Absence Makes The Heart Grow Fonder?

Hello, hello, hello! My it has been a long time hasn't it! Where to begin? Well let's start with the most exciting!

We are moving into our own apartment on April 19th! We are moving closer to work, which is a blessing because we will save gas money big time!

Second, Juli started a new job. It isn't what he WANTS to do for the rest of his life, but at this point, it pays the bills!

Let's see.........I have been getting healthier and I am actually blogging at the gym cafe as we speak! It is nice to have a set time to come here and just relax after a workout! I am going to sign up for two classes at the gym and I am super excited about that! I will keep everyone updated!

Rocky and Parker are amazing as usual! We are hopefully getting a puppy in June and I could not be more happy! I have wanted a dog for YEARS, ever since losing Izzy, and we will finally have the space to have one!

More to follow but this was a great update!

Please help me win!

I am trying to win a free pet portrait from a friend and need your help! Please go to http://www.veronicamuiportraits.com/ and like her page! Then go to http://www.veronicamuiportraits.com/contact-me.html and tell her I sent you!!!!

WOW What a Whirlwind

I feel so ashamed LOL! I just looked at my blog (or lack thereof) and saw when my last post was! Don't worry, I am shaking a finger at myself.....well...not really....but in theory I am :)

So much has happened since then! Most importantly, JULI GOT A JOB! He is now a life insurance agent and he is still doing training and it is HARD! Let me tell you what...I married a smart man! He had 9 days to study for a test that most men have 3 weeks to study and they STILL fail, and he passed THE FIRST TIME!!! Needless to say I am a very proud wife!

Secondly we had some seriously odd weather. We had an earthquake AND a hurricane all in one week! It was extremely bizarre! I am VERY attached to my electricity thank you very much!

Thirdly, our hamster Neville died. It was very sad! We believe he died during the earthquake since it was a pretty big one and he was semi-old. :( Very very sad! It was the first of Juli and I's joint pets to pass away.

So as I delve back into the role of housewife (phew was I spoiled this last year let me tell you that much!), I am even more thankful for my husband and all he does for my happiness! Fall is almost here, the promise of a new place is on the wind, and my cavalier puppy is in sight! I think this is going to be a wonderful year!

Oh and FOOTBALL IS BACK!!!!!!!!!!!

And.....ACTION

So most of you know Julio and I are film addicts! We LOVE to watch movies. Sooooooo we made a list of our top 20 movies each and are going to have a 40 movies in 40 nights marathon! We are super stocked!

Sorry it has been awhile :( Life has been...shall we say...hectic! I HAVE however been really busy losing weight! I have lost 14 lbs in 6 weeks and have lost inches all over my body! Summer is here so the only good thing is the outdoor pool!

Juli is still unemployed as of this moment but by the end of July he will start looking again. Hopefully by August we will have our own place!!!!! That will be the highlight of our summer for sure!!!!

I love doing simple traditions with my man and this one may be a summer repeat!

And They All Lived........

I found my Prince charming several years ago and there is nothing more inspiring than watching a famous couple tie the knot. I stayed up a full 27 hours to watch 8 full hours of wedding coverage and would do it all again! I had a lot of fun and I love taking part in history!





I have been without soda for a full 26 days! I have lost 10 lbs in three weeks and feel sooooo good! 5 more to go till I meet my mini goal!

When you Love the One You're With

When you love the one you're with, there is no what if. There are no regrets. There are no goodbyes. When you love the one you're with the world sees you for what you are, truly happy and blessed

My Biggest Indulgence

Okay....so I don't buy designer shoes, or wear name brand clothes, I even wear the cheapest makeup......I DO however splurge on nail polish. That is the ONLY thing that I insist on having name brand....at least as of recently. I am an OPI girl and it is one of my goals to have all my cheap polishes changed over to OPI...so far.....right on track!!!! One of my bucket list goals was to manicure my nails more often. Since I work in a field where makeup is minimal and hair dos don't last an hour, femininity is lost. Now that I am a groomer, I can keep polish on my nails for more than an hour too!!!!! Sooooooo......this seemed like a reasonable goal! Here are my two recent colors:
The top one is from the Suede collection. It truly does look like suede once it dries!! It's called Lincoln Park After Dark-Suede

This one is from Hong Kong collection and it is called Suzi Says Feng Shui

I hope to use all of my OPI polishes in the next few weeks and get a pic up of all of them!

Pen to Paper

What a snow storm THAT was! We got nasty wet snow that was excellent snowball fight material.....and I had to work...go figure!

Brace yourself for another "My husband is so awesome" post :P

There is a movie I have been wanting to see and it is an indy film so it is in limited theaters. Juli did a lot of searching before he found a place that was showing it on a day I could go watch it. That day is today!! So for our date today he is taking me to lunch and a movie!

Changing gears I crossed my first item off of my bucket list yesterday! I HAVE A PEN PAL!! I am truly excited! Here's to many more crossing offs of the list!

Failure, Meet Success

I have accomplished some great things this month, and failed miserably at others. Life is so painful busy at times that is just becomes too easy to blame it on that. No more excuses! I swear!!!

I did NOT lose any weight this month
I did NOT blog more
I did NOT retake my permit test
and I did NOT get my face cleared :(

I DID however de-cutter my life a bit and it was very liberating!
Drum roll please..........................most importantly I DID become a certified groomer!!!!!!!! I finished my 100 dogs, took my test and PASSED!!!!! Above is my favorite groom dog EVER and I want a Cavalier soooooooo bad!!!!

So......here's to a more productive week than last and love those you have because you never know when your last day will be

The Dangers of Human Nature

I was getting my haircut on Wednesday and I realized something. Human Nature is our greatest enemy! I was sitting in the chair thinking how horribly unblessed I was to have straight brown hair when what I really wanted was red curly hair when the lady next to me came in for her appointment. She proceeded to tell us that this was her first haircut since she got Leukemia! Her hair had finally grown back and she was so thankful that she had enough to get it styled. WOW!!! Why is it that with human nature we automatically think unsatisfactory thoughts? Why is it so difficult to be happy with what we have? After that story, my effort this year is to be happy with whatever I have and work hard for the things I don't.



Juli is such a blessing to me! He went out and got me......MY BOOKCASE!!!!!!!!!! I have been wanting one of these for the longest time and was so excited when they had them on sale!!!! NOW to fill it up (to be fair I have three boxes of books left to put on it, but I am saving those for when we move :))
My Christmas preset finally came in the mail and I am so in love! Rocky is too!!!! Oh and I found a matching lamp at Target for 20 bucks!!! Have I mentioned how much I love Target?

Goal Month One

Oh yes, oh yes, it is that time again!!! New Year's Resolution time! I have decided to take it one month at a time! First month's goals: Lose 15 lbs, Clear up my skin, BLOG MORE!

I am gonna need a lot of support for the first one that is for sure! I have a dear friend's wedding to go to in July and want to look my best! THIS IS THE YEAR!!!!!

Also, my to read list will be coming out soon and I am super excited to start!

Christmas Blessings

We were very lucky to get a good amount of money right before Christmas and was truly blessed to be able to get the things we needed and some extra things we had been wanting!! One of which was a trip to the ICE exhibit in the National Harbor! It was How the Grinch Stole Christmas themed!!!!

As the year comes to a close I look back and see all the changes we have made. Some good, some difficult to deal with. My major change this year was moving from being a bather, to being a groomer! It will in the long run make me a more disciplined, better person. As for the difficult, Juli is still unemployed, but this has in turn enabled him to write his book! Look for it in bookstores in a few years :)

I hope to accomplish many more goals this year but more on that to come!

Cut, Curl, Crimp

Phew! What a whirlwind! I am currently working on my 100 groom dogs that I must accomplish before I am allowed to get commission and let me tell ya what!! It is EXHAUSTING!!!! I mean bathing dogs is hard work don't get me wrong, but the mental stress is magnified by like......562%!!! I am really enjoying the experience though! I know that it will be a big adjustment, but I am up for it! I am so thankful for a husband who willing to put up with the long hours and stressed out wife!! Love you baby!

We all know what comes after Thanksgiving and so I am sure you all know what I am superdy duper excited about!!! I can't wait until then!!!

*is too tired to blog* *stay tuned*

When one does one's best

Grooming school...what can I say. It has been an interesting road. It has had its down points for sure. But yesterday (mind you 1 more day left) I FINALLY began to feel like a groomer. I did a Standard Poodle and a Bichon yesterday! I was able to do Poms and clean feet (Katelyn did an excellent job an the other half of the poodle too!!) on the Poodle! CLEAN FEET ARE EXHAUSTING! For my non-groomer friends, clean feet is the process on poodles where you shave their feet really short. It is very tedious because you have to shave between the toes too! Bleck!! Not my favorite grooming process! I DO however LOVE LOVE LOVE hand scissoring! I find it relaxing and rewarding!
The finished product!

This little lady was a Bichon named Mandy!!! She was such a sweetheart (must be the name :P) And she turned out very pretty if I say so myself!!!!!


Thankful Thought #4 I am thankful for friends who miss me when I am gone

Thankful Thought #5 I am thankful for inspirational friends who keep me constantly bettering myself

Thankful Thought #6 I am thankful for CANDY CANES!!!!!!!!!!!!

When Inspiration Hits

I LOVE being inspired. I love looking at people's ideas, digesting them, and forming my own version to fit me. I always enjoy a well written blog. This is one of my favs:
Kim's Blog

Because of her list, I have made my own. I hope to look back this time next year and see everything crossed off. Enjoy!!

1. Have our own apartment
2. Furnish our home
3. Make my own candles
4. Have a pen pal
5. Adopt/sponsor a Humbolt penguin
6. Lose 50 lbs.
7 Read 10 biographies
8. Volunteer at an animal shelter
9. Participate in Boston Marathon
10. Scale rock climbing wall at gym
11. Meet my water goal everyday
12. Find the perfect library card catalog
13. Reduce amount of foreign made purchases
14. Buy more local foods
15. Visit the ocean more
16. Keep up on birthday cards
17. Read more history books
18. Save $2,000
19. Write an informative article and seek to have it published
20. Own an original piece of artwork
21. Visit all the museums in the Smithsonian
22. Take a picture at each monument in D.C.
23. Manicure my nails more often
24. Actively seek methods to clear my skin
25. Watch every Marilyn Monroe movie
26. Learn the rules of tennis
27. Be able to swim 10 proper laps
28. Visit Salem
29. Host a formal party
30. Dance in the rain
31. Have a snowball fight
32. See Wicked in New York
33. Take Julio to New England Aquarium
34. Enjoy each I Love Lucy episode again.
35. Do one thing I am scared to death of
36. Rescue a cat in need
37. Upgrade our car
38. Raise $5,000 for charity
39. Watch 5 documentaries
40. Start a bookclub
41. Become cat certified
42. Attend a cooking class
43. Take ballroom dancing lessons
44. Take 5,000 pictures
45. Learn a craft
46. Own one piece of Harry Potter movie memrobilia
47. Grow my hair out and donate to locks of love
48. Buy a tailor made suit for Julio
49. Own a pair of antique candelabras
50. Accomplish more this year than last.

I hope some of these give you inspiration to follow some of your whims this year and live life to the fullest!

The Season of Thanks

I love the cold weather....(wipe the shocked look off your face please). I was ALSO pleasantly surprised when I walked into Target and saw they have almost ALL of their Christmas products out!!! Yay for Christmas music!

Thankful Thought#3 I am thankful for living in a state where there are distinct seasons!

(kudos to Kim for being able to cross goals off her list :)

My Three Sons

Each one of my "Boys" is special to me. I love them like sons. Circumstances being what they are, children wise, the really ARE my sons!
Rocky. my chunk of LARD, will ALWAYS be my first cat! I grew up a dog person, so the notion of feline pets was foreign. Juli grew up a cat person. Since we have an apartment, a cat was the only option. When we got him, my heart melted. He was still on milk and I stayed up ALL NIGHT with him making sure he didn't get lost in anything. He is my rough, tough, closeted mama's boy. He HAS to snuggle when he wakes up and sleeps between Juli and I for at least an hour a night!

Parker....where to begin with him? He is my hippie-I-love-everything cat! He is the sterotype kitty! He purrs at EVERYTHING. He scares easily, hacks up hairballs, and sleeps in the weirdest places. We got Parker shortly after our stillborn. I NEEDED him and he needed me. When we got Parker he had a terrible flea infestation, worms, and ear mites. What a project he was! What a joy he is!
Last, but not least, Neville! MY hamster! I NEVER< EVER< thought I would get ANY type of "small animal" pet. But I was at work early one morning and was just looking at the Robo dwarf hamsters and out of all the ones that were asleep, Neville came right up to the glass. Guess who came home with me?!?!?!? He is one of the best pets I have ever had. He is adorable, silent, doesn't eat much, and provides HOURS of entertainment for the cats! (And us!!) I love how he is a little fluff ball when he is curled up asleep!



Who knows what type of pets we may have in the future, but I NEEDED the ones we have now!


Thankful Thought #2 I am thankful for the opportunity to have animals that bring joy, comfort, and love to our lives!

Thankfulness is.....

November is the beginning of many things. Cold weather, fall leaves, Countdown until Christmas (for everyone but me...which starts in March :), and most importantly; The season of thankfulness.

My goal for this next month is to list my blessings. Join me in finding and MAKING reasons to be thankful this month!




This is our best attempt at a "family" picture this weekend :)


Today's Thankful Thought is I am so grateful to have a loving husband who also happens to be my best friend.

Revaluate

Imagine you only had a limited amount of time to do the things you love. What would you cut out, what would you enjoy? I am asking myself this question and finding that there are a lot of things in life that I THOUGHT were important, but in actuality they are frivolous! I vow to spend my free time doing productive, enjoyable things from this day forward. (chores not included :P)