3 weeks!

Two things:

1. I have the hiccups.
2. My weddings is exactly THREE WEEKS from today!! (If you want to come, you'd better let me know soon!!)
3. The Sangria Swirl from Abuelo's is totally awesome. As is their cake.
   
4. Shut up, I can count!
   

Change is in the Air

Last weekend, DS and I went north for Cranberry Fest, which apparently has the biggest arts and craft fair in all of Wisconsin. To be perfectly honest, it took us a long time to find anythign arts and crafty about it. A large majority of the thousands of booths we saw looked more like a sad flea market, full of other people's unwanteds.

The lack of art didn't douse our spirits though, for the trip gave us our first taste of real Fall. Yes, the season is definitely changing, and I am elated!

Man I love these colors. I hope Fall holds off in Kentucky just long enough for it to look like this when I get married.

DS, in a rare moment for him, actually smiled for the camera. Though to be honest, I was merely patient enough for him to laugh at all of his scowling.

Where I live, a little further south, the color is starting to creep in as well. The temperature has dropped enough just today that I had to close the windows from the chill.

These two balconies beat the socks off me during the apartment's "prettiest patio" contest. It still looks like Spring over there.

Look at those flowers! I still can't believe I took this picture.

Of course, Felix says it's Fall, and what she says goes!

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Note: I've rearranged some things on the sidebar. Being the copycat I am, I've added a section for the book I'm currently reading. Also, Willie will be happy to note the change in his brownie points, which is due to DS and I deciding to use his suggested reading in our ceremony. Thanks Willie!!

Busy MT

I love TV!

I can not tell you how excited I am that Grey's Anatomy is starting again.

A Week of Birthday and Fun

Well, my week of birthday is over. I'm sad to say that I'm old enough that people just don't give me presents anymore, at least no one outside of DS and Mom. But I'm very happy to say that people still come to birthday parties, and they'll even make me food.

MT made me a cake with "raspberry" icing, which we've decided is most definitely pink.

The glass class was a blast, though after getting my pendants back today, I've decided a second round will be needed to create anything that will look decent. It was really hard to imagine how the colors would melt together, and my failed attempts have taught me a few things. Still, definitely worth it!

This weekend was spent in Kentucky for my bridal shower and bachelorette party. The shower had to be rescheduled for Sunday, instead of Friday evening, because my flight was cancelled, rescheduled, rescheduled again, declared broken, and rescheduled, making me arrive in the wrong town 2 hours too late to be there. However, I had my trial hair appointment, got to see the place where we're getting married, went shopping, hung out with family and friends, and just had an overall great time.

A special thanks to Kelly, my MOH, and Chanda, who worked very hard under stressful circumstances, to give me a great weekend. And also to my mother, who is doing her best to help with the planning even though she's hours away.

Now for the pictures!

Kelly decided that there aren't enough pictures of me on my blog, so she stole my camera for the weekend.

The lighting in this picture makes me feel like a movie star.

We'll stand in front this pond during the ceremony.

This is where the bridal party will come from.

Kelly insisted we go to Victoria's Secret. It's apparently not a bachelorette party without lingerie.

Kel and Chanda took me out for LIT's for my bachelorette party.

Kelly read off the answers to one of the quizzes. Trying to remember which presents go with which anniversaries gets really hard after paper, silver and gold.

Kelly took some really nice pictures of the guests. I love this one of Chanda.

My mom (in pink) and her sister.

Look at all of those awesome gifts!

With a light up crown and a sash, I felt like a princess. Or perhaps a homecoming queen. Either way, it was fun.

Birthday Week!!

Here ye, here ye! I've decided to officially start my birthday week*. I'm turning 25 on Tuesday!

To celebrate, we're having a cookout tomorrow, complete with cake and ice cream. Yum!! On Tuesday, I'm getting a chiro adjustment (very exciting to me!), and then I'm taking a class on fused glass pendants along with a few good friends at a local glassworks. Then, on Friday, I'm flying to Kentucky for my Bridal Shower, where I'll have even more fun!

So come on, grab come cake and have fun with me this week!

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*Note: I insist on an entire week for my birthday. It's just too much fun not to, and I say, as long as there's cake, it's still your birthday.

Winston Plays Baseball

See him trying to stop this game mid-play?? We should have named him Jeter.

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Note: Kitties are taking meds right now for tummy problems. I wish I could say it's mellowing them out, but alas, not even tummy problems can keep them from turning into little monsters when the sun goes down.

I blame DS

So as you may know, I'm a faithful subscriber to Self magazine. I discovered it a couple of years ago in my old apartment's workout room, and was drawn to the tear out cards with workout moves on them. (I have every card from the last 2 years in a file, because I'm neurotic that way.) From time to time, they have these get fit challenges and goals. This month, they're having a "reach your goal" challenge, where they designed 4 different plans from "get off the couch" to "run your butt off". For reasons I'm still trying to deduce, I choose the latter.

You see, running is something I particularly hate. I like to blame it on my asthma, but to be honest, I hated it even before I had asthma. There are so many things you can do to feel miserable that are way more fun than running. However, like the plan says, you have to admit that running has some nice health benefits. Not to mention the thigh-slimming parts...

The nice thing about the plan is that it ramps you up. The magazine claims that you can "kick up your calorie burn painlessly and with virtually no extra effort." Let me repeat: PAINLESSLY and with NO EXTRA EFFORT???? Yeah right. I'll believe that when I see it.

Despite my pessimism, I tried it. Before I started this plan, running made me feel like this:

Yes, that's me there, passed out, laying in a puddle of sweat and drool. Miserable.

But then! I tried the plan. Week 1, workout 1: walk fast 1 minute, jog 1 minute; alternate for 15 minutes. Sounds easy, right? It wasn't so bad. Each workout is just a little harder than the last. Each time, I think, "there's no way I can run that many minutes in a row" and each time I turn out to be wrong.

Here we are, week 3, running 6 minutes, walking 1, for a whopping 24 minutes of total running time. It's true, sometimes I feel like this still:

Feet dragging, a trail of sweat and drool in my wake.

But the point is, I'm doing it. And not only that, most of the time I'm still smiling by the end of it. So who knows, perhaps in a week and a half, I'll be running 30 minutes straight (the end goal). If I am, I'm blaming DS for deciding to run with me and keeping me on track. I mean, what kind of anti-running reputation can a goblin have if it's out there actually doing it?