It's Just Playing Possum

While Brian goes off to hang out with some of his friends tonight, I decided to catch up on my blog. This weekend was a bit crazy. Friday night Kassie, Rebecca and I met up for dinner and a trip to Hobby Lobby and some craft time. I ended up spending close to $100 at Hobby Lobby. No joke. The only upside is that I got curtains for both windows in our bedroom, both bathrooms, and the two joined windows in the living room.

Here is the fabric that I am using in the bedroom. It's gorgeous!

I got plain white for the bathrooms and living room to brighten up the space. After picking out the fabric and a quick run to Chick-Fil-A for dinner, we headed back to Kassie's for some wine and curtain making. They're some of the best girls ever for helping me with all the sewing and pinning! We got all of the bedroom curtains made, so it's going to be really exciting to get them put up soon. 

Saturday was packed full of stuff to do. Brian and I got started cleaning up the front yard by raking leaves and cleaning out the gutters. We also re-arranged the living room into a more functional set-up, which has been really awesome even after a day. Brian met his mom in Greensboro around 5 to pick up Charlie while I babysat from 6:30-10:30. When I came back is when things really got crazy! I was trying to carry Charlie's crate in from Brian's truck when Chase and Charlie decided that they didn't want to stay inside anymore. As I opened the front door, they both ran out into the pitch black. After about 15 of trying to chase after them, I cornered them into our side yard. Unfortunately, they ran into our neighbor Mandy (& her husband Clay)'s yard. Mandy and Clay have a german shepherd named Sarah, who was not happy to find me running around in their front yard. As I'm trying to corner Charlie, Chase comes around the corner with something huge in his mouth. Mandy was outside at this point, and she and I both realized about the same time that Chase was carrying an opossum in his mouth. Luckily he dropped it in the front yard and Mandy and I were able to get a hold of Chase and Charlie and I wrangled them back into our house. Mandy and I decided that the opossum was dead, so I grabbed a black Hefty trash bag and met Mandy back in her yard with her shovel. As we tried to put the opossum into the bag, we thought we saw it move. So of course, we jump back and start trying to figure out if we were simply overreacting or if it is actually alive. Again, we decide that it's dead, so we try and flip it over onto the shovel. The minute we get it on it's back, the thing decides to stop being dead and scare the ever-loving be-jesus out of us. Mandy and I jumped back, dying laughing, and decided enough opossum-wrangling for one night. Considering it was past midnight and I was exhausted, I was completely okay with calling it a night. I'm just thankful that Chase and Charlie are current on all of their shots! Unfortunately, the opossum wasn't as cute as Heidi...

After a nice sleep, Brian and I woke up Sunday morning and decided to make a large brunch of cinnamon sugar pancakes. Since we love Kassie and JJ, we decided to invite them over for pancakes as well. The dogs all got to have a play date, and all of us got to hang out on the deck in the lovely weather. For being November, it's been gorgeous outside! 

After brunch, Brian finished up some yard work, laundry, and dishes, while Kassie and I went to run errands in Hickory. Brian and I have been trying to figure out a way to make the house a bit more of "our" home, so what we decided on was a few coats of paint. We're going to paint our bedroom a simple gray, highlighted by bright blue curtains and the white bedside table. We're also painting 3 walls in the bathroom the same gray, with one bright blue wall and white curtains. Hopefully this will tie the whole space together. The full bath in the hallway we decided that since it has gorgeous white boarding on the bottom of the walls, we wanted to pick a brighter color, so we decided on a bright coral. Crazy I know, but I'm super excited for it! We're thinking of pairing it all with clean, white trim and Benjamin Moore's revere pewter for the rest of the walls. I think we're going to offer up free mimosas to whoever wants to come and help us paint one day. Maybe even a pancake brunch! Any takers? 

Here are the colors we're thinking! 

Top left is the revere pewter, top right is the coral gables, bottom left is the adagio gray, and bottom right is the palm coast teal for the half bathroom focal wall! 

Dinner was such a success tonight, which was really nice considering that we had absolutely no plan. While we snacked on broccoli and ranch, Brian helped me sauté peppers, onions, and mushrooms while I made chicken quesadillas and baked french fries. I finally got Brian to try sweet potato fries, and he loved them! Win one for the girlfriend! 

After a long and thoroughly enjoyable weekend, I'm about to call it a night! If you want free mimosas and feel like picking up a paint brush, let me know! 

(UN)Common Courtesy

What do you consider common courtesy? Growing up in the south, I've spent my whole life hearing about a certain type of guy. A "southern gentleman." Someone who holds the door for you, opens your car door for you, stands up when a woman walks into the room. Someone who is just genuinely kind and sincere. Most of the time, people like this don't pan out. It's a front. A rouse. A show that they put on to get attention, or to divert away from who they actually are. Just because you live in the south, doesn't mean you will come into contact with handfuls of these "southern gentlemen." Hell, you may not even meet one. 

I've begun to notice more and more each day about what used to be considered common courtesy. Standing up for someone who can't stand up for themselves, being honest, keeping your world. Commercials on the television depict a young boy chasing after a bus because a woman accidentally left her purse on the bench, and police keep an eye on him because he is running down an alley with a purse, but it turns out he is just returning it. Someone left their purse and you returned it...seems like common courtesy to me. Unfortunately, our society today thinks differently. People who turn in large sums of money they accidentally find make headline news. A high school football team standing up for a student named Chy who has microcephaly, a birth defect that has left the high school sophomore with only a third grade brain level. I'm not disagreeing that these situations shouldn't be important, but the reason that they make the news isn't because the story is touching, it's because the actions of the individuals are unusual. Why is that? Why can't people simply stand up and do the right thing? These instances shouldn't make headline news. The situations where people DO NOT treat people this way should. Sure, the stories and photos are heartwarming to say the least. The people who read them sigh, smile, and even shed a tear or two. But at the end of the day, does that mean that they will treat someone differently simply because of what they read?

"Character is how you treat those who can do nothing for you." 

Girls my age have an unnatural obsession with love stories. The Notebook, Dear John, A Walk to Remember, PS I Love You, Nights in Rodanthe, Letters to Juliet, Casablanca, Pretty Woman, Beauty and the Beast, Titanic, The Bridges of Madison County, Grease, Dirty Dancing, Footloose...the list goes on and on. Girls read these books or see the movies and wonder why they can't find a love like those written in the pages by their favorite author.

At the end of the day, a wolf in sheep's clothing is still a wolf. Women come into relationships looking for their prince charming, yet they let their standards fall through their hands like grains of sand, wasting away towards their childhood dreams of a white picket fence. Mothers say that they want to raise a son to be the perfect gentleman, yet the relationships that they display for their sons are far from a fairytale. If men and women don't stand up and be the standard rather than the exception, our dreams of fairly tale romances will be just that. Fairytales. Told as bedtime stories each evening as the cycle repeats itself, destined to leave little girls wondering where their Noah or Johnny is, and men wondering why Allie ran off with Lon and why Baby was left in the corner.

If we constantly waste our time daydreaming about what could be, our dreams will remain just out of our reach. Instead of thinking of these heartwarming stories as an exception, life your life as though they are the standard.

"Integrity is doing the right thing, even when no one is watching." CS Lewis

Rationalizing My Guilty Pleasures

If I transfered the time that I spend on Pinterest to learning something new, such as a new language, I could speak French, Italian, Mandarin, Gaelic by now. I have somewhat of an obsession with the pin-board site, and now that I have an iPhone, the app is constantly at my fingertips. College was basically filled with Pinterest. Not that I actually ever completed any of the projects that I pinned...okay, maybe one or two...but for real. Being in a sorority basically ingrained crafting into my DNA. After graduation and upon moving in with Brian, I have found that Pinterest is not only used as a distraction, but it's rather useful. For example, I now know how to make jambalaya, protein salad, pesto chicken, and all sorts of soups. I also know how to remove stains from towels and whites, clean stubborn water stains in bathrooms, and 101 designer secrets such as the appropriate amount of space between a mantel and a mirror. By the way, it's 7 inches.

Pinterest has helped me plan a party for Christmas (and New Years, 4th of July, Halloween, Valentines Day, and the Superbowl) without ever having an actual party, plan a wedding before I'm engaged, toddler Halloween costumes before I'm a parent, and home decor and remodeling projects before I'm a home owner. But what can I say? I love it. I at least feel smarter and more creative after a mad pinning session, and it's really the thought that counts, right?

Brian and I have been talking about re-painting the half bath that is attached to our bedroom. We've already primed it, but there are some bumpy spots that we need to refinish before we can actually do anything in terms of applying color to the walls. However, has that stopped us from picking out paint colors for the bathroom? And about ten million other colors as well? Heck no. I should write a book. I'll call it, "If you give a girl a half bathroom." It'll be a best seller about how you let a girl decide how to paint a 4' x 4' room and it turns into a massive undertaking. Poor Brian. However, my friend Rebecca and I, along with my roommate, have decided that it is the perfect opportunity to get together and have girly craft projects, such as making a wax paper chandelier and sewing curtains, our two projects for this Friday night.

The link for our chandelier project is listed here and I'll be sure to post pictures about how it actually goes. Hopefully well because I plan on putting it in our bedroom, along with the curtains.

So, for the record, yes. I am obsessed with Pinterest. However, it has taught me a lot of good secrets and hopefully will make me a great wife one day. Otherwise, I'll be the best dressed single lady with the best decorated house and the best meals in my neighborhood.

Check out my Pinterest here!

ONE Country

'Merica

We are one country. We are Americans. United WE stand. Indivisible. Liberty and justice for all. God bless America. Freedom of speech. Freedom of religion. The RIGHT to vote.

Today, November 7, 2012, America awoke the the news that Barack Obama was elected to a second term as OUR President. Our Commander in Chief. We aren't defined by our political affiliations, our sexuality, our favorite sports team, our job, our race, our religion, or the color of our eyes. We are defined by our freedom, and the ways that we exercise that freedom.

I knew that by signing onto Facebook this morning, I was going to see a lot of negativity as well as positivity. The bottom line is that you can't make everyone happy. The reason that you are able to post a status or a tweet about your happiness that Obama was re-elected is the same reason that your friend is able to proclaim that our country is going to come to an end for the same election outcome. If you truly voted the way that you thought right, then you have nothing to complain about. You voted. You made your choice known. Just because the outcome was something that you found unpleasant is nothing to be angry about. Sure, you may not agree with the candidate's stand on social issues, public policy, foreign relations, abortion or welfare, but that doesn't mean that you are any less of an American today than you were twelve hours ago when the election was undecided.

If anything, the events of last night and this morning should make you MORE proud to be an American. You're probably asking yourself why. Why should you be more proud that the candidate that you voted for lost? The reason is simple. Last night was a true example that our democratic system works. America made their voice heard. Everyone who stood up for what they believed in and voted in a way that reflected that came together, united. Sure, you may be disappointed, and that's fine. But to stand up and declare that you are not proud to be an American because one of your rights actually worked? To stand up and disgrace everything that our country stands for while still using one of the rights that you have been given is the true disappointment.

I don't care if you voted for Gary Johnson, Mitt Romney, Barack Obama or Mickey Mouse. The point is that you voted, and that is what we should truly be celebrating. As much as I disagree with people who say that they are no longer proud to be Americans because of the outcome of the 2012 election doesn't mean that I don't read their posts with joy. I read their posts the same as I read the posts that declare that America is still moving forward, and that the re-election of Barack Obama was a good thing. Our unalienable rights that give us the chance to stand up and yell at the top of our lungs about our opinions are the same rights that give our enemy the same right to stand and disagree at the top of their lungs.

The election of our president and our political affiliation is not what divides us. We are divided by our choice. A lack of respect, and a dose of ignorance and bigotry have made us the angry and depressed individuals today, not the election of our president.

So today, stand up and make a choice. Enough name calling. Enough hate. Enough ignorance. Enough party-bashing, anti-American, using our rights to bash our rights CRAP. Have pride in our country. Have pride in the choice that you made, and respect for the opinions of others as well.

Being disappointed in the outcome of the election is fine, but don't let it outweigh the true importance of what we stand for.

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

Eat Clean, Train Dirty: Day 2

So we started off our little adventure with somewhat of a bang...I originally thought that the Mongolian lunch we had on Sunday had given me food poisoning. However, since it is now Tuesday and I am still sick, we have determined that I probably caught a bug. Oh well. 

So yesterday was day one, and Brian and I have a lot of learning to do. Not only did I seriously under-think our workout plan (apparently it is ill-advised to work out arms, legs, and abs all in one night...), but I also forgot to purchase a few things that we needed. So last night after work, I headed to Aldi to pick up fruit and veggies, and then tried to pick up cajun seasoning and andouille sausage from Lowes Foods. Of course they were out of the sausage, but it took me 10 minutes to figure that out because there was an extreme coupon lady blocking the sausage while she compared merchandise to her binder (yes, binder) of coupons. Needless to say, I was not in a good mood when I got home. 

Despite feeling pretty sick, Brian and I completed our arm workout, as well as a few ab exercises. I stretched and then we headed to bed so that we were well rested for day two. 

Unfortunately, Brian got well rested. I did not. Nausea kept me up most of the night and into the morning, and I called into work late and slept until about 9. However, since I am the best girl friend ever, I got up and made him lunch at 6 and then went back to bed. I rock. 

Here are a few recipes that we are using. They taste great, and are pretty filling for the portion, so we really like them. 

Protein Salad

This was our dinner last night, and I absolutely love it. I took a head of romaine lettuce hearts and chopped it up into bite sized pieces. I used the entire head, which made a rather large salad. I then added green pepper, tomato, mushrooms, cucumber, and avocado. I also grilled a large chicken breast and cut it up into chunks as well. I like to cook my chicken by placing a sheet of tin foil on a cookie sheet and then seasoning the chicken with salt and pepper and baking it at 350 for about 25 minutes, or however long it takes depending on the size. For the dressing, I mixed extra virgin olive oil, balsamic vinegar, oregano, salt and pepper in a jar. This way, I wasn't exposed to the gluten that is normally found in salad dressings! Yay for me! Brian really enjoyed the salad because he could eat a ton of it and still keep a low calorie count. The highest calorie portion was the avocado, but since it contains a lot of good oils and fats, I like to keep it in there, but the choice is entirely up to you!

Chicken Salad

I love chicken salad, and it's so easy to make. I divide a small can of chicken (canned in water, not oil, and all white breast meat) into two tupperware containers. I then add a small teaspoon of mayo, salt, and pepper, and stir. Once I find the right amount of spice, I add about 10 grapes, sliced into quarters. The grapes give a little bit of crunch as well as a bit of sweetness that is a nice balance for the amount of pepper that I use. You can substitute celery or onions for the grapes as well. 

Fruit and Yogurt

Brian loves yogurt and so do I, so I thought it would be a good way to get him to eat breakfast. I chose plain yogurt but Brian likes the vanilla, so we bought one of each. For his, I simply mix one serving of yogurt with 4 sliced strawberries. The strawberries are rather large, so it ends up being a pretty good amount of fruit. For myself, I add a serving of plain yogurt, 3 strawberries and half of a banana. I also add about a tablespoon of local honey. The honey (if purchased from local beekeepers) has good anti-allergy properties and helps you build up a tolerance to local pollen, because the bees use the pollen to make their honey. 

Light English Muffin with Peanut Butter and Fruit

The light english muffins that I buy are only 100 calories each, and have a lot of fiber, so it's a good balance. I spread about a tablespoon of peanut butter on them, no butter or jam, and slice half of a banana on the top. Brian doesn't like bananas so he eat it with a side of sliced apples or strawberries. The fiber keeps you full and the protein in the peanut butter is a good way to start your day to be productive. 

Crock Pot Jambalaya

Okay so we haven't eaten this one yet. It's currently in the crock pot at home, so I'll let you know how it works out. We plan on having it tonight and then tomorrow for lunch, so I made enough to cover four meals. The ingredients are really easy, and it can be adapted to whatever you like. For example, since the store didn't have andouille sausage, I am using chicken and shrimp instead. Slice up three celery stalks, 5-6 medium size mushrooms (I'm using crimini mushrooms, which are basically premature portabellos, but using button mushrooms or whatever type you want is totally okay too!), 1 medium size onion, 1 green pepper, a can of diced tomatoes with the juice, a chicken breast, and a box of chicken stock (enough to cover the chicken). I left my chicken breasts whole, but you can slice them up if you want to. I just wanted to shred it afterwards, so it's just a personal preference. Add about a teaspoon of cajun seasoning and cayenne pepper if you like heat. Cook on low for 7-8 hours, or on high for 3-4, and serve over brown rice. 

I'm Not a Democrat or Republican...I'm an American

Every four years for as long as I can remember, by dad has had an opinion on the outcome of the Presidential election. Like most people, he is hardcore one candidate each time. I remember when I was a little kid and we would watch the news leading up to the election. Dad would always sit in his chair and say, "If so-and-so wins, I don't give a damn we're moving to Ireland!" I think one year we were going to move to the Bahamas...but Dad really likes Ireland. So it was no surprise to me that my father texted me this morning to inform me that not only had he was the first vote cast in Jackson County, NC.  In the snow. At 6:40 in the morning...That's my dad!

My dad's dad, Grandpa Ken, was a Captain in the United States Navy, as well as serving as a radiologist with the United States Marine Corps. He was stationed in Jacksonville, Florida, San Diego, California, as well as Key West, Florida, and even served over seas in the Korean War. My grandpa Ken was a bad ass. He had a sword, and he had an incredible amount of pride in our country. If he was alive today, I can guarantee that he would be incredibly disappointed in the tactics that people in our country have resorted to while trying to justify who they are voting for.

When it comes down to it, my vote is my vote, and your vote it your vote. Don't stand there and berate my choice for the election simply because you are voting differently than I am. Most importantly, don't complain tomorrow when you either didn't vote, or didn't take the time to be educated about your candidate choice.

Bottom line. If you haven't already voted, please take some time to legitimately research the candidates. Being an uneducated voter is almost worse than not voting at all. Stop discriminating against people simply because their vote is different from yours. The ability to make that choice of who to vote for is one of the biggest rights that we have as Americans. Embrace it.

Captain Kenneth Arnold Parmelee, MD, US Navy.
Brown University class of 1945.
University of Vermont College of Medicine Class of 1947.
(July 11, 1943-October 30, 2004) 

Blog from The Dog

Um, hi guys. This is Chase. The Dog. Notice "The" and "Dog" are capitalized. That's because I'm not just "a dog." I'm "THE Dog!" Mom Lady is cooking dinner while Dad Guy plays on the light up box thing with the clicking. Apparently he finds this fun. This means that Mom Lady's typing box was free...so here I am! I am somewhat hiding under the table so that they don't find me...so far, so good. Inconspicuous, right? Anyway, before they catch me, onward!

So today I made Mom Lady really proud, but I'm not sure why. However, since I ate her shoe the other day, I think a day without any sandal casualties has to make her happy. What? They looked tasty. And you know what? It kinda was. 

But anyway, back to the story. So Mom Lady comes homes and starts to make dinner so that when Dad Guy comes home, they can eat. But first, she fed me. Oh yeah. So after my dinner, Mom Lady starts cleaning up stuff while she is cooking. She likes to do more than one thing at a time. So all of a sudden she gets this really surprised look on her face, and then starts looking at me. I can't tell if this is good or bad, so I just keep looking at her from the couch. Then she calls my name. So duh, I walk over to her. It's gotta be something good right? She keeps saying something about a "flea pill"....whatever that is. Then out of no where, she hands me food! I sniffed it, and it didn't smell like Dad Guy's feet so I've tasted worse. So I ate it. Well as soon as I swallow it Mom Lady starts smiling, and talking to Dad Guy, and petting me and freaking out. Then she gave me treats, which must have really meant I did something good...but I don't know what. I just ate the food she gave me. Oh well. More treats for me. 

So then, she told me to sit. Easy one, Mom Lady, we've been doing this for forever. So I sit. Then, she throws me a curve ball with a "down." This one is new, so it's harder. But the treat is on the ground, so I just flop down on the ground and she gives me the treat. What?! I lay down, I get a treat. I sit, I get a treat. I eat food, I get a treat. I don't know what day it is, but I like it. Every day should be like this! 

 Mom Lady is yelling at Dad Guy to come and eat dinner. Apparently the light up box with the clicker is addicting. She's said his name like 5 times...Maybe she needs to give him more treats so he learns better...I think I'll tell her that. He likes gummy bears, Mom Lady. I think it's a bit weird to eat a bear, but whatever. 

Oh no! Gotta go. I've been spotted! 

Eat Clean: Train Dirty Day 1 (& our beach weekend)

Day one. Whew. Not only did I almost not start today, but I almost called out of work sick. Brian and I spent the weekend at the beach with his parents for his birthday, and it really wore me out. This morning I just didn't feel up to doing anything, but Brian was a super motivator and basically forced me out of bed.

 Here's a breakdown of our schedule from the weekend:

Friday:
Brian got his phone back so after school, he dropped it off with me so that I could go to AT&T and make sure that everything was up to working order. I left work around 4:30, drove to the AT&T store, got his phone checked out, and then drove home. I was expecting his wrestling practice to be over by 5, and him to be home by 5:30 so that we could leave...yeah, right. Kassie and JJ, the incredible friends that they are, agreed to dog sit Chase this weekend, so I got his overnight bag ready with food, his bowls, chew toys, his bed, and treats, and set it out for Kassie. I then put together Brian's Christmas present so that I could send that with Kassie as well. Otherwise, it was only a matter of time before he found it in my suitcase. I packed for the weekend for both of us, navigated Kassie from some prison (she got lost) to our house, and then packed up snacks for the ride to Atlantic Beach. At this point, it's 5:45...I was hoping to leave by 5:30, so you can imagine that I wasn't exactly happy. Kassie picked up Chase, and Brian arrived around 6:10. By the time we locked up the house, got everything situated in the car, and got on the interstate, it was almost 6:30. Fast forward 5 hours. Brian kept falling asleep as we got closer to the beach, so I eventually just let him sleep. We got stuck in a police check point at 11:30 about 2 miles from the house. They asked where we were going, and not only could I not remember the name of the street, but I also couldn't find my registration card. Luckily the officer was very nice about it and let us go. I found the registration card less than 30 seconds later. Go figure. After we unloaded our bags and brought them up to the condo, we hung out and chatted for a while with his mom. By the time we went to bed it was almost 1 a.m. It's official. I am no longer in college. Staying up until 1 a.m. is no longer fun or easy!


Saturday:
According to Brian, I slept in. Considering this is coming from the kid who wakes up at 5:30 every morning, that means I slept until 7:45. I voiced my disagreement with this very frequently that morning. After a bowl of awesome chocolate and marshmallow cereal, Brian's Dad headed out to look at a house and get a haircut while Brian and I walked on the beach. Lots of shell collecting, wind, and a random tire later, we wandered back to the condo. The wind took a toll on my head however, and I was stuck on the couch for the next 2 hours fighting off dizziness and a headache. Mike (Brian's dad) came back after a while and we hung out and chatted until Brian and his mom returned with New York style subs from a local deli. SO good! The rest of the day was spend watching Bring It On, laying on the couch, and getting cleaned up for dinner with Brian's grandpa, Pop Pop, and his wife Karen. We drove to New Bern, about 45 minutes away, and had a great dinner at a local pub called Spunky McDoogal's. It's awesome. When we got back to the condo, we ate a ton of birthday pound cake, and I called it a night pretty early.

Here are some pictures that I took Saturday during our adventures!

Brian walking down to the beach for the first time. 

Aside from being a bit chilly and windy, the weather was beautiful. 

Cheesin' with the tire left on the beach by Hurricane Sandy. 

My new cell phone background. Waves washing up on the crushed shells that are a result of the crazy waves from Hurricane Sandy. 

Brian's dad does taxidermy...this is the fox that we found at the beach over 4th of July weekend. It is now stuffed...and Mike decided that it would annoy Charlie if he walked the fox. He was right. 

Snoozing before dinner with Pop Pop and Karen. Apparently his mom's exercise ball is really comfy. 

The view off the back deck as we were leaving for dinner. It was gorgeous. 

Singing happy birthday and keeping warm by the light of the cake. As Kris reminded Brian, now that he's 24, he has to buy TWO packages of candles for his birthday cakes...lame. 

Brian blowing out his candles!

Sunday:

Thanks to daylight savings time, I slept until 9 a.m. (which would have been 10 a.m.) and woke up feeling pretty good. After a morning trip to Starbucks, we packed our bags and followed Brian's parents to church. After church, we went to Brian's favorite type of restaurant for his birthday farewell lunch: Mongolian. It's a do it yourself type stir fry bar where you pick your ingredients and then the chefs cook it for you on a giant round grill using big sticks. It's a definite thumbs up in our opinion, although Brian likes it more than I do because I can only finish a small bowl. After lunch we headed back home, making the 5 hour drive go by faster by singing to N*SYNC, the Backstreet Boys, and music from the 70's and 80's. Epic win. We got home, picked up Chase, did some laundry and called it a night around 9 p.m. Totally acceptable in my book.

Cheesin' after church. We're so lame. 

I turned my old pampasan cushion into a new bed for Chase. Brian likes it more than he does. 

What a couple of nerds. 

Monday:
So today was the start of our eat clean, train dirty challenge. I got up at 5:50 a.m. to have breakfast with Brian, which consisted of a toasted english muffin with peanut butter and apples for him, and a scrambled egg and an apple for me. I'm allowing myself one cup of coffee with only sugar, no cream or flavored anything. Since I hate plain water, I've also cut up a lemon into slices to stick in my water that I'm going to drink a lot more of the next two weeks. Hopefully it becomes a habit. After work today I'm  making a grocery store run for additional food for the week. Tonight dinner is protein salad, which is just romaine lettuce and spinach leaves with grilled chicken strips, avocado, mushrooms, onions, and broccoli with a light balsamic vinegar dressing. Hopefully we like it because it's on the menu pretty frequently in the next two weeks!

Wish us luck!

Brian Turns 24: How to Throw a Surprise Birthday Dinner

So although this may surprise some of you, my boyfriend Brian doesn't read my blog. His excuse? "I live with your blog..." Okay, I'll take that. Armed with that knowledge, I actually considered posting about how I was planning his surprise birthday dinner when I first started the process three weeks ago. I know his mom reads my blog (thanks Kris!), but since he didn't, I thought that it would be a safe bet. Then I realized that my decision was an accident waiting to happen, especially considering that he rarely has a reason for doing things, so reading my blog on the one day that I actually didn't want him to wouldn't be the weirdest thing ever. So today, on his 24th birthday and 12 hours after his surprise dinner, I decided to explain the process and how absolutely awesome he thought it was!

So for those of you who know Brian, he was a bit crazy in college. However, since getting a big kid job, especially one that forces him to wake up at 5:30 in the morning, he has chilled out a substantial amount. Taking this into consideration, I knew that I didn't want to throw him a party where there was going to be a huge amount of drinking or where he knew in advance that he was the focus of the attention. This led me to realize that a surprise dinner, instead of a surprise party, was probably a good bet.

So, using my list of instructions, I will tell you exactly how I planned Brian's surprise birthday dinner!

Step 1: Decide on the atmosphere that you want to create. Make it one that the person will be comfortable in and that people you invite will enjoy. For example, don't choose a beer tasting if a lot of the people don't drink. For Brian, I wanted to make the atmosphere very relaxed, where people were comfortable to talk and mingle with each other. For Brian's dinner, I chose a local restaurant that we visited frequently while in college. It was a pub-type atmosphere and people could drink and eat if they chose to.

Deciding on a date and time is also a part of this. If you are choosing a sporting event, you have fewer choices than simply going to dinner. For me, I wanted to make it near his birthday, and the weekend was out because we were going to be out of town. I also wanted to give people time to get off work and to make it into town if they were traveling. For us, Thursday night worked perfectly, also because the restaurant didn't host events on the weekends. We chose 7 p.m. so that some of his friends could make it from out of town.

Step 2: Decide on a guest list. It helped that the majority of people that I invited knew each other already, so that takes one big step out of my equation. However, make sure that if you are inviting people who will get along. For example, take appropriate measures when inviting friends who may have an outstanding issue, or who have previously dated. Make sure that they are both aware that the other will be there, and that the goal of the event is not for them to fight, but to celebrate someone's birthday, or whatever event you are celebrating. Since Brian was in a fraternity in college, I wanted to invite some of his alumni brothers as well as some of the current brothers that he is friends with.

Step 3: Decide on a form of contact for the invitations. Since this was a pretty basic gathering and everyone was relatively young, I took advantage of our generations vested interest in social media and text messaging. My first step was to create a private event on Facebook (make sure that if you are planning a SURPRISE party and want to control the guest list, that your event is private and that only you can invite people to the event). I gave a brief description of what the party was about, as well as included the fact that invitees could see the guest list, so that if I had left someone important off, they could tell me to send that person an invitation. Now remember that not everyone utilizes social media constantly, so two forms of communication may be necessary. After I assembled the guest list, I made sure to send a text message to the people who were not on Facebook to make sure that they were informed, as well as sent a reminder text to the people who didn't get on Facebook frequently.

This was the photo that I used for the event on Facebook. Original, I know. Thanks Google. 

Step 4: Decide on any type on entertainment you wish to have at your event, if necessary. For me, the event was just dinner, drinks, and conversation. If you are attending a sporting event, that will be your entertainment, same for a movie or a theme park. If you are hosting a dinner at your house or apartment, or at the home of someone else, you may want to provide yard or board games so that people have something to do instead of just talk.

Step 5: Adding the extras. This may be my absolute favorite step, and it's totally optional, but I found that it worked really well. With a bit of extra planning, you can seriously do great things! For Brian's dinner, I knew that most people wouldn't bring a gift (why would they? Their attendance was the gift!) but I still wanted him to get a card from more than just me. So, I picked up a simple birthday card from Target, and passed it off to my roommate Kassie who was going to be at the event as well. The information said to arrive at 7, which is the time that Brian and I ended up leaving our house so that everyone would be there when we arrived. Since they had about 15 minutes with nothing to do before we got there, I asked Kassie to pass around the card that I had purchased and have everyone sign it. This way, Brian has just one card but it is filled with everyone's well wishes and greetings! I also made sure to leave my camera with Kassie so that she could take a few photos of Brian's surprised face.

Step 6: Hammer out the details. For me, this included double checking the numbers with the restaurant to make sure that everything was still on schedule, delivering the card to Kassie, arranging someone (again, Kassie) to arrive a few minutes before to the location and "check in" as well as be the visible person for people arriving, and updating the Facebook event/keep texting people to remind them of the approaching date and any necessary details.

Step 7: Make it believable. For me, this is where it got a little bit complicated. Brian was a bit unsure as to why we were going to dinner so late and why I wanted to look more presentable than normal. I was able to cover my tracks a little bit and tell him that because I had to come home and shower as well as pack a little bit, that 7 was just the easiest time. Plus, I told him that we never take pictures when we go out on dates, and I wanted to take a picture because it was his birthday.

Step 8: Arrive and enjoy yourself! The dinner turned out to be a great night of fun for everyone, and Brian was so happy to get to spend it with friends. Because everyone was eating and drinking, conversation was never forced and just carried itself at a nice relaxing pace throughout the evening. It was definitely a night to remember, and as soon as I find my camera cable I'll be sure to upload some photos! But for now, here are a few I took with my iPhone.

This is the lovely card, and the lovely Kassie being her normal weird self. Good think I absolutely adore her!

Our very yummy fried cheesecake desert with strawberries. 

Me and the rather cute birthday boy! You can't tell, but we match. Yeah. It was planned. Not even gonna lie to you. 

Always Have a Plan B

Update: Brian's phone was recovered yesterday in one of the bathrooms in the school. Although the phone was missing its SIM card, the phone was otherwise okay. Yay!

So you lost your cell phone, or it got stolen...now what??

This is the question that Brian and I were forced to ask ourselves after one of his students stole his cell phone off of his desk yesterday. So that he wasn't charged for any phone calls or internet usage that was incurred while his phone was out of his possession, his mom went on and shut down the phone until we figured out how to pursue it.

If you are ever in this situation, don't completely freak out. Before you have the phone shut off, go online and search the Prey Project. Prey allows you to remotely download an app to your device that will then ping its location to your email account allowing you to trace the phone. Another app that we tested through Kassie was Plan B. Plan B is a little bit different from Prey in that when you download Plan B to your phone, the download appears on the screen, so if the person happens to be looking at the phone at the time, they will be able to cancel the download. Prey on the other hand downloads secretly. However, as we found out last night, neither will download unless the phone is still working. Bummer.

Luckily for Brian, this has happened with other teachers that he works with over the years, and they have each gotten their phone back. The resource officer as well as the vice principle were going to talk to each of his classes today to try and have the phone returned before charges were pressed.

So instead of going through what Brian is dealing with, be smart and as soon as you get a phone, download a GPS app that you can log into online to track your phone if it is ever stolen. I am a fan of "Find iPhone" for people with iPhones like myself, or if you have an Android, Plan B and Prey should both work on your device.

The cool thing about Find iPhone and Prey is that not only will they track your phone, but they will track your laptop as well. Prey even allows you to remotely access your webcam and take a picture of the person using your laptop. How crazy is that?! Find iPhone also allows you to not only send a signal that makes your device beep in case you can't find it, but it also shows you a GPS coordinate of your device as well as allows you to remotely wipe your device if you are afraid of any information that someone might gain access to.

So, learn from us. Download a phone finder GPS app before something happens. Whether you simply forget your phone somewhere or you actually have it stolen, these apps are a lifesaver!