Vince & I attended our first Sunday School party tonight with our new class at one of the couple's houses. We had pizza, oreo balls, and chips. It was fun to get to know all the new people a little bit better. Several of them had toddlers with them so it was a kid friendly party. All the adults played a game that was similar to Cranium. We played guys versus girls and the guys won.
We have enjoyed getting to know all the couples in our new class. Several of them are friendly and easy to talk to. I just hope I can remember all their names.
Saturday, February 27, 2010
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
On the Road to Recovery
Vince & I have both been sick for over a week now. I finally went to the nurse practioner at work and got a Z-Pac for my sinus infection. Vince has had it about 4 days before me so his is really sounding better - just a lingering cough here or there now. I think we've gone through 4 big boxes of Kleenex this week. My poor nose is soooo sore. The pharmacist recommended a product called nasal saline gel. It wasn't out on the shelf, but it is an over the counter product. Only he had it behind the counter. You put a dab on a Q-tip and swab the outside & inside of your nose to prevent drying, nose bleeds, etc. It is the best thing I have ever tried. It's very soothing & almost refreshing. Vince & I have both really liked using it.
Work has been very busy for both of us this week. We are definitely getting in the mood to go on a vacation soon. We finally decided on what to do for our 1 year anniversary. We went back & forth on it due to cost, time, location, and so on....but we finally decided to do a cruise!! Woo hoo! I am so excited. The last cruise I went on was the Disney Cruise where we got engaged Dec 23, 2008. This cruise will be on Carnival out of Tampa. It is 7 nights long (Sunday to Sunday). We go to lots of fun new places neither one of us has been to. I can't wait!
Work has been very busy for both of us this week. We are definitely getting in the mood to go on a vacation soon. We finally decided on what to do for our 1 year anniversary. We went back & forth on it due to cost, time, location, and so on....but we finally decided to do a cruise!! Woo hoo! I am so excited. The last cruise I went on was the Disney Cruise where we got engaged Dec 23, 2008. This cruise will be on Carnival out of Tampa. It is 7 nights long (Sunday to Sunday). We go to lots of fun new places neither one of us has been to. I can't wait!
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Expired Toilet Paper
For the first time, I noticed a date and time stamp on the side of the toilet paper at work today. I don't know if they have always used toilet paper with a date/time stamp on it or if I just now noticed it.
08 23 08 16:33
In any case, I'm pretty sure it's the expiration date because it's hard, scratchy and very thin paper. After I worried about the expiration date, I started worrying about the ink they used on this paper and where I was putting it. I seriously doubt the ink they used was sanitary or sterile. I guess it's a good thing only a teensy bit of ink is on the edge of the extremely thin ply.
This whole scenario reminds me of Legally Blonde when she is applying to Harvard Law School and talks about being a leader by showing a clip of her at a sorority meeting voting on "no chafing" by getting better toilet paper.
08 23 08 16:33
In any case, I'm pretty sure it's the expiration date because it's hard, scratchy and very thin paper. After I worried about the expiration date, I started worrying about the ink they used on this paper and where I was putting it. I seriously doubt the ink they used was sanitary or sterile. I guess it's a good thing only a teensy bit of ink is on the edge of the extremely thin ply.
This whole scenario reminds me of Legally Blonde when she is applying to Harvard Law School and talks about being a leader by showing a clip of her at a sorority meeting voting on "no chafing" by getting better toilet paper.
Monday, February 22, 2010
No more lease
Today I signed the papers for a loan to buy out my lease on the RAV4. This means that I now will own this car in a few years instead of having to trade it in or watch my mileage. Yippee!! The best part of this news is that Vince has not really wanted to work on a leased vehicle so now he can. My first installation will be a automatic car starter. Kim bought me one for Christmas, but I think we're going to have a place in Greenville install one. Woo hoo! This will be so nice in the cold & hot weather.
When getting a new loan, I did a bit of research on rates, value of the car, etc. Vince mentioned that credit unions have the best rates, so after getting a few high quotes, I finally joined a credit union. Everyone there is really friendly & they beat the competitors by a 1/2 percent. The other nice part about my car is that due to all the abundant recalls on the later versions, my RAV4 has increased a ton in value. The going rates for the same type car are up about $4000 from where they were 3 weeks ago. Nice.
I love my RAV4. It is soooo convenient when transporting cakes, luggage, groceries, and more. But the cake transition is the bomb. The back door is a barn door so it opens from the side (which is the best idea ever for short people that can't reach the other types of doors). The lighting in the back was rather poor so Vince installed a camping light that is bright & runs on a battery. Now I just have to think of more toys or gadgets for Vince to add on the RAV4.
When getting a new loan, I did a bit of research on rates, value of the car, etc. Vince mentioned that credit unions have the best rates, so after getting a few high quotes, I finally joined a credit union. Everyone there is really friendly & they beat the competitors by a 1/2 percent. The other nice part about my car is that due to all the abundant recalls on the later versions, my RAV4 has increased a ton in value. The going rates for the same type car are up about $4000 from where they were 3 weeks ago. Nice.
I love my RAV4. It is soooo convenient when transporting cakes, luggage, groceries, and more. But the cake transition is the bomb. The back door is a barn door so it opens from the side (which is the best idea ever for short people that can't reach the other types of doors). The lighting in the back was rather poor so Vince installed a camping light that is bright & runs on a battery. Now I just have to think of more toys or gadgets for Vince to add on the RAV4.
Saturday, February 20, 2010
Olympics
The 2010 Olympics have been going by me in a flash. I wish I had more time to watch all the categories. I've missed so much of it & always enjoy watching it. I like all the background stories on each athlete and watching how much discipline it takes to become the best in the world. But I only seem to be catching an hour here or there each week. In any case...go USA!
I have managed to catch Vince's cold that he had this past week. I'm hoping it runs it's course quickly. I hate not being able to breathe & using a box of Kleenex in one sitting. It does not do well with my sensitive skin. And my eyes just feel tired - either from not sleeping well or the medicine. I'm taking Mucinex DM, but sometimes things just have to run their course. I wish they would invent the magic cure pill that only took one day to work.
I have managed to catch Vince's cold that he had this past week. I'm hoping it runs it's course quickly. I hate not being able to breathe & using a box of Kleenex in one sitting. It does not do well with my sensitive skin. And my eyes just feel tired - either from not sleeping well or the medicine. I'm taking Mucinex DM, but sometimes things just have to run their course. I wish they would invent the magic cure pill that only took one day to work.
Monday, February 15, 2010
Our First Valentine's Day Together
We spent most of our first Valentine's Day by flying back home on separate planes. Vince has a terrible cold and it got worse on this day. I got home around 3:30pm. Vince arrived around 5:30pm (an hour & a half late due to pilot problems). He came home and unloaded his luggage, then went to Walmart to get nose spray so he could breathe. He also bought some Kleenex and then went to the deli & bought us both a very romantic $4 meal. It was actually quite tasty & I was just glad I didn't have to cook after traveling all day. Vince crashed shortly thereafter and I spent a quiet Valentine's evening watching the Olympics by myself and doing laundry.
Maybe next year we can stay healthy & be a little bit more romantic.
Maybe next year we can stay healthy & be a little bit more romantic.
Sunday, February 14, 2010
Jerry's and Blue Martini
Vince & I firt met speed dating in Greenville at a place called the Blu Martini (no e on the end of Blu). We ended up eating our Valentine's Eve dinner at a Blue Martini. It was very different, but had a fun atmosphere. For lunch that day, we ate at Jerry's in South Beach Miami. I ate an egg-battered & fried Monte Cristo. It was very yummy.
Vizcaya
Vizcaya was so wonderful to see. We were not allowed to take pictures inside so all my pictures were outside. They were setting up a tent outside the house for a wedding so it obscured the whole front side of the house, but the view was still really pretty.
The Room with a View
Double Tree by Hilton in Fort Lauderdale (yum! for the warm chocolate chip cookies they gave me every day)
We had a view of one of the draw bridges that went up all day long for yachts and sailboats to go through. We could also see the ocean on the other side of the canal.
Vince & I had 2 double beds in the room we stayed in but both bedrooms had windows with the same view as the living room.
Miami, Florida Trip
Vince & I flew out Thursday morning to head to Fort Lauderdale. We woke up at 3:30am to get to the airport at 4:30am. Vince caught the 5:30am flight to Atlanta on Delta. I went home & went back to bed for 2 hours. I then caught the 11:10am flight on Allegiant. He ended up getting to Fort Lauderdale about 2 hours earlier than me. Meanwhile, Billy & Eddie flew in from Nashville. The three of them checked into the hotel then came back to fetch me from the airport. Thursday was such a jet lag kind of day. Everyone was rather tired. We bought groceries at Publix when we arrived since we had a 2 bedroom suite with full kitchen. We ended up cooking 2 dinners, 3 breakfasts, and snacks in the room. It saved on lots of money.
We decided to go to Florida because Miami was having a boat show this weekend. And WOW what a show. We didn't make it onto more than 30 boats on Friday or Saturday and there were thousands. We started out Friday at the yacht show, which was free and separate from the boat show at the convention center. Some of these yachts were just incredible. From the outside, they all looked very similar - white and plain. But as soon as you step on board, they have carpet, beautiful wood, and so many nooks and crannies to put things. Most of the big ones had washer and dryers - one boat had 2 sets (one down in the servants quarters & one in the master bedroom area). The yachts had 2 - 5 bedrooms, bathrooms, kitchens, etc. And they could be yours for $600,000 - $3 million. The $600K yacht was on sale from $1.5 million since it was a 2008 model. Most people finance them for 30 years like a house payment. We tried to get on the $10 million cruise liner yachts, but they wouldn't let us unless we passed a financial background check to see if we could afford it.
The boats were just fabulous. We got lots of walking in both days, which ended up being my only exercise for the weekend. We parked for $50 for the free yacht show, so the parking cost was outrageous. The next day, we parked in a garage in South Beach for only $4 and walked a long ways, but it was worth it to save money & get our exercise in. We decided that since we don't do a lot of yachting, that we wouldn't buy one, but maybe rent one sometime in the future if we feel the need to go yachting.
Friday night we got pounded with some serious rain. I'm glad the rest of the days were sunny, albeit cool & very windy. We tried to layout at the pool Friday afternoon, but the wind drove us inside, even though the pool was heated.
Saturday night I wanted a nice romantic Valentine's dinner. We originally had reservations at an Italian restaurant in South Beach. But after driving back & forth for the last two days in lots of traffic from Fort Lauderdale to Miami, we cancelled the reservations and walked to the Galleria mall next door to our hotel. We decided to go to a local restaurant since Trulucks and P.F. Chang's only had 10pm openings. It was loud, but fun, and not at all romantic. However, we all had a good time and the food was decent (though limited in selection). Vince's friend, Patty, from his restaurant days in Atlanta, met us for dinner so we had a nice time catching up on old stories.
Somehow throughout the day, we kept having perfect timing. (I know I keep skipping around on the days & the order of what we did, so I hope you're keeping up.) The timing started going well for us Saturday morning when we toured Vizcaya. Vizcaya is a house that was built in 1916 for some really rich dude. It was so amazing to see the opulence and style back then. He designed it to look like an Italian villa. The view was fabulous. It reminded me a lot of the Biltmore. When we left, there was a huge line of people waiting to pay to get in. We had no line. We then went to the boat show at the convention center and walked right up to pay. When we left, there was a huge line to pay. Then at dinner, we walked right in & found two small tables beside each other for the 5 of us. When we left, there was a huge line to get in to eat. I like it when we have great timing.
Pictures coming soon...
We decided to go to Florida because Miami was having a boat show this weekend. And WOW what a show. We didn't make it onto more than 30 boats on Friday or Saturday and there were thousands. We started out Friday at the yacht show, which was free and separate from the boat show at the convention center. Some of these yachts were just incredible. From the outside, they all looked very similar - white and plain. But as soon as you step on board, they have carpet, beautiful wood, and so many nooks and crannies to put things. Most of the big ones had washer and dryers - one boat had 2 sets (one down in the servants quarters & one in the master bedroom area). The yachts had 2 - 5 bedrooms, bathrooms, kitchens, etc. And they could be yours for $600,000 - $3 million. The $600K yacht was on sale from $1.5 million since it was a 2008 model. Most people finance them for 30 years like a house payment. We tried to get on the $10 million cruise liner yachts, but they wouldn't let us unless we passed a financial background check to see if we could afford it.
The boats were just fabulous. We got lots of walking in both days, which ended up being my only exercise for the weekend. We parked for $50 for the free yacht show, so the parking cost was outrageous. The next day, we parked in a garage in South Beach for only $4 and walked a long ways, but it was worth it to save money & get our exercise in. We decided that since we don't do a lot of yachting, that we wouldn't buy one, but maybe rent one sometime in the future if we feel the need to go yachting.
Friday night we got pounded with some serious rain. I'm glad the rest of the days were sunny, albeit cool & very windy. We tried to layout at the pool Friday afternoon, but the wind drove us inside, even though the pool was heated.
Saturday night I wanted a nice romantic Valentine's dinner. We originally had reservations at an Italian restaurant in South Beach. But after driving back & forth for the last two days in lots of traffic from Fort Lauderdale to Miami, we cancelled the reservations and walked to the Galleria mall next door to our hotel. We decided to go to a local restaurant since Trulucks and P.F. Chang's only had 10pm openings. It was loud, but fun, and not at all romantic. However, we all had a good time and the food was decent (though limited in selection). Vince's friend, Patty, from his restaurant days in Atlanta, met us for dinner so we had a nice time catching up on old stories.
Somehow throughout the day, we kept having perfect timing. (I know I keep skipping around on the days & the order of what we did, so I hope you're keeping up.) The timing started going well for us Saturday morning when we toured Vizcaya. Vizcaya is a house that was built in 1916 for some really rich dude. It was so amazing to see the opulence and style back then. He designed it to look like an Italian villa. The view was fabulous. It reminded me a lot of the Biltmore. When we left, there was a huge line of people waiting to pay to get in. We had no line. We then went to the boat show at the convention center and walked right up to pay. When we left, there was a huge line to pay. Then at dinner, we walked right in & found two small tables beside each other for the 5 of us. When we left, there was a huge line to get in to eat. I like it when we have great timing.
Pictures coming soon...
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Recovery Week
This is my 4th week on continuing with my P90X journey (take 2). After 3 weeks of the same videos, this week is slightly different. The first 3 weeks are:
weights
cardio
weights
yoga
weights
cardio
This week is:
core
cardio
core
yoga
core
cardio
So we'll see if there is much difference after the cardio (or recovery week). Recovery is kind of a joke because you still work out just as hard and use weights. However, I do use a different video on the core days. I like to mix it up a lot so it's nice to have different workouts. I've been steadily working out 5 out of 7 days.
Tomorrow morning, Vince & I are flying out on two separate flights to Miami. It should be a nice long weekend with much warmer weather (60s - 70s instead of 20s - 40s). I'm looking forward to the yacht show as well. Now if I could just win the lottery....
I've never been to a yacht show. I assume it's somewhat similar to a motorcycle or car show, but closer to water. I'm hoping we get to actually tour the yachts as well. I'm really hoping that the weather in the northeast is not going to affect our flights out tomorrow. I'm so ready for a vacation! I do plan on trying to work out while in Miami.
weights
cardio
weights
yoga
weights
cardio
This week is:
core
cardio
core
yoga
core
cardio
So we'll see if there is much difference after the cardio (or recovery week). Recovery is kind of a joke because you still work out just as hard and use weights. However, I do use a different video on the core days. I like to mix it up a lot so it's nice to have different workouts. I've been steadily working out 5 out of 7 days.
Tomorrow morning, Vince & I are flying out on two separate flights to Miami. It should be a nice long weekend with much warmer weather (60s - 70s instead of 20s - 40s). I'm looking forward to the yacht show as well. Now if I could just win the lottery....
I've never been to a yacht show. I assume it's somewhat similar to a motorcycle or car show, but closer to water. I'm hoping we get to actually tour the yachts as well. I'm really hoping that the weather in the northeast is not going to affect our flights out tomorrow. I'm so ready for a vacation! I do plan on trying to work out while in Miami.
Monday, February 8, 2010
Superbowl Weekend
Vince & I enjoyed our first Superbowl weekend together as a married couple. On Saturday, we went to my friends Dawn & Eric's house to celebrate their little boy's 1st birthday. Happy birthday Jonah! It was nice to visit with them and meet their family. They live in Easley so it was a bit of a drive. Dawn baked Jonah's cake and did a fabulous job with it.
Saturday evening, Vince & I went to City Range. We had gone to the Taste of Spartanburg this past summer and bought a $25 off $50 coupon for $10. So basically you get $15 off your meal if you count the $10 you spent. We've tried to go several times, but it was always really packed with a long wait. We finally decided to go Saturday night and got there before 6pm to beat the crowd. We got a table right beside the fireplace....score! The food was wonderful.
Sunday morning we attended the 9:15am church service and decided to stay for Sunday School at 11am. We were invited 2 weeks ago to attend a class we had not been to before. It was great. We really enjoyed all the couples in the class. I counted 5 that are expecting babies. They were all really friendly and actually talked to us before & after class. This was very different from the other 2 classes we attended where no one really talked to us & we felt awkward like we just crashed a party we weren't invited to. (Except for Jo Ellen & Kiley - thanks for talking to us!) In any case, this class felt very comfortable and we both enjoyed it.
For the Superbowl, I grilled out turkey burgers. Yum! Vince watched the first half of the game/commercials with me, but he then started cleaning up around the house. I mostly watched for the commercials, but got into the game some & enjoyed it as well. Go Saints! Who dat!
Friday, February 5, 2010
Coupon Class
My friend Kaye & I attended a coupon class at my church last night. It was a nice hour long power point and discussion on how to get the best deal for your money at the grocery stores. The lady that presented owns her own company called The Organized Stork. She said she is a new mother and based the company name on helping other new mothers save time and money. Kaye & I are not new mothers, nor were most of the 25 women that attended last night.
In fact the seniors behind us were quite funny. At one point when the lady presenting was talking about the color red in ads creates excitement, one of the ladies behind me whispered "so does lingerie." But on to the lesson...
We learned that Publix doubles every coupon up to $.50 every day. They also have lots of BOGO (buy one get one free) products each week. And they take other stores' coupons as well. We also learned that Walmart, Sam's and Costco do not have the lowest prices (duh - I've been saying that for a while). She told us to check out unit price and look for coupons on certain websites as well.
The other thing that I need to do is register with UPromise. UPromise is a Sally Mae savings option that accrues money through manufacturing and store offers. You can then turn that money into an IRA or college saving fund. All you have to do is register each credit card and membership number (like your Bilo card number). Then go shopping & watch money accrue in your account. Most stores give 4 - 8% of your bill to the fund, if you're registered. UPromise also has coupons on their website that are virtual, so if you buy a product, you get $1 put in your account (versus $1 off at the store).
So clip your coupons, shop at Publix, and sign up for UPromise. BTW - on Saturday, I did this and saved $27 at Publix. They had mailed me a $5 coupon off your total order & I took all my newspaper coupons from Sunday's paper with me. I made my list before I went & took advantage of one of their BOGO products. Not a bad deal!
In fact the seniors behind us were quite funny. At one point when the lady presenting was talking about the color red in ads creates excitement, one of the ladies behind me whispered "so does lingerie." But on to the lesson...
We learned that Publix doubles every coupon up to $.50 every day. They also have lots of BOGO (buy one get one free) products each week. And they take other stores' coupons as well. We also learned that Walmart, Sam's and Costco do not have the lowest prices (duh - I've been saying that for a while). She told us to check out unit price and look for coupons on certain websites as well.
The other thing that I need to do is register with UPromise. UPromise is a Sally Mae savings option that accrues money through manufacturing and store offers. You can then turn that money into an IRA or college saving fund. All you have to do is register each credit card and membership number (like your Bilo card number). Then go shopping & watch money accrue in your account. Most stores give 4 - 8% of your bill to the fund, if you're registered. UPromise also has coupons on their website that are virtual, so if you buy a product, you get $1 put in your account (versus $1 off at the store).
So clip your coupons, shop at Publix, and sign up for UPromise. BTW - on Saturday, I did this and saved $27 at Publix. They had mailed me a $5 coupon off your total order & I took all my newspaper coupons from Sunday's paper with me. I made my list before I went & took advantage of one of their BOGO products. Not a bad deal!
Thursday, February 4, 2010
Pics of the ice/snow
We received about an inch of ice last weekend. Thought I would share some pictures of the house & car. The blogger is only showing me the pictures in html code instead of the image when I'm in edit mode. I think I'll need to go review my options and see why it's doing this. It makes it difficult to move the pictures around within my blog.
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
Into Week 3
This is my 3rd week of P90X (2nd time around). I'm hanging in there & doing all the workouts. The schedule is the following:
Monday - Chest & Back
Tuesday - Plyometrics
Wednesday - Shoulders & Arms
Thursday - Yoga (I don't do the P90X version, I do two 10 Minute Trainer videos - cardio & yoga)
Friday - Legs & Back
Saturday - Kenpo
Sunday - Stretch or rest (I've done the cardio 10 Minute Trainer video)
I can tell some of my muscles are shaping up, but not my abs yet. I'm still watching what I eat, but haven't cut out all carbs yet. I was hoping by the end of week 3 to really see a difference, but I think I'll have to wait til the end of week 4.
Last time I did P90X, I was starving all the time. I haven't had that happen this time. I still eat normal portion meals and don't wolf it down like I did last time. I'm not sure what that means, but it probably means I'm not quite burning the calories like last time. I was training for a triathlon at the same time last time so I burned a lot of calories swimming, biking & running. This time I am only doing P90X. In any case, I'm hoping to look good for our Miami trip on February 11. I'm excited to get away to somewhere warm. They have a yacht show that weekend and I have never been to one, so I look forward to seeing all the big boats as well. I'm so over this cold weather.
Monday - Chest & Back
Tuesday - Plyometrics
Wednesday - Shoulders & Arms
Thursday - Yoga (I don't do the P90X version, I do two 10 Minute Trainer videos - cardio & yoga)
Friday - Legs & Back
Saturday - Kenpo
Sunday - Stretch or rest (I've done the cardio 10 Minute Trainer video)
I can tell some of my muscles are shaping up, but not my abs yet. I'm still watching what I eat, but haven't cut out all carbs yet. I was hoping by the end of week 3 to really see a difference, but I think I'll have to wait til the end of week 4.
Last time I did P90X, I was starving all the time. I haven't had that happen this time. I still eat normal portion meals and don't wolf it down like I did last time. I'm not sure what that means, but it probably means I'm not quite burning the calories like last time. I was training for a triathlon at the same time last time so I burned a lot of calories swimming, biking & running. This time I am only doing P90X. In any case, I'm hoping to look good for our Miami trip on February 11. I'm excited to get away to somewhere warm. They have a yacht show that weekend and I have never been to one, so I look forward to seeing all the big boats as well. I'm so over this cold weather.
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
New Twin Cousins
Shelby
Haley
My cousin Brock & his wife Stacey had their baby girls on 1/31/10 at 1:10pm. Brock is the son of my Uncle Alan, my dad's youngest brother. Brock sent me a text message at 5:00am on Sunday morning that the girls were on the way. They live in the mountains near Gatlinburg and had just had a huge snow storm so I'm sure the roads were difficult to navigate. And it was a full moon that night! Since Stacey is high risk, they had to go to the hospital in Knoxville. The girls were born via c-section and are doing great.
The girls are fraternal twins so it will be interesting to see what they look like as they get a little older. Haley was born at 4 lbs 8 oz, 18 5/8" long. Shelby was born at 4lbs 6 oz, 17 1/4" long. Shelby had to have some oxygen for a little bit, but they removed the tubes yesterday. They both have dark hair, but Brock thinks it may have a reddish tint to it (he had bright red hair before he shaved it off). Stacey is doing well.
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