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9.26.2008

Saying Goodbye

That's what this weekend is dedicated to...saying bye to Chris. This afternoon his friends from his office are having a get together at BJ's Brewery. I love that place, so I'm pretty happy about their decision. Their pizookie is to die for...it reminds me of my college dance team. We ate a lot of that stuff. Saturday night Chris and I are going out to dinner. It's a surprise location, but I think he's already figured it out. We are doing dinner one place and dessert at another, so I'm excited to spend a night out with him. Sunday early afternoon we are having some friends over for one last pool party. I'm guessing it will be the last time I get in the pool for the summer. Even those it's still in the 100's here temp wise, it's not much fun to go swimming by yourself. And finishing off the weekend is dinner with my parents and grandparents Sunday night. We are going for pizza, Chris' favorite! I'm hoping to take lots of photos of the events, but knowing me, that might not happen. I also made Chris a little something special, but I don't want to share that either until after the weekend in case he decides to sneak around.

I must admit something feels a little weird about all of this. I was making my grocery list and realized that after Thursday I didn't even know what to plan to make for dinner. I think I'll be eating a lot of cereal over the next month!

9.24.2008

No Recipe Wednesday

So unfortunately I haven't been cooking anything new lately. Since Chris is leaving next week, it's been mostly old favorites. He's also been working on his fitness so I don't want to have a bunch of sweets around the house. I figure that the holidays are coming soon, so I'll have plenty of time to be baking our normal holiday variety. I'll make sure to take lots of photos and share the recipes that aren't secret in the next few months!

In the meantime this week has been fairly crazy. We have a very busy week to finish up everything that needs to be done before he leaves. Here's the 3 most important things.
  1. Finish cleaning the office. Chris works out of here on most nights and he just set me up with a new computer, so the other computers we have (6 in total, I know, we are crazy) are scattered around with an assortment of techie related things.

  2. Finish constructing my garden. We are finishing an above ground garden on the side of the house and need to finish the wall and watering system.

  3. Clean out the garage. We haven't been able to find the appropriate shed for all of the yard equipment and since Chris has a ton of "manly" things like tools, saws, etc., right now we can't park a single car in the garage. There's also a grill waiting to be installed in our outdoor kitchen (whole other issue) that's still in it's box. We need to move everything to fit at least 1 car in there.

Wow, we will be busy for the next week! And since I don't want to leave without some kind of visual appeal, I bought this the other day upon Chris' request...

9.22.2008

Finally!

After two years we have new hallway lighting! I'm sure that most people don't really care about the lighting in their hallway, but this was honestly something that had been bothering me since we moved in. Ok, to be honest, since we looked at the house. I actually noticed these lights and mentioned that they would have to be changed. They are simply not my style, and in fact, they scream Southwest! However, hallway lighting was on the back burner to many other things, especially when I hadn't found any replacements that I truly loved. UNTIL...I found some at Home Depot on clearance for $9.00 a piece! At this point I couldn't turn them down, they were nice and neutral and not anything that looked like it belonged in a Southwestern museum.

I had planned on putting these up when I painted the hallway, most likely while Chris was gone. Yes this weekend, Chris surprised me by putting up the lights on Saturday afternoon. They are incredible! Thanks so much to my handyman, you are the greatest :)


I do still have to do some spackeling where the old light was, and repaint of course, but this is it! There are two, but I only took a picture of one.

9.17.2008

Things to look forward to

With Chris' departure soon upon us, I've been trying to stay positive and think of things that I can look forward to while he's gone. We are now 15 days away, and it still seems unreal. I'm certainly not ready to "live alone" again but it will certainly be an experience!
  1. Less laundry to do, and certainly no boxers and undershirts to fold.
  2. I can watch whatever I want on the big screen.
  3. The food/electricity/water bills should be smaller.
  4. When I get ready for work I can have all the lights on.
  5. I don't have to blow dry my hair in the guest bathroom.
  6. No one stealing the covers.
  7. A break from the Military Channel.
  8. Earlier bed times.

On another note, I am planning on doing a few projects around the house, mostly small things such as painting and replacing fixtures. I'll make sure to keep everyone posted on my progress!

9.11.2008

Loves To Run

That should be my bumper sticker, if I wanted a bumper sticker that is. I really do love to run. I'm sure a lot of people think I'm crazy. My weekly routine as of late consists of running 3-4 days a week for a total of around 20 miles. Of course that will increase as I run longer to prepare myself for the San Antonio 1/2 marathon. I also get up at around 4:15 every Saturday to run at 5:00am with my mom and aunt. This turns most people off automatically. How can I run at 5:00am? If you lived in Arizona you'd surely understand. In the summer it does not cool off, ever! In the winter its better, we start around 6:00, 6:30 and sometimes even 7:00. Considering I get up at least three days during the work week at 4:40 to lift weights before work, sometimes it's considered sleeping in...haha. Ok, that might be a little sick, but it's been my routine for over a year and I make it work.

Based on a post by my friend Megan, who is running the San Antonio race as well (her first one), I've created my own version of my "Top 10" for running.
  1. Running shoes - The only shoes I've ever worn since I started running, well the only style. I've gone through quite a few pairs over the years. Asics Gel Kayanos.
  2. Headband - Since I had bangs for quite a while, I'd either pin them back or wear one of these. They are quite handy and stay in place better than most. Goody Sport No Slip.

  3. iPod - I try to run with my iPod, especially if I'm on the treadmill. It keeps me going and I am always changing the music selection so I don't get bored. Plus it's so small I barely notice it!

  4. Gu - When I run 7 miles or more I bring one of these for a snack during the run. I've gotten really good at running and eating! Oh, and I will only eat the Chocolate.

  5. Heart Rate Monitor - So I must admit that I don't use the actual heart rate part, only the watch. To be honest I don't want to know that I could be dying while running!

  6. Water bottle - Even though I rarely race with water, I use this for my outside training runs. I love it and my mom and I have the same one! No photo available for this one, but it has an elastic strap that you put your hand through and it hold the water bottle to your hand.

  7. www.runnersworld.com - Where I log all of my miles. I love my training log, it tabulates things like pace, miles run per week, month, year, etc. and you can even log how many miles you run in one pair of shoes. It's free and awesome.

  8. Sunglasses - Since Arizona has so many sunny days, sunglasses are a must. No photo for these either, but I bought them at a pre-race expo for $20 and they are polarized and work great.

  9. My mom - It might sound cheesy but she's the one who makes me do my long runs. And I say "make" in the nicest way possible. We almost always meet up for a run, she figures out the route and I follow along. I'm fine during the week, but the though of running 6+ miles alone stinks.
  10. Clothes - Haha, don't think that I forgot this one. I really can't say anything particular about this, because I really just wear whatever I feel like. I have a lot of running stuff, although I'm at the point of needing a few new things. My latest purchase was a pair of shorts from Old Navy (below) that I'm really liking.

9.08.2008

A Weekend Away

All summer Chris and I have been trying to get to my family's cabin in northern az. We've been so busy with things around the house and Chris' crazy work schedule that every weekend was deemed "unacceptable" for a trip to the pines. This weekend was to be no different, we had planned on going until Chris found out he had to work Saturday night and since he needs both the Internet and a land line, the cabin was officially out. I must admit I was pretty bummed until Friday afternoon! I got a call while at the office from him telling me that his work on Saturday night was cancelled and we could still go up for the weekend. Now I am usually too worried about being ready for a trip that it's hard for me to make last minute changes to a plan, especially when it involves an entire weekend out of town, but I sucked it up and said "let's go!" I left work early, did some last minute grocery shopping, came home and packed up.

The weekend was great. Saturday morning we took a walk with Peanut. He was loving his walk until he decided he was too tired to continue any further which meant that Chris carried him for a good 1/4 mile until Peanut regained his strength. In the afternoon we ventured to Tonto Natural Bridge, the largest natural Travertine bridge in the world. We hiked all of the trails and had a great time. Here are some pictures from the trip.


The rest of the weekend was full of reading, eating, and watching college football. I was so happy that we had the chance to enjoy the mountains before Chris heads off to Virginia.

And as soon as I get those wedding photos I will elaborate on that trip too!

9.04.2008

What a Week!

That's really all I can say to the week we've just had. It all started Thursday night when we found out that Chris got into OCS! He is thrilled that he was accepted into the program for October. October 3rd is his leave date and he will be at Quantico Marine Base until December 12th.

We also spent the weekend in Denver for our friends Erin and James' wedding. It was a lot of fun and everything was beautiful. Unfortunately I took all of three pictures so I don't have any to post, but our friend Jeremy took about 500 so as soon as he sends those over to me I will post a few. A few highlights from the wedding included doing the polka, the photo booth, and eating chocolate covered potato chips.

I'll be sure to elaborate on the wedding as soon as I get those photos!