OVERtime

yes my friends that is where i have been. over the next 2 week i will be working about 20 hours of overtime on top of a 40 hour work week. we need the extra money for san fran and of course bills.

and i truly do come home and check my work email- things happen that quickly at my work ya know.....

so i am sorry for my absence- there has been a lot going on- too much to name all in one post- but i will leave you with a list because that is what i am good at :0)

- darin has decided to go back to school- this is a big leap for hubby! i am so proud of him and i know that he will do awesome- now all he needs to do is pick a program. he will be doing a 2 year degree in the healthcare field- the problem is that some "2 year degrees" aren't really two years at all with a waitlist- so he wants to find one without a waitlist- more updates to come on that one!

- booking a hotel for san francisco is becoming a problem- there are NO hotels that are cheap in the downtown area- all the cheaper hotels are booked already so we having been trying to decide what do do, do we stay by the airport, at a hostel maybe? but then again when i think about staying in a hostel i think about that popular movie.... you know that one- i won't post a picture on my blog, much too graphic- but basically they go into the hostel, meet really "nice" people and never come out alive- yea, i don't want that to be us..... okay so i don't really believe this will happen but ya never know- and hostels are just as expensive as hotels- 80-90 bucks a night!

- work is kickin my butt, i am exhausted- i hope this is worth it in the end

well, that is all for now- it's off to work for another long day- i work from 8am-1030 pm tonight!!!! am i crazy? yes......

stay tuned! happy wednesday!

but i want it!!!!!!!!!

yep, that's right- hubby and i are on a diet. what made us come to this unbelievably horrific and insane decision? we are both overweight- i don't think we look bad, but we definately feel bad- we don't have the energy we used to, we don't look like we used to, hell, we can't even walk up a flight of stairs without being completely winded! i feel like this diet will be best for the both of us- hubby has been wanting to diet for a while and i really want to support him on this (and hopefully loose a few pounds myself :0)- you can never look to hott right?- yep that's hott with two t's!

so anyways enough about my hottness, hubby and i are on day 6 of our diet and all is going pretty well- that is if you consider mood swings and extreme panic well. i am NOT used to denying myself whatever i want to eat, whenever i want to eat it- i have just never worked like that. i have always prided myself on being able to eat whatever i wanted- and as much of it as i wanted to. then i realized that eating whatever i want is not good for me- in fact when your me and you crave things like scalloped potatoes, pizza, nachos, crunchwrap supremes, jimmy johns, and of course my all time favorite- pasta, all the time your body is bound to "give" a little- and in my case it has given a lot.

since my last couple of posts have been big reveal posts here is another one for you- when i met D i weighed about 120 pounds- totally normal for my height and age- in fact i even weighed in low on the average. i have never been one to chart my weight or even worry about my weight for that matter (except for the time i went on a mandarin orange and rice diet in high school- i was young and not so bright, what can i say?) but i have to say my concern level is on high.

my current weight? 140 lbs

that may not seem like a lot but from my point of view 20 lbs is a lot of weight to gain or such a short amount of time. and my eating habits are not good- it seems like lately i have not been able to feel full in quite a while- i am always eating, eating, eating- especially because i sit at a computer all day- when i get bored, i eat, on my 15 min break i eat, when i'm on my lunch i eat- it is a lot of food for one person to eat in a day. for example last week for lunch my fabulous coworkers and i went to taco bell- not the best place to eat but it is cheap. well i love their crunchwraps without the meat- they are sooo good. well i decided 1 was not going to be enough- so i got 2 thinking maybe i could have that other one later for a snack. i also got 2 orders of nachos- because after all they are small, right?

i ate both crunchwraps, both nachos, and a regular coke- WHAT WAS I THINKING!!!!

i definately walked away feeling full, but sluggish- that's not the way i want to feel after eating! i want to feel full, but refreshed and energized, not tired and bloated. so this diet will be good for both of us- i have already lost 5 1lbs, which i am sure is water weight but non the less it is progress!

i was a little crazy the first couple of days i will admit. taking me grocery shopping was no fun task, just ask Darin! everytime he turned around i was grabbing something full of calories and fat. if i wasn't grabbing chips, cookies, or frozen pizza i was asking him "well what CAN i eat then Dr. Dubinsky?!?!!?" in a very sarcastic tone. yea i imagine my withdrawal from sugar and fatty foods to be something similiar to that of a smoker going cold turkey- only i was much more bitchy about it....

there are many upsides to this diet- not only will we loose weight, but we will also feel better about ourselves. and i really, really want to prepare my body for when we do start TTC- if i eat bad now, how will i be able to stop myself from eating bad while i'm pregnant? i just don't want to risk my baby's health because of my bad eating habits

so wish me luck my friends, i'm going to need it...

Wordless Wednesday....a day late

Good Friends

babies on the brain part 2

so i know i have been leaving you all in the lurch about my thoughts on TTC
i'm sorry for my absence and leaving you all in suspense for so long! i looked at my blog and realized i hadn't posted since the 18th of June- Yikes! where has the time gone?

however i do have an excellent excuse as to why i was absent for so long. you see my good friends Mandy and Blake just had a beautiful baby boy named Cristian! He is sooo adorable and i am very, very excited for them as they start their journey as parents. I was fortunate enough to be asked to come see them while they were still in the hospital- it always makes you feel like VIP when you get asked to come see your friends newborn in the hospital :0) so i went with the hubs, camera in hand of course, and met Cristian for the first time. Darin and I both got to hold him and of course couldn't decide who should pick him up first- i am still very new at the whole newborn picking up thing so Blake helped us out and picked Cristian up for us :0). once we had him in our arms it was pure delight. blake immediately turned on his camera which he has on him for every occasion- he never misses a beat! he has successfully documented Cristian's first,second and even third days in the world! i was lucky enough to get some cute shots of Cristian as well as steal a few shots that Blake and D took.....

the lovely parents <3


hubby with Cristian


Me with Cristian


i may look a little scared in the picture but only because it has been a looooong time since i held a newborn- it was a piece of cake though, it felt very natural and completely surreal- does that make sense? i just couldn't believe that one of my closest friends had a baby- it made me realize just how much time flies. Mandy and Blake are going to be such amazing parents. they have unbelievably huge hearts and are wonderful people who would do anything they could to help you out. i am so excited to be apart of their lives and now apart of Cristian's! i walked out of the hospital feeling great- hubby did too. we both couldn't stop talking about how cute Cristian was and how lucky Mandy and Blake are- it's a beautiful thing to have a baby and i can't think of anything that D and I want more in life then to bring a baby into the world.

that being said, i have to thank all of you tremendously for your comments- it feels good to be able to have people to turn to- some of you i have met, some of you i have not and may never get the privilege to do so but it is still nice to know that people will share their opinions, thoughts, and encouragement with me on my blog, which is something i have grown to love about blogging.

after careful consideration and many hours of talking over wine (you have to have wine right? :0) hubby and i have decided that although we are ready to have children right now is not the time. another big secret? are you ready for this one guys?

we do not have health insurance....

wow, what a big secret for me to reveal on my blog! for a long time hubby and i would always dance around the subject of health insurance. it just seems like a taboo not to have health insurance and believe you me if we could afford it- we would have it! D's job offers it but it is far too expensive and my job does not currently offer it to me because of my status at work. so here we sit, two adults and no health insurance. i can't imagine having a baby and not having health insurance- i think not only about us and the costs we would accrue but also about the baby- what if she/he needed medical attention and we didn't have insurance? i realize that we would be able to pay out of pocket but paying out of pocket is NOT easy. To be honest i have never in my life had health insurance. when i was growing up my mom couldn't afford it so we always paid out of pocket. that being said because i have always paid out of pocket for my health care i have realized just how important it is. we definately plan on getting it soon- within the next 6 months- however right now it is still not feasible.

i also realized this weekend that not everything happens all at once. we got married almost a year ago, 41 days until our 1 year wedding anniversary! (not like i'm counting down or anything) it has always been hard for me to accept that some things you have to wait for. just because hubby and i may want kids right now does not mean it is the best time for us to do so. like i said before in my previous post we are soooo excited to have kids- we talk about it a lot and look forward to the future when we are a little more ready- we are ready emotionally but things are not quite set they way they need to be yet. at first when i realized this i was sad, why can't everything just happen right now?!!?!! hubby though, reminded me that just because it doesn't happen now, doesn't mean it won't happen soon- it just means not right this second- which i am okay with.

so until our time of TTC i will just have to gush about babies on my blog- and post cute pictures of my friends babies while we wait :0) i can't wait for our journey to begin as parents- it will be an amazing time full of love and excitement- it is something we both can not wait to start. when will we start? well my dear friends i can't let every secret go on my blog! :0) we definately have a time in mind and i of course will be glowing- too bad glow will not show on my blog :0)

have a great tuesday everyone!

i swear i'm still here

sorry for the mini-absence this week guys- it has been one LONG week- full of family drama, mandatory overtime at work, births, jazz music, and my favorite passtime- weddings with Molly! i will post more on all of those things sunday when i can recooperate from my crazy weekend!

so as i get ready for work i just wanted to post a picture- since i clearly missed wordless wednesday this week i thought i would make up for it....

and don't worry, there is a TTC post coming Sunday- i just have been writing it in pieces- you can look for those updates Sunday night- i promise!

so i will leave you with a photo just for the heck of it.

have a good Saturday everyone! more to come Sunday!

picture of how we spend our days off together on thursdays- darin calls this my duck face, not just because i love ducks so much but because i make this face everytime i love something is see- maybe i will just have to have a whole post of "duck face" pictures so you all believe me :0)

what would a blog be without at least one TMI post?

yes dear readers the time has come.... a post with entirely TMI (just in case there are a few people who may not know TMI= Too Much Information) I knew i was bound to put one of these posts up but i didn't know when- today is the day so here it is....

hubby and i were talking last night... you remember hubby right?

Just in case you didn't- which i know you all do, if nothing else the picture was just another excuse to put a cute picture of D in my blog :0)

So we were talking last night about the future- about a house, possibly a dog, some new plants, and kids.....wait did i just say kids? Yes, it is true we actually had a conversation about kids. So then of course the discussion moved to when, when should we start trying, how long will it take, how do we know if we are truly ready? All of these questions were discussed- good answers emerged and of course there are always some questions left lingering. There is no way to know if you are every truly ready. Darin and I still enjoy going out and having fun but we have slowed our going out down quite a bit over the last year. And there are of course other signs as well that point to being ready to have a baby- I feel like i am completely ready- physically and mentally, it is at times all i think about. Darin has also began talking about our future with kids- whenever we see a baby in the store, or hold one of our friends babies we can't stop smiling.

We did decide however to hold off for just a little while longer- there are still a few things that need to fall into place before we start TTC, and because i am a list freak here is a list of things we would like to do before we have a baby...

- buy a house: we have had our eye on one house in particular- it keeps going down in price and we are hoping it keeps going down- we will have to re-visit it at the end of summer and see what is what on the house front
- hubby wants to switch his job: he is VERY unhappy with his current job. the economy is not great right now- because he is a car salesman he makes most of his money off of commission. If people don't buy cars he doesn't make any money which creates a lot of stress for him as well as our bank account. he has his eye on a couple of opportunities so keep your fingers crossed! and of course if anyone has any employment ideas please feel free to throw them our way!
- we would like to have some money saved up- i know that everyone always says you will never have enough money- which is completely true- i know that now more than ever. so if we can have some sort of backup in our account before we have kids we will be able to feel a little bit more secure just in case the unexpected were to happen

So i bet you all are wondering where my TMI comes in right? Well as i was talking to hubby about TTC we realized that we really can't TTC if i am still on my BC (birth control). Now from the beginning i have always hated taking birth control. I have been on it for only 3 years but i feel that is plenty- we have been thinking of stopping the BC for a while now but have been kind of nervous to do so. we would be absolutely ecstatic and overjoyed if we got pregnant but we know that it is best if we wait until the time we agreed to start TTC. So we began researching natural family planning- which is pretty much like charting your temps and getting to know your cycle so you know which days of the month you are most fertile. I love the idea of this method because it allows me to get to know my body better- this will definately help us when we begin TTC. I also like it because i really don't want to be on BC any longer- i just don't feel the same when i am on BC- i feel it truly does mess with every hormone in your body!

So i have been researching like a mad woman about this method and i am still kind of nervous about it- i know it is not %100 percent effective but then again what method of "BC" is? Has anyone tried this method before and found it effective/ ineffective?

Sorry again if this is TMI- i just need some opinions from you lovely ladies out there :0)

I promise to return to Wordless Wednesday next week- there were just too many words floating in my brain to not write them down! :0)

so those people aren't imaginary?

No dear Husband, those people i blog with on the internet are not imaginary- in fact they are so real that i have pictures to prove it!

The Lovely Ladies above: Julia, Erin, Julia, Sierra, Kelly, Andrea, Natasha, Me, and Katherine

Don't get me wrong- my husband was very excited for me that i was meeting a group of girls from my blog list- in fact he thought it was "awesome, funny- but awesome" that's a direct quote. :0)

The girls and i headed down to The Wicked Hop which i tell you all is the most fabulous restaurant and i highly recommend it. The burger with guacamole? INCREDIBLE! We had a fabulous time- I did not know many of these ladies and i was a bit nervous- but as i soon found out i had no need to be nervous, they were all regular girls- just like me, imagine that :0) What was i expecting you ask? Well there is always that fear when meeting someone new that you won't get along, or that they won't like you, or that you'll forget to wear deodorant or something crazy like that (sidenote, i did in fact remember the deodorant)

We had an awesome time and promised to do a GTG again soon (Get Together- just in case someone reads that and wonders what it means :0)

And of course what would an outing be without your classic creepy guy in the corner?


So my friends it is true that you CAN meet people on the internet and that they are actually very normal and just like you and i. In fact when getting together with people for the first time there are no better people to get together with then people who have like interests- or obsessions- like blogging :0)