and it's a lovely 8 degrees outside...

What a way to start out the week! 8 degrees. Yuck. Oh well, spring is only some odd days away right? Yeah...

This past weekend was a fun one! Friday night after work, I snuck out for a few drinks and some dinner with Amanda and Devon. We had a great time, although like a bunch of old ladies, were in before 11:00.

Saturday Trevor and I spent the day relaxing, cleaning... and doing some much-needed grocery shopping! Then my Dad & Angela and the girls stopped over for a quick visit. It's amazing how much they have grown even since Christmas! Ariel is already worming around and trying to stand up!

(Evidence)

Let's not forget Arianna, although she's not scooching forward yet, she will be soon and with a face like this? Who cares!

Let us be reminded that although Hunter has a million toys, he will still drop everything to play with someone else's. And as we all know, he is obsessed with little babies car seats.

At least there are no babies in it this time...

Oh yeah, and Trevor so kindly bought me a surprise I've been wanting since X Mas....

EA Sports Active 2 for Kinect! I've had my eye on this bad-boy ever since I read the reviews and checked out the details. It provides an awesome workout, without the boring intro/explanations of my other videos (-Sorry Jillian, but 30 days of the same old boring business is getting tiring).

This coming weekend will be fun. Amanda, Devon and I are going to the Ice Wine Festival at Casa Larga. Amanda and I went last year and loved it! You have to be an ice-wine drinker for sure, (which I AMMMM) but it is well worth it. You get to sample a bunch of different ice wines, attend wine making seminars and taste a bunch of delicious snacks. Very excited to attend again this year, with two very awesome ladies!

Sunday we are having a Super Bowl party! I'm excited to get to hang out with friends and although I'm not a huge fan of either team, I'll be rooting Green Bay, all the way!
Plus, on the menu: a ton of amazing sounding appetizers. We made the theme "bring your favorite appetizers", just to see what everyone really loves. Trev is making "pigs in a blanket" and I am going to try a version of the irish nachos they serve at McGreggors. [waffle frieds + chil + cheese + sour cream + jalepenos], where could you go wrong?

Hope everyone has a good Monday!

Excited.

Not because it's Tuesday, that is actually a small fact that is making this day drag on (and it's only 8:30), but more because I finally have made some progress in Wedding Planning 101. I spoke with the owners of one of my first choices (you all remember Hurd Orchards right?) and got some substantial information. We now have an appointment next week...and are going to talk more details. Don't be too scared, if your reading this-and your in the bridal party-the date might change. I know we never sent out finalized "save the dates" but it was pretty known (at least amongst our closest friends & family) ---and anyone who read this post (HAH!) that our date was June 25th 2011. Well, that may be moved to either May or July (more than likely late July). I will keep everyone posted as soon as possible.

That is one of the tricky things about discussing details & blogging about them (guilty!) before the details are actually finalized. It sets an expectation of those who read it (or hear about it) and makes me feel guilty for switching things around. I'm sorry folks, hang in there! Trevor and I fully intend on having the set date and the set ceremony/reception venue wihin the next few weeks. I know it's really difficult for those of you who are in the wedding to "just not know" but please forgive us, we are working with about a million obsticles. If not just for Trevor's hectic new military schedule, but throw in some recent engagements-turned weddings (this summer/fall), Birthday parties, Vacations and it makes for quite a headache. :o)

Enough Wedding talk (for now)...

Time to actually get some work done this morning!

Kara: MIA.

Whew. I'll save you all the "sorry it's been a while" sob story and just jump right into business. It's been a pretty relaxed couple of weeks while Trevor has been gone. Hunter and I finally got into a routine in the morning & it was actually starting to get easier doing everything by myself. I'll admit though, the first couple days after he left, I felt this weird empty feeling. My first thought was, jesus, he's only gone for two weeks what the hell are you gonna do when he's gone for a year? But, it got better. Now, it's Friday and he'll be coming back tomorrow ... Yay! I never thought I'd miss him that much ;). Hunter will be so happy to have Daddy back!

For the most part one of the reasons I haven't written any posts, it's because nothing is really going on. Next month will be a busy one as we will really be finalizing everything for the wedding. I have thrown out a couple of ideas on here but most of my research has been kept private! I want to make sure I know exactly what we are doing before I chat about it. Believe me, I have called about a billion places, Googled until my fingers hurt & have asked around the entire office to steal ideas or take suggestions. I'll feel much better when we have a set place, then I can start planning the "fun" stuff.

On a side note, we found someone to take our Engagement pictures! Not just anyone, but a girl I used to know in High School. I met her when I was a junior, and our boyfriends were good friends. She is a wonderful photographer & just got married herself! We will get
those taken care of in early February & I'll post them when I get them back. :).


Other than that, nothing new. But it's Friday. And I am ready for some relaxin' & snugglin' with my favorite little boy. And.. I see some of this in my near future;



For my long, snowy drive into East Bloomfield to get my little guy from daycare...

A little somethin' to watch tonight!

Happy Friday Everyone!

Missin' Daddy.

This past Friday we sent Trevor packin' down to South Carolina for his 2 week training with the Army. This will become a common thing in the next 9/or 10 months, as he is getting ready to deploy. From what it sounds like, he will be doing some training, taking some tests & hopefully not having a terrible time.

Meanwhile, Hunter and I are holding down the fort. So far he hasn't really "noticed" that Trevor's gone & hopefully doesn't start to wonder where the heck daddy went. We've been keeping busy, although this past weekend was completely un-eventful. Hunter and I just hung out, cleaned the house, made some cookies and watched movies. By the end of the weekend I was dying for some real human conversation, so going back to work Monday wasn't actually too bad.

But this week is dragging...slowly, painfully just chuggin' along. It's only Tuesday. Blah. Okay, enough.

Last night Amanda and Delaney came over for some WW Stroganoff & a few drinks. We chatted and made up for lost time. Okay, I'm being dramatic, they were only gone for a week but it felt like forever. It's nice to have them back. Hunter was excited too! Actually, they are watching him today while I'm at work & I'm going to head over to their house to have dinner, get Hunter & then we are going to swing by David's Bridal to try on some dresses.

On the wedding topic, I found a dress that I'm in love with online but I want to try on some other styles and get a good feel for my size and find out what looks good. This should be fun!

Something that I'm working on this week...our save the dates! They aren't going to be too fancy but hopefully they'll turn out cute. For those of you who aren't already aware....

6-25-11 is our chosen day. EEK. Makes it seem more real huh?

Also, I've been chatting back and forth with a guy I actually went to school with, who runs a photography business. I found him on a local wedding/vendor website I was looking at & his work is beautiful. I e-mailed him to check out his rates, etc. and he has the 25th open so he is a definite possibility.

Winter Blah's.

Today, for lack of a better word, is a "blah" day. Due to a number of reasons. Hunter Charles is not feeling well at all. He's got a fever & an ear-ache and although he is still a chipper little boy I feel terrible for him. Also, "year-end" is a terrible time here at work... The stress is unbelievable and I actually get home and remember someone I had to call or an E-Mail I had to write. It's the first time in a really long time I've pulled out the laptop and worked from home. Blah. Also, I think there's that after Christmas (super broke) feeling that just bums you out.

Alright, I'll stop being a downer now and take a moment to be grateful for what I do have;

A healthy family, loving friends & a warm house. (oh, and 10 season's of Friends DVD's to make me smile.) Mwa haha.

On a random note, here's some things I've been lovin' lately....(and are super helpful for WW 2011!!)

Vitatops...are amazing! ONE point a piece. The only "downfall" is that they are slightly pricey, about 1.29 a piece when you do the math. But if you order them on Amazon.com, you can usually catch a deal.. plus, they are freezer foods so they last for a while!

The Misto is AMAZING. It evenly distributes Olive Oil on our food.. and makes it much easier to "count" the calories. Plus, it's only $9.95... Yowza!

Thank god this week is half over!

Happy New Year!/My new toy.

Morning all! Got a little catchin' up to do. This past weekend (Happy New Years btw!) was fun. We had a little get together Friday night with some friends & some of my cousins. It was great (and very rare) to have nearly all of my cousins in one place to party. We rang in the New Year right with some Margaritas & some new memories.

I have a couple posts coming about some new projects I've been working on, but I just wanted to post real quick on how excited I am about my latest purchase. I've been teetering back and forth between all of the different e-readers that are available. The Kindle, The Nook, Sony E-Reader, etc.

After reviewing all of them, checking the prices of books & weighing the options, I've decided that my favorite is the Kindle. Not because I'm biased, (go Amazon!) but because it truly seems to be the best rated one. However, this is the real world & I had to weigh the options. After stumbling upon the Sharper Image Literai E-Reader on the Bed Bath and Beyond Website. I did a little investigation & some reviews say it, for lack of a better word "sucks", others say that it does what it needs to (aka reading) which is really all I'm looking for. I know some of them are good for surfing the internet and doing other fun "techy" stuff but I have a computer, I don't need that.

So, I made a decision...

My new E-Reader!! I'm so excited about this, as we all know how much I love reading :). One of the huge pluses is that the books you purchase (kobobooks.com) are cheap. One of the books I've been eyeing for a few weeks is actually about $3.50 cheaper doing it this way. Another awesome fact about this little guy is the price I paid for it.

The original price=

$149.99

Instant Rebate (-$50)
BBB 20% Coupon (-$20)

Price $80. BUT, guess who has a $100 Bed Bath and Beyond giftcard I've been stashin'.. ME.

I paid nothing out of pocket! AND, to top it all off, there is $20 Mail-in-Rebate. So essentially, I made a profit. You can't beat that.

I already ordered my first book & am ready to go. Merry Christmas Me :)