Quick Overall Catch Up

Ok- down another pound and a half. Total= 6.5 lbs. so far. I'm a little worried because I haven't had time lately to log in to WW online and record my eating and I also haven't had time to go to the gym lately... So I hope I haven't put on any poundage this week, but oh well! Happy to have lost what I have so far. Went to the lake for our "work weekend" this past week. It was so awful... Glass top table shattered all over the top of the dock- went all over the lower deck and onto the boats. Took fuhevah to clean up! Hole in the boat cover on the pontoon= thick mildew all over the seats and other surfaces inside. Seriously- the seats are supposed to be cream colored and they looked camouflage. Poor B literally got his fingertips eaten off by Clorox getting them clean. His fingers were bleeding and hurting for 3 days afterward. No power on the dock when we got there. 3 hours later, B had it fixed....I cut the grass and stepped in a fire ant hill without knowing it. A few seconds later I was running around the yard slapping my legs trying to get them off of me- those things sting when they bite! Annelise got stung by yellow jackets. Emmaline wet the bed for the first time in about 4 years. The dog found a HUGE dead turtle and promptly brought large bones to us on the dock. Oh, and it rained most of the time. Not the best Mem. Day weekend we've ever had, but it could always be worse, ya know? School is done, thank goodness, so I've slept in until at least 8:30 for the past few days. But I'm staying up until about 1 a.m. every night, so it evens out. Trying like a madwoman to get this house packed up. Moving July 7th! I cannot wait. I'll have to post new pics soon- so much has been done this past week to the new house. Realized we are going to have to find a new home for our sweet doggie, Alice. Annelise has lost interest and doesn't want to take any responsibility for her. As much as I love her and as sweet and good as she is (and she really is...) I cannot take care of her by myself. So, hopefully we will find a family who will love her and spoil her as she deserves. We'll keep her until we do. She is just adorable..... The youth minister at the church we've been going to called me and said they'd been praying about who should take over the youth girls Bible study on Sunday nights and that my name was the one that came up. I would love that so much. I miss being with my girls from my last church. But that means we need to decide if we're going to join this church or not. I'm still a little gunshy after everything I went through at the last one..... Scared. Anyway- praying about that. I have until August to decide. Sooooo much going on- but all good things. The girls are behaving like demon-possessed coyotes for the past few weeks. Gonna lose my mind. Hoping Aunt Libby calls soon and wants them to come spend the night with her so I can have a really productive day. We'll see! I'll try to post pics, soon. Until then- just hope I keep my sanity......

2 Is My New Favorite Number

Weighed in today- down 2 more pounds!! (Loss of 5 pounds total so far.....) Only 2 more days until I am basking on the beach at Sullivan's Island! Found a lady to keep Alice for us while we're gone and she only lives 2 minutes away from us! Only 2 more weeks of school left. :0) In 2 months, we will be moved in to our new house. Gotta love the number 2!!

Old and Worn Out

This is the wallpaper I finally chose for our half bath. I wanted something a little different in there, and this one really got my attention. It looks a little bit blue, but it is actually grey. I'm going to put robin's egg blue towels in there to go with it. (Or black towels, I haven't decided, yet.) I also made the decision to tint all of the ceilings downstairs a very faint blue. I had about 2 minutes to pick the color and was really scared to go see what it looked like, but I absolutely love it! It's very calming. I had noticed a lot of the older Charleston homes did that when I went to visit there, last, so it reminds me a little of that. I also decided to stain the staircase and leave the floors natural. That way the staircase stands out and also matches our stained front door. Even the spindles and backplates on the stairs will be stained, so I think it will look good.
As for other news- those who aren't on FB may not have heard- I did my first 5 K this past Friday. My goal was to beat Brian. I did. By 2 whole minutes! All I heard all week was how he was going to wax me. Well- that didn't happen. Sweet Thang and Mr. Paranoia had to walk most of it because of sickness and jaw fractures. I really think that they were just too scared to race me because they knew I would blow them away.... ;0) I ran until I thought I would vomit. The last 200 yards, I just gave it all I had and ran for my life, because I didn't know if Brian was behind me and I really really really wanted to beat him. So, for the past 2 days, Brian and I have been in severe pain all over and scream whenever we walk downstairs. But, it was worth it. I've realized that I am very out of shape and very old. We look like 80 year olds hobbling around. I'm pretty sure I need knee and hip replacements... Not going to the gym tonight. Don't want to let people see me cry like a baby on the machines or wet myself. Too sore. Lordy-- when did this happen to me? Anyway- gotta go cook dinner and start getting my list together for Sullivan's Island. 3 more days until I'm there....

I Can Hardly Contain Myself....

So, y'all know how bad I've been wanting to go to Charleston lately. All this stress with the house and the girls have been acting like rabid howler monkeys. Anyway- Charleston just speaks to my soul. That place feels like my second home when I'm there. So, Brian gets a text from my orthodontist today (who is also one of his good friends). His wife rents a beachfront house every Summer at Sullivan's Island and takes their kids down there as soon as school is out and stays the whole Summer. Her hubby goes down on Thursday nights and stays with them on the weekends. Well, he asked B if we wanted to go stay there next week, since they have a family wedding and the house is going to be empty all week. I couldn't believe our luck! We decided that we would leave next Thursday morning and stay through Sunday. We were supposed to go to the lake, but that can wait. This kind of thing doesn't come up very often. I just have to find someone to keep Alice for those days (hoping Aunt Libby will be interested in that...) and we'll be set. I wish the girls were out of school so I could just take them down there for the whole week. They would love it. But- I have a lot to do here, anyway, so maybe this will motivate me to get it done. We're going to Folly Beach in June, so I am going to get a double dose of Charleston this Summer and I could not be more excited about it. At least I'll get a tan at Sullivan's Island before our week-long trip in June! Well- just had to share my excitement. On another note- if I hear anything else about Swine Flu I'm just gonna puke. I mean, in the US- 30,000 people die every year from the regular flu. No-one gets all out of whack for that. But we have this special flu come up and you would think the world was gonna end. The mass hysteria is almost comical. It seems the media will do anything for ratings these days. I am just sick of hearing about it. I'm sure something else will happen to take the attention away, soon, but seriously- give it a break. Well- I'm off to cook dinner. (And dream about being on the beach in exactly one week!!)

Good News and Bad News

This is a picture of the dining room chandelier I finally chose. Some of you will notice that it is not any of the 3 that I had narrowed it down to, before. That's just the way this house has gone. I liked that it looks old, and that the metal color will go with just about any other metal I decide to use in there. We bought some sconces on ebay from a 1920's hotel to use in there that are aluminum, so they will blend. I really loved that this light fixture sells for about $300.00 and we got it for 80 bucks, brand new in the box. That pretty much was the tie breaker for us. It looks even better in person than it does in the pic, so I'm happy with it.
Anyway- good news first- I have finished picking out the paint colors for our house. (Insert heavenly angel choir here, singing Hallelujah.) I am so so so sick of the paint wheel I could burn it. But, it's my mother's and she wouldn't appreciate that, so I'm just going to put it out of sight for a while. I had picked out about 90 percent of the colors and wrote them all down in a notebook that I'm pretty sure I've packed up in a box somewhere. After tearing the house apart for 2 days looking for it, I realized I was going to have to start over. I remembered some of the colors, but most I had forgotten. Oh, well. It's done and I am so relieved.
Now for the bad news (which isn't really "bad"- I'm just disappointed). I weighed in this morning and have only lost another half a pound. I was hoping for another 2, but just didn't make it. B tried to tell me that because I have been doing a lot of weight lifting at the gym, I have put on muscle, which weighs more than fat- but I'm not buyin' that one completely. I was not the best on my diet this week. With our anniversary and eating on the run because of having to go out to the house and look at stuff, I just didn't behave like I should have. I did stick to my point limit for the week, I just didn't make the best choices. I also didn't make it to the gym this past week. I went this morning and I'm determined to get back on my MWF night schedule. Going in the mornings makes me really nauseated, so nights seem to work better for me. Anyway- that's the latest update. I'm gonna continue to put random pics up for things for the house. Gotta go pick up Annelise early and take her to her first orthodontist appt now. Poor thing got my teeth.....

10 Years and We're Still Here

10 years ago yesterday, Brian and I were married at a small church in Easley and 10 years ago this morning we were on our way to Sandals St. Lucia. 2 kids and 5 houses later, here we are, still together. A little heavier, a little less energetic and a lot crazier- we've made it this far. The top pic is of us leaving the church to go to our reception right after our wedding. The one below it is of us at St. Lucia on our honeymoon. That just seems like it was only a few years ago. We had said we would go back to St. Lucia on our 10 year anniversary. At the time, we didn't know we would be building a house and running after 2 kids and managing a busy pediatric office. Our life together has been wonderful and blessed. (Ups and downs, sure- but overall GREAT.) When I met Brian I had just gotten out of a 4-year relationship in which I had broken a great guy's heart when I just realized he wasn't the "one". I had vowed I was just going to stay single with my cat and live the good life without a care in the world. I threw myself into work and was working about 70-80 hours a week at the hospital and loving it. That explains why the only place I could possibly meet anyone was at the hospital! I had a policy that I didn't date doctors. I knew too much. Knew most of them cheated on their wives or had a "God" complex- neither of which I was going to tolerate. But I saw Brian come around that corner one morning and thought 'Wow, he is really cute!' Then I started talking to him and found him to be a very down to earth, gentlemanly and soft spoken guy. He eventually asked me out and even though our 2 work schedules only allowed us to go out about once a week or even once every 2 weeks, we hit it off. After about 2 months my committment phobia kicked in and I decided I was going to break up with him. The thought of a serious relationship terrified me and I wasn't going to let myself get caught up in anything. I got my speech together and waited for him to come pick me up for our date. He got there late (out of character for him) and was stressed when he came in my apartment. He had a handful of roses for me from his own rose garden and explained that he had gotten a $200 speeding ticket on the way to come and get me and apologized for being late. Well, I couldn't break up with him after he had just gotten a ticket to come to my house, so I decided to wait.... and the break up never happened. He asked me to marry him after we had dated for 9 months. It took me by complete surprise- we had not even talked about marriage! I thought he was going to ask me to buy him this dog that he had been wanting. I didn't even know if I had said yes or no until he started hugging me and I figured I must have said yes. ;0) The rest is history. We are complete polar opposites and he often gets on my last nerve, but I love him and after 10 years together I truly feel like he is the other half of me. He knows me like no-one else and he loves me anyway. He still worships the ground I walk on and he thinks I am drop dead gorgeous. So, we may be looking into getting him examined for cataracts, but other than that, we're good. I told a friend of mine that there was no feeling like knowing someone was going to be there for you through anything, no matter what. And I know that he will. We made it through a rough couple of years during year 7 and 8- I think it was a turning point for us and we made the choice to work hard and make it better and we did. Now I just cannot believe everything that God has helped us to accomplish together. This past 10 years has gone by really fast and time just seems to get faster by the year. Can't wait to see what the next 10 holds for us!