Spring Tresses

I got my hair cut for spring (and maybe because this weekend is the baby shower). I really like how it looks. Of course, I can't style it like Brittany can (she's my stylist), but I think I made it look alright. Everyone at work said it looks good, so I'll trust they are telling me the truth.

In celebration of my new do- here are some other unbelievable hairstyles (I personally love the rhino one... I wonder if Brittany could do that...)

Teaser

Only one week left until my little sister's baby shower. I cannot believe the time is finally upon us.

You know know what this means, right? The big house reveal is right around the corner and boy, do we have a lot to reveal. Hubs and I have been working hard to get the house in shape for our guests. I think we will succeed in completing every single thing on our to do list, but one. Sadly, we will be sleeping in a polka dot room for a bit longer.

I really wanted to finish the master bedroom, but the process of transforming it is taking a lot longer than we intended. Unfortunately, when the previous owners decided to try their hands at faux painting (very bad decision), they put the red polka dots on way too thick. If Hubs and I decided to paint the walls as they are now- we would have uniform color, but a really bumpy, awful texture. In order to get nice, smooth walls- Hubs is going to have to skim coat all of the walls from floor to ceiling. It is going to be a tedious process to say the least.

The seriously unfortunate part of all this- is that my best friend and her husband are going to be sleeping in our master during the shower. I feel bad that they are going to have to fall asleep to the chaos that is our bedroom. Oh well, it cannot be helped. If we had focused on finishing the master, we wouldn't have gotten anything else done.

As it is, I currently have an enchanting, storybook wonderland of a house. Seriously, each room of the lower level has been translated into a popular children's book for the shower. The entrance is fairytales, the living room is Where the Wild Things Are, the dining room is Cat in the Hat/Dr. Seuss, the kitchen is The Very Hungry Catapillar, and the back porch is Good Night Moon. I look forward to sharing these pics as well.

I promise- pictures and further explanation is coming very soon!

I’m celebrating the big 3-0!

No, I’m not that old, but I am that much skinnier! That’s right folks, since January 7^th I have lost a whopping 30 pounds. I chalk it all up to a much more keen awareness of what I am consuming. Also, I owe a huge kiss to my hubby because I could not walk this road without him- he keeps me on track and pumped up about eating healthy.

The fun thing about losing this weight is that I can see the difference when I look in the mirror. My face seems leaner and so does my waist. In fact, I can tell I’ve lost weight because my clothes are getting way too big. Hubs and I have been hunting around local thrift stores and outlets for cheap-o-- just to get by until we lose more weight-- clothes. Thankfully, we’ve found some great deals.

I have a lot more energy too. If you could see my house right now, you would be bowled over by how much prep I’ve done for my little sister’s baby shower. I am so excited to share pictures of each room, but I am going to hold off until after the shower actually happens. It’s in just two weeks, so you don’t have to be in suspense too much longer.

Until then, enjoy these pics. Some were taken last year and the rest were taken very recently (they are the fun black and whites):

Wedding Bells

I love technology. Even though I am sitting in my cozy living room in Illinois, I can still watch one of my good friends getting married in Hawaii. Of course, it would be 100 times more amazing to be there in person (I mean seriously, it is Hawaii). Still, I would have been devastated to miss it altogether.

Hubs and I almost did miss it though- because we forgot to move our clocks forward an hour. We finally realized we were off at 6pm our time (well, actually it was 7, but we thought it was 6pm- thank goodness I didn't miss the Amazing Race. That would have been devastating).

Then, we couldn't remember when the wedding was going to start because I threw out the invitation after we decided we couldn't go- out of a sense of sadness. It was a tense couple of minutes, but we bellowed a collective sigh of relief when we realized the wedding wasn't going to start until 9:30 our time. Hooray!

I've got to go now because the ceremony is going to start any moment. Congratulations Kellen and Jeanmarie! We'll be over to visit you as soon as we can!

Fish on Friday

What are you giving up for Lent? Working in a Christian environment, I have been hearing this question a lot lately. The thing is, I didn’t grow up in a church that observed Lent and quite honestly, I didn’t even know what it was until I went to college and heard about it from a friend. For those of you who are in the same boat that I was- here is a quick overview:

Lent is a forty-day period before Easter. It always begins on Ash Wednesday. Sundays are actually skipped in the counting of the forty days because Sundays commemorate the Resurrection. This year, Lent began on March 9, 2011 and will end on April 23 2011, which is the day before Easter.

But what is Lent exactly? Lent is a season of soul-searching and repentance. It is a season for reflection and taking stock. It is a unique opportunity for believers to reflect on Christ-His suffering and His sacrifice, His life, death, burial and resurrection.

Lent originated way back in the earliest days of the Church as a preparatory time for Easter, when the faithful rededicated themselves and when converts were instructed in the faith and prepared for baptism. By observing the forty days of Lent, Christians are imitating Jesus’ withdrawal into the wilderness for forty days.

Netflixing

I've been watching a lot of Netflix recently in an effort to ignore my homework. One tv show in particular has caught my attention- Swords: Life on the Line. Have you heard of it?

Swords: Life on the Line was produced by the Discovery Channel and as far as I can tell- has only completed one season. The show is almost exactly the same as Deadliest Catch, except Swords follows commercial sword-fishermen and not crab-ers(?).

I've already finished the entire first season because I always had to know what would happen next. The thing that really drew me in is the fact that swordfish are crazy big- some of the fish were weighing in at 400-500+ pounds. I've never seen fish so huge! There are also a lot of sharks on the show, which I love (I am the biggest Shark Week fan).

The show itself, follows 4 ships (maybe 5- I am blanking now) as they fish the Grand Banks. The Grand Banks are some very dangerous waters off of Newfoundland (where the Titanic sank all those years ago), but they are perfect for swordfishing in the fall.

Have you ever seen the movie- The Perfect Storm? It is based on the true story of The Andrea Gail, a swordfishing ship that sank during a legendary storm in 1991. One of the boat captains featured on Swords was actually the last person known to have contact with The Andrea Gail before she (the boat) disappeared. Swords puts a lot of emphasis on the fact that swordfishing is incredibly dangerous.

I highly recommend this series. What can I say- this show has me hooked (insert big groan and eye roll).

Indulge

I'm holding steady with my new healthy lifestyle, but that doesn't mean it has been easy. We had a "going on sabbatical" party yesterday for my department's VP (which I had never heard of before either) and there was carrot cake. This carrot cake looked and smelled AMAZING! I sat there and watched my co-workers chowing down on the good stuff. Although I am proud of myself for holding strong- it sucked big time in that moment.

This brings me to today's post~ an ode to all things yummy and delicious. This is my fat free way to indulge... enjoy.