see that special someone, just like I had on my “date” with SRTA that March 13th.

• In a good relationship there are times when there is smooth sailing and everything is happy, as it was when my patient arrived the day of the board exam AND qualified!

• In a relationship there are ups and downs. One such down in my relationship with SRTA was that I had forgot to fill out part of a form, but it was nothing that I couldn’t apologize for and correct. And this had no bearing on my final score.

• At the end of a date in a relationship, there are those butterflies and questions like “Did he think it went as well as I thought it just did?”. This is how I felt after my clinical board.

• There is a time in a relationship where you are comfortable with the situation and who you are with. After I took the clinical part of this exam, I also had to take an electronic portion. I came out of this part thinking it was ridiculously easy.

• In a not-so-good relationship sometimes the person leads you on. Monday morning I checked my SRTA account to find out I had a big ole “PASS” typed out on the screen before me. This just confirmed my previous feelings of comfort.

• In a relationship you can be dumped. This is what SRTA did to me Monday evening when I found out I failed my clinical portion of the exam. My heart was broken.

This is me after I found out SRTA dumped me. Like what I've done with my hair?

• At the end of a relationship you can be sad and sometimes mad at who broke up with you. I was mad! I feel like SRTA lied to me and about me, and also sold me false promises of hope during my time with it. I was also sad because all the hard work I put into the relationship was now null and void. I talked to my girlfriends about this exam and they backed me up like good friends do. There were 6 of us in the same relationship and SRTA broke up with 4 of us and kept its 2 favorites (sort of The Bachelor-ish). We came together and shared our stories after the final rose, I mean after the exam was over. It makes me feel better to know I have people to go through this with me, but that also makes me feel really bad cause I don’t want any of us to fail. We all are good at what we do and can’t help that the judges grading us couldn’t see the same thing. It doesn’t help that I added up my score and found out I got a 74.75%, only 0.25% away from passing. Another girl got the same score, which makes us a little skeptical.

So now it’s time to start a new relationship with a SRTA in a different school. I have to pay another $915 (ridiculous! SRTA is only dating me for my money!) not to mention go through the turmoil of finding another board patient that would be willing to come to WVU to be screened and then be able to go to Bridgemont Community & Technical College in Montgomery, WV on April 30th. And so my life continues to be stressful for at least another couple months, and I feel bad for Phil having to put up with the moods I have during this process. He’s a trooper though, and at least I know he is my everlasting relationship.