its time to light the lights

I'm sure you have all been waiting for an update from puppy parenthood [and my "new" life in general] so here it is....

Last week was exhausting, stressful, busy, and took forrrrrevvvvvvvverrrrrrrrrr. I thought the week would fly by because of how much stuff we had to do, but every day seemed longer and I felt more tired.

The big plan was to move things over gradually throughout the week, and have my dad help us with a big move on Friday when we had a trailer. On Wednesday we found out that the parking lot at the old apartment was going to be closed all day Friday into Saturday for re-paving - aka we weren't going to be able to move anything during the day on Friday. Luckily Ben had rented a moving van for Wednesday. Ben and Zach moved most of Ben's stuff during the afternoon, and by the time I was done with work we were able to get a lot of our stuff moved in the van. (We were mostly concerned with furniture.)

Friday morning we ended up having my parents meet us at 7 AM to get the last of our furniture moved out before the parking lot was closed - that meant two days in a row where Zach and I had approx. 2 hours of sleep. So we moved most of the morning - we just had the last of the furniture and then all of my storage unit to move. I bought mom and dad lunch, and then Zach and I spent the rest of the day/evening unpacking and trying to get as much done as we could before puppy.

Saturday morning was a bit of a mess - all of my own fault. At that point I was severely sleep deprived. I had some more things to finish on Saturday morning before we went to pick Abe up, so I set my alarm for 6:30 and we had plans to leave at 8:30. And... I woke up at 8:39. Ugh. So we had to rush to get out of town and we still had some other things to do before we could leave [all of them because I dropped the ball...or several balls]. Anyways, we left like an hour and half later than expected. BUT everything was okay because, we came home with a puppy!

On the way home

When we got home, we had both of our families over for a housewarming/puppy meeting. Zach and I made chicken and beef enchiladas (which we've been raving about to our families for awhile now) while everyone played with the puppy.

 Uncle Sam playing and cuddling with Abe

 Zach's Mom and Abe and his fat puppy belly

 Abe and Rooster taking puppy naps

[Abe loved Rooster - he followed him everywhere, but Rooster 

did not seem too enthused to have a little shadow with him]

Abe pooped after all the visiting. Look at his little tongue sticking out!!

Abe in the lovesac. He looks so tiny in it!

Abe as a puppy hat

He pushes all the food to the back of the bowl, and then has to put his front paws in to reach the rest

Agh! That face!

Tickling his belly. Doesn't he look like he's laughing?!?

Snuggled in his blankie

So far everything has been going pretty well. The first night at bedtime he whined for less than a minute, and Zach cleared his throat loudly and Abe was quite for the rest of the night. Sunday and Monday night were a breeze. We've been having to get up after about 3 or 4 hours because he needs to go outside, but we feed him and play with him a little bit and then go right back to bed. 

The housetraining is going fairly well also. He's going right away when he gets outside, and there have been a few times where he goes to the door or starts to bark or whine when he has to go out. In the meantime, he has some of the strongest dog farts I have ever smelled, but he's so goddamn cute we can't help but love him. 

He's got a lot of personality - he's pretty fiesty, but he calms down pretty well. Today he was just full of shenanigans. He discovered that he can fit underneath one of the loveseats, so he keeps trying to crawl under there. 

Abe vs. Mirror

We've also gotten pretty settled into the new place. We've still got some unpacking to do, but we've got our den/office where we can store stuff that we don't have time to unpack right now but need to keep away from Abe. 

Unfortunately, I have to go back to work tomorrow. Definitely not looking forward to it, but I guess I have to. So I should be off to bed, since I won't get to take any naps after being up with Abe in the morning.

and everything is going to the beat

Whew. Two days of this week complete, and I'm exhausted.

Zach, Ben, and I got the keys to our new apartment today! We will be spending the entire week moving, so we didn't get too much done today. Zach and I met Ben at the new place at 1 today to get the keys, and we had each loaded up our cars so we unloaded the two cars before work this afternoon. After work tonight, Zach and I took another load over. [I'm sure some of you out there are thinking we're crazy for moving at 1:30 in the morning, BUT the weather is soooo much more bearable at this time so I much prefer it.] I think we're going to try and get a few more loads in during the week before my awesome dad brings down a trailer on Friday.

This week is bringing lots of changes. Most people would agree that change - even when it is welcome - is always a little bit hard. We're making so many positive changes this week, but I still get that slight unsettling feeling. You're excited for the new things to come, but for a moment you almost second-guess yourself, and think it might just be better to keep everything just as it is. The move I am 100% ready for, and despite my loathing for moving, there's nothing to second guess there.

We're also getting a new [to us] car this weekend. I found out a few months ago that my car is going to need some big, expensive repairs pretty soon. Considering that the repairs I had to do in April and the upcoming ones that would need to be done cost more (pretty substantially more) than I actually paid for my car, I decided to get a new car. So Zach and I have been looking into getting a new car. After much searching and discussion, we decided to buy my parents car. We're getting an excellent deal, and they're being super awesome and trading cars with us before we actually get all the paperwork and everything worked out. On the one hand, I'm excited to have a nice, dependable car [with air conditioning!]. On the other hand, Shelby (my car) and I have had some pretty good times. The driver's seat is molded just right for my butt! All the settings are just right! Yeah, I sweat my ass off every day without air conditioning, and she makes some funny noises sometimes....but she's all mine! So a little bit of second guessing there. ;) Le sigh...

I don't know if you've heard (wink wink  - I know everyone is sick of me talking about it), but the biggest change is the new addition to our family - Abe! Only 5 more days until he is home and all ours. We're clearly excited. We've been waiting for nearly a year, and the last three weeks have been especially painstakingly long. But we needed to find a good vet, and we needed all kinds of dog supplies, and we're still searching for a good dog food, and we just want to be awesome puppy parents. We've done our research, we've read books, watched shows, talked to breeders, etc... but its a lot of pressure to take care of another living being (still, a pressure that we are glad to take on). And now that the puppy will soon be in our care, I just hope that everything will work out and we'll have a happy, healthy wrinkly puppy.

So that's what is going on in my head. Lots of preparation - most of it exciting, some of it daunting. Between making moving arrangements (including storage unit, trailer, helpers, getting the keys, forwarding mail, setting up cable/internet, etc etc), looking for cars and figuring out auto loan and insurance stuff, and getting everything ready for the puppy, I'm ready for some relaxation  - especially since its all happening in pretty much one week.

Luckily, I was just approved off for a few days next week. Primarily Zach and I wanted to spend some quality time with Abe when he first comes home, but I think it'll be nice to get settled in to the new apartment and to have some downtime after this crazy week.

I'm guessing this will be the last post until after the move, so keep an eye out for new posts with lots of pictures!

almost there

Just an fyi....the countdown until puppy time is in the single digits now!

9 days!!!

ready and waiting

Ugh....these three weeks are going incredibly slow. Although we'll be crazy busy the next two weeks, I think Zach and I are both looking forward to it in hopes that it makes the time go quickly. In the meantime, here are some more pictures from when we met Abe! 

Daddy and puppy!

Mama and puppy!

Today we spent the day getting supplies for Abe. Just two toys, first aid kit, shampoo, brushes, nail clippers, bed for in his crate, and a soft blankie to be all snuggled up. (The super cute moose is from Zach, and the blanket is from me.) 

Dear Abe - 

We got all this stuff for you! Please come home soon!  

Love, Amanda and Zach

the luckiest

BIG AWESOME FANTASTIC AMAZING SUPEREXCITING NEWS!
As of yesterday, Zach and I are officially puppy parents!
We have been saving up for a puppy, and planning and reading and researching, for almost a year now. Zach has wanted an English Bulldog since he was a little boy, and after reading and looking at tons of pictures, it didn't take much convincing for me. We found an apartment where we could have a dog and saved, and now that our move is coming up we started to look more closely at breeders. We found a breeder we really liked about 2 1/2 hours from here. He had two litters, one that was about a month old and one that was about two weeks old and at least 8 adult bulldogs, so we were surrounded by dogs!!

We made an appointment for Saturday to meet the breeder. We set it up on Monday and had to wait until Saturday which meant we had nearly a week of agony trying to keep ourselves sane and calm. In all this time of preparing, we had kind of put together an idea of our ideal puppy - male, mostly white, one dark ear, and maybe a spot over one eye. So we went there, we met the breeder, he was awesome and enthusiastic and super informative. When we first walked in to the room with the two litters, Mike (the breeder) was saying, "I've got this male left..." and as he turned around, we saw the perfect puppy. He is mostly white, with one black ear, a black spot over his eye, and a black little puppy butt. Zach and I looked at each other immediately, and there was an unspoken statement that this was our puppy. He is adorable and perfect and wrinkly and we are already in love with him.

So without further ado... 

Sir Aberford Undertaker, of House Porkchop, 

the First of His name. 

(Abe for short)

Snuggling with his new mama

So tiny!

He has very soft jowls.

He likes to lay like this.

He looks extra cute in his daddy's arms!

Giving his daddy beard kisses.

We are so excited! The next few weeks are going to be pretty busy though. We will be moving soon, with a move in date of July 13th. We were thinking we would be getting a puppy from the second litter, because they would be ready to go home around August 1st which would give us a couple of weeks to get settled into the new place. Abe is from the first little, and even though it will be a tight timeline, we'll be bringing him home on July 14th!!! Only 20 days! So now I'm going to try and work out something to get into the new apartment a little earlier so we can get things at least a little bit set up before puppy comes home. My apologies if blogs slow down between now and then. Speaking of which, I should be packing and making lists and planning and freaking out.....

Look forward to TONS of pictures of our new baby boy! =]

if there's any other way, i'll do anything for you

Whew. The older I get, the busier and more exhausting weekends get. What happened to weekends being a time to recoup after a busy weekend?

This weekend was definitely fun though. Friday night Zach got off work a little early and we went out to dinner with my Mom and Dad for an early Father's Day dinner. We went to a barbecue place, which was mostly good. The fries were pretty awesome (probably because they were mostly grease) and we had some yummy hush puppies for an appetizer. My meat was not great though..good flavor, but the cut of meat was grisly and tendony. Plus the acoustics in the restaurant were terrible. It wasn't that busy when we were there, the music wasn't terribly loud, but it was really hard to hear, and I felt like we were all yelling at each other. Aftewards we went and got some Cold Stone ice cream which was good. However, we sat out on State St. to eat it and were accosted by a trashy guy on the street. Luckily my big strong dad and big strong boyfriend were there to protect us. ;)

Saturday we got up early and went out to spend the day with Zach's dad and siblings. We started the day with a grill out which was nice. The weather kept changing between super sunny and windy/rainy, but once it settled down we had a really great afternoon for it. After spending the afternoon out in the sun, we headed back to Madison to one of Zach's family's favorite restaurants and met his sister for beer, burgers, and fries. By the time we got home, I was ready to go to sleep. (I did take a nap at like 10pm).

All in all a great weekend with family. And lastly, HAPPY FATHER'S DAY to the best dad in the world (mine of course!).

its bound to melt your heart - for good or for bad

My intentions were to blog more than I was before, but that has proved difficult. Time is kind of flying by, but its one of those weird contradictions where you feel like you've been ridiculously busy,  constantly running around, but can't even start to list what you've done.

The biggest thing in the past few weeks is that I got my hair cut!! I got approximately 6 inches cut off, so it was a pretty big change. I will have pictures sometime soon (which has been part of the delay with getting a post up, but I'll have to do without for now).

Zach and I went to his uncle's wedding/reception a few weeks ago out at Blue Mounds State Park. It was absolutely gorgeous out there. It was basically a party at the campground (with some awesome cake) followed up by a bonfire. We also got to see the sunset out of the ridge of "mounds" which was beautiful. Afterwards Sam came over and spent the night so we got some extra hang out time with him.

Last week we went to a Brewers game with a bunch of our friends (I think it was 19 people total). I took half a day of work (it was Zach's day off) and we headed down to Milwaukee and met everyone there for tailgaiting. It was a pretty good game to be at - Brewers v. Cubs, good game, and we won! Plus it was our first game of the year, so it was exciting just to be there.

I also went to the zoo last week with Steph and Jake. At the time, I was sad to not have seen the lions (they were inside when I was there) because they are one of my favorite animals to see.  But now I'm even more sad, because the mama lion just died a few days ago! =[ Make fun of me all you want, but I was particularly upset about it - that poor baby lion, Leopold, is without his mommy!

Anyways, not too much else new is going on. Apologies again, but hopefully you'll see another blog soon!

even better yet

Alright, I'm thinking I might try and get away from the weekly blog. More impromptu, less boring "this is what I did this day and that is what I did that day" sort of thing. Any thoughts? I don't really get any feedback from you guys, so if you're reading, and you care for a certain format or want to see something new, LET ME KNOW!!!

Last Friday I went out for breakfast with Steph, Lisa, Jake, and little [little, but chubby] Nora! It was sooooo nice to sit down and talk with them. Both Jake and Nora were sleeping for a large part of the time we were there, so we got lots of talking in and then had even more fun when the babies woke up. Nora is absolutely adorable. I can't even stand how cute she is. She is the happiest baby I've ever seen, and has some of the cutest chunky baby rolls I've ever seen.

[sorry, this quality isn't great....from a phone to a phone to the internet doesn't look great. Damn you, technology!]

Even though I'd only gotten 3 hours of sleep the night before, I resisted the urge for a nap and spent a large part of the afternoon reading out on the porch, because it was so nice out. [I'm trying to readjust my sleep schedule, even by the slightest bit, but it's much harder than it sounds. ] I did end up taking a nap after I dropped Zach off at work, and then I got to see my parents for a bit (they stopped by on their way through town). 

Finally, Zach and I went to a friend's birthday party, but the most important part of the night was - a long overdue reunion with one of my bestest friends, Brianna!! She was in town for the same birthday party, so we got to spend the evening with her. 

When I got home from the birthday party, I made some cupcakes that I've been waiting to make for months. Going back to my earlier note about sleep schedules...why would I go to bed at 4am when I could be making cupcakes?!?! 

Anyways, Britny and Nick gave me a housewarming present ages ago that was a Chocolate Stout cupcake mix with a recipe for chocolate mocha frosting. They also provided me with a bottle of cherry stout to use in the recipe. The result was...delicious!

Saturday we did our usual routine - got up super early (for us...3 hours of sleep again!) to head to the Farmer's Market and get our spicy cheesy bread, doughnuts, and kettle corn. I didn't last long after eating my donut though, passed out for a few hours afterwards.

Alright, leave me some feedback if you have any feelings on the blog (or maybe just for fun...)

you and me together, nothing is better

Well, this week was definitely a bit busier than last - especially the weekend.

Work was pretty...entertaining...this week, to say the least. Had one of my first really interesting meetings, which I can't say anything about of course, but I can say it was a great learning experience. I was really late for work one day this week though. I now work early one day a week, because I needed a day that I overlap more with the rest of the department (who all work days). When I first planned it out, I thought it was going to be a good idea because I'd be done earlier, but going to bed early the night before isn't great. Either way, I woke up at the time I was supposed to be punching in, and ended up being 1/2 hour late.

I did get to have a 3 day weekend this week though. Friday Zach and I spent the day running errands, cleaning, etc. Then Saturday we had to be up early for an apartment showing, so we went to the Farmer's Market in Hilldale to pick up some Stella's Spicy Cheesy bread and then ran a few more errands (which has kind of become a Saturday tradition for us). Afterwards, Zach's Dad, Sam, and Meghan came over and we spent the afternoon watching Game of Thrones and eating [horrible] pizza. Later that night, Sam came back over and Ben came over after work and we played our newest obsession, HeroClix, until very late maybe 5ish in the morning...oops!. [I won't go into the details, but it's a strategy based board game that involves little superhero (or villain) figures, and it's awesome.] That was a bad decision, because we had to be up very early on Sunday - 2 nights in a row with 4 hours of sleep doesn't end well.

Sunday morning we went out for breakfast with Zach's mom and Sam at little restaurant on Willy St. To start with, we were sleepy and crabby. It was super crowded, and way too "self-service" for my tastes at that time of the morning. You ordered your food as soon as you came in the door, and then found a table (or whatever furniture you could find) where you then got your own silverware and water and everything.  Because it was so busy, all we could find to seat 4 people was an old couch, two recliners, and a pretty small coffee table with reading material all over it. Then you wait until the kitchen staff screams - literally screams - your name out and you go and get your own food. In retrospect, it doesn't sound that bad. And I've been to similar places that I didn't mind at all (Sunroom on State, which is always good), but this was just incredibly annoying to me at the time. I got a blackberry scone which was pretty awesome, but the rest of my breakfast was subpar.

We did a little bit of running around which included a stop at Petsmart. That was also terrible idea. We know we're getting soooo close to getting a puppy, but this didn't help our patience at all. AND when we were leaving, we saw an adorable tiny little Rottweiler puppy.

Then we went to Alyssa's graduation!!! I can't believe my baby sister graduated from college. It was kind of weird sitting up in the balcony thinking that 3 years ago I was sitting in that same spot, wearing my own unflattering black gown. [And of course I teared up a little bit when they started playing Varsity, as a true Badger always will.] CONGRATULATIONS, ALYSSA!!!!

Afterwards there was a celebration, with lots of good food and family time. It is always nice to see family, especially because I don't get the time or opportunity to travel very much. Unfortunately, Zach and I were pretty much zombies by that time. A beer and two plates of food did not help, because then my tummy was all full and I was sleepy, and my body just wanted to shut down. We came home and laid down (crashed) for a nap at 830 pm. And then I went to bed early and slept 10 needed hours.

Alright, off to maybe play some games or read. Have a good week everyone!

i gotta keep on running 'til the well runs dry

Nothing too exciting going on this week. It was nice to get settled into the new position with my actual schedule, and things are starting to fall into place there which is good.

On Friday night I babysat for Jake which was super fun, as usual. I love spending time with him, even if its only for a couple of hours at a time every now and then. Saturday morning Zach and I got up early and went to the Farmer's market where I stuffed myself with baked goods - a delicious raspberry cream cheese croissant and a loaf of super hot spicy cheesy bread (which was the best loaf I've ever had, AMAZING). We spent the rest of the day hanging out with our friend Ben, running errands, and playing games and stuff. Sunday Alyssa and I took my Mom out for brunch at Bonfyre. The food was pretty yummy, but I didn't get to eat a lot because I had their Bloody Mary (which they are renowned for). What I didn't realize was that their Sunday special on Bloody Marys is a 32 oz. version complete with celery stalk, string cheese, beef stick, pickle, onion, mushroom, green olive, lemon and lime. Needless to say, my belly was full of Bloody Mary, coffee, and water before I had time to eat much food.

Like I said, nothing too exciting. I'm looking forward to a 3 day weekend this upcoming weekend. Have a great week!

everything i can remember

It's been awhile, and I apologize. I wasn't terribly busy over the last two weeks, but I was training for my new position, and I was on a different schedule that really threw me off. As of yesterday, though, I've completed my formal training and am back to my permanent schedule!

So the new position...it was a little stressful at first, because things were pretty unorganized. The training process not only wasn't very defined, but also didn't have any documentation on the processes, so as I was learning and watching how to do things, I was also in charge of documenting all the processes at the same time. During the training I was working during the day so that I could shadow the other HR Assistant. An important part of what we do in the department is disciplinary action for employees, so the part I needed the most practice in was sitting in on those meetings, seeing what the process is like, and actually making the decisions on whether to keep or terminate employees. [That is a lot of pressure!] I'm also going to be in charge of a lot of paperwork and some payroll things, which I enjoy because I love organizing (and things are in a state of disarray right now). So I guess so far everything is going well. I'm especially enjoying being back on my regular schedule, because the day schedule was really messing everything up (especially carpooling with Zach whose schedule was still the same). 

The weekend after the last post was Zach's birthday, and we had a full weekend. Friday night we went out his family's birthday dinner (which he very nicely shared with his twin sister, Meghan). Saturday we had a party at our place with games, taco salad, drinking, and lots of fun. Sunday we had a nice lazy day. We ordered in Chinese food, and also had a Dairy Queen cake! 

This past weekend we went to the Farmers Market for the first time this year. Our main goal was to get some spicy cheesy bread. Unfortunately we got there a little later than usual (around 1130 am) and the bread was no longer hot (still tasty though). Afterwards we headed out to Sun Prairie and spent the afternoon with Zach's dad and brother.

Other than that, not too much is going on. I finished the last book of the series that I'm reading, and I am waiting [not patiently at all] for the next book to come out, unfortunately not until next year sometime. The series, however, continues to be phenomenal, and the HBO show is also living up to my very high expectations from the books. I started a new book - Anna Karenina - which has been on my list for years and years. It's a little slow going, especially compared to Game of Thrones, but I'm trying to make sure that I stay up on reading all the time. [Side Note: in 2009 I read 100 books, in 2010 I read probably around 80, and in 2011 I dropped wayyyy down, so I'm just trying to make sure I'm reading something at all times. 

Alright, off to play some Scrabble with Zach and Alyssa!

sailing over wave and tide

So BIG news.....

I got a promotion! I applied a few weeks ago for a position in the HR department, and about 2 weeks ago they offered me the position. They officially announced it last Thursday, so now I can finally announce it! I will be starting very soon - next week. So this is my last week as a supervisor. I'm very excited about the new position, but also a little sad about leaving my team members, as I've been pretty passionate about my work as a sup. My official title will be HR Assistant, and I'll be helping out with a lot of the disciplinary action, payroll, benefits eligibility, etc. I will be keeping a second shift schedule (the position was newly created specifically to cover those hours). 

Revealing other top secret news, the project Zach and I have been working on was recently released on his blog. Check it out here for all the details (including pictures). 

Zach's Awesome Blog

[You should really check out his blog on a regular basis, because he posts some pretty cool stuff (his illustrations and other design projects) that is wayyyy more interesting than mine.]

This past weekend was super busy. After about 2 hours of sleep on Thursday night, I got up super early and headed up to Baraboo to take my car to get fixed. I then spent the entire day hanging out with my dad. We just ran errands and hung around the house like we used to do on his days off when I was little, so it was really nice. After my mom was done with work, we went out to dinner and hung out some more before I headed back to Madison. Saturday (after about 4 hours of sleep) Zach and I went to Chicago for C2E2 which is a comic book convention. Despite being insanely tired, we had a really good time. As far as I know, Zach had a pretty good haul with some good deals. I also got a t-shirt for myself. We ended up having to take a 3 hour nap when we got home at 6:30, but it was definitely worth getting up super early. 

This upcoming weekend will be exciting, too, because it's Zach's birthday! Alright, off to do some reading!

what you thought was a hurricane was just the rustling of the wind

First, I still can't believe its April. March was one of those months where it seemed like it lasted forever, but was also over in a flash. At work March was particularly busy for me. I had a huge team (26 people), and a lot of extra stuff to take care of. I can't think of anything special outside of work in March, but everything seemed to be kind of rushed and busy. 

Now it is April. I have the smallest team I've ever had at work (17 people), and I'm going absolutely crazy because I don't have nearly enough work to keep me busy. It does mean I have some extra time to finish some bigger projects I was working on, but overall, I'm bored which just makes the work day go insanely slow. 

It also seems like I've got more free time outside of work, but instead of being the relaxing kind of free time, it's the kind that makes me feel really lazy and unproductive. So I'm actively trying to change a few things to remedy that. For example, I've been paying for a gym membership for the last 6 months, but in that time I've probably only gone 5 times. Last night I finally went back. I just want to get back in the habit of going, so I'm shooting for a minimum of 2 days a week so I'm halfway there now!

I'm also trying to readjust my sleep schedule a little bit, to try and be more productive before I go to work in the afternoon. My goal for last night was to be in bed by 4:00 am....I was a little off and finally got in bed at 5:00, but I also actually made myself get out of bed a little early. (Not as early as I'd planned...the bed was just wayyyyy too cozy and the blankets were just perfect and...getting out of bed is the hardest part of my day). 

This past weekend started a month and a half or so of weekends where we are absolutely booked. To kick it off, we had a really lazy Friday and didn't really do much of anything. I didn't even take a shower until 11pm that night, but the relaxation was definitely worth it. (Plus Zach had off for the day, so we actually got to spend the whole weekend together!) On Saturday we got up early and went and visited my family. Our first stop was Krispy Kreme, but after that we went to my grandparents house and saw them and my Aunt Lisa. My grandpa was in excellent spirits after his back surgery, so I'm very glad to see that. Plus we haven't seen them in awhile, so it was good to catch up. (And my grandparents are ADORABLE, and I love seeing them.) After that we headed over to my other grandparents' where we had a little grill out with my uncles and their families, and my parents and their puppy. That was a full house with all those little kids - that doesn't phase Zach at all, coming from a huge extended family and growing up with lots of cousins running around all the time. But I'm definitely not used to it since Alyssa and I were the only grandkids for a very long time. Again, it was really great to see everyone. Afterwards we headed back to Madison and went over to two of our friends houses to hang out for awhile.

Stay tuned, because in the next week I should have some very exciting [currently top secret] news for all of you!

reunited and it feels so good

I accidentally skipped a week, but I didn't have much to update on anyways. The week before last was a normal work week with not much else going on. Over the weekend Zach and I spent Saturday with his mom and brother, Sam. We went out to dinner at a pretty awesome Italian place that Zach's family has been going to for forever. (Thinking about it is making me really crave fried ravioli and eggplant strips...mmmmmm) Afterwards, Sam played a few songs at a jazz concert so we went and watched him play a little bit. Once we got home we had a friend over and just hung out for the rest of the evening. [Zach and I have also been working on a project - involving Zach's creativity and design skills and my sewing skills, but we're still in early prototype stages, so I'll fill you in more on that at a later date!]

This past week was actually pretty busy. I think I had to get up early every day during the week [early for me], so by the time it got to Saturday I was ready to sleep in - which I definitely did. Thursday was a very exciting day because.... we finally found an apartment! Well, it was actually one of the first apartments we toured in early February,  and we went back the week before last for a second tour, our application was approved early last week, and we signed the lease on Thursday. Its a three bedroom apartment in a nice, wooded, residential neighborhood. Plus the rent is pretty reasonable and the apartment is very spacious with tons of storage [for all my crap that I just can't get rid of]. The lease starts July 15th so we will have a 2 week overlap which will be really nice for moving. So it's a HUGE relief to have that out of the way!

Friday I finally got to meet my friend Lisa's 3 month old, Nora!!! She is ADORABLE. She's the happiest baby I've ever met, and she reminds me a lot of myself when I was a baby - superchunk with bright blue eyes. Lisa is my friend Steph's twin sister, so Steph and Jake were along, too. That was a great way to start out my weekend (albeit being very early). I feel like the theme for this week was reuniting!  - I saw Lisa for the first time in like 4 months. Later in the afternoon, I had a nice long phone date with Britny, and Saturday I went out for dinner with Marley. Sam also started spring break this week, so he came over on Saturday and stayed through Sunday night, which was fun (and Zach and Sam are super entertaining together). Overall this weekend was pretty awesome. =]

After this week, I feel like things are going to get very busy - which is probably good, but I'm starting to feel a little bit lazy, so it also sounds a little overwhelming. I feel like I already have all the weekends for the next month or so booked, so I'm hoping to find relaxing time somewhere in the middle.

And lastly, I want to wish my grandpa a quick, healthy recovery after back surgery this past week. I am sending lots of love and happy thoughts his way!

there's a world we can visit if we go outside

This past week was a really, really good week. I ended up inadvertently getting a 4-day weekend, which allowed me lots of time to relax but also be very productive at home.

For Christmas Zach got a gift certificate from my parents for a very fancy restaurant downtown [Capitol Chophouse] that he loves. We wanted to use it to celebrate our 1-year anniversary which is February 10th, but found out a week beforehand that the gift certificate was ineligible between Feb. 10th and the 15th for Valentine's day. (Instead for our anniversary we made steak, potatoes, asparagus, and chocolate covered strawberries, and just had a night at home which turned out to be just as good as a fancy dinner out!) SO, I took Wednesday off (that's Zach's normal day off) and we finally had a fancy dinner date. Zach had what he describes as one of the best whiskey sours ever, a maple glazed 2-inch thick pork chop that was delicious and grilled asparagus. I had a New York strip steak and we shared a giant twice baked potato with like 4 different kinds of cheeses. We also had crab cakes for an appetizer, which yes, I actually ate and even more, I actually enjoyed. All in all it was a delicious meal, we had an awesome server, and we had a really good time.

Thursday we had to start the day early for some apartment hunting. Zach, Ben, and I went to look at a condo that our friends are renting out. Because the weather was soooo nice, Ben offered to drive in his convertible, which was very fun. Afterwards I had a doctors appointment, and some other stuff to do, and I really should have gone to work, but....I called in. =] It was definitely worth it. After my appointment, Zach and I went to the zoo. You could tell that the animals were enjoying the weather as much as we were. And we got there right around feeding time, so all of them were also very excited and active as they waited for their food. Afterwards, we decided to take advantage of the nice weather and went to the park next to the zoo and laid out a blanket and read for awhile. The rest of the night we spent relaxing!

Friday I babysat for Steph's little boy, Jake, who is absolutely adorable. I don't know how she spends every single day with him, and doesn't talk about him constantly, because I was only with him for 8 hours and all I wanted to do after was talk about all the ridiculous stuff he said and did. It was definitely enjoyable, and very entertaining, because that kid talks. And talks. And talks. 


Saturday we had to get up early to go out to Zach's family's land. They have a pretty good chunk of land, a large portion of which is a federal reserve wetland, which requires an annual (or semi-annual?) burn. So we went out to help keep all the flames and everything in order. It was very hot, but super fun. And there was beer! Zach and I both got a little sunburnt (mine is still a little red) because neither one of us thought about sunscreen. [I know my grandmothers will be upset reading about that.] By the time we got back though, we were exhausted. We got a bunch of food, and planned on settling in for the night, but we had some friends in town who ended up coming over so we made a party out of it. I made some pretty awesome beer bread (which Zach didn't get any of...oops!) and played games and had a pretty good time just catching up. Plus my mom and dad stopped in for a quick visit, so we had a full house!

It was definitely hard to go back to work yesterday...the more time off you have, the harder it is to go back. Plus, it was a such a productive 4-days and I know that during the work week I just don't get nearly as much done. But this week will be a super busy week at work, so I'm glad I got to get a good dose of relaxation in last week.

Alright, I've got to get going to work! Hope everyone else is enjoying the awesome weather!

can't tell me nothing

Whoa. It's been awhile. And a lot has happened in that time.

So, I moved! That's right, despite my intense hatred for moving, I've done it twice in six months now. I loved my apartment, but I hated the management company and hated writing out giant rent checks every month even more. The office explained to me that I could get out of the apartment if they found someone that was willing to move in. I turned in paperwork in mid-January stating that I could be out by the end of February, but by the middle of February I still hadn't heard anything. Every time I brought it up to the property manager she said that they were "working on it" and would "probably have someone for March 1st." Expecting the worse (aka little to no notice) I prepared by getting most of my stuff packed up and moved. Finally on March 2nd, they approved the application for the new people to move in...on March 5th. I was sooooo glad that I had anticipated that, because there is no way I could have done every in just 3 days.

The best part is that I have officially been living with Zach for a week now! It is awesome to not have to split time between two places and plan where we were going to stay, and what we needed to pack with us and all that. And I am saving a ridiculous amount of money. Had I stayed at my apartment, I would soon be taking money out of savings just to pay my rent and bills, but now I'll actually be able to save!

That's pretty much all that has been going on. Work has been crazy and super stressful, and with all the moving and everything, I've been pretty busy. This last weekend was the first weekend where I didn't really have to do anything, and it was awesome. I did get some projects done: I sewed some curtains and I did a small tryptic painting for Marley for her birthday. [sorry, forgot to take pictures] Saturday I did a whole lot of nothing for most of the day, but did get to see Marley later for some birthday drinks. That was super nice since we tend to not see each other much once school is in session.

Now that the move is out of the way, I've been trying to get all sorts of other things in order. I did go to a financial seminar this morning through the Alumni association that talked about student loans, investing, and benefits and other fun adult stuff. It was informative, but a little scary at how much I've still got to figure out.

I've finally got some free time. Since I've been going a thousand miles an hour for the last month or so, I'm finding it a little hard to relax, but I've been reading a lot which was much missed.


Alright, off to snuggle up and read!

hiatus

Hey guys. It's been a little while.

This is just an update to apologize for the [unexpected and unintended] break, and to say you'll have to wait just a littttttttle bit longer for all the juicy details of my fabulous life.

Hope all is well, and you'll be hearing from me soon!

what you need (i got it)

Well, this past week was fairly uneventful. Work has basically been consuming me, so I kind of shut down when I'm not there.

I have been working on reading [the Game of Thrones series, which I forgot to mention by name last time. It is phenomenal, and I highly recommend it. It's a crossover hit.] But I've also been doing some knitting. Zach misplaced his mittens, so I've been working a new pair for him (double layered, with a super warm fuzzy inside). Once I finish those, I'll post a picture.

Friday was my day off and I was actually super productive. Despite the snow, I was able to run a few errands (which including grocery shopping during normal people hours....seriously, it's like a whole different world). Then I super cleaned my apartment - it was a mess to begin with, but I also did a lot heavy duty cleaning. While I was doing that, I got a pot roast going in the crockpot and made a big dinner for Zach, our friend Ben, and I. They both worked until 11 and so I had pot roast, carrots and onions, garlic mashed potatoes, and buttermilk biscuits ready when they got done.

Saturday we celebrated Zach's cousins' birthdays by going out to dinner with his family, where Zach spilled an almost full "Freckled" lemonade on his lap. The spill included the sloppy strawberries in the lemonade, which then leaked into his shoes. I felt bad because it was a sticky mess, and it was also very cold out that night so he was probably freezing once we left the restaurant. Afterwards, his brother Sam came over and we all hung out for awhile.

I should have seen the spilled lemonade as a bit of an omen. Yesterday I went back to work and had a pretty rough day (in addition to it being the first day back from my weekend). Every new task I started went badly from the first step. My zone mate left after being there for only an hour, leaving me all alone to run everything for the 3rd Sunday in a row. Things just kind of piled up one after the other. But finally, my shift ended and I was looking forward to grabbing my leftovers (the aforementioned pot roast etc), and when I got to the breakroom, I discovered that...duh duh duhhhhh....my lunch had been STOLEN. Two nice tupperware containers and 2 of the limited 5 or 6 forks I own, a full serving of pot roast, a giant container of potatoes, 3 biscuits, a yogurt, and 2 string cheese. Gone.

SERIOUSLY, who steals someone else's lunch?!?!?! [As you can tell I'm still upset.] That was definitely not a great start to my week, but I'm going to try to stay positive for the rest of the week, and I'm already feeling better.

PS. Don't take my stuff. =]

and my head keeps spinning...

This'll be a short one, as I desperately need sleep.

Work has been excessively stressful lately. My days keep getting busier, and while I don't mind doing extra work, it seems unfair to have to pick up for coworkers slacking on a regular basis. Add in a lot of stress outside of work (nothing really out of the ordinary, just everyday "adult" things), and its a perfect storm of anxiety. I'm trying my best to keep work stuff at work and separate from my personal life, but that can prove hard, and my success rate goes up and down. For example, last night I did not sleep well because my brain thought it was a good idea to mash up every single stress in my life into one giant, continuous nightmare the entire night. However, this past weekend was one of my finest displays of relaxation and laziness ever. =]

Friday I slept. A lot. I took probably 2 naps [Zach might dispute that]. But it was nice to be kind of lazy, and not get dressed right away. Zach ended up with the day off (he usually works Fridays) and so we went out to dinner. It was extra nice, because we actually got to spend a full two days off together, because normally we only share one day off. We ate entirely too much food [hence my second nap], but it was really good. Saturday we made a giant breakfast: pancakes, hashbrowns, bacon, and I even ate Spam for the first time. We then proceeded to get lost in approximately an entire day's worth of movie and TV watching. That allowed me plenty of time to laze around and knit a hat for myself! I had some extra yarn left over from Christmas projects, and I haven't knitted anything for myself in a long time. I really liked the pattern I made up for Zach's dad's hat, so I did the same thing in very thick and cozy dark purple yarn and.....

Tada!

So far it has proved perfect for at home, which sounds silly but I keep my apartment at near frigid temperatures and the consistency of heat at Zach's apartment is all over the place (freezing one minute, super hot the next). Plus its super snuggly, so I have thoroughly enjoyed it. =]

Alright, off to bed. Unfortunately, I have to get up early tomorrow so I've got to get myself to bed and hope I can get more than 4 hours of sleep tonight. 

i reflect on my reflection

I didn't quite make the Blog Monday deadline, but I have a good excuse... I just had the chance to have a Skype date with my friend JoAnna who lives in China, and I have to take that chance whenever I can.

Currently I am sitting in my apartment, freezing. I am trying to save some money by keeping my electric bill low, and I forgot to turn the heat up when I got home from work so I've been sitting in a breezy 62 for nearly 2 hours. Oops!

Not much new is going on. This week has been a pretty stressful week between work and stuff going on outside of work, but I survived through the weekend. It was the first weekend where I didn't have something going on out of town, so I actually got to sleep in a little bit on Saturday. I have also been able to reconnect with Marley which was long overdue. Even though we live less than 10 minutes apart, my work schedule and her school schedule forced us to take a lengthy (4? 5 months?) break. I finally saw her apartment for the first time two weeks ago, and she finally saw mine last weekend (even though we both moved in August), so its been nice to reconnect even though it only means a few hours together.

I'm trying to get my personal time back in order again too. The holiday season kind of throws all routine out the window. I was scrambling to get presents made and had 4 separate holiday gatherings in December, so things like relaxing and working out ceased. I've been trying to get back to the gym a little more (I don't have many excuses to not go, since it's across the street, but I still find a way to skip...) I've also been able to finally do some reading which is really nice. I'm in the middle of the fourth book of an amazing series right now, and it continues to get better and better and I never want to put the books down. It doesn't help that Zach and one of our best friends, Ben, are reading the same series and are a book ahead of me. It's such an epic series that they can't help talking about it. Anytime the three of us get together, I have to plug my ears or leave the room for 5 to 10 minutes just so they can discuss.

With that being said, I'm going to go curl up in my super warm, cozy bed (with flannel sheets and 2 down comforters!) and try to get some reading done.

so, this is the new year.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!


2011 was a bit of a whirlwind for me. It was seemingly one of the best and worst years, and depending on how I look at it, it seemed to take forever or fly by in a flash.

I think I grew a lot this year. In both my personal and professional lives, I've developed a [little] more patience, a thicker skin, my own opinions, my relationships. Overall, I feel like I am mentally in the best place I've ever been. This was the first year where I really felt like an adult (scary at times, but good overall). I also feel like I've learned a lot this year - on a personal and a global level - which is fantastic, because I'd kind of lost focus on how much I love to learn.

Thank you to my amazing and wonderful family and friends for your continued support and guidance. I can only hope that I continue to grow and learn in the next year.

Love you all,

amanda