I've been tagged

Ok - I've been tagged - so here you go.

A - Available or Taken - Taken, after 28 years I have finally found the perfect one for me, my amazing love Schmoop!
B - Best Friend - Schmoop, Kaiya and Tamara
C - Cake or Pie - mmmmmmm, warm apple pie w/vanilla Breyers-sounds good Trace I'll steal this. :)
D - Drink of Choice - Alcoholic - currently Bailey's mmmmm Irish Cream Non-Alcoholic - Peppermint tea
E - Essential Item you use everyday - laptop
F - Favorite Color - blue
G - Gummy Bears or Worms - Bears
H - Hometown - Chatsworth NJ
I - Indulgence - massages
J - January or February - February its closer to March when I get MARRIED!!
K - Kids and Names - Girl Amanda Sage boy Jacob Aaron
L - Life is incomplete without - Love
M - Marriage Date - March 17, 2007
N - Number of Siblings: Legit or not? - 3 sisters; Kim, Karen and Anna and 2 Brothers; Walter and Will. All Legit, my parents were like rabbits..
O - Oranges or Apples - Just had an orange so I have to go with that.
P - Phobias or Fears - scary movies
Q - Favorite Quote - mmmm cheese
R - Reason to Smile - I have an amazing life
S - Season - Probably fall
T - Tag 3 or 4 people - Mama K NJ; Kitten Mom; Erica
U - Unknown fact about me - I can be completely anal retentive
V - Vegetable you don't like - lima beans
W - Worst Habit - finding black hairs on Schmoops red beard then bugging him till he lets me pluck them. Well thats his answer as he's sitting next to me. My answer is overcommitting myself
X - X-rays? - hmm I think the last ones were when I broke my ankle a few years ago
Y - Your favorite food - currenlty Indian food
Z - Zodiac - Libra

Pink paint and primer I'm a happy camper

Our house no longer has ANY pink rooms!!! Alright well we only had one to being with but still that was one to many for me. I like pink alot just not on walls, my mom had a thing that no room in the house could be painted the same color and mine was pink by default (youngest of six). Her bedroom was blue, my brother's green, my sister's purple and I was left with either pink or grey.. I vowed then that I would NEVER have a pink room when I grew up, when we bought this house there was a ton of colors in it one of them being pink so of course that had to be the first to go. The room we just painted had bright green carpet with light pink paint which bows stenciled on the top of it (even on the heating vent!). Schmoop and I have bought the colors for the upstairs; we have a chocolate brown for our room, bonsai green for the guest room, kale green for the office, and like a thunderstorm blue for the bathroom. Once we get it all painted we are ripping out the carpet(all the carpet upstairs is different colors drives me INSANE!), we want a nice off white or tan berber throughout the upstairs. So right now after about an hour of painting we have one very primered white room soon to be Bonsai Green. I cant wait to get all the painting and the carpet done upstairs so we can move all the bedroom furniture up there and out of the laundry room!!
by the way Sherwin Williams rocks my world!! and Walmarts paint kits suck butt.

mmmm Christmas

I had an amazing Christmas, my wonderful schmoop gave me the bestest gift (besides asking me to marry him) he gave me Heelys!! You know those shoes with the wheel in the back of them that kids go whizzing by in the mall in? Well everytime we see a kid with those I just about foam at the mouth and emphatically state that I want them!! Well my wonderful schmoop searched around and found them in ADULT sizes just for me! I can't go across the kitchen floor without his help yet but I'm working on it. He's so good to me!
Also I got all my wedding jewelry, the ring bearers pillows, the guest book, two cake cutters, the reception cards, booked the wedding band (thanks to my good friend Eric and his amazing band Fire By Night!), the gifts for my bridesmaids, flowergirls and ring bearers. We also picked the house we want to rent for our honeymoon to be booked this week!
Tonight, my first weight watcher meeting then painting the house!
BUSY BUSY!!

Back to the drawing board

Soo if you're a long time reader here you know I struggle with my weight and am an avid Weight watchers supporter. I lost a bunch on weight watchers a few years ago but broke my ankle (not an excuse just what happened) and gained alot back. I've been on Weight Watchers online since May and have done ok but recently I haven't really been following the program. I decided this morning that I need these meetings, so I will be going back this coming Wednesday to the meetings. So this blog is now a weight loss, wedding planning, house finishing, crazy life blog now. I'm thinking of starting an underwater basket weaving bloggers circle too if anyone wants to join.

Just in case you want to know exactly when you get your presents...

http://www.noradsanta.org/en/tracking.php

Shout out

to my online friend Trace, I finally got my lazy butt around to adding her on my happy places!

This makes me giggle...

Christmas time is here

So I'm sitting here realizing that Christmas is next week, LESS than a week away!! Holy cow!!!
The main feeling I have in my heart is gratitude this year. This has been the most incredible year of my life. I fell in love with my wonderful man and got engaged this year. He makes me laugh like no other and inspires me to try to be a better person and has just about the kindest heart of anyone I know. We bought our first house which I'm IN LOVE with. Its just perfect for our little family of two and whatever future kiddos that come along. There are such nice little things about the house like a walk in pantry, a HUGE mudroom that will be great for a kids art room, a family room with a cozy fireplace.
I have a wonderful large family myself who I love dearly and I'm blessed to have their support and love as Schmoop and I start our lives together. PLUS this year my family got bigger cause I got not only one gorgeous new niece Meghan but also Jasons family! Jason's got a twin brother, his amazing wife, thier gorgeous daughter, two very loving parents and some wonderful friends.
Jason also moved up to New Jersey from Virginia and we both got new jobs (mine is my dream job and I LOVE it!).
I was just sitting here reading my devotions about the birth of my Savior Jesus Christ and I'm just now realizing that I'll never really know the depth of love He has for me. Every time I think I know he blows me away with the plans He has for me and shows me another piece of the depth of love he holds for me.
Anyway my Christmas prayer for all you readers is that you get a glimpse of the love that our Lord holds for you, it will blow you away.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!
Love,
Dirkey

Awe our first need for proffessional help in our new house... so cute!

So Saturday Schmoops family came over for lunch. I had made a yummie roast in my crockpot because us girls were going to be out all morning shopping for flower girl dresses. We found them and they are beyond adorable! Well after lunch I was cleaning up and the sink wasn't draining. Schmoop his brother plunged the sink, they snaked the sink and nothing (schmoop plumber crack might have been involved but alas I have no photographic proof of it). So on Sunday we had to call Roto Rooter to fix it up and it costs us $280 dollars!! Holy Cow!!
So I figured now is as good as a time as any to start the how much money are we putting in to the house list..

so far
paint $150
Roto-Rooter $280

It could be worse!

Normal?!?!?!

Maybe I just have ridiculous expectations with this wedding planning thing. But EVERY SINGLE THING that we have done we've gone over budget. We have a normal amt of money to work with I thought. Things that I thought were going to be really cheap are DEFINITELY NOT. Basically I haven't been suprised to much the other way with things being less than I thought, mostly cause I'm the CHEAPEST person on the planet. It seems despite the fact we are cheapo's Jase and I are going to have a lovely, classy wedding. Who would have thought? Certainly not me.
I got my dress, put my deposit down on the flowers, ordered invitations, ordered favors, have the reception site, booked the church, have an MC, have the pastors. Have feelers in for one of my favorite bands, emails to photogs, going bridesmaid dress shopping on Thurs. Its creeping me out but everything seems to be under control. Schmoop and I are even going to Bed, Bath and Beyond to register tonight. I'll link it up here so you all in internet land can check it out.

Quiet on the site...

Sorry I've been so quiet this week, we've been kind of busy. Since Sat we have booked the reception site and its official, WE ARE GETTING MARRIED ON ST. PATRICKS DAY!!!!
So exciting!!
Also we've been unpacking like crazy, the house is starting to slowly look like a home. I'm amazed that I have found all of my kitchen stuff and there is a place for it! WHO KNEW!?!?!
We also got our Christmas tree and decorated the house for Christmas! :)
Here is the first post of the inside of our house, this is the first fire we have lit. I loved it, and can't wait to do it again! :)

if you look closely you can see our Veggie Tales Nativity set with Elvis Angel singing over little baby Jesus carrot.

AHH I'M ENGAGED!!!!!!!!!!

So the engagement, Jason and I had our first date at Hershey Park last year to go see the Hershey lights so we had plans to go back this year. I'm a huge lover of all things Christmas especially the lights!! So Saturday we stopped all the unpacking and went to Hershey Park, we ended up starting out a little late and got stuck in traffic. We got to the lights at like 8:30 or 9 they were soo pretty and sparkly.


After the light show we went over to the park to walk around, the only problem is that it was closing! We hurried over to get some hot chocolate before they closed and kind of just walked around a little bit. It was emptying out to where it was just Jason and I and he took me aside and got down on one knee and.. I freaked out. I started crying and got down on my hands and knees and was hugging him. Then I remembered oh yeah he's proposing to me and I stood up so he could ask me properly. Of course I said yes, my ring is GORGEOUS!!


More importantly I'm so excited to be spending the rest of my life with the most amazing, kind, compassionate, silly, cutest man I know, I LOVE YOU BABY!!!!!!!!!!!!

Cool Engagement gift

Thanks soo much Brian for this amazing Engagement gift!!!! So Awesome!!


Keep this one on as my main one for now but soon I will be moving over once I learn a little more!

Guess what internet?!?!!?

I'm ENGAGED!!
We'll we're engaged, schmoop and I, pics will be forthcoming Jase has the camera in the car. I will tell you it involved Hershey Park, diamonds, twinkle lights and awesomeness!

Nablopomo

This is the end, my only friend the end....
umm so yeah thats it for NABLOPOMO, good thing I'm beat.
Its been a good month, thanks for sharing it with me. I promise I'll be good and update more frequently maybe just not EVERY SINGLE DAY!

how can i make my eyebrows grow

Ha ha someone searched that to get to my site..
if I only knew, if I only knew..
signed,
the severly limited in the eyebrow dept dirkey

I MISSED MY BLOGIVERSARY!!!!!!!

My Blogiversary was Nov 15th and I MISSED IT! All this house stuff is distracting me from the really important things in life, writing to complete strangers and to people who already know everything I'm writing about.
My missing my blogiversary is definitely out of character, being the youngest of six children alot of my childhood was spent reminding people who I was. One thing EVERYONE knew though was my birthday (October 14th). It could be a cold day in January but I would be reminding people at the dinner table that my birthday was a mere 9.5 months from now and they should prepare! I'm going to start doing this with my blogiversary.
Sooooo
only about 11.5 months till my blogiversary, if your clueless as to what to buy me please see the helpful guide I put up on the sidebar.
-once i get the kitchen set up in the new house I will make a beautiful blogiversary cake just like Mama K.

House is ours

Stuff is moved in, we got a 26 foot truck and filled it twice.. TWICE!!
Jase, me and his dad did the majority all day but got much needed and appreciated reinforcements of dinner and help after the rest of the troops got done from work.
The house is WONDERFUL! but extremely MESSY!!
On the way back from dropping off the Uhaul we stopped and got a mess of cleaning supplies so my next few weeks will be spent cleaning house and organizing.. Then on to painting, floors, etc. HAPPY HAPPY WONDERFUL DAYS!
GOOD NIGHT!

Deliciously Ridiculous

I don't know why I think this video is soo funny, someone please tell me you think so too...

TOMORROW!!!

HOLY COW TOMORROW WE ARE GOING TO BE HOMEOWNERS!!!
TOMORROW AS IN THE DAY AFTER TODAY, AS IN LESS THAN 24 HOURS FROM NOW!!!


OH MY GOSH OH MY GOSH OH MY GOSH, HOW IS A GIRL SUPPOSED TO CONCENTRATE ON ANYTHING ELSE!!

Two more days

till we get the house.
This is what I want to do with it.

Black Friday

Has completely messed up my sleep schedule, its like I'm a mom and that day was my baby. I fell asleep at 5pm Friday and at 8 yesterday, jeez louise.. Soo sleepy and when I fall asleep its in a pile of Christmas gifts..

Black Friday Shopping

Wow, I woke up this morning at 3 O'clock in the morning and went to Walmart. Yeah, I am one of these people. Just knowing that there are sooo many sales I can't keep myself away from the stores. We didn't get any of those big name items; tv, camera, computer, etc. I did get alot of gifts, I can't wait to give them away. Well I'm beat so I'm going to bed, Happy Shopping all!!

Turkey Day

woke up
ate turkey
played with kids
watched Christmas Story
Slept
Good turkey day.

I'm a cheater

Its day 22 of Nablopomo and I'm a slacker. Went to see Fire By Night tonight at Bennigans, if you don't know them already look for them on Myspace. Boys are going to hit it big!!!
Night all!

Holla Back!

So I'm going to bite off of Mama K and tell all my readers to please leave me a comment and let me know who you are.
I get about 23 hits a day and I know 3 of my readers!

I'm off to the chiropractor right now will actually put a real update later :)

Today's Post brought to you by my inner 4 year old

and this website... artpad



Umm yeah, only 7 more days till closing!!! Made some celebratory chocolate chip cookies and did some laundry, yeah I'm domestic and stuff, it comes with being a homeowner.. :)

Shoutout to High School

When Mama K and I were in high school, we used to get lost alot. One such trip we were heading home from South Street and reading Deep Thoughts by Jack Handy . We got soo immersed in the book and lost track of all time and space; somehow we ended up in the middle of Camden. Camden NJ, you know the place with the highest homicide rate in the UNITED STATES, yeah thats where we were. Just because we were reading such precious jewels as "In weightlifting, I don't think sudden, uncontrolled urination should automatically disqualify you." Check out the link, it will all make sense...
Anyway this post is for you Mama K.

My Sweet Peanut

Here is my sweet peanut Hannah that I live with. She brings me so much joy its ridiculous!!! I only pray that when Jase and I have kids they can be as sweet and adorable as she is!

sneaking in

ahead of my deadline to say I had a wonderful night. Just what I needed.

Jase took me to Ocean City and we walked on the boardwalk, then we went to the Crabs Claw for dinner, then we visited with Mama K and clan. It was good.
I will have a real post tomorrow, just had to get this in for NABLOPOMO

Beating a dead horse

So I'm a bit emotional tonight, well I have been for the last couple months or so. Why do you ask? Emotional Dirkey, is everything ok?? the answer everything is incredible. Everything I've ever wanted is coming true, its just happening all at one time. That means there is ALOT of change, a whole lot. I've never been happier in my life, but I'm also sooo tired. I'm in transition with my job, with moving (all my stuff is divided up in three different houses), with Jason, with being a homeowner; its just alot. I can't wait till we have the house, till we're married, till we're both past our 90 day transition time at work; ahh to be settled. Even as I write I know I've been here before, wondering when things were going to happen. What God was going to do with my life. The way He did is so much better than I could have ever planned. So I need to give up now, give it to Him let Him do with it what He will. I'm going to take it a day at a time, and try to enjoy where I am instead of trying to get ahead to where things will be "better".

Google search

someone searched
"holy cow happy birthday myspace comments"
and found my site.
Somehow I think they missed the mark

To everything there is a season

Recently I've been running into alot of people from my past, people who I've just lost touch with. They were people who, for the time they were in my life, had a tremendous impact. I am blessed to have many lifelong friends, Tamara and Mama K are the big ones, that have been there for me for the long run(and hopefully I'm there for them as well). They are the ones that I know no matter what will stick by me, will give me a kick in the pants, who I can call and confess/tell anything to without fear that they are going to disown me. Sometimes though in the course of living you meet up with other people that can make you laugh till your face turns blue, give you a hug when you need one most, are able because of objectivity give great clarity and insight into your life. When they leave your life its not always because there was some trama/drama/fight; it could just be that you both moved on; and thats the way it is with these friends. I can look at them now without anger, resentment, hurt and just appreciate who they were to me for the time I had them. I've had some great memories come back to me in the past few days one of which I'm going to share now.
There was a woman that I knew when I was younger, I think I met her when I was 19 or so; she was the church secretary and just had a wonderful personality. I never really hung out with her one on one, but for some reason or another I was around her alot. She had a great deal of silliness in her but it was mixed with love and humility. I remember watching her interact with children and teenagers and wanting to emulate that acceptance in my life.
One specific memory pushes itself to the front of my mind. We had a missions trip to Jamaica and for some reason we were all sleeping in this big room on air mattresses, I think there were like 20-25 of us. Most of the people on the trip were high school age and if you've ever been on a trip with a group of high schoolers you know they can be pretty "rambunctious". I remember one night, Oak (which is this womans blog title) took a book from her suitcase called "The Three Tree's" and read it to us all. That book has since become one of my favorites, that I have given away as gifts and read to any little ones that I could pull around to listen. There is just something about that night that was great, a bunch of teens in Jamaica listening attentively to a children's book, I'll never forget it or Oak.

I love these things

I'm a bird, I'm a plane, no I'm.....

What Super Hero Are You? Your Result: You are Superman! Is it a rocket? Is it a plane? No, it's you!! You like to wear a cape and you also liek to wear your undies on the outside of your clothes once in a while! You also like the newspaper!
You are Wonder Woman!
You are Spiderman!
You are Batman!
What Super Hero Are You? Create Your Own Quiz

Only two more weeks till closing!

I'm so ridiculously excited, I can barely stand being around myself!!

This made my day

Pictures... :)

So I was sitting here thinking of my Gels, so I went to check out her myspace and I found this..



and it made me smile.
Even though it kinda hurt me when she didn't wear my gift down the aisle, I can see now that she DID like it.

I've always been told I would be good in radio

Seriously I have, and I always thought it was weird considering that I've also alway's been told to stop mumbling. Weird but it is true....
Well I took this quiz thinking that I would score a Philladelphian accent but nope apparently I'm from the midland.. :)

What American accent do you have? Your Result: The Midland "You have a Midland accent" is just another way of saying "you don't have an accent." You probably are from the Midland (Pennsylvania, southern Ohio, southern Indiana, southern Illinois, and Missouri) but then for all we know you could be from Florida or Charleston or one of those big southern cities like Atlanta or Dallas. You have a good voice for TV and radio.
Philadelphia
The South
The Inland North
The Northeast
The West
Boston
North Central
What American accent do you have? Take More Quizzes

Schmoop however is all Philly, he smells like cheesesteaks too..

so Fresh!!

So Mama K gave me the bestest birthday gift, well she gave me a bunch but one sticks out tonight. This is probably because I just used it, its Dr. Bronner's Peppermint Soap . This stuff is amazing!!!! Buy it, Use it, Be REFRESHED!
Thanks Mama K!!!!

Britt's Baby Shower

So I was able to go to Britt's baby shower today, they did a great job at it! There were alot of fun games, the notable one being the poopy diaper game. They took full size chocolate bars and melted them in diapers then the guests had to figure out what kind of chocolate bar it was. It was definitely an interesting game.
Had to head out early, so I snuck out during the gifts. I can't wait to see Britt's little girl, only a few more months!!
Peanut was there as well, poor little guy was a little overwhelmed by all the people. Got to spend some quality time with him when mama k took him for a ride to calm him down. He's a sweet little boy soo serious!

Determination

Soap Box

So I've been reading everyone's blogs for NABLOPOMO and one thing that has really bothered me is all the political posts. Mainly I align myself with the conservatives, which isn't to say that I feel like I am represented by the republican party. I've become disallusioned with the whole thing. Our country has strayed so far from where we started. Have our leaders read the Declaration of Independance lately on what is/isn't the governments role in society? Throwing money around, raising taxes, government sponsored health care, welfare; is this what we really signed up for? I know, I know nasty comments are going to be posted; I DO believe you should help people that are in need, I DO NOT believe that it should fall on the federal government to do so. We need to take some initiative and stop throwing money at a problem and get our hands dirty and help fix it. Whens the last time you went out and helped at a food kitchen, took your extra jackets around a city to give away, gave the rest of your lunch to someone on the street, visited people in a nursing home, played basketball with the kids in your neighborhood. I'm including myself in this, I haven't done nearly as much as I should do in this area. We need to take steps to fix what we can where we are, if we all did this we wouldn't have the national problems that we do have.

I took the long rambly way around it, but I'm just asking does it matter? republicans-democrats, are we really picking what we feel is the best party or are we picking the lesser of two evils?


-------
revisiting..
It was pointed out that the Declaration of Independance doesn't have anything to do with this post... And after thinking about it it doesn't. I was trying to say that our leaders haven't revisited why this country was established and should review the Declaration of Independance, the Constitution, The Bill of Rights. It seems to me that somewhere along the line we fell away from the course that we started on.
Thanks Anonymous! You can always post your names in comments, I don't get upset if I'm misquoting, wrong or whatever call me on it. I'd rather know and correct it than go on being ignorant!

My little insurance policy post

So tonight I'm going to Fire By Nights cd release party, I'm not sure I'm going to get home in time to post about it soooo.
I'm going to do another silly website

I was born on Be Bald and Free Day in National Pickled Pepper Month..
sweet..

http://library.thinkquest.org/2886/INDEX.HTM

Now I don't need to look both ways while crossing the street

Dirkey: At age 56 while showing your work at a major art gallery, you will be accosted and later slain by PETA activists

that takes the big burden of not knowing of my back..

http://evil.berzerker.net/death_predictions.php

Update

If your shoes are talking to you (falling apart) stapling them together, DOES NOT WORK.
Little tip from my blog to your life.

House!

So I'm pretty much freaking out with the impending close on the house. In less than two weeks Jason and I will have a house! I want to do soo many things; paint, carpet, put hardwood down, decorate, get furniture. I'll have to physically restrain myself from doing too much right off. Want to do it right, not go spending all our money right away. Self restraint is not a strong suit with me so we will see how this little battle between good dirkey and bad dirkey ends up..... I have a feeling it will help to have level headed schmoop weigh in with good dirkey.

-ps-Jason is the only one living there till we get hitched... sheesh people...

OOOOOUUUCHH!!!!!!!!!!!!

I slept wrong on my neck and it hurts sooo bad!! grrrr
I'm getting old.
Lame post I know..

such a cutie

So we went to Meghan's christening on Saturday. She is such a sweet little peanut, and I'm not at all biased because I'm her aunt and her Godmother. This summer must have been a good time for baby cooking cause the two kiddo's I know that popped out are ADORABLE!!!
Here is my Meghan in her pretty Christening clothes! Such an angel!


and here is my Gracie baby!!


Here is Meghan's neat little seat, its so weird seeing her sit in this!! We were saying that they should make this for adults, for my new house I want like 8 of them in the living room. We can all sit, perfectly supported and talk.. so nice..and quite the fashion statement.

DUCK!!!

Tamara and I made this...

then I became the two headed ducky monster... grrrrr

Sooo sleepy

Went to baby Meghan's Christening today in Hoboken, I was the Godmommy. Then afterwards to Porto Spain restaurant, my brother doesn't mess around. I had lobster and Jason had Filet Mignon, FOR A CHRISTENING!! The party itself will be bigger than my wedding I'm sure. From there we came back and started icing a ducky cake for my friend Sara's baby shower. It turned out sooo cute, looks like a little bathtub with a ducky in the middle, Tamara came over to help with her mad sculptie skills. We used fondant which is like playdoh in consistency and taste, so Tamara was in her groove. I'll post pictures later of both the Christening and the cake.

Home Sweet Home

My Kittie

One of the things I'm most excited about with the new house is that I get to have my kittie back!! Miss Olivia is definitely an "acquired taste", so I'm so happy that Mrs D was able to watch her. I' miss her and now I'm ready for her to start scratching my legs, for her to jump in my lap when I'm reading and for her to sit on my computer while I'm typing. Ohh if we get the house by Thanksgiving she'll have plenty of time to knock down our Christmas tree!!

Wondering why I'm actually updating?

I've joined NABLOPOMO which was organized by one of my daily reads; fussy. Hopefully I can keep the momentum going. I have to post every day in November. With all the house stuff I'm sure I'll have plenty of material but we'll see :)

Realizing that I always neglect Germany...

Maybe its the fact that when we got there we were tired. We had been travelling around awhile, we were stinky, and it meant we had to go home soon. I'm guessing thats why I've neglected posting my Germany pictures. I have no clue. It was a blast though, we met up with Chris in Frieburg (I don't think thats spelled right) and then went to Munchen (which I pronounce Munching), then up to Cologne to meet up with friends and attend the Karnival. Karnival is when I learned that Americans (or at least we) can't hang at all. The first night we went out with people our age, got to a bar which was ridiculously packed, when our boys got groped(by men) we turned around and left. We ended up in a pizza place in full costume, wooo can you handle it yeah we were that much fun! The next night we were hanging out with the older people thinking maybe we could hang with them but no, we definitely were the freak losers of the party. Literally there were elderly people drinking and dancing more than we were. It was held in this lady's basement, which was turned into a bar, and there were people there that ranged from like 20-85; these people danced ALL NIGHT LONG! We hung out for awhile but after like 5 hours we tried to hide out from all the dancing, they found us and made us dance more. Seriously they made us dance ALL NIGHT LONG, I was SOOOO TIRED!!
All in all though, it was an amazing country. I loved the people, culture and the AMAZING views!



Frieburg


Jason in his cool German hat...


yes, that is a storm trooper, in Germany, next to a clown, next to a pirate, all in front of a gnome. I told you it was an amazing country, could there be anything cooler than this?!

Decorating

Is it wrong that the first thing I want to buy for Schmoop's and my new house is sparkly Christmas lights.. Forget furniture, we can sit on the floor but WE NEED SPARKLE LIGHTS on our shrubs!!!
The second thought that I have as far as decorating is "WOW that huge bookcase will fit so many of our toys!"
That is all.

We got it!!!

I've been doing the happy dance ever since!! Lovely house, Lovely neighborhood, lovely neighbors! Everything I've dreamed of is coming true; wonderful loving man, a place we can call home, and the future that God has planned for us stretched out before us.
I am loved by a Good God!

Another Day Another Bid

So Schmoop and I went to look at houses again today. We went to early service at church then headed out to Pennsauken. Today was so much better than the last time, I have no clue what happened last time. It really seemed like all the houses we looked at before were designed by a crack addict. Just a little insight, the one house had a stairway leading to nothing in the kitchen. Literally behind the stove were like 7 steps that lead nowhere... This time was better (one would hope right?!) we saw some affordable houses in some nice neighborhoods. We started heading home and decided to check out a house thats behind Schmoops twin brother's house. Long story short we put a bid in on it tonight. So below could be the future Casa de Schmoop.

WI today

Soooooo, I kind of fell hard off the wagon for a few weeks.
I gained some, in the past week I gained 1.5 lbs.
We've been looking for houses, and starting new jobs, still moving (forever moving).
I'm forcefully making myself slow down and take everything one step at a time, including this whole weight watcher thing. The new incredible job I have has a huge closet full of all sorts of CHOCOLATE (granola bars, candy, and cookies) but I'm going to stay out of that area at all costs this week!
Things are going good though, even if I'm getting frustrated in the whole house front. The house that we put the bid in on already had a better bid on hand.
Sooo with the forceful slowdown, I'm hoping that my writing skills increase by like 1,000. I will be updating more, and I'm also on myspace if you want to look and try to find me :)

Holy Cow

We just put a bid on this house... commence chewing on nails.
It's really hard to believe that I'm old enough to own a house. Honestly, although I know that I am an adult, I frequently view myself as the teenager I used to be. I'm excited though, to own a house, to start a life with the man I love, to be an adult(as long as I'm allowed to be an immiture one anyway!). So all prayers would be appreciated, and if anyone wants to throw a couple hundred thousand Schmoop's and my way we would appreciate it!

Step right up!!!!!!

So Schmoop and I have never been to the circus. I know!!! I couldn't believe it either. The situation had to be remedied. Steps were taken, results were obtained, and now the problem has been solved.
We both were extremely excited to go and see the show!

when we stepped up to the tent

I almost peed my pants

One of my favorite parts was the lady in a tutu walking the tightrope
(Schmoop swears its a man, which just makes it better!)

In summation, I LOVE THE CIRCUS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Fell of the Wagon

So I'm using the no weigh in pass this week. Its been 5 months on WW, and this is the first time I'm using it so its cool. I'm back on the wagon after a week of craziness. Did not even look at the scale but I will next week. Started putting in my points online again this morning so we shall see how things go. Schmoop and I both had good-bye parties at work so there were alot of reasons to quit, as well as the celebration schmorgashboard that we made for his return. Its been a wonderful week knowing that he's back in NJ for good!! We went to look at houses in PA yesterday, still on the fence as to where we're going to live. We shall see!!!

So exciting though, we are both starting new jobs on Monday!

Buy me something

its fun! :)
I've made it easy check out my wishlist ->


Today was my last day at the mortgage company, suprisingly bittersweet. No, I never really did see myself staying there forever but I have been there 5 years. I thought it would be easy walking out the door, but I think I will really miss the people I used to work with. I had some good times, like when Schmoop first proposed to me with a sculpture made out of a paper clip! When I made my Tom Jones shrine on my desk, and Buker would do the dance in the aisle. Meeting some amazing forever friends, some of them who I've taken fantastic trips to Vegas and Europe. Meeting the man of my dreams. Taking walks with Papa K when he worked with me. Five years of silliness.

WI Friday!!!

I lost 2.5 for a total of 29.5!!!!!!!!!!!!!
My goal is 30 before my birthday completely attainable!! :)
I'm going down to visit Schmoop this weekend, pack him up to bring him home! Once he's up here, we are planning on walking every night together so that will help things alot!
We are also going to the circus tomorrow so I will definitely be posting more pictures this weekend :)
By all, thanks for your support here!

WI last week

I lost 5 woo hoo!!! I can't wait till it stops fluctuating sooo much. Its driving me mad, but I think it has to do with stress, hormones, etc. Schmoop and I both got new jobs (!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) last Tuesday. Which means that Schmoop is getting sprung from the land far far away and is moving in about 5 minutes from me!!! I'm so excited my life feels like everything is coming together, everything I've ever hoped and prayed for is coming true. Its hard for me to be anything but grateful right now, which is a good problem to have!
It has been a bit stressful though, I'm not completely moved yet and now Schmoop is in the middle of moving. We both quit our jobs and are getting new ones. We are starting to look for a house and looking seriously towards marriage. Its like every life change that could be is happening, so weird. It seems like there were so many times that I just prayed that something would happen. I was soo unsure of what was coming in the future that I just wanted it to happen to get it over with. Its amazing to see how God's plan is coming together though, just teaches me that I just need to trust in Him more that He will lead me and guide me in His perfect way. Sometimes I look back and wish that Jason and I would have gotten together right when he started at Cendant but we both had serious things to work through, and those things have made us who we are today. I can't wait to see whats in the future.

Shasta's wedding

So schmoop and I went to Shasta and Ben's wedding this weekend, so amazing..


Shasta and her daddy walking down the aisle, such a gorgeous day!

Tamara showing off her gorgeous bridesmaid dress

Mr. and Mrs. Phillips!

Schmoopin it up for the wedding!

The beautiful blushing bride!!!!

Best of everything to both of you Shasta and Ben!

Wow!!!

So I was looking through some stuff I've found about NY's fashion week. I was kind of curious to see what would make the runways. Most times its ridiculous and absurd, but in a way that makes you take a double take. It makes me laugh.
Well anyway i was looking and i saw this crazy picture of a girl that was so incredibly skinny it looked like she might not be able to stand on her own. She was modelling a bikini and I remembered something I read about Italy banning "skinny" models on the runways. Hopefully this is the start of celebrating healthy women, not women who have to starve themselves and do drugs to keep their emmaciated figure. Anyways, I'm just trying to get to average.
By the way, i gained some last week (5!), and lost two this week. What the heck!! still down 23, still plodding along. Going to try to cut out alot of the soda I drink and keep a closer eye on my point values. Maybe I'm estimating too much or something, but I will get this right and I will be healthy!!

Reliving my past part II Switzerland

So i finished uploading my Paris pics, and just finished my Switzerland.
Here are some of my favorites...
It really says something about a country if you feel calmer after you just look through some of your pictures. I can't wait to go back, it was one of the most beautiful places, if not the most beautiful place I've ever been.
The first two pictures were taken out the train window. If you ever go to Switzerland go on the Glacier Express(a train that goes through the Swiss Alps). It really takes you through some of the most beautiful scenery in the whole world.



















Interlacken















I'm still kicking myself that i didn't buy this hat.

















This tree was on the side of the road when we were walking through Interlacken to go do our laundry.

Reliving my past

I'm uploading pictures to my Shutterfly account, so I started on the pictures from Europe. We had soo much fun and things were so beautiful. Here are some pics from Paris, if you want to see more go check out the Shutterfly. I'm not quite sure how to do it, so when i figure that out I'll let you know but for now here are a few of my favorites.
Forget you are staring at a computer screen and pretend we are walking along stopping and having some brie with our baguettes. Taking in the sights, the art, the leasure... Then buy a ticket and lets go!


the Arch de Triumph










A wonderful pic my schmoop took that screams Paris to me.






























This little picture actually takes up the whole wall of part of the Louvre. It was my favorite piece of art that I saw. If you take a look there is a woman in the bottom left of this picture that will show you how massive this thing is. Its called the Wedding at Cana (and its also located directly behind the Mona Lisa)













This is the Sacre Coeur ( I don't think that was spelled right)