Thursday, December 18, 2014

Banned from Exercise

Let me first apologize for my absence! I have been running around like a chicken with my head cut off! Holiday planning, wrapping, shopping, etc. have had me in a tizzy! I have been really good with my workout routines and losing at a healthy and steady pace! Yea me!!!! Down another jeans size also - whoopie!!!!

And then...of course...life throws a glitch! HA  I woke up unable to turn my head on Wednesday morning...Boo Hoo! Major pain, literally!!! I went into work at 5:30AM and returned home by 7AM to schedule an appointment to get to my chiropractor ASAP.

He xrayed, scanned and tweeked me and sent me home to ice with instructions for NO exercise except walking! That will throw a glitch in your workout plans. Serious though, I could not even walk...the pain was really bad and soooo annoying everytime I moved at all.

I went home and finished out the day working at home and then set in for a relaxing night with myself. (My new boyfriend was busy with a dinner out for his daughter so he was unavailable to hang with me :-(  - more on him later ;-)

So, this was my night! I tried out the GlamGlow mask I got from Birchbox last month....loved it!!!!! Sexy right, in my little chipmunk PJ's!!??



And I spent the evening with this little girl watching over me...




And her little brother snuggling up with me!!!!



All the while...this pot of deliciousness was cooking in the awesome All-Clad Crock Pot that I got from my besty Jenna!!! I made this Chicken recipe HERE - I found it on Pinterest and it truly was amazing! I took it into a luncheon we had at work today and everyone loved it!! YUMMO!!!



I saw this on Pinterest...it totally sums me up right now. I only like to winter when I have someone to hug and snuggle with - my cats work but a real man is so much nicer sometimes...and their attention span for movies is much longer!



This also caught my eye on Pinterest!  I have started dating someone who will remain nameless for now. Lets just call him MH for Mr. Handsome! He is really so handsome and such a great Dad to his two kids, one girl 17 and one boy 15. He works really hard at a good job (in the same line of work as I am) and I have known him for about 8 years now. We have been friends in a common affiliation for years now and he is such a good, sweet, caring and loving guy on top of, did I mention, handsome?!?! Only drawback is that I am a very impatient person and he is a very busy single Dad that puts his kids first (and that is how it should be!) and he is trying to step in for an ex-wife that has really pretty much checked out of life at this point! And again, I am just very impatient. I LOVE that he protects, loves and takes amazing care of his children!  We have not had a lot of time together at all and it is wayyyyy too early to meet the kids so I have to be patient and enjoy the little bits of time we get at this point. As the relationship develops, we can have more time together both with and without the kids but this initial stage is really tough for a person that wants what SHE wants when SHE wants it! HA! HA! The good Lord above is teaching me daily lessons in patience and I have NO DOUBT that this man is worth waiting for so we are taking it really slow right now and I cannot wait to see what develops.



I have to say that I love that new relationship feeling - every time I see him my heart skips a little faster and the butterflies start. He is the worlds BEST hugger! He is tall and strong and when he hugs it feels like nothing bad could ever happen!! We had our first kiss in the parking lot of Pizazz Pizza a few weeks ago and I am sure that, just from that first kiss feeling, this is the start of something amazing. The best part: I trust him with my life already...just from what I know of him as friends, etc. I honestly thought it would be FOREVER after my last two men that I would ever trust another guy but I do with all my heart! I only wish I could share with you the amazing feeling I get when we are together - I love this stage of a new relationship!!! Tingly from head to toes!!!

As I went to bed last night I noticed my beautiful blue crayfish Charlie that was supposed to live in harmony with my tetras is not doing so....



 He is eating them...see the top fish that has no back tail :-(
It is making me horribly sad thinking of how much pain he is probably in too :-(
Sorry to leave you on this sad note...such is nature I guess :-(



On that lovely note:  I hope you are all ready and excited for this Holiday Season!!!  I will keep you posted on all aspects as time and censoring  allow...hee hee!!!!


Happy holidays yinz!!!!!!!!!!


Thursday, December 11, 2014

Cystic Fibrosis 65 Roses Sports Auction

Hi all my bloggy buddies! I hope everyone is having an amazing week! Mine is great! Work is slowing down for year end and after this week it is all parties and luncheons and cookie exchanges! How can that be bad?!??!?

I wanted to show you all the amazing event I got to attend the other evening. It is a little pricey but it is so worth the money. First of all, the money paid to attend the event and the monies raised at the event all go to Cystic Fibrosis!  Its a terrible disease and every penny helps!

The event is called the 65 Roses Sports Auction and it is usually held in December in Pittsburgh, PA. We paid $200 dollars for our ticket. That money includes a football, dinner and admission to the auction portion. You then take your football around and have it signed by the Steelers players that are in attendance (you never know which ones will be there but there are usually ten total). 

Sports Auction due to the fact that we have the most amazing sports teams on the planet here in Pittsburgh - hee hee! No disrespect but I love my teams!!!

 So here we are: Jenna and I waiting to enter the event!



Here are the cookies that were waiting for us at our table!  The event is hosted by Brett Keisel from the Steelers and he is known for growing his beard - hence the beard at the bottom of the cookie!!
These are made at a local chain of family restaurant called Eat n Park  they are know for their smiley cookies and for this they just added the beard!!!!



 Here is Jenna scratching off about 20 lottery tickets. They had a fun game at the auction...you paid $50 and then picked a football from a wall. Each football had a number on the back that coincided with a gift basket on a table. Jenna got $50 worth of scratch off lottery tickets! HA! In the end, she had $8 and about 7 free tickets...not too good :-(



I, on the other hand,  got lucky and got a Hines Ward authentic jersey!!! Can't beat that!! Love it! Only wish it were signed!



Here is our table....soooo cute!



And here is the highlight of my night! The Steelers that ended up signing the balls this night were they were Brett Keisel, Cameron Heyward, Mike Adams, Big Ben, Heath Miller, Cam Thomas, Joe Kruger, David DeCastro, and Ethan Hemer. Yes, you saw right, Ben Roethlisberger! It was great - loved all the players - they were so great and funny too!



And then the auction part of the evening started. This is Brett Keisel with the Pittsburgh Steelers hosting everything...




Another shot of Brett...



All in all, it was an amazing evening!

I cant wait to go again next year!!!!



Friday, December 5, 2014

Five on Friday



Hi bloggy pals!!! I am so happy to join in with 5 on Friday!

Here are the top five things on my EXPENSIVE wish list for Christmas.  I am using this as my five on Friday. I am a single woman and not currently serious with anyone so chances are that I am not exchanging expensive gifts this year!

I will probably not get any of these and will gradually throughout the year just buy them for myself but it is nice to keep a list anyway! HA

If anyone is feeling especially generous this year... :-)...here it is...

1. Ralph Lauren Jaden Boot, Size 8.5, Black/Tan - available here

I would love these! I have been looking at these forever!! They are so cute and such a classy style!



2. Ipod Touch, 64 GB (go big or go home, right?), Yellow - available here

I have an 8GB iPod Nano but it is sadly full and I can no longer add any songs :-(



3.   Ugg Bailey Bow Boot, Size 8, Chestnut - available here

Are they not the cutest boots ever?!?!? LOVE THESE!!!




4.  Barneys Oversize Scarf - available here

Beautiful and functional!




5. Tiffany T Square Bracelet - available here



Well folks, that's all! That is my expensive list and I will probably receive none of it but a girl has to dream, right?! 

At least I have taste, right?!?!


What's at the top on your EXPENSIVE wish list this year? Anything? Do you think you will get it?






Wednesday, December 3, 2014

Missing Elf and Some Seriously Sweet Kids

I know a lot of you have a love/hate relationship with the elf and many of you may just hate him...ha! I have to say that as a single woman without kids, I love him! I do not have my own kids but a few days over Thanksgiving and a few days over Christmas I get to be in charge of his adventures and I love it! I look forward to this every year!! I love watching the kids search for him as soon as they get up and I could watch the and listen to the for hours when they explain his antics and ask questions about him with wonder. I sit and listen (sometimes close to tears) as they discuss it. They still have that belief that everything is good and right with the world. I love that innocence and wonder and their belief in magic things!

So - here are the elf's antics over Thanksgiving...he was trying to catch my nieces Beta fish...





He left the kids notes to tell them his name. Three of my nieces and nephews are my sisters and two are my brothers. They each have two elves at their own homes but since they were visiting Aunt Kerry this was a new elf to watch them. He explained how he watches them at Aunt Kerry's and reports back to Santa and their own elves at home.






This one was Aunt Sara's idea from Pinterest. It was pretty hilarious but it was killing the kids to know what was in the package...ha!



This is my favorite art of the weekend I think! One of my sisters in-laws has a little girl named Gaby and she was explaining to the kids that she does not have an elf. She knew nothing about the elf or what he does. The kids were amazed that she did not have one. My sister said they talked about it the whole way home and together came up with this solution.  They left this note for their elves (Doodles and Bella) asking for an elf for Gabby...her parents have never mentioned the elf and I am sure they hated that the kids told her about it...but it is sad to me to see a little girl that is missing out on the magic... :-(



Gotta love those kids?!??!?!?!?!?!? They are my heart!!!!!! I am one proud Aunt!!!







Thanksgiving Recap



I hope everyone had an amazing Thanksgiving holiday with their loved ones and friends!!! I know I did! I swear, each year it just gets better!!!

We head out to my sisters house for the week and actually get to celebrate with two dinners! SCORE!! The first is with my sisters-in-laws and the second is my family with parents, all four of the siblings (including myself) and my siblings significant others and children. The the other time is spent holiday baking with the family and just bonding as only a family can do!

Here are the pics to recap the exciting week! This is the kids table (my adorable nieces and nephew) for my sisters in-laws dinner that was held on Thanksgiving Day.



And then the adult table - sorry very dark!!! Far left is my Dad, then Mom, then me and then sister standing and her husband at the head of the table. His family is on the right side of the table.



This is my adorable sister who hosts the event every year and allows us all to invade her home for a week! We love her for it! (PS-She does Weight Watchers too and hit her goal weight!!! YEA)



 This is me and my niece kissing my other niece! We love her so much - LOL!



This is my nieces and I at Mockingjay!!! It was amazing!! LOVED IT!!! Each year we go see a movie that has just come out - TRADITION!!! LOVE LOVE LOVE



This is a few more of the nieces and nephews...we bonded while playing Scrabble Junior....so fun!



 

This is a picture of a #moviemove. I am not sire if this is at every theater but when we went to Mockingjay they played a little video before the movie about how to make a #moviemove (putting your arm around someone in the theater) - it was hilarious and the girls decided to re-enact it! HA




The older girls went for a healthy walk around the block (4 miles to be exact) while the boys kept the couch warm and the young kids slept???? HA Me and Mom are in the front and sisters in the back.


 


And this is the start of cookie baking! Not a single grain of flour or sugar had been mixed at this point...truly the very start of this years antics!! See, they are all smiling really big?!?!? The tradition for our family is after Thanksgiving we bake for three days (no joke). We make massive amounts of Christmas cookies and then split them all up and we all have trays to take to parties and give as gifts! Its great for bonding, etc and we all love it (I think)



 This is our family dinner. This is my parents. siblings, their significant others and their kids...everyone accounted for - I took the picture :)


 

This is a family game of Rock Band! The kids were hilarious! They loved the microphone!!


  This is where the kids come into play with the cookies! They get to unwrap all the Reese Peanut Butter Cups miniatures and Hershey's kisses! Aunt Sara was supervising in case a few too many went in their mouths! HA
 


The kids also get to help by decorating sugar cookies!  Here are a few that kids decorated. Do you think they could fit any more icing or candy on those!?!?!?! HEE


  

This is two of my nieces rolling the peanut butter dough to be dipped later for the Buckeyes (Peanut Butter Balls) - a family favorite!





This is my area every year. I am in charge of dipping. We dip three kinds of cookies. There are white coconut cookies with a cherry in the middle that get dunked in chocolate and also the buckeyes are dunked in chocolate. Then there is an Oreo ball that gets dipped in white chocolate. My brother took some of the workload this year and dunked the white chocolate ones - thanks Matt!!!

 
 


And TADA!!!!! Here is the finished product! View 1 of the cookie table!!!
 

 

View 2 of the cookie table...


 

And another...


 

 YUMMY!!!!!!!!


 

This is a cup that my niece made for herself. She labeled her glass so that we knew if was hers. I think the cookie baking is a tradition that the kids like! I hope it continues for YEARS to come!!!! Her cup looks a little racey but it actually says "Happy Cookie Business"! LOL! Love this family of mine!





I truly hope each and every one of you is (and feels) as blessed as I do on a daily basis! I love this life!!!!!!!!!!

Now back to work and real life........


ICU Nurse it is

 Hi everyone!! I am just here checking in quickly. I almost feel bad checking in as it has been an eternity since I posted!!! UGH! Life has ...