{you're NOT tired}

Oh, but I AM tired! My body hurts and I feel like I could sleep a whole day away, but I cannot and therefore will not, I will just complain about it. Actually, I am not so much tired, as I am sore. I have been working out pretty consistently since February 13th, but last week I got just a little 'lazy' and instead of working out indoors, I got my work out on, outdoors. I biked a lot and even rollerbladed, but I don't know that they were as effective as my indoor workouts. I know I was still being active, but I also know that I wasn't eating as well as I should have been either.

I gave myself the weekend to pig out because I knew that we were going home and I wanted to enjoy the meals that my mom was making. I mean, I couldn't make cake pops for her birthday and then not allow myself to enjoy them, now could I?! So, I ate good over the weekend and then told myself Monday was a new week. I also decided to restart my Turbo Fire program with a vengence on Sunday and I am not looking back this time! I am trying to really hold myself accountable to the program this time. And even though I was supposed to take Tuesday off according to the program, I didn't because I knew if I did, I probably wouldn't pick back up. I thought then maybe I would take tonight off because the next workout in store for me was the Fire 55EZ workout, but I knew that if I took today off and got home from clinic late tomorrow that I wouldn't work out tomorrow either and then probably wouldn't pick it back up. So, today, I pounded out the Fire 55EZ workout and I am SO proud of myself. I did it without stopping as well! I didn't know if I had it in me to do the whole workout, but I pushed through!
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Because I have patients scheduled through 4:00pm tomorrow, I will probably not be getting home until 5:00-5:30pm. I then have to cook supper for Ayden and myself. We are also having one of the first year students over and her husband and daughter to come look at our house because they are potentially looking at a new place to rent. I'm sure they will be here for at least a half hour or so and by then it will probably be 7:00pm or later. And I am usually bushed after a long day of clinic. I thought about maybe getting up early and working out, but I doubt I'll get that ambitious and I am feeling that my body needs a day to recoup as well.

Other than working out with Turbo Fire again, I have doubled my water intake as well. Normally, I drink two bottles of water a day. One with lunch and one with supper. Since Monday I have been drinking four bottles of water per day. Let me tell you, doubling your water intake means you have to pee A LOT and OFTEN! Haha! TMI?!?! I am super hydrated, that is for sure! We use the MiO water flavoring at our house and I love it. I don't particularly like just regular water, so if I can add something to it that has no calories or sugar or anything and then makes the water taste good, I'm all for it! We'll see how long I can keep up drinking this much water before I get super sick of it. I've been drinking one between breakfast and lunch, one with lunch, one with supper, and then one after supper, usually after I'm done working out. Starting on Monday, I've also started calorie counting again. Have I metioned that I'm still no closer to 115 lbs today than I was on February 13th when I started working out? If anything, I'm farther from it! Muscle hopefully! I still struggle with trying not to let the scale number bother me. Working out makes me feel so good afterwards, so I'm hoping to keep at it regularly.

Ayden and I have been doing alright with Jay so far. Day numero tres done. Ayden has been behaving pretty well after school. Tonight he was super excited to help me make supper. We just had mac n cheese and hot dogs, but I let Ayden do a lot of the work. He is growing up so fast! We also did a bit of grocery shopping and have been keeping up with his reading and homework each night. Jay has to work on Sunday, so he will be coming home Friday night and staying until supper on Saturday. Part of me thinks it really isn't worth the gas money, but I know that he wants to see us and we want to see him too.

As each day passes, we figure out a few more details about our moving. Thankfully I have enough other stuff to keep my mind busy throughout the most of each day that I don't sit and obsess over it, but I would be lying if I said I wasn't super excited about it! But before we can do that, I have a few assignments that I need to start and complete (two by next Wednesday). I've started both assignments and neither of them is going to be too hard... it is just a matter of completing both of them. They are both busy work, which is stupid at this point in our education, but I would rather have stupid assignments than exams that I had to study for, so I will take them without too much complaining. Speaking of school, I was totally thinking about 'calling in' today and skipping class. My classmate is gone to the audiologist conference in Boston and I really just didn't want to sit through either class today. But, because I am a good student, I didn't 'call in' and went to class. My first class was short because a few people in Madison were gone too, and my second class was cancelled. Awesome! It was a good day! Now, if only clinic was cancelled tomorrow, haha! My schedule looks pretty full for tomorrow, but I know that that will make the day go fast so that is good.

Time to go relax with the little man!

CIAO! LOVE ME!

{from above}

Remember in my last post when I mentioned that Jay and I were going to go look at a possible house to rent this weekend? Well, we signed a lease today on said house!!!!!!!!!!!!! (Insert the most excited happy face here, haha!)

Back story on said house... you know, ‘cause I said there would be a nice post coming about it.

Around Thanksgiving this past year, Jay's mom had been perusing the internet for houses for sale on a whim. She had come across a foreclosure in the area that we were looking to rent when it was time to move. She was wondering if Jay and I had ever considered buying a house instead of renting, especially one as cheap as the one she had found. Granted, the house she had found needed some major TLC... a definite starter house that we'd have to work on as the years went buy. Jay and I thought a little bit about it, looked at the pictures, drove by the house, and ultimately knew that buying a house at this point in our lives just wasn't in our budget. (Is anything really in our budget at this point in our lives?!) Nice thought, but not something we could do at this point in time.

Fast forward to last week... I was doing my daily Craigslist checking for new apartment listings in the area and found one that was posted that same day and in the location we were looking at. *Sidenote* I have been looking on Craigslist almost daily for the last month and this was the third place we had found that sounded like it would meet our needs and be in the area. The first one was a different house that was too expensive and the other was an apartment that was most likely going to be too small. This listing was a house for rent that has three bedrooms and one bath and was being COMPLETELY remodeled inside and was going to be available right when we needed it to be and the rent was the same as what we are paying right now. I would have preferred to pay a little less since we are moving to a smaller town, but at least we won’t be paying more! It was a definite must that we contact the owners of this property and at least check it out.

I emailed the owners and found out that the house for rent was... wait for it... wait for it... the exact one that Jay's mom had mentioned to us a few months earlier! What are the odds?! Seriously, what are the odds? This must have been meant to be and only God knew that when we drove past the house how many months ago that we would be renting it in the months to come! That is the only explanation, really, it is! (more smiley faces!) This is probably a lesson that I need to put my faith in Him more often… something I haven’t been doing very good at lately because I am a total control freak!

The house is an older house and has the character that I love in houses. Is it a perfect house, nope. Even after all of the renovations, will it be perfect, nope. But it will definitely work for our family. The bathroom is super small and there is only one, but honestly, it will work for us. We seem to be moving to bigger places, but getting smaller bathrooms because at our last apartment the bathroom was huge, but the space was smaller and at our current house the space is bigger, but the bathroom is smaller. Now we are getting even a little more room and an even smaller bathroom. There are three bedrooms. The one extra bedroom takes the place of the extra bathroom we will not have. There are a TON of windows and I am literally IN LOVE with that! Lots and lots of natural light! The living room and dining room are fairly big, as well as the kitchen. Well, they all will be once they are complete. There is also an extra playroom which is even more awesome! There is a nice big front yard as well and is really close to a park. Honestly, neither Jay or myself thought we would find something better in that area. And now I can spend the rest of the semester concentrating on school work and not worrying about find a place to move.

Both my mom and dad had some boxes for us to take this weekend too. Actually, my dad had like 30 big boxes for us, so I'm not sure how many more we will be needing. It just makes this all the more real for us. Boxes for moving and signing a lease on a place to live. It just goes to show that all will come in His time and not mine. Shame on me for not realizing that sooner. :/

I didn’t take any pictures today because, like I said, the whole place is being redone. The walls in the living room had been torn down, the kitchen was gutted, the flooring was all ripped up. In due time, though…

CIAO! LOVE ME!

{zen}

This week is going SO slow and I LOVE it! I am literally soaking in every moment of no stress, no school, no clinic, and the beautiful weather. I don't think that anyone could ask for a more perfect spring break. It has been probably forever since Jay, Ayden, and I have had a whole week together with nothing to do. I only worked one day and we have all been just super laid back. Lots of fun family time, but I do know that we could never do this full time because we would get on each others nerves too much. I have to say, it has been pretty good so far this week.

I have officially signed up for the Praxis this week. Just over one month before that weight is off of my shoulders, but I am trying not to stress over that right now. I know that I need to start studying a little bit for that, but even just having signed up for it is a step in the right direction, hehe! I have also been semi productive with my capstone project this week which is another step in the right direction for me. I haven't done quite as much as I would like; however, each step forward is considered progress, right?

The two best parts of this week... the weather and being able to sleep in for multiple days in a row (although it has sort of reeked havoc on my ability to fall asleep at night).

I chopped my hair off yesterday. Okay, so I didn't actually chop it off, my hairstylist did, and I am in love with it. I haven't gone this short in quite a few years, but it was time for a change. Jay told me right out before I went to get it cut that he liked my hair longer and didn't want me to get it cut. Oops, haha! He'll get over it and besides, he won't be home during the week anymore so he won't have to see me with it short for very often. I really like how it turned out and so did everyone at work this morning. It is pretty low maintanence which is what I wanted and I was able to recreate the look I came home with last night so that is an even bigger plus. You know, you leave the salon loving how your stylist styled your hair and then the next morning no matter what you do, you cannot recreate it! Well, last night I paid particular attention to what she was doing and it worked! I am sad that last night was probably my last night getting my hair cut there. My stylist is awesome and I don't think I've ever left the salon unhappy with how my hair turned out. I do have to say that my appointment last night probably could have taken an hour less if she wouldn't have talked so much or maybe worked a little faster. I was there for three hours (I got my hair highlighted too), and I couldn't get a word in edge wise, hehe! I guess she just loves to talk to her clients. I have to say, I was never bored while there!

I haven't been working out in the basement for the last week(ish). With the beautiful weather it is just so hard to get myself to go down there to workout when I could be outside. So, instead I have been getting my cardio in on my bike. I've put almost 35 miles on my bike in the last week. Most of my trips have been around 5 miles with Ayden to the beach and back, but him and I did a six mile one once, and I biked eleven miles one night as well. I can't say that the five mile rides were too intense because they weren't, but there were enough hills that we had to go up so they had to count for something! The eleven mile ride was good. I took me almost exactly an hour. I was averaging 11.1 miles/hour the whole trip (love my little bike odometer thingy that tells me all of that good information). My legs were feeling it after that one though! Tonight I rollerblading eight miles and that felt really good too. I probably could have kept going too, but my knee was starting to bother me a little bit. I just love being outside and active in this weather! And I just cannot believe that it is still March and the weather has been so nice for so many days in a row! NO complaining from me. It is fabulous! And the current weather forecast on my phone is predicting 50 degrees or higher through April 14th. Now I know April 14th is still a ways away, but if we can keep the weather 50 degrees or warmer until then, that is just less and less time that it can get super cold again. I don't know that I can fathom getting out our winter coats again. We literally skipped the mediocre spring weather so far this year. I mean, one week it was winter coat and boots weather, and the next it was shorts and sandals. We have had our windows open for the last week. I am in full walking outside barefoot weather. The snow is totally gone from our house and Jay has already made the lawn look pretty. I've been sitting outside reading, Jay and Ayden have been golfing, the plants are growing, it is just amazing!

I hesitate to write this, because I don't want to jinx anything, but Jay and I are going to look at a house to rent this weekend. We are very excited about it and praying that if it is meant to be, it will be. I have more to say about this, but I don't want to get ahead of myself or get too excited about something that might not be. So, like I said before, if it is meant to be and things do work out, be prepared for a post all about it. I think because our weekend is going to be filled with lots of fun stuff, both Jay and I think the week is going slow. I also think that Jay is anxious to start work on Monday. We are heading home Friday sometime and Jay and Ayden might go fishing with Jay's brother Friday night. Saturday, we are meeting up with my sister and brother in the morning to take some pictures for our mom's mother's day gift and then going over there for lunch and an afternoon of good times. The weather is supposed to be pretty nice the whole weekend. Then on Sunday we are going to look at the house and pick up some boxes from my dad.

Jay thought it might be a good idea to start going through our garage and separating what we wanted to keep and what we wanted to sell at a rummage sale. Let's just say our garage is a mess right now! I will probably not be parking in it anymore, which is okay. We have a lot of stuff that we want to sell. I think we both have decided to have a rummage sale at wherever our new place ends up being this summer. It means having to haul everything when we move, but we both think it will be easiest.

New Criminal Minds is on tonight, so time to go watch that (and maybe have a big bowl of ice cream?!).

CIAO! LOVE ME!

{on my time}

I am a Type A perfectionist. Life should, but doesn't, revolve around my schedule and planning. You think this sweet face would let me run the show all of the time?! Doubtful, hehe!

Of course, I'm a mom, so life doesn't. But it doesn't more so because of my lovely fiancé than anything. Part of me is counting down the hours until Jay is gone during the week because then if something needs to get done, I'll have no choice but to do it and then cannot get annoyed if it doesn't get done.I mean, sometimes I just get so exasperated that I look like this! (My lame attempt at adding a little humor to this post because it is bound to get a little whiny sounding today.)

I am a BIG believer that the way our house is kept clean and how the parenting duties are divided should be 50/50. I am not the only parent, so I shouldn't have to do everything myself. I am not the only one living in this house, so I shouldn't have to clean everything myself. I will admit, that with cleaning, sometimes I am a bit neurotic. I like things in their place. Our house may not pass super clean standards. I don't dust or vacuum nearly as much as I probably should (I can see a layer of dust on our TV stand as we speak), but it is organized for the most part. I tend to pick up the living room each morning before I leave... folding blankets, putting shoes away, having Ayden pick up his toys from the night before, putting remotes where they belong, etc. I like our rooms to be fairly clean and organized. The kitchen table is one of those places at our house that I can never seem to keep free of clutter (probably because we don't eat at it).Theoretically, since Jay has been not working consistently for the last three plus months, it would seem that he should be doing the majority of the house work. WRONG! That guy doesn't know how to do anything of his own volition. (Minus the dishes, since that is his only 'assigned chore' that he can see. He is supposed to clean the litter box as well, but that only happens after I ask him about four days in a row to clean it.) Honestly, he cannot even clean the entire kitchen without me bitching about it. He starts by putting the dishes in the dishwasher... but then stops. I mean, seriously, if the counter is dirty, how hard is it to WIPE IT OFF?!

Another example is emptying his bag from a weekend at his parents house. It shouldn't take an entire week for him to empty it and that only happened because he needed to fill it up again. I will admit, that I sometimes let the little things get to me. Well, not just sometimes, a lot more than just sometimes… I mean, for being a guy, he is VERY good about putting the toilet seat down. Maybe that should count for something, right?! Haha! Some little things that bug the heck out of me are when he throws his keys on the table RIGHT NEXT to the key hanger by the door. How hard is it to hang your keys up when it is RIGHT NEXT to the table you throw them on? And then he doesn't put his coat in the coat closet, but instead walks right past it and hangs his coat on a chair in the kitchen. I mean, REALLY?! You walked RIGHT PAST the coat closet! Argh! Have I mentioned I’m a little neurotic?! It’s not every day that I get annoyed with this stuff. I mean, there are days when I come home from clinic, throw my bags down in the kitchen and leave them there until the next day. (I may or may not still have a dirty fork in my lunch bag from last Thursday yet, oops.)AAAHHHH, seriously, a dirty fork in your lunch bag yet! Come on mom! Haha!

Is it so bad though that I like a neat house? It doesn't have to be spotless, but really, is it so hard to sweep the kitchen when you see it getting dirty or put the cookies you made that day in a Tupperware container? Do I always have to be the one to telling him to do things? It is a big source of contention between us (especially lately) and honestly, I think it will probably only get worse after he is gone during the week living at his parents because my guess is that he won't be doing much cleaning there.

It is just my Type A personality shining through... I like things done my way and on my time. Okay, maybe I have some obsessive compulsiveness as well, haha! I like the remotes lined up on the table versus just laying their haphazardly (well of course, this is essentially when no one is watching TV) or that I prefer things in straight lines versus not. I am not neurotic on most things. There are definitely times where you can walk into my house and find a pile of MY clothes on the bedroom floor or a pile of dirty clothes in the hallway outside of the bathroom (because for some reason that is where we have designated the dirty laundry pile until it gets pushed down the laundry shoot by Ayden), or that there are dirty dishes on our counter, or our office area is cluttered with papers, or the basement has toys strewn about. Our house is by far spic and span and someplace that cannot be lived comfortably in, but sometimes the clutter gets to me and the fact that I am the only one doing things about it bothers me even more. Left to his own devices, Jay's house would be a lot messier than mine for a lot longer. We just clash in that area.Really mom, you just need to chill out!

Whatever though, I am in an annoyed mood today. I wish I could say I wasn't, but I am. Ayden was supposed to get his hair cut this morning (at home), but then he whined and complained about not wanting it done. Then Jay said he didn't really even want to cut it, after he said he would last night. I've asked for the kitty litter to be cleaned probably every day this week and it still isn't done. Jay wants to go bowling, but I don't really want to, then he gets pissed that I told him, when I asked him to come on a bike ride with me and Ayden yesterday and he was too lazy to come and instead just watched more TV. My car is in the shop waiting to be fixed and the $200 repair that it was supposed to be is now going to cost us probably $700 and that means I don't have a vehicle to drive and I would like to go to Best Buy this morning, but don't like driving Jay's truck and he's currently acting pissy towards me. I'd really like Jay to take Ayden golfing today so I could have a few hours to myself, but I doubt that that is going to happen. I'm letting the little things bother me this morning and I know I shouldn't, but knowing and doing are two different things and sometimes my brain doesn't like to listen to logic. I suppose everyone is allowed a few hours of life not being perfect, right? I'm bound not to let the rest of my day be bad. I could probably use a nice long bike ride, but I just showered, so I don't want to go out and get all sweaty right away and I think I will wait for it to warm up a little bit.

On a more positive note, I have been able to sleep until 8:30am the last two days and it has felt GREAT! Not to mention that the weather has been G.O.R.G.E.O.U.S!!! It is spring break and I am SO ready for some relaxation!I gave myself ‘off’ on Saturday and Sunday from doing anything school related and it has felt quite nice. Tomorrow I am going to get my butt out of bed at 7:00am…Yeah, I know, I said 7:00am… it really isn’t that early!

I didn’t ‘work out’ at all this week. I mean, yes, I did exercise in some way or another every day except Tuesday. I biked on Sunday, worked out on Monday, skipped Tuesday, biked on Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. I logged about 30-35 miles on my bike this week. I do want this week to be a little bit better with actual working out like I have been doing so that is my goal. Working out and biking some. The weather is supposed to be pretty decent.

Ayden and I did end up going for a bike ride today. We ended up at the beach and he made two little friends and got almost soaking wet in super cold water. Oops! Nah! Even though the water was pretty cold (definitely too cold to go swimming, I mean, it is only March 18th), the weather was so nice that I knew he would be okay. And it is not as if he was in his swimming suit and actually went swimming. He was just splashing around and running at the edge of the water with his new friends. I knew he was probably going to get a little wet and that was okay with me. All apart of being a kid! Having fun, getting dirty, and lots and lots of laughing!

Okay, blogging did me good today, I am in a much better mood now than when I started this post. Just needed to get it out. And even though Jay still irritates the heck out of me sometimes, he did make spaghetti for supper tonight and it was really yummy, so maybe I’ll forgive for today. Maybe…

CIAO! LOVE ME!

{to tip...or not to tip}

*I'm not writing this to start some debate, just expressing my own feelings and opinions.*
What got me thinking about this whole topic was a simple trip to Cold Stone Creamery for ice cream with the little man. (That, and a picture I saw on facebook of a some chick complaining about not getting a tip at her job.) We waited in line, gave our order, and got some ice cream all in about five minutes. I went to go pay and used my debit card as a credit card and got the slip to sign. On the slip there was a spot for a tip. A tip. At Cold Stone. Were they really expecting me to tip them? Did they deserve a tip? When did this start? Should I tip?

I did. I tipped one dollar, despite my feelings against it. Did I think the girl who scooped my sons ice cream into a bowl for a full thirty seconds deserved a tip, nope. Sorry, but I didn't. That's her job. Scoop ice cream. I have some mixed feelings about how much I should tip at restaurants. Part of me thinks I shouldn't tip anything. It is these people's job to serve me food. Why should they get extra from me? Well... they only get paid like $2.50 an hour, so they kind of depend on tips for the rest of their wages. I get that and so I do tip.

Where I get shady on is who all deserves a tip these days? I mean, if we tip waitresses for bring us our food, shouldn't we tip the baggers at the grocery store too, I mean they are providing us a service too and really, both of them are doing their job as they should. I tip my hair dresser (she deserves it... LOVE HER!), but should I tip the chick at Cost Cutters who waxes my eye brows? She is just doing her job, and it only takes ten minutes... if she does deserve a tip for ten minutes of work, what kind of tip should it be? Sometimes I'm flabbergasted.

I provide a service when I'm at clinic, shouldn't I be tipped? Doctor's provide a service, shouldn't they be tipped? When does it stop?!

Like I said, I tip at restaurants, I know that the servers get paid measley and need the tips, but that doesn't mean I have to be happy about it, does it? They may bring us our food, refill our drinks, act friendly, make sure we are doing okay, but that isn't ANY different than me seeing a patient and cleaning his or her ears because they are dirty, acting friendly and chatting with a patient, fixing their hearing aid, doing a hearing test. We are both doing a service to people. It is OUR job to do that sort of stuff. So, shouldn't I get tipped too?!

The next time I go to Cold Stone... no tip. Sorry, someone who serves me some ice cream there doesn't deserve a tip anymore than the person who serves me at Culvers and they don't have a tip line on their reciept.

Just my opinion...

CIAO! LOVE ME!

{out & about}

Because the weather has been so gorgeous outside lately, we have been taking as much advantage of it as we possibly can! That means getting out and about! Ayden and I love to go on little adventure together. Often times it involves going someplace with water! I have countless pictures of my child throwing things into the water, looking at the water, playing in the water, at the end of the water... etc... and these pictures aren't any different. Well, technically they are different, but you get the point, haha!

The sun was shining and my new camera was screaming to be used outside and I couldn't say no. So, instead of sitting down to work on capstone stuff Sunday afternoon before heading to a Pampered Chef party, Ayden and I ventured to Iverson Park for some fun. Me, camera in hand, him, boots on and ready to go! We didn't get to spend as much time there as we both would have liked, but I did get lots of pictures and Ayden played in the water! It was fun! It was a typical mom and Ayden outing. Loved it!

We have instituted a new reading routine at our house. We try to read with Ayden at least 20 minutes a night. Some nights go better than others. If it has been a long day for him, he gets antsy and doesn't try as hard at it as I would like him to. Then we both get frustrated and nothing gets accomplished. This past weekend, I thought maybe it was time for Ayden to start reading silently to himself for a little while. His reading teacher at school says that Ayden's reading comprehension is very good. We gave it a try on Saturday and Ayden read to himself for 10 minutes. Afterwards, I asked him some questions about the story to see if he was actually reading or just pretending to read. He was reading, that's for sure. He did great explaining what he had read to him.

I then decided that we would read together for 10 minutes each night and then separately for 10 minutes each night. The last two nights we've only read 15 minutes and it was silent reading. Ayden and I cuddled in my bed together and we each read our own books. It was so precious! Plus, it gives me an excuse to just relax and read a little bit each day. I could think of nothing better than reading next to Ayden. Fifteen minutes was pushing it a little bit last night as I could tell that Ayden was getting a little antsy towards the end. But, just like the first time, we both asked each other questions about our books and Ayden did a great job summarizing what he read to me. I love that he is comprehending what he is reading and that he is enjoying reading silently with me. I think it is going to be something that works well for him and I when Jay leaves.

Speaking of Jay leaving... d-day has been decided. Haha, I talk about him leaving like it is something major. His work start date is set for March 26th... a week and a half from now. It is two weeks sooner than what we had originally thought, but I suppose that it will work. We are planning on going home that weekend anyways, so Jay will just stay home I guess. I knew this nice weather would have him start working sooner than he wanted. It just means it will be more time for him to be in town to find a place for us to live. Keep your fingers crossed on that! I called on two places yesterday. One was a house and one was termed a condo. The house ended up being too expensive and the condo was really an apartment that I had already been to (a friend of mine used to live there) and although nice, they would not work for us. We have too much stuff, there is no garage, and I just really don't want to live in those apartments. We'll just keep looking!

The week is young and I am hoping to get a lot accomplished this week and next week with it being spring break. Ayden and I are going to see The Lorax on Friday with his second grade class and then it's spring break time! I took off work on Monday and Friday of next week so I can fully enjoy some time off and hopefully be productive with my capstone information and some assignments that will be coming due. I have made a to-do list of stuff that needs to get done for school before the end of the semester and although it isn't super long and hopefully won't be the source of much stress for me, it is a good visual for me to keep in mind what needs to be completed. I am a list person. I know that in just a few weeks I am sure I will be making list after list of what needs to be done regarding our move as well. So much more complicated when you are moving across the state. I've already even started thinking about babysitters for Ayden for the summer... a necessity actually. I am fairly certain we have the majority of the summer covered, but the logistics of it all need to be figured out yet. Alas, one more thing to add to the list and to not worry about for right now.

My mantra right now... ONE.DAY.AT.A.TIME!!!

CIAO! LOVE ME!

{roller-skates, pizza, and family}

I had the best weekend! The weather was fabulous and I had an overall great time and it went WAY too fast! It started out on Saturday morning. I sold my camera! How exciting! I recently upgraded my camera and had just posted my old one on Craigslist this past week. I had priced it a little high because from past dealings with Craigslist, I know people like to haggle. I've done it before too. I didn't think I would get what I had it priced at, but I sort of knew my bottom dollar. I had one offer on it earlier in the week for $225 LESS than what I had originally posted it for. The lady must have been nuts, haha! I politely declined her offer. I mean, at that point it was only posted for like two days! Saturday morning I got a text about it and ended up selling it for only $50 under what I had listed it for. YES! Super excited to have that done with! And I am in LOVE with my new camera. It is a beast compared to my other one. I did a lot of research before purchasing my new camera and went back and forth about when I should get it. I had originally wanted to wait and save up for it, but that would have taken until the end of the summer probably. Because I already have like 10-15 photo shoots scheduled for 2012 already, I know that I will be able to make that money up fairly fast. And that isn't counting anything else that gets scheduled for this summer. I decided to go with the Canon 7D. I had the Canon t1i and loved that so I knew I wanted to stay with Canon. I had originally wanted the Canon 5D Mark ii, but that is a heavy duty professional camera with an even heftier price tag that I just couldn't justify. The 7D is the next step down and it still fits the other two lenses that I have.

After that we headed out to go roller-skating with my dad's side of the family. My aunt and uncle threw together an afternoon of roller-skating and a pizza buffet. I was surprised at all of the family that showed up. Almost everyone was there, even my grandma! (Although she didn't roller-skate.) It was SO much fun! I love rollerblading and hadn't been in SO long so it was great. My sister, Emily, ended up not coming because she was not feeling very well and she was missed because Ayden was looking forward to seeing here. But, my sister, Alexis did end up coming and I was surprised about that because my dad was out of town and she was staying with her other grandparents. But I was so happy to see her!

Jay and I started out trying to get Ayden to roller-skate. We had gone once before about a year or two ago and Ayden wanted nothing to do with it and I was kind of apprehensive about going this time. The first and second time around were no good and Ayden pitched a fit about wanting to go back out. He had had enough, but I wasn't going to give up. I didn't come skating for him to not go. So, we got back up and back out and after a few more times around he was having a great time! He still didn't really get the hint of picking your feet up and pushing them outwards to go. His method was more of put one foot in front of the other and push yourself along using the wall and he was going pretty fast too.

After getting Ayden out there and going I ran into Alexis and took her out on the roller rink. It was her first time out there as well and after a few times around she was getting the hang of it pretty good too. She actually got the concept of roller-skating. I tell you though, my arm was definitely sore by the end of the afternoon from holding up Ayden and Alexis for three hours. But I'd do it all over because it was a lot of fun!When everyone was done skating we headed over to a new pizza buffet called Stevie B's and I have to say that it was pretty good for buffet pizza. The cost was pretty reasonable for a buffet as well... I think for an adult supper it was just under $7 and kids under ten its like $3-4. Worked for us. They had tons of different kinds of pizzas too and you could order your own. They had the normal sausage and cheese and then ones like taco, mac and cheese pizza, BLT pizza, loaded baked potato pizza, lots and lots of choices! I think it is safe to say we will probably be going back at some point! Yummy in my tummy!

I’ll end with a few pictures of the sky as we were driving home that night!CIAO! LOVE ME!