Please do not judge. I promise we don't really live like this. You see, when you live in Minnesota and the temperature rarely reaches above 10 degrees for months on end, it makes it a bit challenging to clean out our office which is outside above our garage. The picture really doesn't do this justice. You may not be able to see the little Chloe poops all hard and crusty in the corner. Or the stench, oh it's even worse. It smells like we put a dog inside here for 8 hours a day, turned up the heat in the dead of winter and shut the door without ever letting a whif of fresh air circulate. Oh wait, that's exactly what happened.
Andi's office is also in this room. While he doesn't work in here everyday, he has been spending more time working out here lately. The other day I walked in to kiss him good-bye in the morning and the smell was overwhelming. I'm not sure how he was sitting up there with all that ickiness. Andi said he felt like he was on the tv show Hoarders. But come on now, it's not that bad.
So today I decided to be a good wife and clean the office. Chloe will surely appreciate it too.
It may not look all that much different. But it surely smells better. My husband will be so thankful when he walks in here on Monday morning.
I know what you're thinking...Andi has a bed in his office? Yep, that's how we roll. Did I forget to mention we use the office as a guest room too? Oh now, don't be afraid to come and visit. It's all clean now :)
Got my haircut on Friday. I decided the asymetrical bob just wasn't for me. No one got it. All the crazy looks from people because my hair was longer on one side were enough reason for me to even off my haircut. Do you ever feel drastically inferior as a woman when you go to the salon? Two things happen every time I go to mine:
ONE I feel uber self-conscious about how I'm dressed. Why are all cosmetologists so fashionable and cute? They're all wearing leggings with cute heels and dresses. Perfect hair and makeup. I rolled into the salon at 5:30pm on Friday, tangled hair and tired looking clothes. I even wore a cute belt with my outfit for this very reason. And yet, I still didn't feel cute enough. I hate that feeling.
TWO I hold my breath and pray she doesn't realize I've been coloring my own hair. I'm sure she can tell; there's always a comment or two about how I have some re-growth or how it looks like it's about time to get my color done. This time she flat out asked if I had colored my hair recently. "Nope," I replied. "But I'm definintely due!" Oye. She know. But dang, it's over $100 every time I color my hair there. And $10 for a box of color at Walgreens. Sorry salon, you lose.
My hair's back to the same length as this summer (similar to the wedding pic at the top). I had to go back to this to fix the asymetrical bob. But I think I am going to grow out my hair. I see all the pretty girls on tv and magazines with long, long hair. I have a case of long hair envy.
I'm turning 29 in a few two weeks. You better believe I've been mulling over what I'd like to do on my special day for some time now. Here's what I'm thinking so far:
- Get a massage + facial at Ivy Spa in downtown Minneapolis
I'd like for Andi and I to do this together for our Valentine's Day celebration since Andi has a pond hockey tournament on VDay. This spa is awesome - they have a full whirlpool / lounge area, steam room, sauna, relaxation room and some of the best masseuses I've ever experienced. *Wink Wink Andi, book us some appointments!
- Watch a video compilation made just for me
I'm not sure what the video compilation should be of, maybe just photos of us or of our first 6 months being married. I feel like I'm wearing out our engagement video, wedding video and state fair video. Time for some new material.
- See a movie
There's a bunch of good flicks at the theatre lately. I wouldn't mind seeing Valentine's Day, Lovely Bones, Leap Year, When In Rome or New Moon. Maybe a matinee? One of the downsides about having a birthday the day before VDay is that all your typical 'date night' activities are packed around my birthday.
- Cook dinner together
Instead of going out and fighting all the crowds, I want to make dinner with Andi at home. Buy a locally grown steak, salad, and a vegetable and just relax together.
Maybe Andi already has something planned. And if he does, I'm sure whatever he comes up with will be perfect. These are just a few things that would make my day. Ultimately though, all I want to do is spend my birthday with my hubby.
Have you seen this delicious cover of Rolling Stone magazine?
Woooeeee. Is he ever sexy!
I'm seriously one of John's biggest all-time fans. Have been since my senior year in college when I first heard Your Body Is A Wonderland on the radio. I've seen him in concert 4 times. Every time was better than the last (especially the one where Jessica Simpon was in the same building! And I love, love, love Jess too but that's for another day).
But this cover. These pictures with his shirt off and all those tattoos. Mmmm. Mmmm. Wow.
And now, a gazillion years later, we women are still takin' it in the pants. There's a lot of stress that goes into being a woman. The other day, I went to the women's health clinic for my annual exam. It's one of those things all girls have to do and I get why, but I absolutely dread going there. It starts with the waiting room and all the, well, waiting that happens. The more I sit there, the more tense and stressed I become. The nurse finally calls you back and asks you to step on the scale. With all my clothes on and my winter boots (which drives me crazy because that's about 10 extra pounds than my actual weight). DON'T WRITE THAT IN MY CHART! Too late. Now I'm 10 pounds heavier. Awesome.
Then she leads me back to the exam room where I wait patiently for the doctor to come in. By the time she gets there, I'm literally near tears because I'm so worked up. The older I get, and the closer the time comes to when we'll be trying to have a baby, the more anxiety I have about these appointments. I don't know why, but I'm desperately afraid I won't be able to get pregnant someday. I worry about this every.single.day. I have absolutely no reason to suspect it'll be hard for me as I've never actually tried to get pregnant (in fact, I've spend the last 8ish years trying to prevent it). And we're not even in the place where we're trying yet. Maybe it'll be super easy, who knows. But maybe it'll be super, super hard and we'll try for years and years to no avail. And here I am getting all worked up just thinking about it. This is my single biggest fear in life: to not be able to get pregnant.
I think if I had a doctor that remembered who I was, and actually seemed to give two craps when I ask questions about my body, my history or future pregnancies, I'd feel better. It makes me nervous when I have to tell her repeatedly about my chart; so much so that I've taken to researching everything she says on WedMD immediately following the visit. I get that she probably has thousands of patients and can't remember everyone but could she please read up on me before entering the room? That'd make me feel sooo much better, thanks.
I don't know what the real answer to this anxiety is. I guess when the time comes, we'll see what happens. And I know that God has a plan for Andi and I; everything will work out, it always does. Do any of you have this feeling? Sometimes I feel like I'm out on this island all by myself.
Hard to believe January's nearly over! Winter's flying by and I'm soooo glad.
Here we go ... currently in January:
Current Books: Still reading my Daily Bible (which has been a challenge in itself). Lately I'm so tired at night, it's taking a good self talkin' to in order to stay with this every night. But well worth it so far. I'm learning a lot about the history of Jesus and it makes me feel good to reflect in the Lord everyday.
I also finished My Horizontal Life by Chelsea Handler this month. A funny book; very quick read. I was actually really suprised about all the drug use that she talks about in that book. Like it's the most popular thing happening in LA. Which maybe it is. This might be me living in my own little bubble again...
Current Playlist: Confession time. I'm really not that good at music. This month I listened to talk radio during my commute to/from work and a little Top 40's stuff on the radio. That's it. Don't I suck at this catagory? Also my iPod is MIA which makes playlists kind of difficult.
Current GuiltyPleasure: Junk food. The holiday were a slippery slope I'm still sliding down. I've probably put on 3-4 pounds in the last two months. Gotta get with it! Have to wear a bikini in a few months!
Current Color: Black, always.
Current Drink: Still diet coke and iced coffee. I bought some Sunny D this month (which I haven't had in years!)
Current Food: Still into salads. Also loving Organic Valley cottage cheese. And we've been eating a lot of pasta lately (which is sadly contributing to those pesky pounds I've put on as of late)
Current Favorite Show: Big Love is back and it's sooooo good!
Current Wishlist: For these hockey tournaments to be over. I miss my husband on the weekends :(
Current Needs: A massage. Think that's what I'm getting Andi and I for Valentine's Day. A spa day. Much needed.
Current Triumphs: Finally getting around to deep-cleaning my house. It's always gross when you dig in deep instead of weekly quick cleans. Not that my house is super messy or anything, but getting in all those little corners, base boards and the shower walls is way over due. Ick.
Current Bane Of My Existence: This new rewards program at work. It falls under my list of responsibilities and we were all set to launch two weeks ago when it was pulled at the 11th hour by our client. Taking some heat on this one and therefore, I wish it would just launch already so we could all move on.
Current Celebrity Crush: George Clooney. We saw Up In The Air last weekend. He's just so handsome and ornery. And very sexy.
Current Indulgence: Baked Ruffles
Current Blessing: My husband. He's my soulmate and somehow he choose me to be his wife. I'm so lucky.
Current Slang: Dude ....
Current Outfit: Sweatpants and a zip up. I look hot right now; bet you wish you could see. JK.
Current Excitement: My birthday! It'll be here in a few weeks. Let the celebration begin!
One year + one day ago today, all I could think about was getting married. Like a love craze had come over me, everything I thought about, talked about, dreamed about was getting married.
And then on January 23, 2009, one year ago today, it happened. Andi asked me to be his wife. We decided to take a little weekend getaway to Duluth, Minnesota - something we usually do about once every six months. Andi booked all the plans and hotel reservations (which is pretty customary in our relationship) so I didn't think much of our spur-of-the-moment weekend trip. I was however, hoping and praying that this maybe the moment. You know, the ONE. Although, when all you think about, talk about and dream about is getting engaged, a lot of moments feel like they 'could be the moment.'
We drove into Duluth late Friday night. Andi stopped at a rest stop just on the edge of town (a rest stop that happens to overlook the entire city of Duluth). "Could this be the moment?" I asked myself. "Oh, God, please don't let this be the moment, we're at a rest stop." It wasn't. And who knows if it'll even happen this weekend, right?
We pulled up to the Beacon Point Resort on the banks of Lake Superior. Andi asked me if I wanted to run in with him to check in. I said no. He came out a few moments later with our room key and we started to unload the car. Meanwhile, my mom was calling me about some photos she wanted help uploading to Walmart.com. "Err, just give me a minute to do this for her," I said to Andi. As I opened my laptop in the hotel room, Andi mentioned something about us being in the wrong room and going downstairs to ask for a different one. "Yep, ok, whatever," I said.
He texted me a few minutes later saying we were in fact in the wrong room. "Come to room 204" he said. I loaded up our bags and went down the hall to room 204. The door was propped so I went inside and sat there for a minute. It was quiet, no one was in there and all the lights were off. I wasn't exactly sure what was going on. Then Andi came into the room and said "oops, I meant 203." I followed him inside room 203, a suite overlooking the lake, and found candles, chocolates, cheese, wine and crackers. Andi said he wanted to do something nice to celebrate my upcoming birthday a little early. We talked for a while, drank some wine and looked outside at the water. Then Andi said, "do you want to go to dinner or open your birthday present now?" Naturally, I said PRESENT! We grabbed our drinks and Andi led me into the bedroom where a tv was cued up. We sat down on the bed and he played this:
Did you notice something special at the end? A shiny new sparkly diamond on my left hand in that picture? At this point, my body was shaking and my mind racing. Was this really happening? Yep, I think so. OMG. Andi said something about our life together and sharing more memories together for the rest of our lives. Truthfully, neither one of us can really remember what he said. The only part I remember is "will you spend the rest of your life with me?" And I said yes.
Marrying Andi is the single best thing that's happened in my life. I'm so thankful for all the special things he does for me each and every day. Thankful for all the unconditional love he shows me. Thankful God has partnered me with my absolute soulmate. I'm the luckiest girl in the world.
A few photos from our engagement weekend:
Calling my parents a few moments after we got engaged
The view of Lake Superior outside our window
That's steam coming off the lake - yep, it was that cold
Lake Superior
The day after we got engaged
Beacon Point Resort
My engagement ring / wedding band - which I love love love
ps...a few funny notes about our engagement.
1) My mom had no idea Andi was proposing. A few weeks earlier at Christmas time, Andi asked my dad for my hand in marriage. But my dad never told my mom. She just randomly called ten minutes before we got engaged to ask for help uploading those photos. Which in the end, was the perfect ruse to keep me preoccupied.
2) Andi had arranged with the hotel to put us in the wrong hotel room when we checked in. In his plan, he would tell me he was going down to the front desk to ask for different room, but actually he would go to our real room to set up the candles, cheese and wine. Texting the wrong room number to me afterwards, however, was not part of the plan. When Andi text room 204, he actually meant 203. I'm not sure who's room I was sitting in that night or who the door was actually propped open for, but good thing no one was there or that could have been very awkward!
3) In hindsight, Andi's probably very, very sorry he ever decided to propose with that video montage. It took him two month to make it (before he had his handy-dandy Mac where making videos is child's play) and now I insistently make him watch it ALL. THE. TIME. It's no secret I love video montages, especially if they're about me.
4) The weekend bartending job Andi picked up a few months before he proposed was actually part of his plan to pay off the engagement ring. Sure, now that makes sense, but at the time I was more than annoyed as Andi was, oh how did I put it? 're-living his college glory days.' Foot officially inserted in mouth.
5) And finally, after all those months of painstakingly waiting be be proposed to, it goes down in my book as the best marriage proposal of all time. I learned later that the wedding ring was tucked away deep in our basement for months ... way before I started badgering Andi about getting married. Guess good things come to those who patiently wait, and those who nag about it too.
