it's a white, white, world!!!!!

okay so the title of my post was inspired by an elderly woman i do activities with at the group home i work at. every time it snows this is what she says.....all day.....every day- until it melts. "It's a white, white, world!!!!" she says it with a tone of conviction and anger- i'm guessing winter is not her favorite season...

well, i can't help but agree with her. i've had enough- thursday was the first day of spring- is it just me or did everyone picture the signs of spring just a tad different as well? here is my idea of spring.....


generic i know but you guys get the picture. i decided that i needed a definite comparison- what spring is supposed to be vs. what we are actually experiencing....






i think there is a definite difference. don't get me wrong- i love these pictures- snow has a very romantic quality.....but so does the smell of fresh cut grass, beautiful flowers,the smell of the grill cooking my favorite summertime foods, the humongous olympic size pool i have in my backyard that i will spend my whole summer vacation chillaxing in...... okay so maybe the pool part won't happen and the whole chillaxing part, well for that to happen i would need to be having a summer vacation- but smelling the fresh cut grass? i'm all over it!

so as we are all digging ourselves out today let's put ourselves in that place- that place of true springtime activities- there is a lot of snow outside so i'm guessing i'll be able to be in my springtime fantasy place for a loooooong time today...

good luck guys- be careful of those snow drifts! :0)

shoud i stay or should i go now.....

so i am having a little bit of a dilemma and i was thinking maybe, just maybe my wonderful blog readers would have an idea as to what i should do about his dilemma- it is small but it is important.

should hubby and i take a road trip for our one- year anniversary of being married?

i know that this may sound like an easy question but really it isn't for many reasons. i decided to make a list- well because i love lists and possibly it will be easier to understand for you then me babbling on and on and on and on..... okay here goes

PROS OF TAKING A ROAD TRIP
1. We desperately need a trip- things have been waaaaaay too hectic in our lives this year and we really haven't been able to spend uninterrupted quality time together as much as we would like. i believe this trip would definately do our relationship some good and give us the time together that we need and deserve

2. We would probably have the money for it- i assume that after renting a car (which hubby found out would be about $220 dollars for unlimited miles for one week), getting a hotel room (which my mom and aunt said they may be able to pay for as a present for my b-day which is in july), food, gas (which they say should be about $3.50 cents or more by summer)and miscellaneous expenses that may arise we are looking about between $600 and $800 dollars for this trip- realistically speaking. We could swing it only because d and i will be working full time this summer.

3. We vowed when we got married that we would take a trip every summer because traveling and spending at least one week a year- COMPLETELY ALONE- was very important to us.

4. We will someday in the near future start trying to have kids- i don't want to pass these opportunities to travel up now because we may not get them again for awhile.


CONS OF TAKING A ROAD TRIP
1. We will have the money but should we really spend it on a road trip? We do have other bills to pay- is it irresponsible to take a trip when we have other obligations? I think that we may be able to do both- pay off all our outstanding debt as well as take a trip- but what if we can't? should we still take the trip?

2. I would have to take a week off from both of my jobs- i don't have PTO or vacation pay so i would be loosing a weeks pay. D has vacation time so that should be fine.

3. D is going to be having his plumbing apprenticeship interview on April 14th (which we are very excited about!) after that interview he gets placed on the May list and then is taken off the list and put in a apprenticeship based on his interview and test scores ( his test scores not only met the standards but exceeded them by a very very large margin) so my question is- what if he doesn't have to wait long for an apprenticeship? what if he gets called sometimes this summer- will his new job let him have a week long vacation? i guess it won't be too bad if we had to cancel because we would just be renting a car- so we could cancel that and cancel the hotel- but if there were penalties that would suck! D seems to think that if he is upfront with his employer right away he will be able to still take the week off- i am not so sure- but that could just be me being pessimistic- "Hi my name is Negative Nancy!"

So those are my pros/cons- i'm not really sure what to do! part of me wants to be responsible and not take a trip but most of me wants to say screw it and take the trip.

Also if we do go on a trip- where should we go? again because i love lists and pictures to brighten my blog i have decided to show you lovely blog readers some of the places D and i are contemplating road tripping to.....

1. The Beautiful South Dakota- i have never been but D has and he says it is absolutely gorgeous!


2. Maine- i have always wanted to go to Maine- ever since i was little- i even wanted to live there for a while before i decided to go to College ( which i never regretted!)


3. San Fransisco and or Napa Valley- D and i considered going here for our honeymoon but decided on Vegas instead. We absolutely love wine, good food, and beautiful sites- so i believe this could be a great option- but also very expensive.


4. Boston- D really wanted to go to Boston i'm not sure if i'm sold but it does sound really beautiful.


So those are the places we have been pondering over- we haven't checked out any prices yet as far as activities in those areas, hotels or bed and breakfasts- so i'm not sure which is the most cost efficient- if any of them are at all.

If anyone has any suggestions i am definately open to them! Places to go, how to go on a road trip with a tight budget, and of course whether or not we should even take a road trip- i love honest opinions and i know all of my blog readers will be honest with me- i can take it!

well hubby just got home and is anxiously awaiting for me to get off my blog and watch the new season of Top Chef with him- i have to say the competition looks fierce this year.... i can't wait to see it- now every time D and i go to a restaurant we are so critical of the food- just call us wanabe Tom Colicchio's!

miscellaneous change

so i realized today as i was cleaning our extremely messy one bedroom apartment which looks more like a studio when it is at it's worst. you guys know what i mean- one little pile of "stuff" makes your apartment look like a tornado hit it! so i decided today was the day- i was going to take my day off and clean the apartment- after some well deserved internet surfing and chick flick movie watching of course :0)

i realized from cleaning the house that not only do you find things that you wanted a loooooong time ago but could never find but also things that you never knew you had- like a brand new toaster- apparently a wedding gift D and i never knew we had received- how lame is that- i really really hope i sent out a thankyou note on that toaster...

another thing i also found was A LOT of change! i mean there was nickels, dimes, pennies, even quarters absolutely everywhere! D and i must have found at least 50 dollars worth of change! i felt like i was on the hunt for gold! naturally after finding so much change we decided to check the car for change and one thing led to another and we become billionaires...... you don't believe that do you? didn't think so.... but we definately came out of this "hunt" with a little extra cash- more cash then we had when we woke up! so i guess the moral of this post is every time you clean your house- also clean your change- not literally but you get the picture! just from looking in the car and in the house we filled 1/2 of a jar! that to me is amazing- all that change just lying around! i think that this jar will be our official change jar- what will we save for? oh i don't know.... the possibilities are endless- and since i like to make lists and fantasize about someday having enough money to make these things happen i will share my list with you fine people :0)

1. a house- something old with a lot of character and history- beautiful natural wood and two stories- a nice finished basement and possibly a nice attic that could be renovated into a master bedroom :0) and of course a hot tub ( a little bit of a stretch huh?)

2. kids- D and i have been talking about his more and more lately- we agree that right now wouldn't be the best time- we are thinking of sometime in the near future though so it is definately something i would like to save for. i know my mom struggled with money when i was younger and i want to be able to provide for our kids what they need- i don't necessarily want to spoil them but every once in a while couldn't hurt :0)

3. a trip to Peru- D and i also talked about this- we LOVE to travel! the first year we were together we saved every bit of money we had- and i mean EVERY BIT of money we made- D's tips from bartending, my measly salary at school and anything else we could scrape together! we took that money- which we also kept in the same jar we are using now for our change (good luck? i hope so!) and hit the road to Florida! i had never been there and it was an amazing trip- one of the best we've ever taken- memorable and absolutely breathtaking- the scenery was gorgeous and my trip mate wasn't bad either :0). wherever we end up going on vacation i know it will be fabulous- our 1 year anniversary is coming up august 11th- i hope this jar gets us to somewhere romantic and warm!

4. a new car- now this one as you will notice is lower on my list- because well i don't really care about what i drive. however i do know that i will need a dependable vehicle not only now for work and school but also for when we have kids. i don't need anything flashy- just something that will get me here and there and will last us for quite a while!

5. new furniture- living room, dining room, kitchen, bedroom- again these things are lower because they are more indulgent, guilty pleasures. D and i love furniture- he loves the classics- post century modern all the way- i love funky furniture- my favorite store to browse? IKEA- definately IKEA! who knows? maybe our jar of change will get us that awesome new couch we've been eying up :0)

and more practically.....

6. new clothes for both D and I- we desperately need to update our dress- i have had a lot of the things i wear for work for faaaaar too long- D too. i really like the styles they have right now at target- and yes target is the kiss of death, especially to your paycheck and or pocket book- but i still am forever in love with that store- they have everything i need!

so that is my list- not a big one (well at least not toooo big right?) but it definately is a list! i can't wait to start making a little more money so we can finally start ourselves on the right track! D and i talked about today how we could save money- we accomplished the jar idea but what else is there? here is my challenge for my fellow blog readers- i love love love your comments- they are always insightful and heartfelt- this is why i turn to you for this :0)If you could answer this question it would definately bring more insight to not only me but also to all the other readers- i think we could also use a few savings tips and i look forward to hearing what you have to say!

HOW DO YOU SAVE MONEY? WHAT WORKS, WHAT DOESN'T?

well girls- speaking of money i have to hit the road- off to work :0) didn't i say this was my day off? well my semi- day off - no day is really complete until i have made at least one trip to either one or both of my jobs!

happy thursday! :0)

sunday sunday

so today is sunday and because of it being sunday i feel the need to blog- well i feel the need to blog everyday but that doesn't always happen! blogging truly is something i enjoy- every single day i have something i could blog about- but something else always gets my attention.... like this for example



what is this you may ask my friends? well it truly is the best mexican soda in the WORLD! okay so i know what everyone is probably thinking- " you just blogged about soda Harmony! blog about something new, exciting, and fresh!" well to tell you the truth it doesn't get much more "fresh" then this soda! D and i went out on friday night after we did our Swing Dancing Lessons at Carroll College (shameless plug to sell our talents to follow in later posts). there aren't too many places to go out that late at night in Waukesha so we did our best- and found a very cute, very tasty mexican restaurant called "The Ranch". now i'm not sure if this is the actual name or a nickname the "cool kids" of Waukesha made up but it's good enough for me! The food is tasty and this Senorial Sangria Soda just made my night! I usually would never cheat on my all time favorite soda- Jarritos... but i just had to



drinking Senorial Sangria Soda is like drinking real Sangria- minus the alcohol- which was fine with me seeing as i was just sweating like a complete pig while shaking my groove thing :0)

well guys it's time for dinner with the in-laws....in racine....at 5pm- hmmmm it's 4:50 right now? yea that's how we roll- late as always :0) it really is a horrible habit to be late- sometimes it's fashionable, sometimes it's just ridiculous- i think D and i walk that fine line!

i will blog more later because there is much to blog about- this weekend was chalk full of awesome activities, good friends, good food, good drinks and a lot of bad 80's music along with some dancing :0)

you will all have to be in suspense :0)more to come!

the first step is to admit

so i have been thinking lately about an addiction that i have- one that probably many of us share- not just in the blogging community but probably throughout the world- yes this addiction is that big! to accurately depict my addiction i will give you none other than an ecard, why? because they are so damn funny and say exactly what i need to say....






yep it's true guys i have a facebook addiction. my dear husband and i have the below conversation weekly, if not daily- why? because i am obsessed...

me: did you get my facebook message?

d: no, didn't go on facebook today- why what did it say?

me: that's the whole point of going on facebook! if your not going to check your wall then i'm not going to write on it and i'm sure as hell not going to tell you what i wrote! And what's with your profile pic? i mean seriously babe it's time to change that picture!

d: uh huh..... have you ever learned about the signs of addiction?

me: your point?

yea so that is the convo very regularly around the dubinsky household- i love facebook- i can't go a day without checking it at least 2 times! i will even get up early to check it- if i work at 6am i get up a couple minutes early just to check my facebook. is that so wrong? all of my friends are up there- their info, what's going on ie status, pics, fluff friends, and of course happy hour- now i know they aren't real drinks but isn't it awesome to get a drink from a friend?

yea i need help..... but in all honesty facebook is a very useful tool. i not only use it to see what's going on with all my friends but i also use it for school. now your probably all thinking- "school? what is she smoking!" but i'm serious! if i need to get a hold of one of my classmates i know i can get a hold of them quicker on facebook- if i need someones phonenumber? facebook! it all leads back to facebook!!!

so i invite you all of my wonderful blog readers to join facebook if you have not already- and if you have please do not hesitate to look me up- i am always looking for new facebook friends :0)

tonight is soup night- d and i looooooove potato dumpling soup- after our hectic, crazy, stressful week we definately need a soup night. and because i love to punish myself i will be making it from scratch- real potatoes, real dumplings- the whole nine yards! i think i might even post that recipe because it is just sooooo good. and if i am not in a soup induced coma by tomorrow i will be back to blog more :0)

my balloon mobile

so i have to say that after my last post i was feeling pretty down. I went to work on Valentines Day and was pretty sure that my day was in no way going to get any better. well i was wrong- i never took into account that i have the best husband in the world- and yes that is the whole world :0)

he made me heart shaped chocolate chip cookies- totally romantic and cute! he tried to use cookie cutters but they didn't work- so he formed them in to hearts by hand! i was floored- they were perfect hearts! he did an awesome job!

but that is not all i received!

he made me a huge valentines display on the ceiling of our bedroom- red balloons and pink streamers (see pic at bottom of post!)- so that before i go to bed at night i can think of him, and the moment i wake up i can think of him- it was totally sweet and just what i needed to feel better. he also got me a box of chocolates and a beautiful card(yet again another pic :0) that was so sweet. i really realized more then ever how lucky i am. not because my husband gives me things on valentines day- but because he is kind, compassionate, caring and wonderful every single day of the year- i just don't always see it because i'm too busy being stressed- which definitely has to stop.

i feel like i am devoting entirely too much time to being stressed out. i feel like i need to spend more time for myself- being happy about what IS going right in our lives. i spend waaaaay to much time being down- and i hate being a debbie downer- it's just not who i like to be- for myself, other people, or my awesome husband.

i really am hoping that this week will be different- i am going to go into it very positively- open mind, open heart, open eyes- i can only take one day at a time and life may not always be fantastic or go the way i plan but it really is beautiful and gives us amazing opportunities otherwise gone ungiven- does that make sense? i hope so!

well loyal blog readers this post is going to be a little short- i have a lot of psych reading and i hope before i fall asleep i can spend some quality time with the hubby cuddling and watching a movie- i have been promising him we would do this all week- i hope to keep my promise!

but before i go- did anyone drive last night in that horrible ice storm? unbelievable! D and i saw 15 accidents between racine and milwaukee- we couldn't believe it! some cars were even turned over- completely on the hood of their car! i don't think we saw so many squad cars in one night- ever! i hope all of you are safe and sound- drive carefully!!!! i can feel spring- i really can- it just has to be right around the corner! we need it!

have a happy monday everyone! more to come to you later :0) i will leave you with some pictures from our valentines day festivities :0)
my balloon mobile!













my beautiful card <3













me and d at benihana! <3