Hello World!

I haven't been to active on the internet lately what with 90 million things going on lately, most notably WEDDING SEASON! Not only do I have the pleasure of working with numerous brides through Classic Affairs, but my own cousin and good friend are also taking the plunge. My cousin Christina was married last weekend at the Red Fish Grill and the wedding was beautiful. The weather could not have been more perfect for a beach wedding. Having suffered a monsoon on my own wedding day, I was very nervous for her until I woke up in the morning and looked outside. The day before her wedding, my friend since Elementary School (!!!) and who lived 2 blocks away from me for most of my life, also had her bridal shower. It was great to see Shirley again, since it seems like lately it takes a wedding for me to see any of my old friends. After the bridal shower, I headed over to Christina and Alex's rehearsal and dinner, which was definitely a great time. I think the older I am, the more excited I get for family events. Maybe it's because the fearsome foursome of cousins that were never apart growing up now are living in Gainesville, the Carribbean island of St. Vincent (another !!!), Homestead, and Hollywood. Anyhow, when we get together it is always exciting. I felt pretty terrible that I couldn't stay the night with all the girls before the wedding at the gorgeous Mayfair hotel, but my nasty cold got the better of me and I decided to be nice and not infect everyone else. Also, I decided to sleep early so I could attempt to be a lively bridesmaid in the morning.

Although I eventually stopped posting the Love Dares every day, I did follow them religiously and I think it made a big difference in my relationship with my husband, although the benefits would have been amplified if he had been following it as well and reciprocating (just sayin'.) I cannot believe our first wedding anniversary is drawing near and that we won't really be newlyweds anymore. We are achieving some big things right now though and it feels great to move on to other stages of our lives together. Continue reading on for the newest happenings...

There are some goals that have been met on the 101 list I am happy to report, specifically the PAYING OFF OF ALL CREDIT CARDS! This was very exciting for me, since it has been awhile since I have been carrying a zero balance. It wasn't years or anything, but being someone who has always tried my hardest to pay everything off at the end of the month, somehow the tail end of 2009 caught me by surprise and it took a few months to catch up. There were several certifiable reasons for this, so I don't feel too bad. It takes a lot to start up your own business and between my husband and I, we have 3 of them, so there is a big ripple effect. Combined with our North Carolina trip, Christmas, and switching jobs, I am happy it only took until the end of February to fix. My new spending philosophy is to take money out of the ATM, and only use cash. I actually went to Super Target today and bought groceries, spent over a hundred bucks, and paid for my purchase with my green. That is something I have probably never done, but it certainly made me think twice about picking up impulse purchases, although I couldn't resist picking up this adorable dress. It was on clearance, so whatever.

My in-laws also treated us to a wonderful evening at the Rusty Pelican to celebrate my sister in law's engagement, complete with a limousine and tickets to see Alfred Hitchcock's 39 Steps at Parker Playhouse. Seeing a live production was another goal on my list which I didn't even remember was on there until I updated the list, but it still counts! It was great to see Mary and her fiance and of course, the Rusty Pelican does not disappoint. For a few minutes during dinner, it rained so hard that the view of the city disappeared and water started leaking in the window and onto our table. I do not mean a few drops of water either, it was literally raining on our table. Very odd and amusing to us.

In other news, I decided to share what my cryptic announcement on facebook was, since so many people have thought I was pregnant because of it. This is not the case. But we are in the process of becoming homeowners, which is just as exciting for us. Good news was the bank accepted an offer on a home we fell in love with, and we were supposed to close quickly on March 3. The bad news is, that date has come and gone with no closing in sight. We just found out the bank owes 6 figures in fines (a third !!!) to the city of Tamarac, so they need to go to court and pay the fines, bring the house up to code, and then allow us to purchase it. The new proposed closing date is May 5, so we have the option of continuing to look at other houses or stay put with this house and wait it out. We will probably stick to this house because we love it so much, but we will keep our options open just in case an even better opportunity comes along. It's a waiting game that I hate playing, since we are halfway packed and already picking out kitchen appliances, color schemes, and furniture.

I haven't had too much time to play around in the kitchen lately and come up with new recipes and ideas to share, especially since we have been eating mostly grilled chicken, BBQ chicken, roasted chicken, turkey meat loafs, chicken meat loafs, turkey burgers, pasta, and all variations of without cooking any meat or pork. I did break down and had a beef entree at an event lately, but I will not start my "no red meat" pact all over again since it was a special event and I didn't really have another option. I savored it, enjoyed myself, and moved on, and since I made my own rules for my goal list, who really cares? I have also been logging about 50 hours a week at work the past few weeks with weddings on the weekends, so way too busy to experiment in the kitchen like I want to. On the plus side, at my new job I am kicking ass and taking names, and I am number 1 in my department so I really can't complain about all the hours. It was worth it to me to put in the extra time and prove my worth to my new coworkers and supervisors, all of whom I respect and appreciate. I love doing something I can take pride in and with 300 students to account for at all times, there is never a dull moment.

I am very glad so many things are going on right now and keeping me busy. Everything has been keeping my mind off the passing of someone I had grown pretty close to, and I still think of her everyday. She would have been one of my May brides and I should be putting the finishing touches on her wedding projects, but none of that is happening anymore. I hope her family and her husband are doing better, and that she is enjoying her view from above.