Hello

Just dropping in to say hello! It has been a pretty boring week. I started to get sick on Tuesday night and spent all day Wednesday not feeling too hot. Today I feel a ton better but just been snotty and sneezing. Hopefully this weekend I will feel back to my normal self and we will have some sunshine! We have had some nice days but I am so looking forward to the days where it stays. I am not a fan about the time change but I do love that it isn't dark when I leave work. I am looking forward to working out in the yard, exercising in the park and wearing sandals/flip flops at all times! I did get a pair of dress sandals and a few clothing items for spring which I am so excited to break out! I can't wait for the smell of flowers and fresh cut grass!!

Hope everyone has had a wonderful week. Sorry I am a boring blogger and haven't had much interesting stuff to share!

Flashback Friday

In 2006 I went to study abroad in New Zealand.  I lived in Auckland, NZ and attended classes at a local university which had an exchange program with Marshall University (where I attended undergrad).  I spent 4 months there and learned SO many things and also got to experience a ton of new adventures.  The time I spent there meant so much to me and I think about it often. 

I went knowing one person, Jillian.  Jillian and I met our freshman year in college and became really good friends.  One day we were talking about how we always wanted to study abroad.  Her being the go getter decided to look into it further.  We found out that our university had two exchange programs, the one in NZ and one in England.  Jillian wisely said that we could go to Europe a lot easier so why not travel half way across the world and attend NZ because how likely would we get to visit there if we didn't decide to study there?  She had a good point.  So I agreed that was a grand idea, only half believing that I would be there one day.

So we did some research and found out there was an opening for two people a little over a year later.  So we signed up, me still not believing I would go.  About eight or so months out Jillian was doing research on plane tickets and found some great prices and suggested we go ahead and buy ours.  So after finding some dates I purchased my ticket, again still not believe that in about eight months I would be getting ready to embark on a 24 hour travel adventure to another country.

 About 4 months before we were set to leave I met Jeff, who is now my husband.  After a few months we were getting into a serious relationship, especially compared to any I had in the past.  I was then bound and determined that I was not going to go.  I went as far as calling the airline to see if I could get a refund on my crazy expensive flight.  But in the end I figured that if we could live 4 months apart maybe, just maybe, we could go the distance.  Between that and the fact that I knew I would miss out while Jillian was having all the fun and that maybe one day I would regret it, I decided to go.

See during this whole process Jillian did most of the research and I just followed along.  I am usually a pretty good planner but I was happy for her to take the lead on this one because during the whole process I was in denial that I was actually going to be going.

So after many tearful good byes, on July 7, 2006 I was on my way to New Zealand.  I met up with Jillian in Dallas and we flew to LA and then to New Zealand.  We took a shuttle to where we would be living the next 4 months.  We lived in a complex that composed of apartments.  Each apartment had 5 separate rooms, a living room, 2 bathrooms and a kitchen.  Jillian and I lived in different apartments and were in two separate towers of the building we were in.  The people I lived with are a whole other story for another time though...it sure was interesting.

But needless to say, once I was shown to my room I decided to take a shower because I had been traveling none stop for a day.  I took a shower and then went to blow dry my hair using the blow drying I brought from home with my handy dandy electric converter.  Well within seconds I saw sparks and blew the electric in my entire apartment.  So between that a good spell of home sickness I had a shaky time during my first several hours in NZ. 

All in all I am so glad I was able to share the experience with Jillian and went to NZ.  And in the end I was right about Jeff.  We made it through my time abroad and a little over a year after I got home we were engaged.  Jillian was also dating a guy when we left for NZ and she married him a little over a month after I married Jeff.  So maybe one day we can take our husbands to NZ and show them a little bit of what we experienced.

I did so much in NZ.  My mom even came over for about 2 weeks and we traveled the Southern part of NZ.  NZ is known for its adventure.  One thing I decided before I left the US is that I wanted to sky dive in NZ.  So before we left NZ Jillian and I decided to make the plunge.  Jeff always told me he didn't want to know when I decided to be stupid enough to jump out of a plane so I told him I had errands to do!  So today I thought I would share some pictures from my skydiving venture.  I hope to do Flashback Fridays more often and hopefully share some more of my pictures from NZ because I have some amazing ones and did SO many neat things. 

A little about my sky diving venture.  Jillian and I originally tried to skydive one weekend when we were traveling with a bunch of friends.  Several of our friends there were planning to skydive together but the wind was too bad and we didn't get to go.  So we ended going, just the 2 of us, to a local place near where we were staying.  It wasn't as nice I don't think but we still had a ton of fun.  We jumped from 12,000 feet and at first were falling around 100 mph.  We each decided since we weren't going to be doing this every day that we needed to get it caught on firm so each of us had our own camera guy.  So now some pictures......

Me and Jillian

The plane.  After seeing pictures of the plane my husband later told me he was glad I had a parachute on

Me and my professional jumper!

Hope you enjoyed!  It was a TON of fun and I highly recommend it!  I would love to do it again but I will need to find someone to go with because my husband informed me that he would would never jump out of perfectly good plane!  Maybe one day I could convince him?!?

Thankful Thursdays

So I have been lagging on ideas of what to blog about recently so I thought I would steal borrow an idea from Kate.  Every Thursday she writes about things that she is thankful for, so today I thought I would write about a few things I am thankful for.

I am thankful for my husband.  He is an amazing guy and always encourages me, makes me laugh, always there if I need someone to lean on and is my best friend.

I am thankful for my family and friends.  I am glad they are apart of my life and thankful from what they brought to my life.

I am thankful that it's Thursday which means tomorrow is Friday!

I am thankful that I get to see family this weekend and spend time with my cute little cousins (ages 6,5,3).

I am thankful for the warm weather we have had this week!  I smell flip flops in my near future!

I am thankful that I got a good grade on one of the tests I had last week (still haven't gotten the other one back).

I am thankful that I am half way through my last semester of grad classes.

I am thankful that I get to eat at PF Chang's tomorrow night (love that place)!

I am thankful for the yummy piece of homemade banana pie I had for dinner.

I am thankful that it has been a good work week and I have had work to keep me busy.

I am thankful that it is good TV night (Grey's and Private Practice)!

Random Stuff

Here are a few things on my mind and since they have nothing to do with one another I decided a bulleted post was in order!

• One of the ladies in my office has to go out of town due to a family emergency.  She asked me if I would be willing to teach an Excel class in her place on Wednesday.  See a few months ago she started teaching Excel classes during lunch for people who wanted to learn more about it.  I haven't attended the class because I know a good bit about excel and have taken several classes previously.  So I believe I am competent to teach it but at the same time nervous.  I'm not sure on everyone's skill level and I am not a huge fan of speaking in front of people.  At least she gave me a topic now I just have to figure out what to cover and how to do it in about 20 minutes!
• Restaurant.com is my new friend!  You can find some really great deals on there.  I wait until they run good sales (70%-90% off) and capture a gift certificate.  I love good deals!
• So I haven't been really good about the weight loss thing.  I haven't lost anymore, or don't think I have (I forgot to weigh the last few days), but I also haven't gained any.  However, my pants are officially too big.  I need jeans in a bad way!  I also need some khakis.  I hope to find some deals this weekend.  I don't want to spend a lot of money on clothes but figured a need a few essentials.  It's a good feeling knowing your clothes are too big, but at the same time I hate to spend the money and they go through the struggle of finding something that fits.  Oh well, I guess its better than my clothes being too small.
• My grandfather turned 93 in February.  He has always been in great health and is as sharp as a tact.  However, recently he had an MRI and the results we received are not good news.  He has more tests in the future followed by lots of doctor appointments.  I just pray that everything is okay.  I know he is 93 but I still hate that his health is going bad.  I am very close with this grandparent.  The hardest thing is that he lives about 4 and a half hours away.  This situation has been heavy on my heart and I just hope everything is okay and that God can prepare me for what the future may bring.
• The weather is SOOO nice today that I actually went out for lunch!  It is in the 60s and SO pretty.  Again, I can't wait for spring!
• As of last Saturday I am two months away from completing my last grad class!!!  Can you tell I am excited?

I think that is about it for now.  I am sure there is more to come in the near future!

Weekend Review

Hope everyone had a wonderul weekend.  Ours was wonderful!  It started out with 5 of my friends from college coming over on Friday night to hang out and catch up.  We ate pizza and shared a bunch of laughs.  I love these girls and always have a great time when I am around them.  Of course we were entertained by a little girl named Kailyn.  She is the cutest thing and we all have so much fun when she was around.  Her mother also shared some recent stories involving Kailyn.  They all just make me laugh so hard.  Makes you wonder where kids pick up half of what comes out of their mouth!  All in all we had a great night and I can't wait to do it again!

On Saturday the husband went to work for a few hours but was home by noon.  He then cleaned both vehicles (inside and out).  I did a few things inside while he was doing all this.  We also caught some of the WVU basketball game (it was a CLOSE one but they won!).  On a side note-March Madness is coming soon and it is my favorite time!  I love having a bracket and seeing how well I can do.  I usually do pretty good considering that it is a guessing game for me a lot of the time.  We will probably join a pool and see how well we can do this year.  Now continuing with our Saturday-The husband and I went to dinner that night for his belated birthday.  We had a great time enjoying each other and eating a good meal.  We ended up renting some movies through the RedBox and coming home.  We were going to go see a movie but there really wasn't anything playing that we wanted to see so we came home and got back in our sweats.

Sunday we did nothing and it was so nice.  We made ribs in the crockpot.  I got the recipe from my friend Rachel.  They were SO good!  We also had homemade mac and cheese and greenb eans.  A great meal with very little work!  I got to catch up with some stuff on DVR, take a nap and again just enjoy the day with my husband.

All in all it was a GREAT weekend!  Next weekend we are traveling to see some of my family so it won't be as relaxing but I am looking forward to it!

Friday-It's time to party!!!

Well I'm going to party, per say, but it is Friday!  This has been a long and tiring week.  Also yesterday was my wonderful husband's birthday!  I tell him that is old now that he is closer to 30 then to 20!  He is a year older then me so I can get away with it for at least this year!!  Since I had class yesterday, which included a test, we didn't get a chance to celebrate.  So that is put off to this weekend.  We are just going to do dinner at a nice local restaurant and maybe do a movie.  We also have a few gift cards so some shopping may be in order too!

Speaking of my exam yesterday it was HORRIBLE!  Now I am not saying it was hard.  Though I may be shooting myself in the foot on that one since I haven't gotten it back and I am not sure how he going to grade.  I mentioned about this class previously.  So last night was the exam I was talking about.  It wasn't bad since it was open book and we had the questions previously.  I figured that just about anyone (even if you didn't have the class) could handle that one.  But the worst part that it was all essay and had to be hand written.  I literally wrote for 2 straight hours.  We couldn't write anymore then 3 pages a question and I wrote 2-3 pages for each.  It was just long and my hand HURT!  I guess it is because I haven't done that much hand writing in awhile.  But I was so glad when I was done.  We had 2 and a half hours to take the exam and it took me a little over 2 and when I left over half of theclass was still there. 

But on to this weekend!  It should a fun one.  A bunch of my friends from college are getting together tonight.  We were all in sorority together and try to get together every month of so.  It is always a fun time!  One has a little girl around 2 and a half and 2 are currently expecting.  So I am sure the fun will keep on!  We can usually keep entertained on stories!  We are having it at my house this time and ordering pizza.  I also got some other good stuff to go with it.  I am also excited because we are getting the pizza from my favorite place!

Tomorrow I hope I can get my butt up and out of bed so I can work off the pizza at boot camp.  I went a few weeks ago and man did it kick my butt!  I could barely move the next day.  I took a friend with me and she said she couldn't walk for days.  It is very cardio intensive.  But I figured a little pain does the body good!

Hopefully in the next few days the weather will be nice and we can do some house projects.  I have been wanting to shampoo our carpets ever sense I got a shampooer for Christmas.  Hopefully I can finally do that and put the windows open a little to let the carpets dry.

But for the most part it will be a relaxing weekend with the husband.  Hope you all have a good one!

Stress

And the stress continues this week!  Just stopping in for a quick note to say that I am alive but have a very busy week ahead of me.  But don't freat, I will be back soon!  Hopefully with my hair attached!