NaBloCleanPoMo Day #3 Gift Cards

Tonight I didn't have too much time to clean/blog between Church Choir and Owl Bar.  So I picked an easy task...organizing the gift cards we have left over from wedding stuff, etc.  Not exciting at all, but something that needed to be done.

Gift Cards before

Gift Cards after

Let the spending begin!

121/365 A Scottish Wedding

118-119/365

This was one never-ending 2 days...so I count this photo as two.  Folks watching the Royal Wedding in London-Heathrow.  Priceless.

77/365 Finally!

Very happy that these are back on my finger.  And soldered together so they will forever be symmetrical...Hallelujah!

55/365 A Gift

A lovely wedding gift from a dear friend.  Looking up Main St in Annapolis...you can see St. Anne's.

8/365 Shaina and Walter get married!

2010 New Years' Resolutions Evaluation

So, let's see how I fared with my Resolutions for 2010 (something tells me they didn't go so well).

1.  Complete the 365 Day Photo Project.  Hmm.  I started out well with this...got to March...and then lost my camera.  I tried to pick it up again in August...and then wedding planning got in the way.  FAIL!

2.  Read Through the Bible in a Year.  Again.  I made it to April, and then missed enough Daily Readings that it would be difficult to catch up.  FAIL!

3.  For every novel that I read, read a Nonfiction book.  Well, I didn't read one for one....but I did read a lot more nonfiction this year, which was the point of the resolution. Partial FAIL

4. Stick to my Savings Budget.  So, I didn't stick completely..but I did fairly well considering I chipped in for our wedding and we bought a house.  Finishing the year with some $ still in savings was an accomplishment.  And, I managed to curb my spending. EVEN

5. Attempt a No-Spending Month.  Absolutely didn't happen.  Pretty difficult when planning a wedding. FAIL!

6. Cook a Julia Child recipe every Sunday.  Uh... started out well with this (Boeuf Bourginon, Fish in white sauce, Boullabaisse...) and then...my excuse for the year...wedding planning and house buying!  FAIL!

7.  LOSE 10 lbs.  Oops.  I gained 7.  Of course, at this time last year I was running 30+ miles a week.  Now I am lucky to get in 5...Extreme FAIL!


Obviously, I should have made my resolutions for this year to be Get Engaged, Buy a House, Plan a Fabulous Wedding, and Get Married.  Hindsight, you know?

Stay Tuned for my 2011 Resolutions...

2010 Year-In-Review

I love reflecting on this past year...I think it may have been one of the best of my life!  Even though it was probably the most stressful, as well!

January- I complete the Goofy Challenge (39.3 miles in two days!) at Disney World.  Come home, and J proposes.  I giddily accept!

February- Wedding details are ironed out (date, venue, etc).  I play "Gertie" in the Chorale's Production of Oklahoma! 

March- Good friends throw J and I a fabulous surprise Engagement Party.  We make a snap decision to start looking to purchase a house!

April- Travel to SC for 200 guest Engagement Party thrown by my parents.  We put in a contract on an old Victorian house in Baltimore.

May- Become a homeowner!  I close on our house while J is in France.

June- Begin to settle J into new house.  Do A LOT of painting.

July- Complete many wedding details.  Visit Chapel Hill.

August- Wedding planning and housework are in full swing.  I also complete my third Iron Girl Triathlon (and likely my last for awhile).

September- Everything is pretty much All-Wedding, all the time.  Except for day jobs, opera, and singing. :)

October- Only one month 'til the wedding you say?  Things are fairly under control.  We move my stuff into the Spy House (the name for our new home!).  We host a yummy Cabernet tasting dinner.

November- Did anything important happen in November?  I can't seem to remember...oh, right!  I made a sacred covenant with God and J to be joined to him forever.  Also went on an amazing trip to the Napa Valley for our mini-moon (which, let's be honest, was not so "mini").

December- Sang some (but not as much as past Decembers).  Worked on getting our house in order.  Put up giant, gorgeous live Christmas tree.  Parents and Godmother visited for Christmas.

So...that is my very brief Year In Review.  Here's to a fabulous 2011, as well!

Some Things

Hello, my few and far between blog-readers!  I'm married!  It was lovely.  I now live in Baltimore in my New-to-me Old Victorian house with my husband (Husband!  It's taking awhile to get used to saying that).  My surprise Mini-moon destination was Napa Valley.  It was lovely, as well.

Christmas happened.  My parents and Godmother visited.  We have a humongous live tree.  It's beautiful.

New Years' is around the corner.  We'll get our professional wedding pictures back in a few weeks.  I'll hopefully get some posted here.

Now that I have a new camera and am not furiously house-buying and wedding-planning, I hope to complete the 365 project this year.

Please see my next few posts for a 2010 year-end review (my, my, the changes that have occured!), an evaluation of last years' resolutions, and my resolutions for 2011.

Some More Numbers...November Edition

What's that?  I have a blog, you say?  No, NO!  Blogs are supposed to be updated regularly...

Yeah.  About that.  Oops.  Anyway, in keeping with my last numbers post, I thought I'd add a few more:

Days until the wedding: 16
Tasks on my To Do List to Complete: 26
Tasks already completed from the List: 187
Miles I'm hoping to run before I wear a wedding dress: 22
Days of Work before I'm married (and mini-mooned): 6
Clues from my intended about where we are mini-mooning: 16
Guests attending our wedding: 148 (including us)
Chick-Fil-A Sandwiches I can eat before the wedding: 0
Pieces of Wedding Cake I plan on eating: 2 (one of each flavor)
Bathing suits I need for our mystery-mini-moon: 1
Steps from the street to the 3rd floor in my new house: 58
Pieces of furniture that moved up all 58 steps: 5
Days my muscles hurt after moving: 3

Holy Smokes...It's October!

I love October.  But this year...it's a little frightening!  Simply because we have hit the under 2 months 'til the wedding mark.  Yikes!  Sorry for falling off the 365 wagon.  I had some pictures on my camera...but lost the USB cord to link it to my computer.  Still searching for that...

Anyway, here's a brief little numerical update on what's going on in my life.

Days until I'm no longer single: 50
Wedding tasks completed: 119
Wedding tasks left to complete: 92
Mini-moon facts left to ponder: 51
Concerts to sing this year: 3
Pieces of furniture to move to Baltimore: 14
Boxes to pack: ~20
People who have RSVP'ed YES: 60
Days I exercised in September: 23
Roommates I will miss: 1
Kitties I love: 2
Doggies I will soon adopt: 2
Houses I currently "live" in: 2
Hours until I see my fiance again: 24
Temperature I desire on Nov 20th: 55
Husbands I want to acquire: 1
Daily cups of coffee: 3 (Yikes...used to be 1)

Re-Learning Lessons

After 31 years of living my life, you'd think I would stop re-learning the same lessons over and over again.  Yet, often that is what I seem to do.  Especially when it involves what I need in my life to have balance.  Take for instance...Exercise.  As I've written before, I figured out a year after college that I need some kind of athletic pursuit or exercise to feel in sync with my life.  But in the past few months, exercise has become a serious burden for me.  At least, what I thought I considered exercise...

Training for a triathlon, buying a house, and planning a wedding are not my recommendations for maintaining balance.  At least when you are me.  After my apathetic triathlon, I decided I was not going to force myself to do any exercise I didn't want to.  The bad news about that resolution?  In less than 3 months, I have to wear an ivory wedding gown that shows my figure and exposes my arms.  A gown that was purchased less than a month after I trained for and ran 40 miles in one weekend.  Not really conducive to my no mandatory exercise plan.

So of course, being the all or nothing person I am, I decided to tackle one of the items on my to do list on the right.  Work out every day for a month.  Makes sense, right?  From no exercise, to no days off.  Here is the caveat though...it just has to be exercise.  Not necessarily my definition of exercise which usually means I have to be exhausted afterwards.  My goal for September has been to make it to the gym at least 3 times a week for a "hard" workout, but then doing "something" every day.  I have done a lot of 30 minute walks in the morning before work, church, etc.  Especially when I've been busy with rehearsal, etc.  It's hard because I don't feel like I am "doing" anything, but I started noticing last week that I am feeling considerably less stressed about the wedding, our house, and money.  And even though I'm not working out to my definition of "exercise", as I've been hopping on the Elliptical machine at the gym, I've noticed that it is more and more difficult to get my heart rate up.  It was easier to raise it during triathlon training (working out 3 days a week), than it is now when I am walking or pushup-ing, etc. every day.

I've even lost 4 pounds.  Granted, 3 of them were pounds I gained towards the end of triathlon training, but I'll take it!  On the vain side of things...my first official dress fitting is next Thursday, and I'd like to be down 2 more pounds before then.  Whatever I am body shape/weight-wise at that fitting is where I should stay.  But, if it doesn't happen, I'll still be happy since my dress fits wonderfully as it is and is quite flattering.  Just gotta work on those arms...

So to recap, I've re-learned that exercise in any form is good for me, even if I am not training for something specific!

20/365 Bridal Shower!

I had a great time at my bridal shower/bachelorette party with my college and SC friends!  Thanks ladies!