Merry Christmas!

Not a long post today but just wanted to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas!! 


Hope your holidays are wonderful and blessed. 


Lots of love,


Aaron and Beth 


<3<3 

Better late than never and bits in between.

Oh my gosh, you guys, I totally forgot to do a post about the fact this past Friday was Lover's and I's anniversary of our first date! It's been 4 years since we first went out! So I guess I'll have to do it now, and go "Better late than never!"


So. Friday, the 10th, was our fourth anniversary of being together. Four years ago on that day (It was a Sunday), after church, Lover took me on the Metro down to Downtown to "study" and hang out. He had me at "8 story library". So we studied and wandered the library for a while, and then went up to Hollywood for dinner (amazing beefdip sandwich place that is now our favorite ever!), and then Universal CityWalk where he bought me my first Dodger cap (cue the "dawwww"s). We--actually, he--spent entirely too much money on me on that first date, but oh man, was it fun! A year after that, we were in Laguna where he proposed and of course I said yes! 


I can hardly believe it's been four years. It doesn't feel that long, and yet, I can barely remember what my life was like without him. I am so happy, and it honestly feels like I've been with him my whole life. We've grown and matured together. We've helped each other become who we are and comfortable/confident in who we are. He loves me for who I am, all of me, and I love him for the same reasons. We complete each other, push each other to grow, and otherwise fit together. I can't imagine going through Life with anyone else. He encourages me to follow my dreams, pursue my interests, and to do the silly things I enjoy doing. 


So here's to us, Darling. Four years and stronger than ever, I can hardly believe this will be our 5th Christmas together. I love you, darling boy. 


<3 


******************************************************************************************


Also, in celebration of our anniversary and such, Thursday night we went out to Benihana for dinner. Oh my goodness, such great amazing food. So yummy! We also sat at a table with another friendly awesome couple, so we chatted joked the entire dinner. Then Friday night, we had our office Christmas Party, which was a blast with such great food. I also got my Christmas gift from my boss (yay bonus!!), and then Saturday, we left bright and early to head off to San Diego. Where I spent the day with my girlfriends, and Lover went up to do some fun things with teh guys.

I got to have tea/lunch/coffeedate with my best friend. We were able to chat, hang out, relax, and otherwise just get some much needed time together. We have such great conversations together and needed to hang out badly. I also got to better meet her son (OMG so cute!). We went on a walk, exchanged presents (she got me a gorgeous wall calendar!), and otherwise just relaxed with each other. It was lovely.


Then I met up with another friend to go shopping at the Nordstrom Rack. Oh my goodness, so many amazing clothes! I got my first pair of jeggings (Yes I know) that when I put on Lover's eyes went HUGE in that way that tells me I look great. I also found an adorable purple military style jacket, another cute sweater/layering thing, an amazing sexy librarian dress, a gorgeous black lacy tunic, and these gorgeous red heels for more than 1/2 off their original price!! I love this store, and thus my pocketbook is going to hate me.


Again, it was such a great time of hanging out and getting some much needed girl-time. We exchanged gifts as well (She got me adorable lipgloss, gloves, socks to go with my oxford's, and a really lovely bottle opener). All of us then met up to do dinner, and it was a lovely raucous time together. 


Overall, a much needed wonderful weekend! I am so glad it all worked out. 

This week is going to be incredibly busy and fun as Lover's family is coming into town on Friday, and then Christmas is in a week. I need to decorate and clean and bake some more. Eep! I also have some fun shopping trips planned, and other stuff. 


That was my weekend. Better late than never with a little bit in between. ;)  

Happy Friday!!!!!!!!!!

So, today was one of those odd days. We had weekend plans, were excited for them, and then basically decided that it wasn't really what we wanted to do. So we changed them. Now just hanging out with Hubby and Cousin. Which is also nice. 


I've been dealing with some pretty severe loneliness, and lately, it's been causing me to take it out on the people  I love, mainly Hubby. Which has been hard for both of us, but thankfully we've been able to have some good talks because of it. I love the relationship I have with him. We're so intune with each other, we can sometimes read each other's minds. ....Ok, maybe not that much, but we are very intune. To the point of talking without doing anything besides looking and raising an eyebrow. 


.....Heh. I actually got the relationship that Sheldon and Davy had. I always wanted that. 


But! The weekend is looking up. We get our "spending/play" money tomorrow, and I'm going shopping. I'm dying my hair tonight. A light golden brown. Specifically for dark hair colors. It'll most likely have some red in it from the red, but I'm excited.  I'm also getting my nails done at a new place tomorrow morning, as well as going shopping tomorrow. I'm hoping to find some sales, but what I really "need" to get are a couple good pairs of leggings (for work and fun), some new girly items (mine have all worn out), and.....I'm going to be looking at some jeggings.. I know, I know. I swore I would never look at those, but I saw some really cute ones at Nordstrom's and I was done for. Literally done for. They're soft and durable! 


I'm also venturing, for the first time, officially into Forever 21 to do shopping. Iv'e wandered in and out of there with friends, but never to actually shop for myself. I figure two things might happen. I'll either adore the place and refuse to go anywhere else, or I'll hate it. I'm going for the former, given I have been in there before and I really loved most of the stuff I saw. 


I also want to buy some new shoes. All (and I do mean all) of my high heels have broken. As in, full on heel SNAPPED on me at work. That's kind of a problem when I need to wear heels at work. So, time to find new ones. Though I'm thinking Target and/or Payless for those. I'm not a fan on spending 100 bucks on a pair of shoes unless they're amazing (And no, I haven't found a pair that amazing yet!). Though I am eyeing some awesome boots from Fredericks that would almost be there....but going to wait for now. 


Oh, and eating has been going well. I'm not quite at eating every three hours, but I'm definitely getting there. I've also been counting calories and noticing more, which is helping me eat better. I'm more aware of what and how much I'm putting into my body. Also, as a reader pointed out, 3500 calories equals a pound. By cutting down to 1468 or less calories a day, I'm cutting out about 500-600 calories of my diet, which means over the course of a week, losing 3500 calories or a pound a week. Pretty cool, isn't it? 


So, what I ate today: 


Oatmeal 160
Yogurt: 180
Mocha Frap Light: 160! (I am so glad I found that out!) 
Hardboiled egg:78
Dinner: 800 


Total: 1378! 


I might get a snack later....we shall see. 


ALSO! My amazing maidofhonor/bestfriend is due TOMORROW. I am soooo excited for her and her hubby! They're expecting a little son who should arrive anyday now. At least, we hope. He seems to be taking his time and enjoying it. ;) 

Eating Better

So, I am starting a new thing. I am going to count calories (*gasp!*) and eat every three hours. Why, you may ask? To lose more weight, silly! Also, it's healthier. And I've noticed a change in how I am at work, just doing it for two days. I'm more alert, more relaxed, and not starving by the time lunch or dinner rolls around, thus not gorging myself on food.


So, I'm going to do my best to post on here every day what I ate that day. And hopefully, this will work! 


A person of my height and weight, to lose weight, needs to eat about 1468 calories a day. Doable, I think, given I don't eat too much to begin with.


So today, I ate: 


Oatmeal: 160
Tea: 1
Kudos Bar: 100
Salted Caramel Hot Chocolate: 300 (So sad!) 
Yogurt: 160 
Dinner: Guess around 600.
Kudos Bar: 100 


Total: 1421! 


Apparently, if I do this, I should lose a pound a week. Let's see! Maybe once I'm a bit lower I'll be brave enough to post my weight. For now, no thank you!

Glee Sectionals

I know what you're thinking. You're wondering what I'm talking about. Well, let me explain.


Last Wednesday, Glee on Facebook did a status update of basically the first 200 people to email the address they had posted would get 2 tickets to see the "Sectionals" recording. Naturally, I leaped on it, unsure of whether or not I would actually win. I thought I had a decent chance given that it had just been posted a minute or two beforehand. Well, Thursday comes and I hit up lunch rather late. Thus far, no email saying I had won. I just assumed I had missed it, like I had the last time. I took a nap over lunch and woke up a bit earlier than I needed to. I checked my phone and saw an email from an address I didn't recognize with allcaps CONFIRMATION. I opened it up and saw that yes, indeed, I had WON TICKETS. I was, needless to say, freaking out. I hurriedly texted a friend of mine to see if she could come with me.


Lots of squeeing and freaking out and rearranging schedules later, and Friday afternoon at 2:15, we were off on our way to Glendale to watch the recording of Glee Sectionals.

We got there about 3:15-3:30ish (hit not as much traffic as I'd expected) and found a gloriously close parking spot (seriously, we should not have found it!), and lined up. And proceeded to wait for 2 1/2 hours. They didn't let us into the theater until about 6:15 where we got seated up in the balcony and waited. We saw them setting everything up, we were extremely excited. And then all of a sudden, I glanced up to see Chris Colfer standing right by the railing before going down to the edge of balcony to do Q/A. He answered several questions and was very funny and nice. Then he had to run to get into costume. And from there, we saw several of the other stars, and got to hear them record the Sectionals performances!!


It was freaking amazing.


And let me tell you....Sectionals is going to be epic. And have a LOT of surprises. Which I can't tell you. The songs are wonderful, the performances gorgeous, and there are several surprises in it that are going to knock your socks off.


We were there until 11:00pm. We didn't even notice the time when we got in there. We didn't get home until about midnight where I passed out rather quickly after gushing to my hubby who doesn't watch so it was ok.


The episode won't air until December 7th, but OH MY GOODNESS!! I still can't believe I was there and got to see it! So keep an eye out! You might see me up in the balcony!


And by the way,


I totally have the program to prove it too!

P.s. No, you can't see it. That's cheating!


But..... *squee*

Of course this is happening inside your head, Harry, but why on earth should that mean it is not real?

Well, it's been almost a month since I last talked with you. I would love to say that's because life has been crazy and busy and going going going....


But.

In reality, it's just been going, and not very exciting and nothing worthwhile to actually blog about. (I don't even want to think about the last time I journaled was! I should get back to that too....).


October is nearly over. When on earth did that happen? All of a sudden, November is suddenly saying hello. The weather certainly has been feeling that sudden as well. It almost just decided, "Oh you know what, it's almost November. We should probably stop mucking about", and now it's been rainy and cloudy and chilly for the last two weeks. Needless to say, I am loving this weather! 


Saturday was one busy long day, but in a really fun way. I had a baby shower and a birthday party! (No, not for me.)  


The baby shower was in honor of my dear friend and also Maid of Honor who is due in 3 weeks! The shower was lovely and not too crazy. It was also simply wonderful to be able to see her and hang out. Her little boy is about ready to come any day now, which is very exciting! It's always interesting to think back and realize how much we've done and been through together.  I remember one summer visiting Hubby who was living on campus at the time and meeting her outside the doors and her excitedly showing me the picture of the wedding gown she had just gotten. Seems like such a long time ago that we were both planning our weddings and getting excited and overjoyed about being married, and now it's been over 2 years for me, a year for her, and she's about to become a momma. Wow. Time flies. 


The birthday party was for another dear friend (whose birthday is technically tomorrow). She wanted to have an autumnal celebration/birthday party where everyone would bring a favorite autumnal food or drink and also a poem/story to read. While I was thinking last week on what to bring on both accounts, I remembered when I was younger, we used to always make this delicious mini-pumpkin muffins. I didn't have the recipe but hey, google is awesome. Then I had to figure out what story or poem to bring. As I was browsing through my books and I couldn't settle on anything, I finally decided that I would just write one for her. I meant to do a short story but it turned into a poem. I then read it aloud (which always makes me nervous, because I'm terrified that no one will like it), and got the couple seconds pause when it was done and then clapping and a few "Wow"'s. So I felt a bit better. Overall, it was wonderful to celebrate autumn and her birthday! I was blessed to be a part of it and got to meet and catch up with some new and old friends. 


This week is proving to be very very busy. Tonight I have class, as usual. Tomorrow is the Glee Rocky Horror Picture Show episode which I am so excited for. I'm going to a friend's house tomorrow night to watch the original and then the show episode, because a few other people are also coming who haven't seen the original, and that just won't do. Then Wednesday, we have another dear friend coming over for sketti and garlic bread and salad and wine and lots of relaxing and hanging out. Thursday I have nothing going on except lots of cleaning because Friday evening, J&C&C are coming to hang out!! I am so excited to see them and to visit. We haven't seen them since my birthday, so I'm very excited. Plus this will give me the excuse and buddy to watch our hubbies interact and just shake our heads. Hehe. 


Then on Saturday, I'm collapsing and sleeping in. Well, it depends on if our guests stay the evening or not. If they do, then we'll probably get up to go on a walk, have some coffee, and then hit up Crepes and Grapes. If not, then definitely collapsing. Oh. Right. It's Hallowe'en, isn't it? Well, I have no idea what we're doing for that weekend. At all. I have a costume (yay!), but nothing to go to. So we shall see, I suppose. 


Finances are finally clearing up and getting settled. We're finally just about caught up from the cruise, which threw us off for most of September, as we figured it would. By the 15th, though, we'll be much more settled. Just have those last few bills to take care of. But just in time for the holidays! Which, by the way, are coming up way too fast. But it does mean Christmas music and lots of goodies and treats and amazing food. You know, I should probably go get that gym membership as soon as possible.... Hehe. 


Speaking of which, when our finances are finally settled, we'll have some extra cash that we decided to split each paycheck for us to use as we would like. (After paying off all the bills and such, of course). I'm very excited, cause it means I can go out and get the books I've been wanting to get and the random shoes and clothes I haven't gotten because they haven't been a need so much as a fun want. So yes. Now I shall be able to get some of the fun wants I would like as well as stop changing my hair all the time because I shall be getting some more fun things to do. Oh, the one thing I am going to do to my hair though is come December ish (going to give it another month or so), I'm going to have it done professionally and dye it light brown with blond highlights, so I can go back to being blonde with some fun red streaks. Actually, depending on how light my hair gets in December, might just do straight blonde. We shall see. Have also decided that I am going to once again attempt to grow it out. I miss being able to braid it and put it up in a ponytail and otherwise have fun long hair. We'll see how long this lasts of course. But, patience is a good virtue to practice, I suppose. Besides, I've pretty much feel like I've run the gambit of short hairstyles to do and I haven't really found one I love. 


I'm going to start a new thing today, and it will be called:


Things that Amuse (and by amuse, I mean annoy generally) Me At Work:


1. Having FedEx attempt to deliver a package at 7:20AM on a Monday. We're a business. Logically, this makes sense, right? 
2. No one loads their dishes into the dishwasher. Ever. Or rinses them for that matter. So I come back from lunch to find the entire sink FULL with an empty dishwasher. 
3. Any--and I do mean any--issue that happens at work is my fault and magically I'm supposed fix it instantaneously. Case in point: The internet was down last week for a couple of days. I called Tech Support, spent a good hour on the line with them before they told me that the soonest they could get a tech out was 7pm that night. When we close at 5. So next day it would be, between 8-5, which is normal for tech support people. Cue the angry and yelling of some of the attorneys, one of whom called my boss at home to complain. It all worked out in the end, but really? 
4. Getting told that in order to fix something, can't you just wiggle the doohickey and unplug-plug in the whatchamacallit? 
5. Having to hit the printer in order to fix the LCD screen on it. Per the tech on the phone's request. 
6. The coffee bought by the non-coffee drinker and decides bulk is better than flavor.
7. No one actually puts the next roll of toilet paper on the holder. Ever. 
8. Typing up my boss's Bible Studies. 
9. The way the office goes to pieces when I'm sick and there's no one there to make coffee or answer the phones. *Gasp!* 
10. Last but not least, the insane senile old lady who calls and leaves messages on every machine at all hours of the day. Today, I had 98 of them. On one of the machines.  


And that, is all I have for now, folks. I will post the poem I wrote for my friend a bit later. I actually typed it up on a typewriter, so I need to type it up to save on my netbook. Which I shall do over lunch, I think. 


Here's to actually blogging a bit more regularly. If I start getting new stuff, I probably shall if only to post pictures and get all excited over them. 


P.s. I also finished rereading Book7 last week. And I cried. The movie comes out on the 19th. I am SO EXCITED!!! 

Feeling New

(I'm sure you're all wondering what the heck the title is about. Hang on, you'll find out soon enough)


So, I haven't updated in a while. In fact, quite a while. I just haven't felt like I've had anything worthwhile to say, honestly. Life hasn't seemed exciting and, I must admit, I've been in a bit of a funk. Life has just seemed, well, rather dull lately.  Work, school, eat, sleep. Over and over and over and over again.  


But.


I have exciting things (well, I think they're exciting at least) to talk about.


A few weeks ago (almost 4 now), I decided I wanted to switch birth controls. The appeal of going for three months without the dreaded she-who-will-not-be-named-time was great, I must admit. I did a lot of research as well, though, because I'm not a fan of screwing around with my hormones anymore than necessary. What I discovered was that it is healthier for you, better for your body, and has no more severe side effects than any other birth control. So I decided to take the plunge and I switched to Seasonique. 


Oh guys, if there are any reading this, you might want to just skip over the next paragraph if you're squeamy about girlish times of the month talk. Just know switching birth control has made me feel better and healthier than I've felt in a while. 


And let me tell you, I noticed differences in about three days off of the Patch and on Seasonique. My body felt better, I've lost weight (I'll go into that more later), I have no moodswings besides the normal frustrations, my skin is softer, I have no more migraines. I'm not bloated and things are firming up that I didn't expect to. Seriously. Hubby is noticing. Overall, I feel amazing. My body feels like it's evened out, so to speak. And the funny thing is I never realized how much the Patch had been messing with me until I got off of it. I just thought I needed to "power through the bad days" because it's birth control, so of course it'll cause weird things. Boy was I wrong. 


Which leads me into the weight loss. 


I've been on a "diet" of sorts for the past four-five weeks. I decided that I was giving up carbs (breads and pastas), sugars (mostly candy and soda), and most dairy products. Which left me with eating lots of protein, fruits, veggies, and yogurt. Now, I do cheat. Sometimes. (C'mon, garlic bread?) But the point is more that I'm concentrating on not eating them as regularly as I have been, especially for snacks and lunchtimes at work. Which means I've been eating yogurt for breakfast and a hardboiled egg with veggies for lunch, usually. Or some yummy chicken with garlic and veggies. That sort of thing.  


Now, to clarify, I have done some dieting off and on since the beginning of the summer, but haven't ever really found anything that worked long term for me. I'd lose some, then I'd stop and gain it back. 


But, that yo-yo dieting included, I have lost a good 18 pounds. I'm still curvy (obviously), and I still have a bit of a belly because, well, I've come to grips that I probably will always have a belly bump of some sort. But that's not the point. The point is I've lost 18 pounds, 10 of which in the last 4-5 weeks.


Mix that with the new birthcontrol, and I really do feel new. My body doesn't feel weighted down anymore because of all the evil trans-fats and carb heavy food I was eating. I feel healthy. I feel wonderful.  


And I seriously do blame Seasonique and the change in diet. 


I haven't felt this good in years. And people are noticing (not just Hubby, either!). It's wonderful. 


Oh, and this past week we got to see our best friend and her hubby from up north for a visit. Which was lovely. We got to reconnect. Though I miss her terribly (we both do). So skype dates it is! 


Also, I got my hair cut. It's awesome. I look like Ramona Flowers from Scott Pilgrim (without the bubblegum pink....my boss would have a cow if I showed up for work with it that color. Sad panda). 


All that to say. I'm feeling better than I have in a long while. It's awesome. 


So that's my update for now. I'll get better at updating daily instead of bi-weekly. 


P.s. Ok. Thunderstorms and pouring rain....in October. Last week it was 115. What. The. Hell. 0_0