Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Kudos to the Husbands

Michael suggested I write a blog about how in most of the couples we know, the man is the person that usually cooks. We went to have dinner with our friends from our first married ward and the man of the family was the cook. We all laughed because Michael does ALL of the cooking. Every now and again I'll get up and make something... but it's usually full of sugar and yummy butter. And in the shape of a cookie or brownie. Apparently you can't live off of just that...

Anywho, we saw another couple at our Walmart trip and it was the same situation! I think it's funny and interesting that the norm of having the women cook is slowly becoming less of a standard. I want to learn how to cook, and I want to make delicious meals for my handsome hubs, but I honestly have no time. If I'm not working, I'm doing something with the Young Women in my ward (who are freakin awesome!) and so I just don't have the time to make a decent meal. Michael, on the other hand, can take 30 minutes to prepare something and I'm grateful for it. Maybe later, if I get more time, I'll cook more. Or maybe Michael will just continue to cook his deliciously amazing meals.... maybe if I compliment him enough he'll like doing it :). I don't care for cooking. All I want to do is make yummy, fattening treats:


This beautiful thing is called "No Bake Nutella Cheesecake". Yes, I also stopped breathing for about 2.3499 seconds. How have I not ever eaten this?! I wanted to make it tonight, but I have to work :(, and work out :''''{ (i'm crying so much I grew a mustache apparently). This is something I'm definitely making this weekend. I told my sister that I want to bake stuff for her Sweet 15 that's coming up this summer. I decided to bake something every weekend or every other weekend to practice and then I'd give her a menu of all the yummy things I can make so that she can select what she wants. This, hopefully, will make the list.

Thursday, January 26, 2012

Puppies

I can finally announce our latest addition to the Black Pack:

Meet Mr. Chewie!!!!

Yes, as in Chewbacca from Star Wars. So now we have Luke, Leia, and Chewie! He is a pure bred Newfoundland and the cutest, fattest, fluffiest thing EVER. I die inside every time I see him because all I want to do is squeeze him! He's playful and chubby, and LAZY. I love it. He likes to try and chase Luke and Leia, but they're part gazelle so he can never catch them. So instead, he'll crouch down (thinking he's hiding) and then pounce when they come near. He is absolutely adorable and I love the crap out of him! The picture above isn't actually him, it's from the internet, but it's the EXACT replica of him. He even has the cute white tuff on his chest.

We are now proud parents of three pups! Yay for dogs!

Pinterest funnies:




Monday, January 23, 2012

The Big News!

So Michael already beat me to the punch... but

WE ARE MOVING TO ARKANSAS!

Michael applied for this position at the Walmart HQ in August (or September...) (or even October...), and after a ton of interviews, stress, and a flight out to Arkansas last week, he got the job! It was "unofficially" known on Friday (he told me after I posted that blog), but now it's official! The position starts sometime in June, so we have until then to eat at all the places we haven't yet (and be repeat offenders to all the places we already go), spend time with all our dear friends, and go hiking in beautiful Utah. We are really excited for this opportunity and are sooo grateful.

We have some plans for when we're there. I want to apply to work in an office at Walmart (hopefully), and then after getting residency I will apply to go to graduate school and do the Communications Disorders Masters to go into Speech Therapy at the UofA. Then after I get that done, and hopefully enter my field of study, Michael can go and get his MBA wherever he chooses (probably UofA).

Michael is super excited since not only does he get the job he's wanted for a while, but he also gets to move back to his home state and live near his parents. I'm excited because we're planning on buying a house (obviously after we've saved enough) and be real adults! I'm also excited to live near his parents, but nothing beats living in Maryland :(. I am closer to my family though, so visiting won't be as impossible :).

Basically, life is good and we are really excited for all the things coming up. We are sad about leaving all our amazing friends. But goodbye's aren't till later....

Now some pinterest funnies:




this is my face after my dogs do something horrible, but then look at me with big eyes and innocent looks

this one is inappropriate, but I died laughing

Sunday, January 22, 2012

The Bath Tub

Today was very interesting.

First off, I dream about a rapist being in my backyard and I get scared out of my mind from TJ screaming about how Michael has been trying to contact me. Apparently Michael's flight was delayed... but with TJ screaming, I thought that my dream was coming true and that a rapist was really outside stealing my dogs...

Anywho, I was almost sad finding the dogs outside hahah. Just kidding. I don't want them gone. So I will kill you if you take them.

I called Michael back and he doesn't answer. Typical. I'm just thinking his flight is delayed and he'll be back later today, so I get the tub a little filled and start shaving my legs (something that's been lOOOOOOOOOOng overdue) and I finally get in touch with Michael about his flight. I sadly find out that he won't be back until tomorrow... but as I was standing up to put lotion on, I dropped my phone in the water.

Retarded.

Now my phone isn't working. I put it in a bag of rice... and it actually turned on for a bit and I was able to talk to Michael, but then it died because the battery was low.

I left my charger at work... which is something I NEVER do.

I should just crawl under my covers until he comes back because apparently I can't function without him around.

Friday, January 20, 2012

Still Waiting

So no news yet.............................................................................................

Which means my heart burn and stomach nausea will continue until further notice. I was really hoping that today would be my relief day, but it's just turning into another stress-filled day. Yay.

And I have to do a lot of cleaning tonight and tomorrow. More yays.

And I didn't get up this morning to take the dogs on a walk.


Catherine and I saw this yesterday. I want to learn how to do it so that whenever anyone posts something stupid, I can just put this.

Anywho, I have puppy play dates planned for today and tomorrow, so my life doesn't complete suck right? Right.

Wednesday, January 18, 2012

So Awesome

I
am
awesome.

I really did not want to get up today and walk the dogs, but I got my lazy self out of bed and did it! And I worked out on Monday and took the dogs for a hike (well, Michael took them on a longer hike... I gave up half way :/)!

Paola: 2
Sleeping In: 1

I'm really proud of myself for getting up this morning. I was so close to just sleeping in. I literally was swaying on my bed and seeing where my body would land. I don't know how I convinced myself to get up and just go, but yay for me.

Anywho, so this Friday is a pretty big deal. I don't want to go into detail, but basically our lives will be determined on Friday. I'm nervous. To the point where I get lost in thought and in mid-sentence just thinking about it.

Like now.

I don't know what else to write, but I found this cute picture that reminded me of my sexy hubby:


I think it's sexy when Michael busts out his southern gentlemen accent. Makes me melt.

Saturday, January 14, 2012

Music

I was sitting around, planning my lesson for tomorrow for the Young Women, and I came across this gem on youtube:


The lesson is about being a daughter of God. I just loved how more "universal" this message is. I also love how unique every single one of the people in the pictures were. Every one of them has a unique story. I really liked the old ladies... I am always so annoyed by how there are creams to hide or "lift" your face to remove wrinkles. Why would you want them removed? Aging is a blessing and it's beautiful. Wrinkles to me signify wisdom, experience, knowledge, and strength. It means you worked hard and suffered. It also means that you survived the hard trials or are contiuing to survive. Every imperfection, strech mark, bruise mark, scar, vein swell, wrinkle, gray hair is a sign of living instead of hiding behind the security of good looks. And heck, I'm only 22 and I already have all those things!

Anywho, Michael and I are sitting around watching the Broncos/Patriots game and I remember that for the longest time I thought the line of scrimmage and the first down line were actually on the field. I've always wondered how the players didn't trip over it or how the people on the side were able to move it so quickly after the play. I remember making a comment about it to Michael and he started laughing. He then told me, while laughing hysterically, that they were digital.

I felt stupid.

Friday, January 13, 2012

Skinny

To continue my rant on how girls have bad image problems, see the following:

http://news.yahoo.com/video/entertainment-15749636/models-vs-real-women-growing-body-gap-27868545.html

If you can't connect, or something screwy happens, go to Yahoo!. They have the story on their homepage.

Anywho, I am just getting more and more frustrated with this issue! I kinda, might have, broken my "vow" to never talk about my weight the other day. At work I was feeling disgusting and my pants were tight so I started whining about how fat I was. Let me make this clear (more to myself than to any of you): I AM NOT FAT. And even if I was naturally bigger, who the hell cares?! Why are skinny models considered "beautiful"?! The news clip above said that models are 23% skinnier than the average women. Why are they the ones "representing" women in magazines?! THEY ARE NOT WOMEN. Women are naturally curvy. Women's hips TOUCH. Women's arms flap around. Women's side abs tend to fold on top of one another every now and again. Women's stomachs are more round. Why are we representing the wrong type of women? I love my body. I love my flaps. I had to work hard to get them! I didn't just get my flaps by sitting around (although that's part of the reason...). I had to eat lots of doughnuts to get how I am.

I am obviously kidding, but I'm not at the same time. If we all stopped worrying about how skinny we were, we'd enjoy life so much more! I love food and I'm going to eat food. Especially doughnuts. It's all about being healthy and taking care of what is given to you. This body is a gift and should not be mistreated by eating too much or too little. Just love yourself!

Anywho, sorry about the rant. I get so worked up when I come across things like the clip above. Women are so freakin awesome. I mean, who else can cry, laugh, and yell angrily all at the same time? Men don't have the mental or physical capacity to hold so much emotion. They'd blow up.

Some more funnies:



Friday 13th

I'm convinced this day is cursed, but not this time:

Paola: 3
Sleeping In: 2

Boo-yah. Maybe in a couple of weeks this will be 5-0? (me having 5 of course). I'm so tired though. And it was FREEZING this morning. I decided to do sprints on the field behind my church building and then run around for a little with the dogs. Too much. Way too much. I just want to cuddle under my sheets and sleep until lunch time.

Here are some funnies for everyone's enjoyment:








This one kills me...
my sign after tonight

Have a great Friday the 13th!

Wednesday, January 11, 2012

Allstar

Score for the week:

Paola: 2
Sleeping In: 1


NBD world, I'm doin' my thing. This mornings walk was kind of interesting actually. I was close to being done and while I was walking Luke and Leia down a hill, I noticed three cars parked around each other with their lights on. I didn't think much of it (mainly because a lot of people are in their cars leaving for work around that time), so I just continued on and walked between two of the cars to go down a cul de sac. Well, right when I start passing between the cars, a young man gets out of one of the cars holding a shot gun. For some reason I wasn't scared and just kept walking, but he didn't approach me or say anything to me at all. He walked over to the other car, gave the shot gun to someone in the back seat, and then left. It was super strange, but I wasn't harassed so I didn't call the police. I'm assuming they were going hunting... since hunters go early in the morning.

Maybe next time I should avoid strange looking parked cars? Probably. Anywho, I'm fully confident that Luke and Leia would have protected me...

but not really.

I read this quote today:

"Nothing will work unless you do."
~ Maya Angelou

Short and to the point.

Tuesday, January 10, 2012

Awesome Quote

Just to update everyone:

Paola: 1
Sleeping in: 1

Yes, I slept in today, but that's the plan. My ultimate goal is the go every morning, but for now it's 3x a week. And it was freezing this morning, so I don't even care. And my dogs were tired... poor things.

At work we have this "quote of the week" thing and I wanted to put something inspirational up because I wasn't a big fan of the other quotes we had... but last night, while I was looking through my quote book I came upon this beauty:

"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, and fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small doesn't serve the world. There's nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We are born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us, it's in everyone and as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others."
~Marianne Williamson

And I'm pretty sure she was the one who said it. There's been some controversy on who said it, and I think it's because it was on some movie... I forget which one. I know it's about basketball though. And Channing Tatum is in it.

Anywho, this quote is awesome and I love the message. Also, you are now reading the blog of the Slate Canyon 10th Young Women's Basketball Coach!!!!! I'm super excited to coach/play (I'm not actually allowed to play, but I get to help the girls in my ward). My "supervising" leader told me, though, that none of them like to play... so we'll see how great this goes.

Monday, January 9, 2012

Great Start

Just to let everyone know:

Paola: 1
Sleeping In: 0

Yup, folks, I did it again. I went "running"! Today I didn't actually run; the field I usually run in was covered in a couple inches of snow so I didn't want to ruin my running shoes. I did go walking with the dogs though, and my neighborhood is super hilly so I got a good work out. This is a great start to my week... hopefully I can keep this up.

Another positive note, Michael and I had a super fun time with family last night. All the sister's and significant others got together and we played a fun game of Phase 10 (and by fun, I mean extremely stressful and competitive). We had delicious treats and I was able to get my BEAUTIFUL mixer that my awesome Mother-In-Law sent me :). I also got this awesome (hand-made) gift from Jenn:

Minus the weirdo bow at the top. They look freakin great.

Basically, my in-laws/sister-in-laws are better than yours.

Sunday, January 8, 2012

Commerical Quote

I heard this quote today, "You get out what you put in".

I really like it. I heard it from a Gatorade commercial (which always gets me so pumped to work out... and then makes me feel bad for how lazy I am). It makes total sense though! The efforts I make to make my body healthy will make it possible to physically live a great life. Here's the math I did in my head:

I work out in the morning (yes I'm still on this) = I don't die while going "hiking" (going up a hill) with the dogs.
I eat healthy = I don't feel tired and sluggish during the day. 

I'm a genius, I know. And people say I'm bad at math...


P.S.
I'm going running in the morning tomorrow. Watch out world.

Wednesday, January 4, 2012

The Time Has Come

I have won a battle in this war to go running in the morning.

I have been having the worst time trying to get up in the morning to take Luke and Leia out for a run. I figured that going running in the morning benefits us in the following ways:

#1: It's the only time I ever have to exercise
#2: Getting the dogs out in the morning means they sleep while I'm at work
      #2a. Them sleeping means that they are less likely to destroy things
#3: It's a good habit to start
#4: Even if I only do 1 mile, I do 5 miles during the work week, which is 5 more miles than I've been doing.

Basically, this is a good thing and I NEED to do it. Why haven't I? I don't know. The night before I get myself pumped to go and I tell myself how amazing I'll feel afterward. I think about all the music I'll listen to and how happy my pups will be running around. And then I wake up and tell myself that I'll probably get raped if I go outside.

So last night, to prepare myself for the morning, I decided to sleep in my running clothes. I was all ready to go when 6:00 AM came around. I got up and turned my mind off, mainly to stop telling myself that I'd get raped, and also because I was tired and very little gets processed at 6:00 AM. I got in the car, drove to the field (yes I drove...), and then ran! The pups were happy, I was kinda happy, and when I got home I felt victorious.

Now I'm sick with a sore throat and a nasty cough. My chest hurts and my tummy's upset, but so help me, I will go running again tomorrow. My goal is to go at least 3 times during the work week. Right now I'm so tired, so thinking about going running gets me more tired. But I'm hoping that after about 2 weeks, I'll start to get use to it.

Anywho, it's 2012! Apparently this is the last year before the apocalypse which fabulously starts on my 23 birthday... so I have exactly one more year to live it up! And to run... in the morning. :/