Happy Friday!

I am really liking the song "Raise Your Glass", by Pink. It's the perfect Friday song to get ready for the weekend. I'll be having some wine tonight while I paint my office. Oh yeah, I know how to party!

Happy Friday!

This one's for a fabulous mama

One of my good friends, Karen, also has her own blog, Lifestyle of the Pregnant and Fabulous, and she usually has a post called Tuesday Shoesday on, well, Tuesdays. I thought it should only be fitting that I dedicate this one to her :)

I am in my brother-in-law's wedding in December and have my bridesmaid dress fitting this week. Wait, am I a bridesmatron? How does that work now? Anyways, back to the point...

I had to buy shoes for my dress fitting so that the seamstress knows how much of the fabric to hack off (I'm estimating 2 feet because the dress is so long and I am sooo short). Those who know me know that I am more of a sneakers/flip flops girl, so shopping for shoes last night was definitely interesting. Most of the heels I tried on were either too high, too short, or so skinny that it brought back flashbacks of a scene from Single White Female (stillettos, anyone?). Don't even get me started on how I looked walking in them.

I finally decided on the shoes below. They are super comfortable and the heel is high yet sturdy. I'm not sure how wedding appropriate they are, but I thought they were pretty and I figure I can also wear them with jeans too (ha...yeah, I actually laughed while typing that...). I was just told to get black heels, and these are black, so I think they'll work? If not, the dress is long, lol. I do really think they're pretty and very comfortable, so I should be ok. And I love the flower detail on the toes :)

Ok, so here is a quick picture, I need to go practice walking in my new shoes!

A Case of the Mondays

Mondays usually mean the start of a work week for me and sometimes I have "a case of the Mondays" (a line from the movie, "Office Space"). I say "usually" because...I have today off! Woo hoo! I haven't had a day off since summer so this was a much needed break. I still woke up early, but it was nice to get up and have coffee with my husband before he went off to work. I have some things I planned to do today, but we'll see where the day takes me, haha.

I was going to use this as an opportunity to mention a song that gets me up and going for the work week, but now that I'm trying to think of one, I'm drawing a blank...figures. Maybe I'm putting too much pressure on myself to think of a triumphant classic. Although...I am really liking "Check It Out" by Will.i.am and Nicki Minaj at the moment...I honestly hated it when I first saw them perform it during the MTV Music Awards, but it has become one of those catchy songs that gets stuck in my head...therefore causing me to like it...sneaky! I catch myself singing along to the "check it out...check it out..check it out..check it out.." parts and now it just picks me up and puts me in a good mood.

Whether you're at work or have the day off today, I hope you have a wonderful day!

Focus

I've been kinda slacking on this blog ever since I started it...I'll admit mostly due to laziness, but sometimes I also have no idea what to even blog about ("Today I woke up, washed my face.."...blah blah blah...). I feel like blogs need some kind of direction, theme, or focus, but what kind of "theme" is the life of a 30 year old woman?? My life and mood sometimes changes day to day (just ask my husband) and sometimes I have plans and sometimes my life can be a little boring. I thought to myself, if this is really going to be about my life as a 30 year old woman (and eventually a woman in her 30s...yikes!), then I need to really ask myself: What are my passions/loves in life? What are my goals? What are my dreams? What seriously pisses me off? What moves me?

I know that such a general theme will make it a little harder to be focused here, but that's something I really want to do with this blog. What makes this 30 year old tick? I'm going to try to blog more often and really share with you the "lifetales of the ho-hum days, adventures, & everything in between".

So currently, what are my passions/loves in my life?
#1: Ryan, my husband. Obviously (and I'm sure you've noticed already) he's going to be crawling all over this blog because he is THE love of my life. Period.
#2: Photography. I love everything about photography. Taking pictures, looking at pictures, learning new techniques about photography. Right now it's more of a hobby to me, but who knows...someday, maybe I'll quit my day job ;)
#3: Music. I've always had a special place in my heart for music. I tie moments and memories to music. I love how a song can draw up any emotion and bring back memories.
#4: Science/Biology. Ok, so I'm totally geeking out right now, but I heart science. Put me in front of the Discovery channel and I'm in heaven. I love learning about the human body and enjoy researching and learning about new developments in science. It's just an amazing thing to me and is one of the reasons I became a nurse.
#5: Crafts. I love scrapbooking, making cards, and other "crafty" things. This is another hobby I love and I love to share it with people. I even have my own craft room :)
#6: Baking/Cooking. This is a newer passion for me. I've always liked to cook, but lately I've really been getting into more recipes and baking. I started baking cookies a couple years ago for Christmas and lately I've been in love with baking mini cupcakes. Too bad my mixer broke :( Someday I dream about being the mom who always has baked goods and makes the best cookies. My kids are gonna be fat, aren't they?

What are my goals in life?
#1: Have a family. Ryan and I have taken our time in the "starting a family" department, but I think we're getting there (well, honestly, Ryan IS there, I am getting there, lol). We've really enjoyed our life as boyfriend/girlfriend and husband/wife and we're looking forward to daddy/mommy. I can't wait to have kids and start our own family traditions. Most of all, I can't wait to see a miniature version of Ryan.
#2: Travel. I love to travel and have been fortunate enough to travel to as many places as I have, but the travel bug is strong within me and I can't wait to visit more places with my husband and someday, our children. I also have friends all over the country now so that gives me more reason to travel!
#3: Get healthier/lose weight. This has been a goal of mine for the past 10 years...let's just say the Freshman 15 didn't just last my Freshman year of college...and wasn't just 15... Beyond the weight issue, I just want to be healthy so that I can be with the love of my life for as long as possible and be able to keep up with my kids in my old age!
#4: Happiness. I know this is cliche but really, this is what I want the most in life, not only for me, but for everyone I love.

Apparently I don't have too many "goals" in life, lol. I've never been too career oriented I guess...I've always just wanted to be healthy, happy, surrounded by those I love and love me. Maybe I'm super boring?

So...what has this seemingly never-ending ramble led to? Hopefully better blogging...or at least more blogging, haha. Looking over what I have typed out so far, maybe future blogs will consist of photos I've taken, "song of the day"s, random facts, rants, raves, and baking fiascos? We'll see!

So what are your current goals and loves in life?

Day Trip

Yesterday, Ryan and I went on a day trip to Duluth. We haven't been back there in a while, so it was nice to take the time to go there, just the two of us. We met and fell in love in Duluth, so thinking of it always brings a smile to my face. We almost booked a hotel there last week but then decided not to because the rooms where we wanted to stay were too expensive and we were thinking we wouldn't really need to stay the whole weekend. We were right, lol. There really isn't much to do there after we've already done everything there is to do there. A day trip was perfect.

We arrived in Duluth around lunchtime so we decided to eat at Grandma's Saloon & Grill. This is the place where we had our first date. Unfortunately, "our" booth was taken. I'll be the first to admit the food here isn't that great, but we like to go here more for sentimental reasons. We still remember what we had that night during our "study break". Surprisingly, I don't have a picture of this restaurant, and I had planned on taking one during this visit, but of course I forgot. Ooops...next time, I guess. Grandma's restaurant is right next to Miller Hill Mall, so we decided to walk around this little mall...it hasn't changed much, BUT the changes it had were baffling...they now have a Five Guys and they are getting an Ulta...I couldn't believe it myself.

We then made our way to Canal Park and wandered around a bit. This area has a boardwalk around part of Lake Superior, which will always hold a special place in our hearts. It was at this lake, by the lighthouse, that Ryan and I stared out into the night after he found out his mom was going to divorce his step-dad. It was at this lake that Ryan and I decided to get back together after breaking up early in our relationship. It was at this lake where we've had some of our most heart to heart moments and life changing conversations. This lake holds a certain magic for us and has been there for us for the good and for the bad. We tried to find "our" rock, but the water was so rough and high that it was covered, figures. Since we couldn't get to "our" rock, we decided to find a proxy one and take some pics and attempt to get the lighthouse in the background...and had some major fails, haha. Here they are in all their glory.





Woo hoo! We did it!







Ryan and I did discover a fun, new activity by the boardwalk...Wheel Fun Rentals! This is a "bike" ride along the boardwalk in this contraption I can only describe as a side-by-side-tandem-bike-carriage-thing. I'm sure you've seen things like this before, but if you haven't, check out their website because I obviously can't explain it. It was something new for us to do though and we loved it. It was also very affordable, great exercise, FUN, and a beautiful scenic route of the lake we love. I also had so much fun ringing the bike bell at kids because they giggled when we'd pass them. The only negative thing I can say about this was that I could barely reach the pedals! Ugh. We love new discoveries like this and can't wait to do it again. I think next time we'll go slower though because after we got off the bikes, our thighs hurt and my ::ahem:: backside hurt lol, I know, TMI. I do regret not taking more pictures while we were riding the bikes, but I had to concentrate I guess, haha!






After our bike ride, we roamed around a bit more and browsed at some more shops in Canal Park. We stopped at Hepzibah's Sweet Shoppe and I got a peanut butter caramel crisp for the ride home. I love cute little candy shops like this.






We ended our day at Bellisio's, an Italian restaurant. We worked up an appetite so we were both hungry and ready to eat! I enjoyed my lobster ravioli with jumbo shrimp and Ryan had pasta with Italian sausage. We also shared dessert -- mango gelato! Delizioso!

With our bellies full and the cool lake breeze in the night air, we made a stop at Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory and Ryan got a brownie covered with chocolate and mini M&Ms for the ride home. What a great day and evening! Until next time Duluth, thanks for everything.

A Birthday Gift

Ever since I got my iPhone, I've been addicted to YouTube videos. When I get bored I look up videos about makeup, music, comedy, but mostly makeup lately lol. Sometimes I end up finding a totally random video and I have no idea how I got to it. Today I was looking up music videos while I was working out and I came across covers of songs by Taylor Swift (see previous blog post for how this girl somehow won me over, haha) and then that lead to covers of other artists, then I came across this video. It's not a cover of a song, but has a song in the background that is one of my favorite songs by Train, called "Marry Me". The song, however, is not why I'm posting this video. I didn't even make it a minute into this video without starting to cry, so take this as my warning. Maybe you won't even cry, but I did. A lot. I don't mean to be a Debbie Downer, but if anything, I feel like this video will just inspire people to appreciate everything, keep believing, and love hard.

I don't even know how to "introduce" this video, so here you go...

Mine

I brought this on myself. A few years ago, when a new "it" girl was being talked about, a country singer turned pop star, I tried to fight liking her songs & succeeded in the beginning ("Teardrops On My Guitar", anyone? puke). A year or so ago, I lost my fight in wanting to roll my eyes at these songs and Taylor Swift won me over with "Love Story" and "White Horse", among other songs.

Her most recent song, "Mine", brings tears to my eyes. Tears of joy because it reminds me of the earlier years of when Ryan and I first met and fell in love. When I first heard this song it was like she reached into my memories and pulled the lyrics right out of my heart. Some of the likeliness is uncanny. This girl is a genius lol. So while I sit here downloading this song off iTunes, I thought I'd leave you with lyrics to a song that brings tears to my eyes and a smile on my face, because it reminds me of a time when I met a boy, and we fell in love by the water...

And of course, here's a picture of Ryan and I from almost 12 years ago, can you believe it?


Mine, by Taylor Swift

You were in college, working part-time, waiting tables
Left a small town and never looked back
I was a flight risk, afraid of fallin'
Wondering why we bother with love, if it never lasts

I say, "Can you believe it?"
As we're lyin' on the couch
The moment, I can see it
Yes, yes, I can see it now

Do you remember, we were sittin' there, by the water?
You put your arm around me for the fist time
You made a rebel of a careless man's careful daughter
You are the best thing that's ever been mine

Flash forward, and we're takin' on the world together
And there's a drawer of my things at your place
You learn my secrets and figure out why I'm guarded
You say we'll never make my parents' mistakes

But we got bills to pay
We got nothin' figured out
When it was hard to take
Yes, yes, This is what I thought about:

Do you remember, we were sittin' there, by the water?
You put your arm around me for the fist time
You made a rebel of a careless man's careful daughter
You are the best thing that's ever been mine

Do you remember all the city lights on the water?
You saw me start to believe for the first time
You made a rebel of a careless man's careful daughter
You are the best thing that's ever been mine

And I remember that fight, two-thirty AM
You said everything was slipping right out of our hands
I ran out, crying, and you followed me out into the street

Braced myself for the goodbye, cause that's all I've ever known
Then, you took me by surprise
You said, "I'll never leave you alone."

You said, "I remember how we felt, sitting by the water.
And every time I look at you, it's like the first time.
I fell in love with a careless man's careful daughter.
She is the best thing that's ever been mine."

You made a rebel of a careless man's careful daughter
You are the best thing that's ever been mine

Do you believe it?
We're gonna make it now
And I can see it

I can see it now