Little drunk. Deal with it.

Just got back from dinner with my in-laws for my sister-in-law's 26th birthday. We went to a local Italian restaurant (amazing food)! I can't say enough about how much I love my in-laws. The wine is never ending and the humor is completely inappropriate...I'm right at home!

I'm so thankful that both sets of my parents get along so well, because let's face it, if Hubs and I ever get a divorce, his family is coming with me because they like me better...

Seriously though, I can't sy enough good things. I've been extremely lucky to get along so well with each member of the hub's family.  When we said "I do" this last September, I think that no one took lightly the fact that two families became one. I know that in my family, it didn't matter you're last name, you attended funerals because that was your family. I think this can be said for my in-laws.  My in-laws attended my family's Christmas morning celebration...something my father-in-law commented on tonight("that bacon and ham were amazing!"). I am so thankful that both sets of families are constantly asking about what days work best to get together for dinners.. I am truly blessed :)

Much love,
-B-

P.S. really excited to be a bridesmaid for my sister-in-law's wedding this summer..I LOVE weddings!!!!

This morning's sunrise. So happy that I was awake to capture this. :)

New Years Resolutions

I've never been one for New Year's Resolutions. I don't have the patience or memory to stick to them all year...so I decided that instead of doing things I know that I'll never stick to (i.e. working out, quit smoking - not that I smoke at all, just hypothetical here), I wanted to do a list that I know that I can actually achieve.

 

1. Read more! I'm hoping to do better at this in 2013 than I did this past year. Hopefully Book Pub helps!!
2. Take advantage of days off - something other than sit in front of the tv. Enjoy the day! I don't know how many days off I spent last year lounging in bed or on the couch watching television. The day is young, if it's nice out, I want to be IN IT, experiencing all my city has to offer..I need to get on this. This coming weekend is a perfect opportunity and I'm not planning on wasting it. On Saturday, some girl friends and I are going up to Seattle to participate in Snow Day, hosted by the Boys and Girls Club. Snowball fight in the afternoon and pub crawl in the evening. So much fun, can't wait!
3. Less debit and more cash use. I don't know how many times I just pull out my debit/credit card to buy something and don't think about the total of the transaction or the amount in my account. I haven't over drafted since college thanks to mobile apps where I've set alerts to go off when my balance gets under $50. That's helped a lot, but I still never think about the total. If I take out $80 for every two weeks as my "entertainment money", I'll have to decide if I really need that $40 makeup whatever from Sephora, or save it to do happy hour with friends.
4. Save all $5 bills. I read an article or something recently where this girl saved every $5 bill she came in possession with and after a year or two she had saved $1,400. Hubs and I are planning on quite a few vacations this coming year (New York City in the summer, South Carolina and Disney World in October, and maybe another mini-vacay...), so me thinking that would make some nice spending travel money! So far, I haven't gotten one single $5 bill yet though...All $1's. Boo.

We'll see how I do this year. I have this piece of paper in between the cover of my Kindle case, so hopefully I am reminded of my goals on a regular basis :)

I'm going to take the advice of Resolution #2 - and while my computer may not be a television, I'm going to lump it in the same category for this sake - and enjoy the rest of my day (all 3 hours and 30 minutes of my awake time left) and play with my doggies!!

Much love,
- b -

Holiday updates

I've just realized that I haven't updated this in awhile. Oops. Please forgive me.

our Christmas card this year.

My Christmas was very low key. Christmas Eve consisted of going to the in-laws' for their annual Christmas Eve party. Normally, there are close to 50 people there drinking way too much top shelf alcohol, eating way too much sandwich platters and eventually crowding around the piano for carols, or even worse, going door to door in the neighborhood. This year's was very tame, not too many people showed up and one couple had to head to the ER! The joke in the family is it's not a party until Don has a heart attack.  Horrible joke, but kind of true! Thankfully he'll be fine.

Christmas morning we drove to my parents house in Bremerton to open family gifts and then we were supposed to go to my cousin's house in Port Orchard for brunch...well, plans got changed at the last second because the whole family was plagued by the stomach flu! So, again, we had a quiet day at my parent's house and my aunts and uncles came over for our potluck brunch. Soo good! I need to have my uncle write down his recipe for ham. Ah-mazing! (the secret is apparently ginger ale..who woulda thunk it?!)

On New Year's Eve, I was very low key. Read a book and passed out by 10ish..Jan 1st consisted of Hubs and I driving down to Portland to do some tax-free shopping. We didn't pick up many great deals, but do you know what I got?! A cold!! Walked out of the mall on Tuesday night and thought, "woah, my throat hurts. Weird!" Woke up on Wednesday with no voice, but decided to go to work anyway. Worst idea ever. I was dying at my desk. Couldn't talk, chills, fever. You name it. I went home, got into jammies, took some NyQuil with Vitamin C (awesome stuff, lemme tell ya), and zonked out. Woke up on Thursday, sent a text to my boss saying I was staying home. Went back to sleep and didn't get up until 4:30pm. Felt good until about 10 then started with headaches, sneezing, coughing, chills. Took more meds and went to bed. Woke up Friday, still not good. My voice was going in and out. Hubs had the day off so he took care of me (very demanding murse!). Drank a lot of high vitamin C smoothie drinks this weekend. I'm feeling better - no more chills, headaches. Still coughing and running/stuffed up nose.. My voice is also still kind of hit or miss, but I definitely think I can manage work tomorrow. Thank goodness, I was starting to go stircrazy at home. I am not a good stay-cation person. I hate being at home with nothing to do. And no, I don't want to clean if I can help it.

It is almost time for kick off. I best be off. Goooo Seahawks!

Much love,
-b-