The Time Has Come!

Here it is:

My last picture in glasses if everything goes right tomorrow. That's right, TOMORROW is the day I finally get Lasik! I can't tell you how excited I am to finally have perfect vision. It sucks I had to stop wearing my makeup this past week (which is why the photo is so blah), but I'm willing to trade one week without makeup for 30 years without glasses. I hear the recovery for the procedure I'm doing (actually called PRK, not Lasik) is a little longer and a bit more rough than Lasik, which means no computer or TV for at least 5 days. Good luck to me huh? I'll be happy to cross this off my list so long as I get the promised end result ;)

So until I am all healed up and can post my "after" pictures.

(P.S. this pic is one of my Instagram photos...I totally got sucked into that too!)

Our Own Bucket List

So not-so-newsflash for you guys (and sorry to those that this may shock a little): Larry and I are getting married. OH! I know-super surprise. That's not the shocking part though; the shocking part is that EVERYONE around us (and by us I, of course, mean mostly me) is having babies. So now that we're getting married (kind of) soon it's definitely been a topic in our home and I won't lie, I bring it up more than Larry probably wants to hear about it (haha!). We do consider our kitties to be like our babies so we're definitely content for a little bit, but one thing we do agree on is that we want to make sure we're as ready as can be. We don't want to rush into anything and then wish we had done something before having kids or that we didn't enjoy being young and carefree (because I'm just now learning that everytime my mom told me to enjoy being in school and without any responsibilities...she was right!). So we have created our own Pre-Pregnancy Bucket List! It's not things we HAVE to accomplish before having a baby, but we want to get as many as humanly possible crossed off at the very least. I'm leaving some out because they are more for us to know than the whole world, but this is what we have on it so far (and I've been adding a little every now and then so it'll probably still grow):

1. Larry get his Bachelor's degree
2. Get as much debt paid off as possible (*ahem* school loans!)
3. Save [special amount here] in our accounts (sorry, not sharing the magic number)
4. Go to a Halloween Party
5. Go to New York
6. Get Larry off his dad's house
7. Have our condo fixed up a little bit
8. Have a day to sleep at any point and for as long as we want (12/03/12)
9. Jodi get Lasik (11/30/12)
10. Finish the Sword of Truth books
11. Get married
12. Jodi run an 8 min. mile
13. Go to Cedar Point together
14. Ride the Kingda Ka (in Jersey-if it's still there!)
15. Larry do the No Shave November challenge with his brother (Nov 2012-no pics so no blog post, but it was done)
16. Jodi get her Associates
17. Go to a concert together
18. Go camping-just us
19. Try scuba diving/snorkeling
20. Go to Bear World in Yellowstone
21. Go zip lining (anywhere)
22. Hike and camp at King's Peak (highest point in Utah)
23. Run a 5K together
24. Get our Passports (01/20/12)
25. Take our first vacation-just us (Aug 2011)
26. Travel internationally (Feb 2012)
27. Take a European Cruise
28. Get into shape together
29. Get a gun (one for each of us)
30. Ride in a hot air balloon
31. Take flight lessons/fly a plane
32. Watch the clocks change time during Daylight Savings (for Spring and Fall)
33. Hike Red Rock Canyon (near Vegas)
34. Go on our honeymoon
35. Go paintballing
36. Go sky diving (if we're going to do this it'll be BEFORE having kids)
37. Float in the Salt Lake
38. Visit Atlantis Resort in the Bahamas
39. Visit Hershey Pennsylvania
40. Jodi finish her "HOME" block

I know, I know it seems SUPER ambitious, but some of them we've already done and some we can do more than one in a single day (like camping AND going to King's Peak or Zip Lining in Vegas AND go to Red Rock Canyon). You can see when we crossed it off and it has a link to the blog post for that one as we go through I'll get more crossed off :) . So any parents out there want to give us some advice on what to ADD to our list (NOT take away since I mentioned we don't have to do ALL of these before, just as many as possible) we'd really like to know what you miss afterwards and wished you had taken advantage of or done before.

November Happenings...

So...I completely gave up on the gratitude journal. It just wasn't as much fun as I thought it would be-I honestly felt I was a broken record and just repeating everything I've mentioned already (guess I already know what it means to be grateful...huh huh?). Plus a few of them were very similar and some I just couldn't find anything on. To those that do it all the way: Kudos to you! I just couldn't without feeling dumb. But a lot of stuff did happen while I was "busy" with that. I was planning on doing a catch up once I was done, but it was taking too long and I'm really excited about everything that's passed (I'll try and make this as quick/short as possible):

• First Up: I got an early birthday present from Larry:

My very own Ruger 9mm

It is the best gift I've gotten in a long time. I don't care if people out there don't like guns-I do and I'm REALLY excited to have my own to practice on and protect my family with! Once Larry gets his we have plans to go to a shooting range really close to our house and start really practicing with them! Until then I'm glad to know it's safe and close by and I could use it if needed!

• Second, my brother, Shawn, just got engaged to his girlfriend. We got to meet her yesterday for Thanksgiving and she's really nice and I'm really happy for them...Even if they did manage to squeeze in their wedding two weeks before mine (yeah, that's right TWO WEEKS!). I am actually excited for them. We got to talk wedding plans and I got to give them the advice I've learned so far with ours. I think as long as she doesn't run from our family then they'll surely make it :)

• We did celebrate Thanksgiving in a new way this year. First we went to mom's in her new, lovely house where we stuffed ourselves with food and dessert and good family time (I'd like to mention Larry and I were FINALLY at the table with everyone else!). And then we went to Skyler and Jena's (instead of Clearfield) to hang out with them and play some good ol' Scattegories (a favorite game of ours!). It was a way fun day and it felt like everything went perfectly! Bonus: It should be my last holiday with glasses. One week from today and I should be completely glasses free! EESH!

• Today was my first Black Friday off. Since I stayed home I got a TON of online shopping done (hint: I only have about 2 more people and the kitties to shop for, not including neighbors or work gifts!). However, since Larry had to work it also meant I had to put up our Christmas all by myself. It was kind of nice because I could surprise him with it once he got home, but finding all new spots for things did present to be a challenge. I think I did well enough though (By the way we had a ton more than what's in this "collage" but I couldn't fit too many in it):

I'm distracted in that first one because I was watching The Holiday
AKA Best holiday movie ever!

• As far as wedding update goes: We have booked a videographer, got dates set for bridals, and...that about sums it up. There's really nothing more we'll be doing until next year (aside from creating the registry account at AFCU) so I probably won't have too much updates on that. But we did reach the 7 month mark so we've only got like 6 3/4 months left :) which seems crazy because as of January 15th it'll only be like 5 more months to get EVERYTHING done.

I think that's about all the updating I have for the blog. It seemed like a lot more when I started this haha. I guess when the time is going by so fast (mixed with the holidays) it seems like a lot more is going on. Anyways, I hope everyone is having a good holiday weekend so far :) I know I'm already excited to listen to Christmas music (even though I started that WAY early this year) and watch the movies! 33 Days left!

*~* Work *~*

Work

So most people don't like their jobs, I used to be one of them, but I absolutely love my job. I loved working at the credit union, we got to know the members really well, I loved who I worked with, I loved the environment. When I moved over to my new company I was worried I wouldn't like it as much-but I do! I do miss the member interaction I had some days, I really felt I was friends with those people, but I still get to talk to old co workers who I am, obviously, way closer to. The good news is I work with GREAT people now too; people who crack me up and I look forward to getting their opinions on things going on in my life. We all sit around, doing our jobs, making fun of each other or laugh at whatever we're doing.
And the company, oh it is the best company I've ever worked for! They are always showing appreciation to ALL the employees. They've taken us to see Avengers, they are taking us to a Christmas party next month, they are always bringing in treats for everyone. It's a great company and I don't ever dread going into work. I'm especially thankful that I only have a 3 day week this week, we basically get the bankers holidays off, which is so nice that I didn't have to make that adjustment! But in addition we also get Christmas Eve and Christmas off (a rare thing for me) and I get New Years Day off, so I can stay up as long as I want New Years Eve to celebrate!
I love this company and I'm always trying to get my old co workers to apply because the only thing that could make it better is if I could get my old UFCU friends to come over to have fun with us!

*~* Spouse *~*

Spouse

Okay so Larry's not technically my husband yet, but he will be and he's the closest I have been or will ever get to a spouse, whatever you want to call him he's a great one! He may not be able to read my mind all the time, but he always seems to make me feel good when I need it most. I'm really grateful to have him in my life because he is such a smarty pants. He is a constant reminder of why I should do good in my life. He helps me out so much but also lets me do things on my own and learn on my own. He pushes me to stay healthy, but to also have a lot of fun! If I'm ever stressed I just need to tell him what's going on in my head and he listens in such a way that it makes me feel so much better once I just blow it all out and can make some sense into it.
I don't know what I can say that I haven't said before about how great he is. He's strong and strong-willed; smart, but not arrogant; Sexy and sweet; He's attentive but also gives me my free time; He gets along with my family and they seem to love him in return. In short he's MINE and I wouldn't ask for anyone else :)

*~* Home *~*

Home

So right now there's a lot going on, I wasn't sure what on the list I was really grateful for right now, so I picked Home (Other things I just couldn't post on so I skipped a few). My home, though, is great! I love everything about it!
I love that I can control my heat and air conditioning. I love that I can pay my bills and I now know what bills are included in all that (yes I always did wonder). I love that I can decorate it any way I want (whenever I do decide to decorate-which will probably be after the wedding). I love that I can allow people in or just ignore them at the door (which I usually only do if I don't know them). Maybe it's all a control factor-I'm a control freak so finally being in my own house I have even more control than when I was living with someone. One thing that isn't a control thing is that I absolutely love that there are NO bug in my house! When we lived in the basement there were bugs EVERYWHERE and I hated it so much! I can stay up as late as I want or sleep in as long as the cats will let me in my home. When bills get tight (like they are with the holidays) and I get stressed I always comfort myself by thinking "it's tight because I'm providing a roof over our heads, food in our stomachs, and a really comfy bed to sleep on!"
It may be small, but it's actually big enough for us right now and I love the location! Our cats have room to run around, Larry and I have our own areas so we don't annoy each other too much, and we have just everything with it! I honestly believe our place is a perfect first place for us and I wouldn't trade it in for anything!

*~* Quiet Moments *~*

Quiet Moments
So for me, I'm actually one of those that usually has to be doing two things at once (I type this as I'm watching shows I DVR'd this week at the same time and trying to get ready for bed!). Needless to say, quiet moments hardly happen in my life, but that doesn't mean I don't like them or are grateful for them!

• I enjoy quiet moments to help me make lists, plan my weekend, or even to read a book. All these things I have fun doing and mean a lot to me.
• Quiet moments are especially awesome when it's raining outside and I leave a window open to hear the rain drops hitting the pavement and gives me a chance to enjoy the smell even more!
• The best part of quiet moments are when I can look around and see how amazing my life is. If I catch Larry taking a nap, catch the kitties just loving on each other, or get a chance to close my eyes and realize that if I didn't have these things in my life it wouldn't be NEARLY as great as it is! It helps me appreciate those things.

While I don't get a ton of quiet moments in my life, I definitely take advantage of them when I do have them. Only time I can't have them is at night, that's the one time I need noise around me to help me sleep!

*~* Family Time *~*

Family Time

So since I just did a post on how great my family is you can imagine the time I spend with them is great too. That's just a given, so this post won't be about spending family time with that part of my family, but rather my most immediate family:

Yes I know, all my pictures are looking the same
But I only have Paint to work with

The ones I live with, see each day, play with every morning and night, and most of all-get the cuddle with while watching movies! I love when I'm sad that every living thing in those pictures knows to come give me some sort of "loves". I love that they all know how to make me smile and laugh. And I love that when Larry and I are playing a game together they have to come and destroy everything on the board ( Oscar usually runs off with our pieces in his mouth while BG just swats at things and moves them around-sometimes to my advantage ;-P ).
I love that I can catch them all doing funny things when they don't think anyone is looking (Larry concentrating on his game or singing his songs in his room, Oscar not realizing his tongue is sticking out and giving us a serious face, or BG just staring at herself in the mirror-or really any reflective surface that will show her just how pretty she is). I love this family and couldn't ask for a better one here either! I wish I could catch more moments in our home to put on here so everyone could see for themselves.

*~* Black Friday *~*

Black Friday

So with Black Friday I never really got to do the fun shopping that's promised that day. In fact, it wasn't until I worked at Alert (back in 2007-2009) that I heard what that day really was, I just always thought it was the day after Thanksgiving. When I heard what amazing deals they had that day I had decided the next year I would definitely have to take the day off and take advantage of it. The next year I ended up HAVING to work because we were too busy for any of us to have it off (and I'm not one of those people that can stay up and go shopping till 3, sleep till 7 and then work at 8-I need a full night's sleep). I then decided okay next year I'm going to find a way, then I lost my job and had a new one at the credit union the week of Thanksgiving so I couldn't take a day off in my first week. So I, once again, made the choice that that was no more, I needed to see what Black Friday is all about and was determined that next year I'd put it on the calendar early on so that I could definitely have it off. Of course, the next Saturday after thinking that I found out that people were being trampled nearly to death during shopping, people were getting into big, serious fights and everyone just went completely nuts over the whole day. YIKES and No Thank You! Needless to say I've yet to actually go shopping, and this is the first year my work is actually giving me the day off, but I think I'll just stick to online deals because I really don't want to be trampled or bruised or hurt from shopping of all things! So reasons to be grateful for Black Friday:

• It has taught me the value of my life :)
• It gives me great deals online as well as in stores
• And it helps my commute to anywhere because everyone just wants to go shopping at stores like Wal Mart or Smith's Marketplace so I know what places to avoid when going around that day!

I doubt I'll ever be in the mood to go shopping on Black Friday, but maybe when we have kids it'll be a different store (I sure hope not though!).

*~* Family *~*

My Family

 

 

 

My family is great! Some of them are like second best friends, others I get the best advice from! ALL have been very influential in my life. I don't think I've made it a secret how important my family is to me and how much I love them and how much they've shaped the person I am today so I don't think I need to beat that horse anymore. Just know they mean the world to me and I couldn't have done what I've done so far without them!

*~* Love *~*

Love

Love is the greatest thing in my life! There are so many reasons to be grateful for it. Larry is the reason I laugh every day, he's the reason I keep my sanity some days, he helps me when I'm sad or frustrated. He's the best person for me, if I get upset about something he knows just how to make me feel better and laugh. He definitely keeps my head on straigh for the most part, he makes sure I don't make ridiculous choices and I know I always have someone to sound my ideas off of without being laughed at. I can't wait to be married to him, I can't wait for our wedding to come :)

*~* Celebration *~*

Celebration
So my absolute favorite celebration, for which I'm most grateful for, has got to be, hands down, Christmas! I am so excited and grateful for Christmas because...

• It's a time when my whole family gets together, and like I mentioned previously, I love being around my family. It's one of the only times each year that I get to see my whole family-which is reason enough to love it.
• I love that I am more into giving than receiving. I won't say I give the best gifts every time, but I can usually tell when I got someone a gift they'll really love and get some use out of and it makes me feel great when I do.
• I love the traditions that come during this time of year: the driving around to see the lights on the houses, doing my family's Christmas in the morning and then Larry's family's Christmas later in the day, listening to music as we open gifts, and wrapping everyone's gifts while watching holiday movies...They are all great!
• Holiday movies! They are something to be grateful about by themselves. I mean there's The Holiday, Christmas Vacation, Elf, Home Alone, Santa Claus, A Christmas Carol (Muppet version, of course!)-the list could go on and on! (BTW: you can't skip ANY of the classics, but if there's one you're guaranteed to watch this year make it The Holiday. It's the best one I've ever seen!)

The Holidays are definitely my favorite time of year. I eat a lot, drive around everywhere, see everyone I love, and it seems like most cares go right out the window when you're around all these things that make you feel loved and happy.

*~* Simple Things *~*

Simple Things

There are a ton of simple things I could think of being grateful for! Some of the ones I can come up with now are:

• The smell of the heater turning on the first time for winter.
• The smell of freshly cut grass as soon as it's warm enough for it.
• Seeing my kitties cuddling together on the bed.
• Hearing Larry laugh at one of my jokes.
• Being in a room with my whole family (either side) and seeing everyone talk and laugh together.
• Thinking of our wedding and honeymoon and how happy I'll be once we're finally married.
• Getting headbutts from Oscar (it's how he gives us loves) and hearing BG purr around us.
• When Larry shows me he loves me in ANY way-he knows just how to make me feel so beautiful and special.
• And running! It gives me such a high and makes me feel like I'm doing so well with my health. Plus it's the first time in my life that I love running and I really get to push myself with i,t which makes me feel even better about it!

These are just some of what I can think of now, but I think it's a good list to start off of and keep in mind.

*~* A Gift *~*

A Gift

Now I'm assuming this isn't a material gift, but a gift I have. I'm not sure I have a special gift, maybe a gift of budgeting that I think I have a certain knack for. I'm VERY grateful for that gift for the following reasons:

• I've seen many times in my life when people can't budget or don't live within their means and it hurts them real bad and I've always known I didn't want to be like that and it's not hard for me to budget at all. In fact, it makes me feel better when I stick to it and get things paid in a timely manner.
• Budgeting makes me feel like I accomplished something: I get bills paid, I'm able to save for vacations or car repairs or whatever else I need, I still leave myself a little play money for the weeks between paychecks. It's a nice feeling for me.
• I've read several times between articles in magazines, online, in books, whatever, that finances are one of the most important things to agree on in a relationship. It's one of the top three (along with children and religion) things that can hurt a relationship big time and luckily between Larry and I, I think we have the best spending/saving history so we know how to make it work so well within our relationship.

Budgeting really does give me a sort of happy high in my life. I love making sure I pay bills and on time. Larry and I both agree we grew up not having a whole lot (I'll say, for me, my mom did an amazing job raising us, being a single mom and all. I know it took a ton of sacrificing and I can't express how much I really appreciate everything she did for us, but I now know the truth that it was a huge stretch for her a lot of the time) and so we agree we always want to make sure we don't take on too much debt and can give our kids plenty. We know that means we need to make sure we're financially set and can take care of the things we do owe money on and we need to stay responsible. I'm so glad to have someone I agree with and who agrees with me about such an important thing.

*~* Nature *~*

Nature

Okay, Nature. That's a harder one for me, kind of. Nature is great, but finding reasons I'm grateful for it is something I've never really done before, but here goes:

I'm grateful for nature because:

• It provides rain, thunder, and lightening and while most people HATE that stuff and even fear it, I absolutely love it! When it's raining and thundering I sleep so well those nights! I usually know I sleep so well because if it happens when I'm around other people then the next morning they usually ask "how could you sleep through a storm like that?!"
• I really love camping and the best part about camping is being completely away from technology and real life and just listening to birds tweet or crickets chirp. I love the various sounds you get to hear while camping and it's really peaceful.
• Tell me a sunrise/sunset is not the most absolute gorgeous thing you've EVER seen that's completely natural! I can't wait to be in Hawaii for our honeymoon, I heard they have a spot on the island we're going to that shows the sunrise that is the most beautiful way you've ever seen it. I'm hoping to get a chance to do that!

There are my three points of why nature beats regular old life....makes me want to go camping at sunset when it's raining now haha! Nature really is great, I mean waterfalls, glaciers, caves, animals-everything has a beauty to it in nature and it's amazing.

*~* Health *~*

My Health

So I know I decided to do this #16 first, but this health one comes at the perfect time. I decided this past year I wanted to get a physical to make sure I was in good shape. I don't know if it was my medical coding and billing that made me think about it more or what, but I became very health conscious. After hearing about our photographer's unfortunate illness and how hard that has been on her family I decided that I shouldn't push it off anymore-I need to know I'm doing well now or else work on what's wrong now.

Last Thursday I went in (after fasting for 17 hours-hardest thing I've had to do!) and they did some blood work and did some regular old "take a breath" tests to see how I'm doing. They even checked my shoulders (where I have a huge collection of freckles) to make sure I didn't need to have a dermatologists check them out. Well, I got a call yesterday saying I'm perfectly healthy! No special red flags to worry about, my liver and kidney are working well, my cholesterol is within an amazing range, no anemia, and no bad sounds in my system. (The greatest part is I hadn't actually ran all week that week so that makes me feel better when I do run)

I was so proud of the fact that I've done so well. It doesn't hurt that Larry and I also make sure to take our "One A Day" Vitamin supplements, fish oils, and fiber chewables. It's funny because when I went in to do this everyone asked me why I was so excited to get it done (I guess some people have a weird fear of doctors) and I told them because it feels good to know you're making good decisions with something so important and it does!

I also found out I'm a great candidate for Lasik and have my surgery scheduled for Nov. 30th. I also am going to talk to my female doctor about making sure I'm healthy for when Larry and I decide to have kids (which still won't be for a while-for those of you freaking out a little bit reading that part). We also have plans to get Larry in for a physical and both of us going to see a new joint dentist to make sure that's going good too.

So in summary: 

• Soon my vision will be exactly where I've always wanted it to be.
• My health outlook is GREAT so far.
• and I'm working on making sure Larry's is as well so that we can really grow old and grey together!

Yahoo!!!

Gratitude Journal

So I'm kind of stealing this from my aunt-the 30 days of gratitude journal thing. I always see this going around this time each year and I always thought it was kind of silly, but I think I want to do it this year. Here's the "rules":

So you do one of these each day. I think I'm going to start with #16, work my way down the 2nd column, then do the first. Just because I started it late and I don't want to look like I'm just a day behind her. Plus I don't think it really matters what order you do it in as long as in the end you learn just how awesome your life is! I do encourage anyone else to do this, Larry says they make them do the same thing in the military when they have their suicide awareness/prevention drill weekends.
I'll try and keep up with it each day, but we'll see how it goes.

Happy Holidays Everyone!

Happy Halloween

I was so not about to put this post up last night when we were done handing out candy, it was so late and I was so tired, so it's going up this morning instead.

Halloween this year was even more fun that the last two years! I think it was because we were in our own place this year. I definitely think I picked the best place to work, they had a costume contest, a pot luck, and then everyone got to bring their kids dressed up and we got to hand out candy to them too! I loved all of it, I really love seeing kids in their costumes and how creative they were. One kid was Spiderman and he kept growling, so when we'd give him candy he'd get this fierce look on his face and grunt "Thank you very much!" we'd laugh so hard!

Once I finally got home we got our candy ready, turned our porch light on, and started our scary movies! I loved seeing all the kids in our neighborhood, they were so cute. The funniest part of the night is Oscar would get REALLY comfortable lying on the floor of the living room and every time there would be a knock on the door he'd go BOOKING it into our bedroom, but then right after he'd be right back on the floor all comfortable again. What a strange cat!

Larry-Criminal
Me-His captor!

Here's pictures of costumes:



Jhordan and me

I don't think I've ever looked forward to Halloween more than this year! I had so much fun with it.



-------------------------------------Sad Part, just scroll past this part------------------------------------------

I love that I'm happy with Halloween, but it still is (and most likely always will be) the anniversary of my Papa passing. I know I mention it every year, but I always want to make sure I remember him. I don't use today to remember him passing, but remember what he was like when he was alive. I always feel bad because one of the last few memories I have of him (that wasn't him in the hospital) is being at my aunt's house for a birthday party (Probably Anna's because I'm pretty sure it was end of summer) and he walked in and he seemed to be about half his regular size (he was skinnier and shorter) but his clothes looked like they were three times too big-while this might sound like it would be scary, I was actually happy to see him walking around and I was thinking for sure this meant he was getting better and I was excited about that. I wish I had a way better more vivid memory of him. I remember a lot of images of him, but they aren't as vivid and one of my big fears is that I'll forget him and what he was like. That's the thought that makes me cry when I think of him. I always try and keep pictures around so I can make sure I never forget. I just wish ALL the time that he could've been around to see my kids, to see me get married, to see me graduate school. It's heartbreaking and it takes my breath away a lot of the time. It's easier as the time goes by, but it is still really extremely hard.
Some things that do remind me of him: he was AMAZING with babies, he loved them and always made them laugh. He loved telling me about where our family came from and I loved sitting near him by the computer to see it and hear about it. Whenever we'd go on vacation he'd be making eggs, bacon, and coffee and I'd always wake up to that smell mixed with his smoke and while usually smoke smell REALLY bothers me, his with the breakfast smell always made me excited. I miss that vacation smell. Whenever I'd lose my bunny (my security thing) he'd always curl me up in his arms and have me rub his nose to help me sleep. He was such an incredible guy! Love you Papa!

---------------------------------------okay, we're done with the sad stuff-------------------------------------

So now that Halloween is over I can turn my focus on to the best part of the year: Thanksgiving and Christmas! It'll be interesting to see snow in the new place (because we're not in any big cities anymore so it's more open). We plan on letting the cats smell it when it's on our balcony to see their reaction. I'm really excited this year!

Happy Holidays everyone!