HAPPY BIRTHDAY REL!!! ... Bye Bye Summer

Today is the first day of fall which is J's dad's birthday and a time to say goodbye to summer. But first.. HAPPY BIRTHDAY REL hope you are enjoying France. Yep that is right, J's parents are in France for two weeks which just happens to be the same time as his dad's birthday. What a good idea for celebrating.

Since it is the first day of Fall, I figured it is the perfect day to post some of my favorite pics from this summer. It went by too fast but it was a fun filled one. I hope the Fall doesn't go by as fast, I am not a fan of winter in my neck of the woods.

Enjoy the photos

It Could Be Worse

Have you ever over heard a conversation and it made you think about your life? Well today at work, I over heard ( as well as everyone in the surrounding cubes) a conversation between two married women about their husbands and "It could be worse" popped into my head. "It could be worse" is J's philosophy for everything in life, including me, which at the time he said it I thought that was offensive but now I get it.

As most of you are aware, I am now co-habaiting with my boyfriend, J and that was am big deal for me since I have not been successful in the past trying to share my space. There are some things that J does that slightly annoys me and vice versa but after hearing that conversation between my co-workers, I thought my life "could be worse." I actually have no idea how the women put up with what they were talking about. One of them said that she is going to make a chore schedule for her husband so he can't say "I didn't know that had to be done". I am confident J would either laugh hysterical or or find me crazy if I posted a "chore schedule". I mean let's be honest, chores suck but we are grown adults and as a grown adult, you should be aware if the dishes need to be done or the dog needs to be fed. This might sound insane but I really believe that if two grown adults live together and both work full-time, than the house keeping and dinner responsibilities should be split. Or at least something like that. The stories I hear (granted they are mostly from women) make it sound like the men expect the wives to be wife, house keeper and mother. Now that is hilarious to me... maybe that answer the question that so many people have for me "why aren't you married yet" .... just kidding.

I am very lucky to have J!! He and I work well together and I know that if I needed him to do something around the house or he needed me to do something, we would let each other know and would do it without complaining or keeping score. I get why people live with each other and I am glad that it's J that I get to share my space with.

Locks of Love

It finally came time for me to donate my hair to Locks of Love. I have been growing it out for about two years and today was the day that I decided to cut it off. To give you a little background, Locks of Love is an organization that provides wigs to children with cancer that are financially disadvantaged. For hair to be used as a wig, the donation must be at least 10 inches long, in a pony tail or braid. It took me longer than I expected to grow my hair that long.

Here is my hair after growing it for 2 years-

And here is my hair after donating 12 inches to this amazing organization-

I usually wear my hair between chin length and shoulder length but have gone shorter than this before. I love my new hair style and even if I didn't I wouldn't care, my lots of hair will help out a child in need.

Moving Exhaustion

What I thought was only going to be a moving weekend turned out to be a moving week. Dylan, J, and Eric moved most of the big stuff on Saturday. It was a long day since we didn't get the truck until 6 pm and I moved car loads all morning. Everyone was really tired by the time the last piece of furniture entered the new place. Thanks to Marissa and Madison, I had someone to talk to and empty boxes with while the guys unloaded the truck. Sunday came around and we had Marissa, Jen and Tom (a couple that lives in our complex) over for a little bit in the afternoon. More unpacking of boxes later that night and off to bed for work bright and early on Monday morning.

You might be wondering why J and I didn't take any time off of work but really we both work in Finance/Accounting and the end of the month is not exactly a good time to take days off. We went to work, got home, and went to my old apt, filled J's truck with a few items and the wine rack I was giving my brother. My brother is about a 1/2 hour from my old place so the ride was quick but we stayed to visit for a little bit and check out his new place. He and two roommates are renting a really nice old house and J had not seen it yet. We get home and eat dinner around 10, which at the time I didn't know this would be the earliest meal we ate all week.

Tuesday through Thursday schedule went the same way, we get up early for work, work all day, unpack a few boxes, go to one of our old apts and get rid of the stuff we don't want and bring back the stuff we do want. We ate dinner after moving which meant we ate between 11pm and 12 am every night. I was so tired on Wednesday night that I didn't even finish my Mighty Taco before I was dozing off on the couch. The labor of the week was tough, it wasn't just moving boxes, for some reason not all the big stuff went on the moving truck so we had book cases, bikes, etc to move while only using J's truck. Finally on Thursday it occurred to us that we should use my mom's truck also to load things so we are not making 5 trips from the old place to the new place. Oh and our old apts are at least 20 miles (one way) away from the new place and our old apts are not near one another. You also might be wondering why we didn't do a better job in preparing for the move. I have to say, I am really not sure how that happened. I really thought we were all packed and ready to go but I misjudged terribly. J and I both agree that the next time we move, it will be completely different.

Needless to say the week took its toll on me and effected me at work. On Thursday I was so exhausted that i actually fell asleep at my desk. Thank goodness Kristin (who's cube is across from mine) woke me up and not my boss. Now I have been tired at work before and have gotten sleepied eyed but this was different. I had my head resting on my hand looking at spreadsheets and the next thing I know Kristin is tapping me on my shoulder asking me if I was sleeping. Obviously I was and it happened again later that afternoon. You may think, how can you fall asleep at work, but when I am exhausted, and it's super quiet, I can fall asleep easily. I am really surprised it happened twice in one day at work. Like I said thank goodness for Kristin. I mean we were laughing about it but I am sure it would have not been that funny if the Director of Finance came up to me for a report and I was sleeping on the job :)

J and I made it through a really tough week with a lack of sleep without killing one another. We were relieved when it came to an end on Thursday and we could go away for the holiday weekend and relax. We still have more unpacking to do but at least we have a few rooms organized and livable.

Moving Weekend

Moving weekend is finally here and I can't be more excited, exhausted and sore!! I just realized that I haven't made an entry since the beginning of the month. Man time had flown by !! i have been busy getting things ready for the new apartment, cleaning the old one, getting utilities turned on, getting them turned off, you know all the really fun things about moving :) I have had a few fun moments this month that I will have to tell you later about. It has been busy and interesting.

Originally our moving plan was to get the keys today, move boxes, smaller stuff tonight and get up early tomorrow, get the truck and move all the big furniture. However, J, being J, forgot or was under the impression that his mini course started next week. Well it was this week, Mon, Wed, Thurs and Saturday morning. Yep right in the middle of moving. So we are now going to be moving later in the afternoon around 5, that is also when the 1st truck is available so it works out. I was really stressed and annoyed at first but as long as I get to move in the new place with J this weekend, it doesn't matter what time we are moving. Thank Goodness J's friend Dylan is coming into town to help move, my family members were only available earlier on Sat, it would have been just me and him, now that is funny. :) We would have gotten it done but I am sure it will go faster with two strong men than with me helping.

I actually felt really bad for him when he found out he had class this week. It makes for really long days, getting to work in the am, going to class in the pm and packing a few things after class and than doing that routine again the next day. I did go over to his place on Tuesday to assist in the packing and we got a lot done. My apartment had more stuff in it than I thought. It has taken me much longer to wrap every little breakable in newspaper than it has to pack up the rest of the place. I was good and threw out as much as I could for now, I plan on throwing out more when unpacking. I really hate clutter, it makes me feel panicked.

This move is going to be a much needed fresh start for both of us. For the first time in my life, I am fully confident this will be a good thing. I usually have reservation about major decisions I make but not this one. Maybe because I am a little older but I think it is because it involves J :) AS I always tell him, he is the best and I am very lucky!!

More to come on the new place..

HAPPY 30th BIRTHDAY J-ROCK

Happy Birthday to you

Happy Birthday to you,

Happy Birthday dear honey,

Happy Birthday to you!!!

I hope you have a fantastic day!!

Love ya

Baby Shower

After a lot of planning and hard work, the baby shower for Shannon went off without any major problems. It is a tad early for a shower since the baby isn't due until December but this was the only time that she was coming home to visit before the little guy gets here and it was a must that we throw her a shower. Personally, I love planning events, especially for people close to me. As soon as I mentioned to Carrie that I wanted to throw Shan a shower, she pitched right in and together we got it done. I couldn't have done it without her. I wish she could have come into town for the party, it isn't the same without her but we did have a good time.

The day started as usual for me. My alarm went off at 5:30 am and I was up out of bed, getting ready for work. I figured I should get there a little early since I was leaving at noon to finish getting all the items for the shower later that night. We were holding the shower on Friday night, at first we were not sure how this would work, but it turned out it was perfect. I had to pick up the favors from Fowlers Chocolate, pick up the balloon order from Balloon Masters ( the balloon rattles), the balloons from Party City (for a game), put the favors together and get all the decorations and balloons to the restaurant before 5:30pm. The party started at 6:30 but I needed some time to get the room in appropriate baby shower motif. I enlisted my younger cousin Brett to help me transport all the balloons and decorations to the restaurant. Thank goodness he was around, he saved me about an hour of driving from my house to the location multiple times.

Balloon Masters - Rattles

When I got to Frank's (the restaurant), I was not happy at all with the way the room was set up for the party. They had tables put together so they formed one long table for 30 seats. How does that makes sense? It looked more like the Last Super than a baby shower. I found the waitress and waiter that greeted me when I came in and asked them to adjust the seating. They were very helpful and broke up the tables as I asked. I started to get some of the balloons untangled when Shan walked in with grandma and Becky. Right behind them came Betty (David's mom), and his aunts. I was happy to have some help arrive but felt a little rushed. I was hoping to have the room all decorated and babyish before Shan came in. Betty finished untangling the balloons while the rest of us finished all the details. Our friend Linda came early and really helped keeping me on track of the tasks and always making me laugh. AHH the room was finally done, the cake (provided by Betty) was in place and people started to arrive.

Final Product for the Favors

(buggy, bottle, foot and carriage cookie cutters filled with chocolate and "It's a boy" chocolate cigars)

Shannon was glowing and everyone was excited to be able to see her in her pregnant glory. Everyone was chatting, socializing and really enjoying themselves. Carrie and I decided that we were not going to play any games at the shower. I am sure at some time in your life, if you are female, you have gone to a baby or wedding shower and were forced to play the same lame games over and over again. We did get enough balloons filled with pieces of paper that had words printed on them that were related to newborn babies (Rattle, booties, bottles etc..) to tie on each guest seat. After dinner was over, Linda and I passed out thumb tacks and asked everyone to pop the balloon on their chair. The lady that had "baby Acosta" tag in their balloon won the first prize. (all prizes came from Bath & Body Works). Kelli was the winner if that game and picked the travel bag filled with a few items. We had more prizes to give out so we had everyone fill out their name and address on an envelope (for Shan's thank you cards) and put them in a box. Shannon then picked out of the box one envelope at a time and who's ever name was on the envelope, got to pick a prize.

Shannon (left) and Linda

After everyone was finished with dinner, we cut the cake and served it to the guest. The cake was so good!! Half was chocolate with strawberry filing (mommy-to-be request) and the other half was yellow with custard filling. It was time for Mommy to sit down and open the gifts her guests brought her. Everyone was really good at getting her items that can easily travel back home with her and the people who got her bigger items shipped them to her house. It was great watching Shan open all the baby items, she was so excited about each item. Betty's gift was so thoughtful and adorable. She made a diaper wreath that had items pinned to it (wipes, pacifier, toys, etc) and a poem went along with it. I wish I could share the poem, but I can't remember all of it. Anyway the diaper wreath is a great unique gift.

The shower lasted for about 2 1/2 hours (usually they are 4 hours long on a Sunday afternoon) and I was exhausted by the time I got home. Linda, Shan, Betty and family stayed and helped me clean up a little and transport the left over balloons. Betty took the balloons home with her and used them the next day for her b-day party. They stayed full over night and looked great the next day.

I really enjoyed planning and throwing this shower for one of my best friends. She smiled from the moment she arrived to the moment she left the restaurant, which made it worth all the work. Shannon--I hope you enjoyed your party. You have a good start on the items you will need when the little guy comes.