like it or not... change is inevitable.

I'm typing this post as I'm sitting in my house I bought, looking at my bulldog, and my other bulldog snuggling with my husband. Change is inevitable - I like change - but I also like when things stay the same.  (I swear that make sense in my head). I think it's healthy to have a good mix of both. Two years ago if you told me I was going to have all of things listed above I don't think I would have believed you. In fact - I was so happy I might have done something to try and stop it.


I loved my life, friends and job a LOT when all of the above started coming into my life. I do really think there is something said to being personally settled and happy before you can work the rest in. (I mean it really takes a lot to work in two sleeping bulldogs and a snoring husband!) That has all changed now and thank goodness it did! 


Derek and I had a bonfire last night and it reminded me of my days of working at Camp Tanglefoot, in Clear Lake Iowa as a camp counselor over four years in high school and college. We were required to take the girls on a couple of cook-outs each week (meaning the counselors cooked outdoors rather than heading up to the lodge for grub the cooks had made). One fun way to get the girls involved was to make something with "Pie Irons". 


A Pie Iron looks like this:

I showed off my "camp girl days skills" to Derek and made him dessert over the fire. My masterpiece trick was a little thing we liked to call "Grilled Reeses" - which basically means taking bread, buttering the outside of the pieces and putting peanut butter as well as chocolate chips on the inside. Here's where the Pie Iron comes in - you simply put the sandwich in and toast it over the fire. Derek's only complaint was I didn't make two! 


When we were sitting around the fire though it reminded me of my times at Camp Tanglefoot and how happy I was then. I love knowing even though my camp counselor days are over I still get the chances to relive parts of them and share my stories and campy talents with my husband. 


This morning we went to brunch at my friend Jen and Seth's house. I love having a friend I met the second day of college still in my life. She knows all my stories and I know hers. She is one of the first people I call when things really go wrong or really right! I'm happy things don't change SO much that good friends come and go. 


My business is ever-changing as well. For a while each week I would think, "ok this is the week things will all get in order and things will be normal". It turns out there is no normal in business ownership - change is inevitable. I had an employee start two weeks ago which brings a whole new level of newness, twists and turns to the game. Learning to accept change and roll with the punches has GOT to be one of the most valuable life lessons out there. It seems like the sooner you realize how to do that - the sooner you feel relieved and satisfied with everything.


It's funny how life keeps coming around. Some things change and some things stay the same and some things are a little bit of both. I think that's a very comforting thought. 

BLT-Licious Salad

Ok...so maybe BLT doesn't flow as beautifully as Teresa Guidice has joined Fabulous and Delicious, but whatever, I went for it. (that's what it's all about right? taking big risks!) 


I'm starting to learn the factors of age and marriage work viciously with each other in a non-stop campaign to meet up with their bff  "weight gain". I swear anything I eat now feels like it would just be much easier to affix it to my stomach with duct tape. Being the lucky gal I am however, my husband agrees to participate in living a healthier lifestyle. We've been working out - but as most health experts (not me) will tell you weight is 90% diet. (grr.... WHY OH WHY were Chicken Alfredo and Mint Chocolate Chip ice cream ever invented then!)


Missing out on my favorite foods is simply not an option, so we've started taking our favorite foods and reducing the fatty items. Tonight we made one of my favorite "mom" recipes. We made it healthier and serve it with a lot less guilt now! 


BLT Chicken Salad 


Original Recipe (items i substituted are in parenthesis) 


The Dressing:
1/2 Cup Mayonaise (I used lowfat mayo made with Olive Oil)
4 tbls. bbq sauce (we used 2 tbls.)
2 tbls. onion 
1tbls. lemon juice
1/4 tsp. pepper


Salad:
Lettuce (we used mixed greens because it's healthier - but any will work just fine!)
2 tomatoes diced
1 1/2 lb. Chicken (we cut up one chicken breast and divided it between the two of us)
10 strips of Bacon Crumbled (we used 2 strips of Turkey Bacon each)
2 hard boiled eggs sliced (take out the yolks and save even more fat!)
(we also added mushrooms)

First have your assistant and your bulldog grill the chicken
(if you do not have a bulldog - don't fret -
you can do it on your own!) 

Dice the tomatoes, mushrooms, bacon,
peal and slice the hard boiled egg

Mix the dressing in a small bowl

Toss the dressing with the salad and Enjoy! (guilt free!)

Hope you like it!


I hope low-fat keeps tasting this good! It's fun to try and make our favorite foods healthier so we can keep enjoying them. Hmm...what to make next??

Busy Wife = Busy Life

Yikes?! I knew it had been a long time since I posted, but Valentines day is just shameful! I have good reason though (or at least I think it is!). I started my own business at the end of February (note the timeline of my business starting and the pause of my posts.)

My company is called Happy Medium. Our focus is honest media buying for clients. Lots of companies spend millions a year on marketing and never seem to step back to see where all of this great creative is being placed. This is where I want to help clients by using my knowledge from selling advertising at WHO-TV. If you want to see any other info you can find it at www.itsahappymedium.com. There - that's the last four months in a nutshell.

I did find time to do a few other things as well! I went to San Diego to visit a very good friend I spent a summer with in Japan during college. She turned 30 and had a "doble quince". I flew with a friend from here and it was a blast! Derek and I also just came home from Florida and visiting the beach, his cousins and his parents. We had a lot of fun and LOVE spending time at the beach. My favorite part of the condo the Stocking's have is it's the only place Derek has still access to where he grew up and still visits. I love going there and hearing all of his memories from when he was little. It makes me excited to take our kids there someday and continue the traditions my husband had.

We also made time to go to Chicago with our friends Jen and Seth for Memorial Day weekend - and we met up with our friend Colleen from college and her boyfriend Bill. It was a great weekend! There is something very comforting about hanging out with college friends  - it always makes me feel like "me" again.

In April my friend Kahala gave birth to a VERY beautiful baby who is now referred to as Elin. (Sweedish per her fathers request!). It's been fun to be Elin's "Aunt Tee Tee"! I think it's great to see your good friends with babies, it gives you an honest idea of how it will be to have a baby of your own. Plus they can come up with lots of good tips for when I need them!

My friend Meredith is expecting in December. (yes it's baby central in my world - and i LOVE every minute!) It's VERY fun to watch friends go through their pregnancies and be there to support them. I can't wait to find out what baby Garman is!

My friend Angie from high school also found the love of her life and was married in June. I was honored to be a part of it and they make a very beautiful couple!

Speaking of my first year of marriage - Did I mention I started my own company two months after we were married?! My husband has been an absolute rockstar through the process and been such a huge help with the success I've been fortunate enough to already have. He's guided me through the entire process to make sure things are set up the correct way. He does the books for Happy Medium (thank goodness - or I'd REALLY make a mess of things i'm sure) without and ounce of complaint, and he is always just a phone call away willing to listen to my company victories and roadblocks.

It seems like everyday this year I am more and more thankful I found and married Derek. Marriage is pretty cool....an amazing partnership that seems to grow daily. Who knew? I definitely didn't but I'm glad I'm finding out!

Valentines Day 2011

Oh My - I can not believe my last post was February 8th! Oops! In all fairness I have good reasons for being so busy lately. (more on that later!) 


I've been wanting to post about Valentines Day - so first things first... 


One thing unique about Derek and I, is we were engaged 7 months after we met and married after 15 months. Because of that we are still in the process of celebrating some holidays for the 2nd time together - which I find to be very fun. I can safely say the Valentines Day traditions have been officially set, with our 2nd Valentines Day behind us now. There is something about new traditions that feels extra cozy to me!


Our official tradition is simple but sweet... we watch Love Actually and I make Derek a specific dinner menu. I do think this year's dinner turned out even better than last years! Hopefully that tradition will continue too. 


Here's the menu:


Spinach Salad with a warm dressing - yum! 

Spaghetti Carbonara - YUM! 


This is a very special pasta my Uncle Craig made once for me and I immediately fell in love so luckily he taught me how to make it too! It can be a little time consuming - but definitely worth it for a special Valentine - I promise it's worth a try!!


Recipe for Spaghetti Carbonara: 


Ingredients:

• 3/4 pound pancetta
• 6 finely chopped cloves of garlic
• 1 to 1 1/2 teaspoons of red pepper flakes (optional)
• 1 to 1 1/2 cups of chicken broth
• ground black pepper
• 1 box of spaghetti 
• 3/4 cup finely chopped parsley 
• parmesan cheese (I recommend fresh)
• 4 egg yolks

Begin by cutting the pancetta into small pieces and then cook it in a deep pan over a medium to medium high flame/heat. 

Once the pancetta is nice and browned, quickly add the garlic and pepper flakes. Be careful not to cook the garlic too long so it does not get bitter After a minute or so the garlic will become golden brown. Quickly add a cup or so of chicken broth and a generous amount of black pepper. Turn the heat down to medium / medium low and let the sauce reduce by about 1/2 the volume. (You can always add more broth if things take longer than you anticipate, and keep the volume down to about 1/2 cup. Drop to a simmer. 

Have the pasta ready to dump into the pot of boiling salted water when you add the broth to the above so they can finish somewhat together. In the meantime finely chop the parsley and have plenty of parmesan cheese ready. I recommend getting a fresh block of parmesan and grating it. This time I did it this way and I felt like it made a huge difference in taste! 

Beat the egg yolks together and then temper in about a ladle full of the boiling water from the pasta pot. (note: you temper by adding a minute amount of the boiling water into the yolks while whisking furiously so as not to cook the yolks and continue until the entire ladle is incorporated) 

By now the pasta should be ready. Drain it completely and put it in the pasta bowl and dump the pancetta mix in, continue mixing well as you add the yolk mixture, parsley, and the parmesan cheese. 

Enjoy!!!


Red Velvet Cake with butter cream frosting - DOUBLE YUM!!

And here is a picture of my very sweet Valentine enjoying it all! A Valentines Day success! 

In sickness and in health...

oh boy am I THANKFUL Derek took this vow seriously! I haven't blogged in a while because my new acquaintance Tracheitis came unexpectedly to stay for a week long visit. He arrived on Tuesday and tried his best to stick around forever but I bid him adieu (mostly) on Sunday.

It turns out Tracheitis comes with a very sore throat, a deep cough, a fever that did not go under 100 degrees for four days and I couldn't even stand up on Thursday and Friday enough to be in the shower - but I had to be in the shower  to let the steam in and my amazing husband helped me every step of the way with everything!

Derek could have very easily just let me take care of myself. Instead he totally stepped up to the plate, by forcing me to let him take care of me. He got my medicine for me and kept the three prescriptions straight as to when I was supposed to take what. He tried coming up with food suggestions (even though I had no appetite) and while he was at work everyday he was constantly checking up on me.

Finally by Sunday I was able to breathe...now i'm just stuck with the cough that was left behind to remind me of what was.

Sometimes when I get really sick like that - as pathetic as it is - I tend to really want my mom around. At one point I asked Derek if he would ask my mom to come down (I couldn't talk on the phone) and he said "no - it's you and me now babe - don't you think I take good enough care of you?" of COURSE I think you take great care of me! How could I be so rude to ask for somebody else!? So it really made me think that it really IS him and I now, we're a team and we're going to work through ALL of our vows together...and that is exciting! Sometimes I look at him and say can you believe you are my HUSBAND?! I still think that is crazy. (in a good way - duh!)

What goes up...must come down?

I began the week yesterday with a few rough happenings. The week after our honeymoon I was on SUCH a high, and everything seemed to be falling into place - I remember thinking this all seems too perfect, and I wonder what will be the thing to break this wonderful time. Is it bad that we naturally seem to assume something will inevitably "go wrong"? I think it goes along with that whole "What goes up - must come down theory" although I think that saying has something to do with gravity as well. Have we just had enough things always fall wayside that we have just become accustomed to planning for it? 


Apparently I have at least, I figured something would get a little out of line - and I was right. That happened yesterday and has been growing for a week or so. Luckily now though when I do have bad days I have an amazing husband and bulldog to come home to! 


Last night, after that day - I needed some cooking therapy. I've been searching for a Sweet and Sour Chicken recipe for a while. I finally picked one of the many I found yesterday and decided I could modify as I wanted. 


I'm not even going to be shy - this recipe was AMAZING!!! It literally tasted like the stuff you get at a Chinese restaurant - MINUS the deep fat fried chicken! yea!!!


Here's the recipe: (what i did anyhow!)


Sweet and Sour Chicken 


Ingredients:
3/4 cup white sugar 
(could use a sugar alternative to lighten it up!)
1/3 cup white vinegar
2/3 cup water
1/3 cup soy sauce (i used reduced sodium version)
1 tbs ketchup
2 tbs cornstarch


Place all ingredients in a medium saucepan, bring to a boil and stir continuously until the mixture has thickened. 

Chicken:


I marinated the chicken for about 20 minutes in soy sauce. Then I cut the chicken into the size squares I wanted to serve, and coated them in flour. I put this into a frying pan with some Extra Virgin Olive Oil. Leave them until you can see they are cooked about half way through (flipping them too much will dry them out). Once the chicken was finished I put in mushrooms (you could add any vegetables you wanted - i might even add some cashews next time) and let them simmer. 

Finally - pour most of the sauce over the chicken/mushrooms, stir - making sure all chicken is covered, and let simmer for at least 5 minutes. 

I actually poured all of the sauce ingredients in the saucepan and did not turn the heat on, then I got the chicken cooking and once I flipped the chicken I turned the sauce on. You have to constantly stir it to make sure it doesn't burn. 


Make some rice (we used the uncle ben's brown rice to health it up a bit) and we also added some cheater egg rolls (which were delicious!) And ta daaaaa! You have dinner...This whole process took me about 20 minutes!

p.s. this meal was cooked partially thanks to our "challenge" - I've had some people asking how it's going. So far so good - but I'm saving the final details for the end! 

Please feel free to comment if you plan to / do try this! 

It's great to hear feedback!

The Challenge...(numero UNO!)

Sometimes a challenge feels good correction - sometimes completing a challenge feels great! not so good if the challenge doesn't turn out well. Regardless, this Kosama program we do has taught me that even though it's a little painful and exhausting, at the end of the day a good challenge feels rewarding and well worth it! 


With that, my husband and I more so I than both of us decided at lunch today it was a good time for another challenge! In fact - I kind of decided in my head that we should do a new challenge every month, but I'll ease Derek into that part of the plan. Anyway, without further adieu - our challenge...


The Challenge: Eating In To Win!
yes i feel a little "Minute to Win It"...


Length of Contest: 4 weeks 1/25/11 - 2/23/11


Rule #1 We will only eat out for lunches if it can be expensed (a.k.a. work lunches with clients). 


Rule #2 We will only eat dinner out one night per week 
(yikes! this one will by FAR be the hardest for us!!)


Rule #3 Starbucks/coffee/soda runs DO count - so they can't happen! (they add up fast too!)


We came up with this challenge because we realized we were eating out a lot this past fall and we promised each other that "after the wedding" as we said about many things this past fall we would not eat out as much and try to eat more at home to save money and to eat healthier. Plus my husband can't stop talking about "filling up the coffers" have you ever even heard of a coffer? I had not...but now I feel like they are supposed to be my bff. (ugh). He hasn't gone so far as to actually literally get us a coffer to fill up - but if he did...here's what I would have to figure out how to incorporate into my home decor. That would be an entirely different challenge.

coffersplural of cof·fer (Noun)

1. A strongbox or small chest for holding valuables.

2. The funds or financial reserves of a group or institution

We began tonight by adding up the past four weeks purchases at ANY restaurant, coffee house, fast food place or grocery store. (note: we did the past four weeks we were here - we excluded the honeymoon week since we were not here). I wasn't really sure what to expect the total to be - but it was (drum roll please!) $975.24. Do you think this is a lot? I couldn't decide...in my head I thought it would be more when i was estimating, but then realizing this is approximately $250/ week in food, that seems like quite a bit! Our Goal: is to spend $125/ week on food for the next 4 weeks, for a total of $500 and a total savings of $475.24! (helloooo... JAMAICA a little sooner if we can start pulling that off monthly!)


We've been so excited about cooking with all of our new fun tools  that I can't think of a better time to meet this challenge head on.


So here goes nothing! (oh lordy - why am i ALREADY craving Jimmy Johns?! damn...) 


I'd love to hear feedback on what you think of this!!

Sunday Funday!

In my days at college which i fondly refer to as the glory days "Sunday Funday" meant for yet another wonderful day of fun with your friends - as if going out Thursday, Friday and Saturday wasn't enough "quality" time with your pals. Generally playing yard olympics, finishing the keg from the night before, ordering pizza and not so much studying for that chem. test you are taking at 8am Monday morning were on the itinerary. 


These days - my idea of the perfect "Sunday Funday" was waking up with my husband, making breakfast, cleaning the house together, working on wedding thank-yous and verbally planning our next trip to Jamaica as we seem to do daily now. Derek and I talked today about how we used to go crazy when we didn't have something to do on a Sunday, and now today getting off the couch seemed like too many scheduled events!


I was able to motivate myself to make my husband somewhat of a proper dinner this evening. In light of my fond memories of college "Sunday Funday" I was craving my favorite dining center soup - Pizza Soup! 


I didn't have the recipe - but I let my fingers do some research through the google and combined all the pizza soup recipes with my memories of this glorious concoction to come up with the following:


Pizza Soup!


Ingredients:
3/4 Box of Cooked Rigatoni
1 family size + 1 regular can of tomato soup
1/2 cup Parmesan Cheese
1/4 - 1/2 bag of Pepperoni's cut in half
1/4 tsp. Basil
1/4 tsp. Oregano
1/4 tsp. Garlic Powder
Shredded Mozzarella 

ingredients = check!
(think I went to Target today?!)

Fresh shredded motz is best!

Make the tomato soup as directed on the can, use milk.
(and even a little extra milk for a little creamier texture)
Add all seasonings and the parmesan cheese. Stir well. 

Add the pepperoni's and cooked noodles.
Stir again and let warm/simmer on medium for about 20 minutes 

Top with the Mozzarella - and voila FINISHED PRODUCT!
My husband was sweet enough to say
"it looks like something from the Food Network" - i love him!

It was delicious - i must say! I think in the future I will add mushrooms and maybe some Parmesan Cheese as a garnish as well. 

Derek said he LOVED it - and that it makes for a great comfort food in these days of the below the 0 temperature mark. yuk!

Check the "cool" box below if you plan to try this! 

(just curious!)

You're gonna catch a cold...

You will find that I tend to be the girl who listens to songs and makes it a hobby to try and figure out the true meaning and message the songwriter was trying to convey.

I LOVE this song: Jar of Hearts by Christina Perri. I think the song is actually a man hatin' song, but it has a line in it that I've taken upon myself to interperet in a way that related to my week better. If you listen she says "you're gonna catch a cold, from the ice inside your soul".

This is the premise to my rant on mean people. I am very over mean people. I seem to keep getting slapped in the face not literally thankfully! this week by mean people. The worst of it is - I'm realizing that actual "mean people" are not just people who get upset about one thing, or do one specific mean action. The people I am tired of are the day in and day out mean people - the people who - after time - it becomes painfully evident after you've spent months making excuses in your head for them they are mean ON PURPOSE! That is the worst kind of mean...

i.e. - "you're gonna catch a cold - from the ice inside your soul" A word to the permanantly mean people - you better start carrying around an unlimited refill prescription for z-packs.

I know it sounds a little Miss America - but do wish people were more accepting of the day to day behavior of others. Imagine a world thank you John Lenon where everybody treated everybody else with respect at the minimum but also genuine friendliness.
I am going to make an effort to be nicer to people, I am not going to make dirty faces to people who cut me off on the road ok-make that I'm not going to give people the bird, If somebody around me seems to be struggling with something - I'm going to try not to think in my head I'm too busy to help them, I hope they don't ask me. I'm going to offer help and a friendly face, I'm going to say Good Morning! to people at my office yes - even on Mondays to brighten the mood.

My point is, I believe being mean is probably more exhausting and I am glad to know already I am not somebody who evidently enjoys being mean, but I believe there are still plenty of ways I can improve myself.

I'm going to even apply this to my marriage or try to. If Derek gets home late I'm going to try to think positively not completely annoyed about how it's ruining my day. I'm going to keep focus on the small things and be nice in small ways. It's easy for a lot of people to not cheat on their spouses which obviously would be considered in the "mean" category" But I bet it's a lot less easy to remember to say sweet nice things - and act on those. Actions speak louder than words and I'm going to act nice!

Is that too much to ask out of everybody else?? So go out of your way to be a little nicer today. I bet you will feel better and maybe it will be contagious!

Who's with me??

a moment to breathe...

Sometimes there is nothing better in life than when I have nothing to do. I used to go CRAZY when I had one free minute of unscheduled time. After all things wedding planning the last few months I was excited for a break.


I realized in all of my uncomplicated, unscheduled bliss of a honeymoon - how much I was looking forward to being home and being married to and spending some quality time with my wonderful new husband. This past weekend gave me that exact time I'd been looking for - and I turned out to be right. The less things scheduled - the BETTER right now!


Luckily we did have one VERY fun event scheduled though. Our friend Andy turned 40 and our other friends Jenny and Keith were sweet enough to throw him a party! In my efforts to be a wonderful wife I wanted to be a fabulous party guest and show up with some delicious contributions.


Derek and I LOVE to cook together - we registered at Williams Sonoma and received lots of amazing new kitchen gadgets from the wedding. I picked out a couple of new tools to try and decided on Chocolate Covered Strawberries and Boursin Stuffed Mushrooms.


I of course did not want to make just regular chocolate covered strawberries - so I did some googling seriously what did people do before google?! and found a wonderful idea to infuse the dipped strawberries with riesling. Ah HA! This would be an excellent opportunity to try out my new "injector". Also, I came up with the idea to do some strawberries with sprinkles, and some with almonds too. (not my idea - it was stolen from one of the 5200 wedding brochures I've looked through the past nine months.)  but hey - some of the best idea's are stolen right?!


So here are my finished strawberries...our new "injector" works wonders - and I tried a double broiler for the first time word to the wise - melting chocolate in a double broiler in comparison to in the microwave for dipping is NIGHT AND DAY difference. I will never go back to the microwave! 

Next up - with the strawberries set it was onto the mushrooms. 

My FAVORITE type of recipe are the kind that make you look fancy but in reality is was super easy. I'm pretty into looking fancy and proper, but I don't always feel like I have a lot of time. So the recipe I found for Boursin Stuffed Mushrooms was just the ticket! 

Here's the recipe: 

Ingredients:

40 medium sized mushrooms

1 cup Boursin cheese

melted butter

Directions:

Wash mushrooms and remove stems. 

Fill mushrooms with Boursin cheese. 

Brush the mushroom caps with melted butter. 


Bake on a cookie sheet at 350 for 30 minutes. I put parsley on them as well when they were baked about half way through. They made the house smell AMAZING! I think they were a total hit with our friends! Hey - anything that makes you feel and look fancy but didn't take all the time that fancy usually requires - is AWESOME in my book! 

Anybody else have any secret "looks fancy but wasn't" tricks?? 

Church School and Snowblowers?

Hmm...it's been an interesting day. Due to Murphy's Law (if it can happen - it will)  our welcome home from paradise was a snowstorm and a (un)matching broken snowblower. *dislike* in facebook speak So today my husband asked me on our first official date as a married couple which turned out to be a trip to the local John Deere dealership to "look" at snowblowers. yes we're apparently going to go ALL OUT for dates in this marriage During our trip I figured out a couple of things I will need to remember in the future trips where I am invited by him to go "look" at something.

1) We need to do a little research on products we're looking at and the reviews they have before we go - because now when when the 65 year old sales guy wearing Spalding tennis shoes, Levis, and a crew cut John Deere sweatshirt tells you the product will last for twenty five years - you step back and realize you might actually be in the same house with the same man lets hope this one is for sure needing the same product. It was so surreal to picture Derek clearly not me snow-blowing our driveway with that very snow blower in twenty five years. It made me start to picture where else our lives would be then. I'm not sure on that but i DO know we will have a clean driveway!


2) Before you go on the "looking" journey you should probably check your bank account - because you probably aren't just "looking" - you are setting up a delivery time. Derek rarely want's to buy things so I just have to accept that when he does it's probably a good purchase even though it SUCKS to spend $800 right now on something that will simply get the freakin' snow out of the driveway...BUT if you live in a snowy area - you know snow removal is KEY when it's needed. So, I'm proud to announce I was happy to make this sacrifice of our bank account to make things much easier on my husband in the winter months. We are officially the proud owners of a brand spankin' new snow blower.
(please don't get TOO jealous ladies!) Besides - when he goes out to snow blow, I get to be in the house making hot chocolate with marshmallows, baking cookies and starting a fire to warm him up to work on my goal of - best wife ever!

Along the lines of sacrifices, my amazing husband so nicely agreed to become Catholic for me and for us. but let's be honest mostly for me ; ) Before we were officially engaged we had the "religion" discussion - I grew up in a Catholic school and was pretty involved in my church here so he agreed to make the commitment to Catholicism. So now every Thursday night (since August and through Easter) we have church school. Tonight during class - I looked over at Derek and realized the sacrifice he is making for me and for our family. He did not have to go through this process to marry me etc... he just decided it was in our best interest and went for it. Not only is he going to class - he actually is involved during class and is always asking me questions. He definitely is putting effort into it and I really appreciate it. I want to be that kind of wife for him. I hope he knows if there is something important to him I will fully support him and do everything I can to be involved in that part of his world. Isn't that what this marriage stuff is all about? It amazes me how good it feels to do these things together.

Has anybody else made any compromises or sacrifices for their marriage?? or like us - in the process of these changes?

the relief diet...

Being a girl I am no stranger to the word "diet" - I think if I look back I've probably been on some form of a diet since the 5th grade after Sister Annette explained the food pyramid to us. This first week "back to the grind" as everybody keeps so nicely reminding me I have put myself on what I've decided is "The Relief Diet". This diet consists of feeling so much relief that all things wedding: planning, organizing, family time oh boy the family time and major carb avoidance's have ceased - that you eat whatever the heck you feel like eating! or in my case basically whatever is in front of your face

I think I've also fondly referred to this as the "fat and happy's" - I can completely see now how this happens to people. You get fat because you are so gosh darn happy, you just don't care about anything else! This feeling is definitely lightyears from your single days - where your hot body was the best accessory you could rock on a Saturday night. I've been married twelve days and have already caught myself saying "who cares - I'm married" to myself before eating that second piece of pizza. ok busted - third piece of pizza...This week I have officially put myself on the relief diet.


In my commitment to be a great wife I plan to do my best to avoid the fat portion of the "fat and happy's". Luckily, the 10 weeks prior to the wedding we committed to a "10 week body transformation" program called Kosama. Even luckier we tricked ourselves into signing up to do the body maintenance there through June. we'll use luckier - loosely. So it will officially be "back to the grind" Monday when I remove myself from the relief diet and walk back through Kosama's doors.


So basically, my tip to keep your body wedding day fabulous is to lock yourself financially into some sort of work-out program BEFORE the wedding is over! ha. because at this point it feels like approximately 98% of the reason I'm headed back. least I'm honest...

New Year...New Wife

The new year tends to bring firsts in some way for everybody. For me this year, i started off January 1st - not with a hangover - for the first time in my life since college - but rather as my first full day of being a wife. Derek and I were married on New Years Eve this past year and so far things are going swimmingly. (never mind the fact the majority of our marriage has been spent at an all-inclusive amazing resort in Jamaica - i'm certain it would have been just as delightful here) 

While on our honeymoon, we remembered we had yet to make our new years resolutions (we were slightly busy that week!) I decided my resolution is going to be the best wife I can be this first year of our life. after the first year who cares?! just kidding... So thus: "New Year...New Wife". Also I would never admit I'm the kind of girl that had a "Wedding Slogan" (my friends are laughing here - yes i know) but hey - since you obviously have to have SOMETHING to print on the little cocktail napkins we went with "New Year...New Life" so I'm ceremonially (literally) switching it to wife and here we go. 

This blog is intended to document my trials and tribulations of being a wife and the best tips I come up with through my first year. For Better or Worse... ;)