Moving to Virginia : The Good The Bad AND The UGLY!

PCS'ing from San Diego to Norfolk Virginia has been a TRIP! Let me start by saying Murphy's Law. What can go wrong, WILL indeed go wrong. So, with our further adooooo Heres what happened.

My husband and I were bound and determined to make this move go much more smoothly than our last. (which was also a disaster) So we followed all the directions, had a relocation consultation and had all of our ducks in a row. We felt GREAT about the move....other than the fact that we were leaving San Diego.

THEN

The navy threw a huge wrench into our nice organized plans. Go figure. He was told to go to the relocation office and set up our move 10 days before we were leaving. Which we did, we actually went 12 days before just to be safe. Only to get online to schedule the move and have them tell us that if they pick up our household goods when we were moving out of our apartment they wouldn't arrive to our new apartment in Virginia for OVER A MONTH! which was no good because James is deploying soon after checking into his new ship. We absolutely were not living an empty apartment for a month. So we had to have them call us to tell us an earlier date that they could come pack everything up.  (this was on a Friday)  I got a phone call the following Tuesday telling me that they were going to come on Thursday! THAT Thursday! Which was a week before we were leaving, but hopefully our stuff would arrive in Virginia on time. SO we were like 'what the heck, lets just do it".

So we had a week with nothing in our apartment other than our bags, the pets and an air mattress....And still no move money! But I'll get to that in a minute.

Once we left San Diego, we drove to Vegas for a night, then to Fort Morgan Colorado, Chicago Illinois, Cleveland Ohio and then off to Norfolk, VA. It was a LONG drive!

When we reached Chicago, it had been almost a week and we still hadn't received any of the travel money which was beginning to make things difficult because staying in a hotel every night gets really expensive. Especially with 2 pets. After having my husband call them and finding out nothing, I started calling and finally got answers. He filled out for the move money to be advanced so we could have it before we left San Diego, apparently somebody in whatever office that is, didn't realize that and it was still sitting on someones desk. So we had to wait another 4 days to get the money put into my husbands account.

Once we got to Virginia we stayed at the navy lodge until we could find an apartment. Which took 3 days because we were SO sick of moving and wasting money on hotels we picked the first thing we looked at. A very nice girl we met at the PETA dog park, who's husband is also Navy, recommended it to us. And it turned out to be Okay. Its not as nice as what we're used to but, its only for 11 months, and James will be deployed for 8 of them.  The place is super dog friendly and has a dog park in the complex, so Finn's happy.

We had to wait another week to have all of our household goods delivered....which was VERY frustrating but it felt good to at least be 'home' even if home was still empty. Once our things finally arrived it was bitter sweet because SO much of it was broken or damaged. Almost everything that wasn't put in a box, they broke...

• My Antique Dining Room Table had an entire corner knocked off

• The solid wood leaf coffee table's end brace was knocked off. Like, it snapped off, it didn't just come loose. 

• Our 3 Drawer Dresser bottom brace was also knocked off and they taped it back together with packing tape.

• And lastly our king memory foam mattress has a tear the size of my hand in the cover and the liner. I'm not sure how we're going to fix that because I already looked and I can't find a new cover or liner and it was a BRAND NEW mattress it was only 4 months old.

We are currently in the claim precess....fingers crossed!

Moving to Norfolk Virginia

Our San Diego dream life has come to a screeching halt. The unthinkable, yet inevitable, has happened. My husband received orders to Norfolk, Va. The one place we really didn't want to go. Of course. No offense to Norfolk, we just love where we are. Perfect location, perfect apartment, perfect everything. But hey, all things must pass right?.... Sigh. Thanks George Harrison.

So now what? First and foremost, we're trying to get excited. We're excited for Jimmy to finally start his career and he's excited to have a ship. I'm excited to finally live somewhere long enough to get a job again! (THANK GOD) Not working, isn't all its cracked up to be. And although we don't love the immediate area we'll be living in, I do like a lot of areas that are somewhat near Norfolk, so thats nice. Silver Linings.

But anyways. We're desperately searching for an apartment/house. Its so hard looking for a good place to live when you're on the other side of the country. You kind of just have to do your research and hope for the best. Otherwise you're stuck in a crappy apartment, in a crappy area. Then your husband deploys and you're alone in the crappy apartment in the ghetto and that just sucks. We've done it before and its miserable. So the search begins, we have a little less than 2 months before we get there.

Now this time lets hope all of our stuff gets there in once piece. Our last move was a disaster, we had 2 broken tables, a missing box, another box that that smelled and looked like a cat peed on it (we didn't even have our cat when we moved so we know it wasn't him!) and a hole in our toaster oven. AND jimmy lost our inventory sheet so we couldn't get any of it replaced. :(

And lastly, the drive....
Ugh. Driving cross country is fun, once, when you have all the time in the world. Not twice in a matter of 9 months. whoa is me.

Planning. Ready. Set. GO!

Things That Bother Me...

It really bothers me...

When people go about their lives in a way that is only conducive to themselves and what they want. And then get offended when others don't bend over backwards to satisfy them.

       I guess I don't like when people are selfish.

When you aren't treated with respect but are expected to give respect in return.

.double standards.

When I'm expected to be a certain way.
And I'm not.

When people think everything is about them.
Vanity.

When I'm expected to lie about how I feel.

It makes me uncomfortable.

When people act one way, but portray themselves completely differently.
Who are you?

When people shelter their children from the world, life, bills, sadness.

       You're doing your child a disservice. Let them live and learn! Otherwise they'll be a very confused, unhappy and surprised adult.

When people think you're being disrespectful for speaking your mind.

       I'm allowed to have my own opinion about my own life and speak about it.

When people get angry with myself or my husband for not saying 'Congrats', 'Happy Birthday' or giving them any other sort of praise when THEY wanted us to.

I'm sorry, but we are our own family, with our own responsibilities and schedules. Be patient and have a little faith.

When its uncomfortably hot out.
100% humidity.

When someone who is close to you try's to guilt you into things with drama or ultimatums. 

      You shouldn't have to.

When people are racist.
You are not better than anyone else.

When someone has a predetermined idea of what the 'right' thing to do is.

Maybe what's right for us, is different than whats you think is right for us.

When I can't get over something I feel like I should have gotten over a long time ago.

And its still bothers me.

When people can't be alone.

You're never lonely if you love the person that you're alone with. (yourself)

When people pretend like everything is OK even when you all know that it isn't. 

Surprising your issues won't make you forget and it won't make them go away.

People expect you to have kind words, when they did nothing to receive them.

You can't be a nasty person and expect it to all go away when you decide you don't want to be nasty any more.

When parents won't let their child grow up.

       You should have spent their entire childhood helping them grow, learn and teaching them how to be a strong, independent, well rounded person. So that when they do leave, you can be proud instead of angry.

- Someday you won't be there to hold their hand, then what? -

When people tell you to apologize for something that you have no reason to be sorry for.

.

When people have unrealistic expectations.
Dream big. Expect little.

When the laundry smells weird.
It's just gross.

When adults tell their children (who are also adults) what to do.

We are married and live on our own. Advice and suggestions are always welcome, demands are not.

When people do things just to say that they did them.

What's the point of bragging?

When someone tells me they're sorry but what they did still makes me sad.

FLEAS - How To Prevent & Get Rid Of Fleas

This seems like a strange thing to blog about but it is very near and dear to my heart. Fleas are terrible creatures and can turn you absolutely mad! Trust me. I know. They are very easy to get and next near impossible to get rid of. We recently had a flea infestation and I had a 2 month long flea genocide. But, now, I can safely say we are almost 100% flea free.


Steps To Prevent Fleas:

1.  Spend the extra money and go with a name brand flea preventative. It stinks for fork over $120 for 6 months, $240 for a year of flea treatment for 2 pets, but its worth it in the long run. Getting rid of fleas is expensive. If you're on a budget you can get 2-4 doses at a time at places like Petco and PetSmart. Also try Chewy.com or 1800petmeds.com You shouldn't need a prescription.
2. There are heartworm preventatives that also prevent fleas. Some kill fleas some just 'control' fleas. Make sure you know what you have. Ex. We use Sentinel, it helps to control fleas but it in now way would stop a flea infestation.
3. DO NOT bathe your dog/cat before applying a topical flea treatment. It works by working with the sebaceous oil glands on the dogs/cats skin and if you wash your dog, there is little to no oil left. 
4. Check reviews online and ask your vet and ask around locally. I really like Advantage II and K9Advantix. Frontline Plus worked fine for me in Illinois but in California it did nothing. The vet said fleas are most likely becoming immune to certain flea preventives in certain regions. Yay..... Next the little ass holes are gonna learn how to swim...  
5. Treat your yard once a year just to be safe. If you rent, see if they can treat your apartment at least once a year.

Steps To Get Rid Of A Flea Infestation:

1. Don't panic! This is going to take some time.
2. If your dog/cat isn't on a flea preventative see the previous list and do all 4 of those things IMMEDIATELY. 
• If your dog/cat IS on a flea preventative you may need to try a different one or apply another dose. Only apply more than 1 dose in a month if the directions say its OK! I know the directions for Advantage II say if there is an infestation you can apply a second application after 7 days. I'm sure its not great for the pets but neither is getting eaten alive especially when they have flea allergies so....pick your battles.Sometimes it takes up to 2 separate applications (so up to 2 months) to start really working.
• Keep in mind, after 2 doses or 2 months whichever comes first for you, and you still have a bad infestation, they're coming from somewhere. So really try to find the source of the fleas. It might help to try switching from Frontline Plus to Advantage II or vise versa, I also heard that alternating between the two every other month is a good idea. 
3. If you live in an apartment or rental, see if they spray the lawn for fleas and see if they can come treat your apartment. Don't be embarrassed, if you have fleas its almost certain that other people living there do to. It was free for us. 
4. Buy Capstar, the generic is Capguard and give your dog/cat one pill each day that you apply their topical. This kills live fleas on your pet for up to 24 hours but will only work if you use it with a flea preventative. This doesn't kill everything it just helps.
5. If you are treating your home yourself, buy some type of spray, bomb or powder for your carpet and follow the directions on the container. Remember they can live in cracks, carpet and floor boards, anywhere.
6. Clean. EVERYTHING! The day you give the Capstar and the topical treatment you will want to wash all of the pet bedding if its washable, if not, toss it and give them a cozy towel to sleep on until the flea problem is resolved. Wash all the rugs like bathroom and kitchen rugs, your bedding and pillows. You will continue to wash the pet bedding at least twice a week!
7. Vacuum EVERYTHING Ever.Single.Day for at least 2 weeks, probably longer! (this is the worst part) All the carpet, all of the couches, all of the cushions, under everything (even the bed) and along all of the edges, the cat tree (you may have to get rid of the cat tree if you have it, see if vacuuming works first). If you have a clear vacuum you'll probably see a lot of fleas jumping around in there. Yuck! Make sure to put it in a closed bag and remove it from your home ASAP.
8. Keep in mind the fleas will not go away immediately. The flea life cycle is at least 2 weeks and they're not all on the same schedule so you can still see live fleas for a month or two. I swear it got worse before it got better. And once the fleas couldn't live on the dog/cat anymore they started biting us, but that only lasted a day or two. That's why its important to vacuum every day so you can physically remove the bastards from your home.

DON'T
Try to save money and get the cheap preventatives (topicals, collars, whatever) to see if they'll work. Especially if you already have fleas. They won't work and you're literally throwing money away because you'll have to go back and get the good, expensive stuff.
DON'T
Wash your dog before applying a topical treatment. They need to have oil on their skin.
DON'T
expect the fleas to go away after one treatment, they can live in your home and reinvest your pets.

Work Out With Me | Tone Legs and Butt

Tone Legs and Butt

Squats, squats wonderful squats! You'll be doing each exercise for 30 seconds and then repeat the whole thing. Its really quick and you can do it anywhere! As always, whenever doing squats or lunges be mindful of your knees. Make sure your knees are never going past your toes. Thats how you get hurt.

To make it easier, don't squat as deep.
To make it harder, do deeper squats and you can add 3-5 lb weights when you squat.

Exercises:

Regular Squats
Wide Leg Squats
Cross Behind Lunges
Regular Lunges
Butt Ups
Fire Hydrants
Side Leg Lifts

Work Out With Me Friday | Sexy Summer Beach Arms

Work Out With Me Friday!

Todays workout is ARMS!!! Its super simple and can be done ANYWHERE by ANYONE!  I used to do this in my dorm room in college. We'll be doing 12 of each exercise and repeating the whole thing at least once. If you're a pro, or using lighter weights try to shoot for 3 sets!

All you need is a light set of weights preferable 3-5 lbs you can get them HERE on Amazon. BUT if you don't have weights you CAN still do the workout! You can't get off of it that easy! There are zero excuses!

If you are a beginner (never worked out before in your life) just start with using 2 cans of food such as pinto beans or pasta sauce. They range between 1 and 2 lbs per can. Just be aware that fluid ounces and regular ounces aren't always the same. Later on you can make weights (see below) or go buy a set.

How to make weights:
Find 2 empty bottles laying around your house or in the trash and fill them with dirt, sand, rocks or anything else you can find. You can add cotton balls or an old sock to the bottles so your weights don't double as maracas! Just stick them on the scale and weigh them out as you fill. :)

Work Out With Me Friday! : 6 Min Abs

Work Out With Me Friday!

6-Min 6 Pack Abs

You will need: Interval timer

• You can download the iPhone app called Interval Timer for FREE
• Use this website: Interval Timer
• Simply use a stop watch / timer and keep an eye on your time!
• OR if you have and extra $20ish laying around you can order one off of Amazon Here. 
• These are nice because they clip onto your top or pants and you don't have to think about anything. Sounds silly but, nothing makes a workout feel twice as long than constantly looking at and messing with the clock. They're great for HIIT. 
• I like the brand GymBoss because you can do smaller intervals such as 30 seconds. Some only go to down to 1 min. Read up on what you buy before you buy it!

Set your interval timer to: 

• Interval 1: High Intensity -  0:30 sec
• Interval 2: Low Intensity -  0:10 sec
• 10 sets

Do each exercise for :30 seconds, resting for :10 seconds in-between each one.

1. Slow Alternating Bicycles 
2. Plank
3. V sit
4. Mountain Climbers
5. Scissor kicks

Repeat!

Disclaimer!!! I am not a certified trainer! (obviously) I just want to share my workouts with other people. I'm trying to get into better shape and would love to help other people do the same. By posting my workouts on youtube its motivates me to stay active and add variety to my workout plan while helping me keep track of my progress.

What To Wear To PIR Lookbook

I get asked all the time "What do I wear!?" "Is it dressy or more casual?" It seems like a silly thing to worry about when you have a million other things going on. But then you realize...."Shit, I haven't seem him (or her) in 2 months I have to look good!" So I threw together a lookbook of just a couple different outfit ideas.

Youtube: Eva Taylor

Any of these looks can have a sweater, blazer or jacket and accessories added to them to spice them up! And can be modified to work a woman of ANY age!

MEN: You have it easy!
Summer
Khaki Pants, slacks, even a nice pair of shorts like golf shorts, if you can pull them off.
Polo or button down shirt
A nice pair of summer shoes. Like, boat shoes or loafers. Not your dirty beach flip flops.

Spring/Autumn
Khaki Pants, slacks or Dark Jeans
Button down shirt (sleeves rolled up or down), Polo, sweater
and a nice pair of shoes or leather boots

Winter
Khaki Pants, Dark Jeans, Corduroys
Button down short and or a sweater
and a nice pair of boots or shoes.

One thing you have to keep in mind is the weather. I grew up in the Midwest and lived in Great Lakes, IL for about 8 months. So, unfortunately, I know the weather very well. Spring is cool and rainy and green. The summers are hot and the beginning of autumn can be pretty warm too. The middle of autumn is cool, comfortable and pretty with the changing leaves, but it does get cold towards the end. Winter is cold, very, VERY cold. Like negative degrees cold. So as much as you may want to wear that cute little dress and heels, if its January, that's probably not going to happen.

If your PIR falls in the colder months you're going to want a warm coat, gloves and a hat! If you live somewhere warm, definitely look online for a winter jacket. Department stores like JcPenney, Macy's or Nordstrom usually have winter coats on their websites all year round. The one I wore was similar to a pea coat, but rather thin, so I threw a sweater on to add a layer which was useful because it was cold in there.

A few points I'd like to add.

• Dresses and skirts are perfect but don't go too short. After all it IS a ceremony and there is a lot of walking. Not to mention the bleachers. Fairly high bleachers. So unless you want a whole division of guys and gals getting a free show....I'd opt for a little bit longer.

• Jeans are OK! As long as they're NICE, dark wash jeans! American Eagle always has good prices or check out TJ MAXX. Or a nice pair of slacks or black skinny jeans would be perfect.

• Shoes! The shoes you choose are important! You know your feet and what you're comfortable with. There is a lot of walking. And keep in mind, Great Lakes has seasons! So there may be rain, snow or ice....even all 3. It happens, trust me! So bring a few options in your suitcase; some boots, flats/sandals and low heels or wedges. 

At the end of the day you know your style and what you like. The truth is that people wear anything and everything! I saw acid wash jeans and old t-shirts. I also saw fancy dresses and suits. I would shoot for somewhere in the middle of the two. Something cute and comfortable that you might wear on a first date. Or something you would wear to the office if you want to look particularly nice that day.

Don't go spending a ton of money buying an entire new outfit. Go through what you have first, you may have the perfect outfit and not even know it!

Its a long day and you have to get up super early, so above all make sure you're comfortable!

Healthy Eats

I've recently become a vegetarian. (the past 3 months) I've never been much of a meat lover and I've eaten vegetarian diets before but it never really stuck. This time is the real deal! I stopped eating meat for a lot of different reasons. Mainly for my health. Heart disease, diabetes, hypertension (high blood pressure) all run in my family and I want no part of it. Cutting meat out is the first step of many to help myself sustain a healthy life. Another reason I don't eat meat is for moral reasons. Not because I don't think its right to eat animals, because I think its perfectly fine to hunt for food for your family. What I don't think is fine is the treatment of the animals that end up on the grocery store shelves. I've watched all of those documentaries that tell and show you all of the terrible conditions the animals are kept in. But when you see and SMELL it for yourself its a WHOLE nother story. Driving out to San Diego, California from Cleveland, Ohio I saw more than I needed to, to convince me. Seeing cows standing knee deep in their own feces chained up to feeding troughs for miles is just disgusting and frankly I want no part of it.

 

Americans eat way more protein than we are supposed to any way. So I took the plunge. I used to think vegetarians ate salads, smoothies, tofu and veggie sticks. Thats probably why I never stayed a vegetarian for longer than a few months at a time. My husband still eats meat, but he cooks it himself if he wants it. I cook vegetarian dishes every day and I LOVE it. There are so many really good recipes that I've found. I even ordered my husband the "Thug Kitchen" cook book to encourage him to cook real food and at least realize that vegetarian dishes can be delicious.

 

 I highly recommend it and IT WORKED! He has started cooking and he's loved every single thing from that cookbook. I think it helps that they put everything in "thug/bro" language throwing in the occasional "motherfucker" and swear words. It really is funny. The first thing I made was black bean tortas and he said:

"wow, I would have never guessed that there was no meat in here" 

Eva -1 Meat -0 It's a small victory but it still makes me happy. I don't think he'll ever stop eating meat, but as long as he's eating as healthy as he can, I'm happy. I just feel like its so wasteful to put garbage into your body only to get sick. Why not eat food thats delicious and actually good for you!

Planning a Wedding While One Of You Is In The Military - Navy Edition

Been there, done that! Getting married is one thing. Planning a wedding is a whole nother thing! Normal couples get engaged, plan a wedding for the future, take their time and make sure everything is just right! Its your wedding day, its supposed to be perfect right?

In theory, yes. In reality, not quite.

Now its stressful enough for a normal couple. But for us military folk.....throw in a few years of schooling in a few different states, a deployment or two, not knowing if you can take leave and anything else they might decide to throw at you because after all, you are at their mercy. And that perfect wedding becomes MUCH less attainable. 

We eloped while my husband was in A-School. You can read about that HERE. At that point we had no idea if and/or when we may be able to have a ceremony. We didn't want to plan something and hope he could come home so we just waited to play it by ear. A few months went by and he found out he would graduate just in time to be able to come home for holiday stand down before his next duty station. SO he put in for leave and I started planning. We had about 3 months. Mind you, we didn't know if he leave would actually get approved, there was no reason it shouldn't, but I had to keep that in mind. 

Plan For The Worst:
Make sure when reserving a venue, that they have a military clause or a refund, or at least be able to reschedule. You really never know what can happen. Our venue was so flexible and VERY military friendly. They understood completely that plans can change at the drop of a dime. There was a navy wedding the weekend before ours. The woman from the venue said, the husband graduated from school and was supposed to come home on leave for his wedding but found out he was getting sent out on a deployment instead. Needless to say they had to postpone the wedding and pushed it back an entire year. So, yes, anything can happen.

Ask for a military discount!

Be Flexible:

Now, I was never one of those girls who dreamed about my wedding day. Which I always thought at some point might put me at a disadvantage but it turned out working in my favor. I didn't have any crazy ideas or expectations that I "needed" to have at my wedding. I mean I had "ideas" but nothing was set in stone. If I had it my way, we would have had a simple, small, CASUAL, outdoor wedding/pig roast. With craft beer, home made wine, a live band, volleyball, corn hole and other fun outdoor activities. Okay....so maybe I DID have an idea of what I wanted. haha But lets be honest here. We are from Cleveland, Ohio, we had 3 months before getting new orders which put us at the end of November for the wedding. That outdoor wedding was impossible. So I had to scrap the whole idea and 'want' something else. My small outdoor wedding turned into a not small at all indoor wedding.

Shop Around For Dresses:

I know you probably have your heart set on a certain dress or style of dress but shop around. Try on things that you don't think you'll like.

I wanted a flowy lace dress, found it and stopped trying things on. Went back a few weeks later to buy it after looking around at other places trying to find good prices. And ended up buying a completely different dress and it was on clearance! I didn't even want to try it on. It looks horrible on the rack. But once I got into it, it fit like a glove! I didn't want to take it off.

Be Creative:

Don't do things a certain way just because thats how it's "supposed" to be. Thats all pretty much shot to hell at this point anyway if you're throwing together a wedding in a few months. Some of the best weddings I've been to have been the simple, elegant, laid back ones. 

Pinterest is your best friend! Thanks to all of the wonderful people who post things. People like "us" can throw things together in a relatively short time frame while spending very little money! Then we reciprocate by posting what we did! See how that works?! Try to think of unique ways to save money and still achieve the look/vibe/ambiance that you're looking for. 

Look for seasonal decorations that you can find in nature! Berries, evergreen, wood, leaves, sand, shells, rocks, ferns. I mean the options are really endless. The cost is minimal to you and it looks so good. We used cranberries in our center pieces instead of flowers and saved HUNDREDS of dollars on flowers, probably thousands. My mom's friend, the harp player, also makes wine so she and her husband made us cranberry wine with all of the cranberries after the wedding! Nothing went to waste! :)

Try to find other things that match your "colors" besides store bought flowers. We used pomegranates and apples. They're large enough to take up negative space while providing depth and color. Same with flower peddles that may have fallen off. Keep them and use them! 

My mom made favor bags for us with truffles we bought in bulk from Costco and bags we ordered online. We just printed out stickers and slapped them on the front. My mom added the bow's as a finishing touch.

I popped TONSSS of popcorn the day before and we had a popcorn bar with different seasonings after dinner. I loved this! Probably because I have a sick obsession with home popped popcorn. I did two batches at a time on the stove in 2 big pans for many hours..... haha Its a healthy gluten free snack. 

The Dollar Store, Amazon and Costco/Sams Club Are Your Friends:

All of the tea light candles, the votives we put them in, the vases we used as center pieces, it all came from the dollar store and amazon. We use some of them around the house and you might even be able to sell some of it when you're done. Especially if you know someone else who is getting married or having a party. Ask around, you never know!

All of our plates came from Costco. It wasn't eco friendly but it saved us the money of having to rent the plates from the venue or caterer. 

FLOWERS:

Flowers will make or break you! Yes they're beautiful, they're also expensive! BUT we spent less that $175  on ALL of the flowers for the entire wedding! By not using flowers as center pieces we saved a ton. For the brides maids we used dried hydrangea's from the tree's in front of my parents' house. We got the rest of the flowers at a wholesale flower warehouse...thing. I don't know how else to describe it. My mom and her friend Deb, the harp player. Went really early in the morning on a Saturday. I think they're only open on saturday mornings? But they went, checked off what they wanted, waited in line and they got the flowers. They got a couple dozen red roses with greenery and babies breath and a bouquet of mixed roses. They also got some white lilies with greenery and a few other mixed bouquets. Between those three they put together my bouquet, the boutonnières, and about 3 or 4 extra arrangements to be used as decor wherever needed. 

Be Kind To Your Wedding Party:

If you've been in a wedding (I know I have) you know how ridiculous buying brides maids dresses, tuxes, matching shoes and accessories can be. It gets expensive and not everyone looks good in that bright purple, strapless dress that the bride loves. Chances are they'll have very little notice that they will be in your wedding.

I told my bridesmaids to go buy a tasteful black dress and wear black heels. Gave them a few examples and sent them on their way. If they were going to buy something, I wanted them to at least be able to use it again. 

Groomsmen had it really easy. Wear a grey suit, which most 20 something men should have for job interviews and things of that nature. If they don't they can get a very reasonably priced one. We got the ties so they all matched. I believe I ordered 7 of them online for $42 including shipping. 

Use Your Networks!

Make sure you ask around! You may know people who can help you out immensely, and not even realize it. Venues can be expensive so ask around and think outside the box! 

My mom's friend plays the harp and played for our ceremony. She also has a sister-in-law who is a wedding planner and let us use some of her "wedding stuff" for free! You may know a baker, caterer, or someone who has a meat smoker. (I'm still going on about this pig roast. I REALLY want someone to have a pig roast! haha) I knew a girl from college who is a wonderful photographer. We were never close "friends" more of aquantences. Friends of friends. But I needed a photographer and I loved her work so I reached out. And she is a GEM! The sweetest person and I will keep in touch with her for probably the rest of the foreseeable future. And her photos are incredible! Kayla Coleman Photography. Look her up.

Figure Out What's REALLY Important:

Don't go spending money on all of these things that frankly, don't really matter. Keep it simple and spend your money wisely. Unless you have unlimited funds, then, by all means have at it. But, here in real life, we have budgets. Decide where to spend the money that you have. 

• Do you want a 5-star caterer or a pig roast? (there I go again with the pig)
• $2000 dress or $200 dress? Get lucky enough to find a thrift shop dress? I tried but failed.
• Do you want an expensive venue, or does a friend/family member have a barn, a winery, pond or just a nice house or yard? Maybe there a nearby park? 
• Wedding planner or DIY? 
• Buying decorations or making them? 
• Do you know a photographer or want to look for one to hire?
• Do you want alcohol? What kind? 
• DJ or do you have a friend in a band? (I wanted live music so badly but we just didn't have time)
• Real plates and silver wear or plastic? (We used plastic, it looked real and we tossed it at the end of the night. Got it all at Costco.)

This is my best advice! If you think everything else I say is bullshit at least take this into consideration! If you spend the money anywhere, get a good photographer. And I don't mean an expensive photographer, because you can find some pretty crappy ones that still charge $1,500-$2,000. You can also fine some amazing ones that charge the same or less. Just look around and look at their work. You have to look at those pictures for the rest of your life. 

Have a Sense of Humor and Don't Be a DRAMA Queen:

Things WILL go wrong. Things won't look how you want. People will misconstrue what you're saying. People won't listen to you. People will completely disregard your wishes. GET OVER IT! 

For example: 

• We asked all the grooms men to wear grey suits, and 3 of them went out and rented almost the exact same black tux's when we specifically told them not to. Leaving my husband and my brother sticking out like a sore thumb. But it is what it is. 

• I asked all the brides maids wearing different dresses so they could wear what looked best for their own bodies and no one would stand out. 2 of them bought the same dress . Again, it is, what it is.

• Some people wanted to do everything (sometimes too much) and others wanted nothing to do with anything yet complained about not being involved.

But I don't even notice or care about these things now! ....Well actually I do notice some of them just because of the pictures, but it doesn't bother me any more! haha I'm just happy we had a wedding! Thats the way the universe works!

Its hard to step back and take people telling you what to do, or asking for your opinion and then shoot it down. After all its YOUR wedding, right? Just try to bite your tongue. Be gracious of the people who are trying to help and don't be resentful of the people who try to make things difficult and haven't wanted to help at all. I had a hard time with this, but in the end it was fine. Nothing was ruined and at the end of the day you have to remember that the world will still spin even if something doesn't turn out exactly how you want it to. Its just one day. And remember there are much more important things happening in the world, than your wedding. And frankly if you're anything like us, you're lucky to have even had the opportunity to have a real wedding with friends and family. So try to have some grace. 

Wasting Time - Says Who?

My mother said something to me this morning that was a perfect example of our relationship. And made me reflect back on my life and realize something that came full circle. We look at things so very differently, there is just no common ground. She's not a bad mom, we are just very different, oil and water. We agree on some things, but not much that actually matters. She had been listening to a show on NPR about social media. As I walked into the kitchen and she said to me.

 "I just don't understand why people feel the need to blog about stupid things like their breakfast." not knowing I have recently started a blog.
"What you determine as stupid, someone else might find interesting or helpful" I responded.
"But who cares what you're eating for breakfast? I don't!"
"Someone might." I said.
"Yeah but most people don't care what you're doing or eating its a waste of time" she said.

She just doesn't understand that people "blog", post things, or do anything for that matter, for all sorts of reasons. To teach, to learn, to have fun or simply just to share. Whether it be thoughts, ideas or a legacy. To share something that they care about in hopes that other people, even if its just one, may like or care about the same thing. To her, its stupid. If she doesn't like it or understand it, it MUST be a waste of time.

This has been my life. I stopped sharing most parts of my life with her a long time ago because of this very thing. But it was too late. She just doesn't understand me, so she never approves. Theres always something wrong, I'm always overlooking certain things and I'm never right. This killed my self esteem growing up. Its still does now, I just don't let it bother me as much. It mostly just makes me sad. Sad that I can look back on my life thus far and pin point certain things, certain opportunities and certain dreams that I let pass me by because I felt inadequate. Or I thought my mom would have had 'something' to say about it. I didn't realize while it was happening, but, I turned into a shell of myself. Keeping what I liked and enjoyed to myself. I ignored people I didn't know and kept quiet. I surrounded myself with very eccentric people successful people, so I didn't have to be. Because I was afraid of what people would think and how they would judge me if I stood out. 

Now I find myself, 25, and I'm not unhappy with who I am. But, by NOT sharing how I feel, what I want, who I am and what I like, even if its just my breakfast, for so long. I indeed feel like I've been wasting my time.

So, what someone may deem as a complete waste of time, could be the most fulfilling thing you could do with your time. Don't let them discourage you, just because they don't understand you. You'll find yourself in your mid 20's feeling like you lived your past 20 something years, but you weren't actually living. Just sort of.....existing.

Finding The Right Dog Food - Taste Of The Wild High Prairie Puppy

Caution: Shit talking below. ;) No, seriously I'm talking about poop.

Anyone who has a puppy/dog knows that there are an overabundance of different dog food brands. But what brand should you buy? Everyone has their own opinion on which food is "the best" for your pet. To be quite honest, I had no idea what I wanted to feed Finn. All I knew is we had to get him something. And it couldn't be outrageously priced.

Finn's food history
When we first adopted our furry little friend, the lady we rescued him from said he was eating Purina Puppy Chow. Now, I was positive I didn't want to feed him this. Because, well... no offense Purina or anyone who likes Purina, but there's no denying that there are much better foods to feed a 10 week old puppy. So, we went to the pet store and decided on Iams Puppy. It was more expensive, therefore, we "thought" it was a good food. Since the switch from Purina Puppy to Iams Puppy, Finn's poop had either been rock solid or explosive diarrhea. That poor pup very rarely had a normal poop and his butt looked raw every time he took a shit. At first, I associated it with switching his food so abruptly and him just being a puppy. Once the bag of Iams Puppy was getting low and Finn's poor butt had suffered enough. I finally decided it was time to do some research. I really wanted to get him a grain free food. It's just better for them. You don't see wild dogs munching on grain and corn. Why should a domestic dog? The issue is, our cat is fed grain free food because of his sensitive stomach and it is EXTREMELY expensive. Grain Free dog food is even more expensive! So, I was somewhat concerned we were going to go broke feeding our pets. With bags ranging from $40.00 - $75.00!  After a lot of research and a lot of comparing prices and ingredients I decided to order Taste of The Wild High Prairie Puppy and give it a go.

On Chewy.com, we ordered a 30 - lb bag for $43.79. Its almost the exact same price as what we were paying for the 30lb bag of Iams BUT the ingredients are 1000 times better than Iam's. With real meat and no grain or corn fillers I thought this would be a great choice and hopefully fix Finn's butt issues. The only thing that I can see that isn't "perfect" is the use of meat meals instead of just meat. But overall, I rate these ingredients very  high.

When switching him over I planned on the process taking about 2 weeks of gradually increasing the TOTW and decreasing the Iam's. Poor Finn. My poor pup had explosive diarrhea for a good week. He never had any accidents, it wasn't 'that' bad, but when he had to go he REALLY had to go. So after 2 solid weeks of my pup having terrible poops and even worse gas I was about to pull the plug and go back on the food search. I read on the Taste of The Wild website that giving your dog a little plain non fat yogurt may help so I did and it did help a little but I also wasn't about to feed my dog yogurt of the rest of his life. He was out of Iam's at this point and only had TOTW left. So I reluctantly fed him the food, dreading his next poop. As I'm sure he was too. But, to my surprise. It wasn't that bad. It wasn't solid but it wasn't anywhere near his terrible diarrhea which had become normal. So that night, I again fed him TOTW. His poop got even better. Its now been 3 weeks and I can safely say Finn's poops are so good he could win an award! I have a happy puppy with amazing poops and he doesn't nearly have to go as often! We are both happy and so is his little bum.

Looking back I probably should have slowed down the process and waited for his poop to get better before continuing to add more TOTW and less Iams. But, I associated the diarrhea with TOTW not Iam's when really, the Iam's was the problem all along!  But hey you live and you learn! If you're looking to try a grain free food but don't want to spend more on your dog's food than you do for your own I would recommend trying Taste Of The Wild. I'm sure there are "better" foods out there, but we have to be conscious of how much we spend.

Tucker The Cat's TOTW experience
*I recently switched my cat from Solid Gold to Taste Of The Wild and I'm happy with this as well. He loved Solid Gold but they recently changed their ingredients AND the price! The ingredients didn't matter as much to me as the cost. It still has good ingredients. But the price pretty much stayed the same, ranging from $35.00-$37.00 a bag. But the amount went from 15lbs to 12lbs per bag! Three pounds of cat food goes a long way so...I wasn't happy about that. The Taste Of The Wild cat food that we got him is only $25.00 for 15lbs! It hasn't made him sick (which most foods do) and its $10.00 cheaper. We'll be continuing to buy TOTW for both the dog and the cat.

Is there a better food you would recommend for dogs or cats that is roughly the same price? Let know!!!

Pet Gift Box February 2015 : Cat ^. .^

>>PetGiftBox<<
(I'm a link)

February Cat PetGiftBox

So I caved. I finally decided to sign up for monthly pet subscriptions. However, I did my research first. There are SO many different subscriptions to choose from in all different price ranges. Now don't get me wrong I LOVE my dog and my cat. But, spending $30-$40 on each of them every month just to get a box of toys/treats in the mail, that will ultimately get destroyed, is out of the question. I mean really? Which lead me to PetGiftBox. I subscribed for both the dog and the cat....still waiting on the dog box.....

PRO'S:

• It's much cheaper at $17.99 a month per pet. 

• You pay for it monthly. So, you don't have to buy 3, 6 or 12 months up front. So I thought "what the hell, I'll give one month a try". 

• you can cancel or postpone at any point. Which is true. We are moving next month so I postponed my next shipment until april, no hassle, no problems. I also don't plan on getting the cat box every month. He just doesn't need that many toys.

CON

• The only thing that I am unhappy about is that we are still waiting for the dog's PetGiftBox to come. I have a happy cat and a sad dog. I'm sure it will come eventually.

• Shipping is a little hard to track ours went from USPS to DHL back to USPS but I'm pretty sure that depends on where you live. But I'm not quite sure where our dog's box is....we'll see.

UPDATE: FINN'S DOG BOX CAME! TAKE A LOOK! HERE

Here is what was in the  February Cat PetGiftBox: Everything is "Spot" brand except for the bowl.

:)

#1. Spot Refillable Catnip Insect. This is Tuckers favorite. He's a kitty stoner.

#2. Spot Rainbow Mice Catnip Toys with crazy tails. Nine super cute little mice.

We actually needed a new bowl. Score!

#3. Bella Bowls - Stainless steel food or water dish. With little hearts on it for Valentines Day.  This had some glue/adhesive residue on the inside from the label but I was able to get most of it off.

#4. Spot Feline Harvest Grain Free Cat Treats - Dental Treats. I personally love these. My cat eats a grain free diet due to a sensitive stomach so having grain free treats is awesome!

Update: he LOVES them!

#5. Spot Feather Boa Wand. Looks like a little feathery bird-like creature. These never last too long with Tucker, but they're fun while they do!

So, what do you think? I think the contents are well worth the $17.99. As far as quality goes. Who am I kidding? Call me a bad furbaby mom but, I buy the cheapest toys when I go to the pet store. My cat would play with a ping pong ball and a tampon (unused!!) for days if I let him! So, to me, these are perfectly fine. No, complaints. I would say that one Cat PetGiftBox is plenty for 2 adult cats. Its more than enough for Tucker for the time being. We will probably be getting Tucker a box every other month. If you are interested in ordering a dog or cat PetGiftBox click HERE. 

Now....Where the heck is Finn's box????

"WTF mom..."

I'll post what's in his box as soon as we get it.....

How I Fixed A Tear In Our Microfiber Couch

Let me start by saying, I stumbled upon these couches on Craigslist for only $50! For both! We needed more seating and I can't bring myself to spend thousands of dollars on couches for more than a couple reasons.

1. We don't really have that kind of money to begin with. If we did I still don't think we would buy new couches.
2. Just why?
3. We're moving to San Diego soon, so we don't want to spend money on furniture that very possibly won't even fit in our next apartment/house/where ever we end up.
4. If I can find something used that still looks ok and serves its purpose, why not?
5. I don't like to be wasteful. Example: I used parts of our old (very very prehistoric old), yucky, love seat and made a bed for our cat Mr. Tucker. :)

 

           He likes to sleep in the sun.

He also likes to watch the squirrels.

           

And the most important reason for no new couches....
6. The PUPPY... thats all that needs to be said.

So for $50.00 I'd say we did pretty good. Yes, there are 4 tears in the couch. Three of which are on the same seat cushion, and there is one small one on the love seat arm rest. Otherwise, they're clean, almost no stains, no smells and we found a nerf dart in one of the cushion cracks. (Score!) I'm happy. I kind of just ignored the tears for a while. The guy who sold us the couches used glue to hold together the big rip. (not what I would have done, but to each his own. Men...) It was actually holding up but I knew that it was only temporary. So, I wanted to tackle this, once and for all.  I'm a little concerned about how I'm going to save microfiber covered in hard super glue but, whats the worst that could happen? I can't ruin my already ruined $50 couches. Muahahaha.

I decided I would conduct surgery. I'm giving my couch stitches. Quite literally.

You need:

• Fray Check or any other fray stopping liquid
• A needle
• Thread that matches your couch. The thicker the thread the better. 
• Some sort of sewing skill (not necessary, just helpful) 

Now this is actually relatively simple. I'm not the best seamstress (not by a long shot!), but if you actually take your time, line up your stitching, and keep your thread tight, this can actually turn out halfway decent! Its better than having a huge hole in your couch.

The first thing you need to do is carefully and conservatively put your Frey Check just around the edges of the tear you are going to stitch up. It WILL make the fabric darker, don't worry! What this does is makes sure it won't rip any more and gives the thread a little support.

Wait about 30 mins.

The fray check is the verrrry thin darker line around the tear
this was the "super glued" tear hence the weird discoloration 

This is the fun part. You are going to use a ladder stitch. Make sure you have enough thread and put a knot at the end. I used regular thread and doubled it.  To do this, double your length. After you thread your needle, hold both ends of the thread letting the needle fall to the middle. Knot these two ends together.

Yes, I'm a 25 year old college graduate and I screwed up the alphabet. Judge me.

• It's not a hard stitch. To start (A) you want to take your needle and go from the inside of the tear and push the needle up (from the inside, to the outside) and pull it all the way through. So, the knot at the end of your thread is inside the tear you are stitching up. 

• Now, take your needle to the other side of the tear (B) and push it through, from the outside of the tear to the inside of the tear. Pull it tight.

• Take your needle,  push it up through the fabric from the inside to the outside (C) Pull it tight.

• SO, the "...." between (B) and (C) in the drawing, is the thread on the inside of the tear. Now you do the same thing all over again on the other side.

• On the other side of the tear (D) push your needle from the top or outside of the tear to the inside and pull it tight. This is where you will start to see your first stitch close up tight.

• Again, push the needle up from the inside of the tear to the outside (E)

Repeat this process until the entire thing is closed up. I noticed that it looks best when your stitches are directly across from each other. And when your (B) and (C), (D) and (E), etc stitches are close to each other 

To secure my stitching when i was done, I went under the thread of my last stitch and made a small knot. Then pushed my needle up the center of the close tear. Pulled it out and cut the thread as close to the "tear" as I could. 

If you want you can practice the stitch on paper. Just use two sides of a piece of paper as your "tear" and sew them back together using the ladder stitch described above.

I have no idea if this is the "right way" to do this. But its what I did and it worked.

Mine isn't the neatest sewing job, but I also rushed through it because, I just wanted to close up those tears. Take your time, and it will come out almost perfect. I rushed and I'm shocked at how "not bad" mine looks.

Photos coming soon!!! 

Camera died and the couches and camera charger are now in storage so I can't retake pictures. But, I ordered a new charger, thank you amazon prime, so I should have it shortly.

Going From Brown To Blonde....My Hair Color Journey (so far)

Thinking about dying your hair from brown to blonde? 
I've gone from blonde to brown to black to brown to blondish to brown to blonde again. Sheesh. Thats a mouthful.

Before During After

I think I googled pictures of brunettes going blonde for about a month before I got the balls to make the appointment. Let me just start by saying I used to be blonde. I was born blonde, and stayed blonde until I was about  20. This is what I used to look like. A long long long long time ago.

 Then I let a boy persuade me into dye my hair dark. (dumb, dumb, dumb) So I went from blonde to dark brown.

Which at the time I really liked. Then from dark brown to black. Yes, jet black. 

At this point in my hair color timeline I was in college, broke and dying my hair from a box with my roommate. I stuck with the black hair for about a year, then I slowly began to dye it dark brown, then gradually to lighter shades of brown. This really is the best way to get rid of black hair with the least amount of damage.

Once I reached a certain point that was close to my natural (I use "close" loosely) I just gave up and let it grow for a while.

THEN out of the blue I decided to use that John Frieda Go Blonder spray that "lightens" your hair...I'm pretty sure its just peroxide or some similar chemical. It turned my hair an orange/blonde. It wasn't horrible on my lighter hair but it definitely would look really orange on someone who had naturally dark hair. If thats what you're into, by all means, go for it. Looking back it really isn't 'horrible' near my scalp where my new growth was. But it was way too brassy on the previously colored hair. And I was using a toning shampoo.

So, if you've never dyed your hair before and you already have a shade of darker blonde hair - from about my nose upwards is what the spray looks like with roughly 3-4 applications over 2-3 weeks. (on me, it may not look like this on your hair!)

After a summer of looking like I had a bad bleach job....I went into my now current hair stylist, Lazaro. I went dark, again. More of a deep brown, with red undertones this time. Continued this for about 9 months and then decided I wanted to just grow out my hair. That lasted about 4 months until I got bored with it. This was right around my wedding so I couldn't really do anything crazy until after the ceremony.

I had him cut off 10 inches and "ombre" my ends which didn't end up doing anything. This brings me to what this entire post is about. Going from brown hair to blonde hair. I had about 4 inches of virgin hair roots which were my natural color, kind of a dark dishwater blonde/really light brown and then the rest of my hair was a little bit of everything. 

This is the non-existent ombre

I knew what I wanted, that beautiful light honey blonde that I used to be. That "every" Victoria's Secret model is. The color that is practically impossible to get. :( Womp womp womp. We ended up doing a full head of bleach highlights.

Its ok. I don't love it and I know it could be A LOT worse. But, I defiantly know that it's not what I want so, hopefully the next round of highlights/lowlights can get me to the color that I'm looking for. Its very "white/almost grey blonde" on top and I'm more accustom to the golden/yellow blonde. But I feel like if he tried to go warmer it would have been brassy which is what I wanted to avoid. When going blonde especially from a previously dyed a darker color, THERE WILL be an awkward 'in-between' color. It has the blonde but also has the brown and its kind of blah. I'm trying to accept the fact that thats where I am right now, but its pretty ugly... not gonna lie lol

I was a little shocked. 

Its growing on me

What really bothers me is how much lighter the roots are than the ends. My roots are almost platinum while my ends are more of a honey/carmel blonde. If it doesn't dull down in a week I'm going back in to have him tone it with a warm honey colored toner again.

As far as damage goes, there isn't much. Its definitely worth going to a salon to go from brown to blonde. And I would defiantly do highlights rather than having them lift the color of your whole head.  I've never done that, but it seems like it would fry your hair. Overall I'm happy. After all, if I end up hating it later on I can always go dark again.

I'll post updated pictures when I get my hair re-highlighted in a few weeks!

SECOND ROUND OF HIGHLIGHTS

This is the result after the second round of highlights. I'm MUCH happier. He put more highlights throughout concentrating on the ends. While putting a few up near the roots, trying to avoid what had already been bleached to minimize breakage. After the highlights he went back through with a pastel toner. This lifted my natural color just a little bit, it wasn't even a 'lighter color' it was just a little less ashy, which is what I wanted the whole time and didn't realize it. Lazaro gets an A+.