By the Time I Get to Arizona...

Next week, the hubbins and I will be packin' our bags and leaving on a jet plane for the warmth of the Arizona sun! Now that it is December, we've had our first snow, and I'm officially over winter, this lil' vacay will be just perf. The best man from our wedding and his perty lady will be playing host to us for five days. I can't wait to dive into what they have planned! So far, it sounds like we'll be doing a little daytime bicycle bar crawl, hiking, and stuffing ourselves with delicious grub.

It seems like whenever we take trips, we have the same routine [more so me than Nathan].

- We make plans to get our pup to my parents' house (Chloe gets to vacation at her favorite place with her BFF while we are gone. She loves spending time with my parents' presh little Pomeranian, Mya).

Chloe and Mya nappin' together... Besties!

- I find out what the plans are so I can pack accordingly.

- I stand in my closet looking at possible options for attire and become sorely disappointed.

- I go shopping to get new clothes/accessories that meet my requirements.

- Nathan and I argue about the following things:

      * He says: We can fit all of our stuff in one suitcase.

         I say: We can fit all of our toiletries in one suitcase. There's no way in h-e-double hockey sticks that all of our clothes, shoes, and miscellaneous items could be crammed in one bag... and IF it was possible to get all our shizz in one bag, it would far surpass the weight limit... and then, we'd be those people who took up everyone else's time in the luggage line just to become super frustrated because we now have to pay extra for them to load our excessively packed luggage. Here is when I'd be blowing steam outta my ears; not only do we have to pay an additional fee, but my clothes that could be packed loosely into my own bag are now jammed in with Nathan's clothes and will be extra-wrinkly upon arrival... Not a happy traveler.

Unhappy traveler becomes a little happier with an adult beverage en route.

      * He says: Do you REALLY need to pack all those clothes/shoes?!

         I say: Of course! (Let's be honest, at this point, why even argue? You know I'm gonna bring all of this stuff... in my own suitcase.) 

              -- His argument: We are only going to be there for 5 days. You should only need to pack 5 shirts, 5 pants/shorts/skirts, 6 pairs of undergarments, and MAX, 3 pairs of shoes.

              -- My rebuttle: What if the weather is nothing like I've packed for? What if the restaurants we go to are all fancy and I only pack casual clothes (or vice versa)? What if I'm not in the mood to wear what I packed? There are many more "what if" situations, but I think you get the idea.

     * He says: We should plan to arrive at the airport at [insert time within one hour of our flight allowing zero time for unplanned events and a Starbucks stop].

        I say: We should plan on getting to the airport at least an hour and a half before our flight.

              There have been many-a-time where I've said to my dear husband, "Nathan, we should leave [early] to make sure that we get there in time/beat the traffic/get a decent parking spot" only to have him somehow talk me into taking off at his "perfect" time. When this happens, we are either late/stuck in traffic/parking a ridiculous distance from our destination/or all of the above. When this happens, you can only imagine my irritation which leads to snippy, "I told you so"-toned repetitive remarks while we are rushing to whatever event we set out for... which therefore irritates Nathan. Allow me to remind you that I would not be such a grumpbucket if we only would have left at my suggested time... crisis averted.

        * I say: We need to clean the house before we leave.

           He says: Why do we need to clean the house? We aren't going to be here and neither is anyone else.

                 We all know that vacations are supposed to be fun and relaxing and stress free. Most of the time, when we get back from any time away from home, we are both too exhausted to even think about cleaning when we get home. And I can only imagine what it would smell like in here if the garbage wasn't taken out or the dishwasher wasn't ran and the laundry was all bundled up in a ball in the corner of our bedroom... Yikes!

Although there are some things that need to happen before we even hit the road, we always have a good time on our trips and great memories are made... Here's a little glimpse of a few of our trips. Enjoy!

Riverboat for our 1 year anniversary :)

Newport,KY

Chicago. :)

Getting tired of us yet? Me neither! ;)

Gatlinburg, TN for Valentine's weekend
(Our *1st* getaway together!)

Pittsburgh for a DMB concert.

And my favorite vacation of all, Cruise to the Bahamas for our honeymoon! I love this picture!!

Perfect. <3 

Pump Up the Jam

Lemme say, oh-so-sorry for the lack'o'blogging lately. And, secondly, I've had a glass or two of wine so, don't get your hopes up for an epic post...

I was at the gym today, ya know, gettin' my swoll on, and I had noticed that every single other person there at the same time as myself had a set of headphones on, hooked up to their MP3 players, DiscMans, and WalkMans... Okay, that was a pathetic attempt at a joke, only one person there had a DiscMan... We all know how bad they skip when you're mid-minute-sesh of jump rope. ;) Anyway, as I was man-handling some iron, I couldn't help but wonder what was damaging the ears of those around me.

Was the 50-something year old, spandex wearin', ab-crunchin' man I saw in the reflection of the mirror listening to some VanHalen or was he jamming out to some Spice Girls?! I mean, I wouldn't judge him if "Wannabe" was his song of choice. And, you, lady with the overly-inflated-boob job and tight Nike "DryFit" gear on, are you the type to listen to some death metal or are you all "Katy Perry, Teenage Dream" up in there?! Actually, I don't need the answer to that... I already know.... Death metal, right?!.

I'm not one to judge, rather, just curious. For instance, as an Ohio native, I'm partial to The Ohio State University Buckeyes, and, more-so, Buckeyes football. Yesterday, as many of you know, was the one rivalry we look forward to all year: OSU v. M*ch*gan. I was put in a tough spot when I came to the realization that THE game was on at the same time that I had planned my workout to take place. No worries, I had a plan. At the gym, I listened to the radio broadcast of the game on my iTunes app, TuneIn Radio (no, I am not sponsored by them, nor are they paying me to mention them). In my head, I was thinking that many people assumed I was listening to a standard collection of music. I almost felt proud that I was listening to the game because, who'da'thunk'it?! And that's when I thought, "I wonder what THEY'RE listening to?!"

At any rate, in case any of you are curious what I'm getting jiggy wit at the gym (on an average day), here are my top workout tunes: Enjoy! (Also, download them... promise they'll getcha goin'![Ally!])

Bass Down Low- DEV (featuring The Cataracs) [For real, worth the iTunes purchase]
 <-- Tell me how cute she is?!
Callin' Baton Rouge- Garth Brooks
Dancin' with Myself- Billy Idol
The Distance- Cake
E.T.- Katy Perry (featuring Kanye West)
Feel Like Makin' Love- Bad Company
Fight the Power- Public Enemy
Fight for Your Right- Beastie Boys
Guitars, Cadillacs- Dwight Yoakam
I Wrote the Book- Beth Ditto (Get it now... thank me later!)

{Heart break, and then some... Tell me, where is a friend when you need one?

Before you take a second look, remember I wrote every trick in the book.}

Love You Madly- Cake
Machine Head- Bush
More than a Feeling- Boston
Never There- Cake
No Sleep 'til Brooklyn- Beastie Boys (I'm sensing a trend here...)
Nugget- Cake (VERY explicit) <-- I mean, "The F-word" is a main staple in the chorus!
On and On- Mac Miller (Don't judge me if I mouth/sing the entire song while I'm mid-workout.)
Promises- Nero (Another must-download)
Rocket Man- Elton John (Frolic-ers, you know why...)
Rodeo- Garth Brooks
Sabotage- You guessed it, Beastie Boys
Short Skirt, Long Jacket- Cake
Suite Judy Blue Eyes- Crosby, Stills and Nash (My warm-up-on-the-treadmill-to-keep-pace-tune!)
Top of the World- The Cataracs (featuring Dev... a must-have) So what if I have a girl-crush?!
Voodoo Chile- Jimi Hendrix (my 'if I was a pro baseball player, this intro would be my walk-up-to-the-plate' song)...

And there you have it, alphabetically listed for all y'alls. I understand that it's pretty random but, I am random, as well... So, go on, pump the jams, pump 'em up

November Rain

I'm pretty sure that if you're reading this, you know that I'm an RN. If you didn't know that, well, I'm an RN. I also live in southwest Ohio. Some years in Ohio, come mid-November, we've experienced plenty of snow storms... And other years, such as this one, we've been stuck in cold rain. I dunnah if ya feel me on this one or not, but I hate few things more than a ring of cold, slowly-creeping-up-my-leg, dirty water around my pant legs. What makes this worse, as a nurse, I wear clogs to work... Yes, I said it. I wear clogs... Backless, rubber shoes. But I PROMISE they're not Crocs or "Mocks" nor do they have holes in the tops. I'm not gonna say they are the prettiest accessory in my arsenal, but they're in my life because they're easy... like most of my friends (bah-duh-dom!) What makes them suck this time of year is that they allow said dirty, cold water to get on my pant legs and... *gasp*... all up in my socks! Pshh! As if going to work this morning for another stellar shift wasn't bad enough, I now had to deal with my scrubs AND socks slopping around my legs, makin' me look a fool. Whatevs... Life goes on... wait, I work at Hospice... but that's another blog (that I'll hopefully never get into detail about).

So, here I am, driving to work with sopping pants and cold toes when I drive through The University of Dayton's campus. Let me paint this picture for you: It's 0730, roughly 40 degrees (Fahrenheit), and pouring down huge pellets of wet misery...you'll never guess what I saw. There was a whole slew of students WALKING to what I can only assume was class... in the rain! As I sat at a red light, or what I thought was red which must have secretly turned to green, swiftly brought to my attention by the GFS delivery truck behind me, I found myself baffled by these students.

Once upon a time, I was, myself, a college student. First of all, I can assure you that after my first quarter of school, I scheduled NO classes prior to 10am. Uh, hello? Alarm? No.Thank.You. Naturally, I assume these are all freshmen... hah, losers. And secondly, why were they going to class in the rain?! And that was what I thought about the rest of my drive to work.

Were classes still held when it rained? Was I the only college student that didn't venture out if there was >40% chance of precipitation (of any kind)? And most importantly, why isn't that an option in the professional world? Remember college when you didn't HAVE to go to class? When your "bosses" were your professors who couldn't make you do anything because "I'm paying you!"? When you could make your own schedule and skipping out half-way through the class wasn't unacceptable? Or, my favorite (sorry, ma!) when St.Patrick's Day was the most popular holiday and showing up to class with an early-afternoon buzz was the norm?

And there's my answer to my "most important" question; Could you imagine if we all lived like the college student myself and most of my college pals were... set in our professional capacities? Hungover, mal-nourished, disheveled, poorly hygienic at times... Oh, that paints a beautiful picture. I guess what I'm saying is that my drive to work this morning, miserable as it seemed, made me realize that we need to grow up, to be a little mature and accept life and the responsibilities it brings... some just choose to do it earlier than others... maybe by scheduling (willingly) college courses (and most importantly, attending them) before breakfast is over in the Park's Tower dining room. But, watch out college kiddos, life'll creep up on ya... Sleep in while you can... Hit snooze (six times)... Day drink until you... well, until it's night!... Eat Fruit Loops and Taco Bell until your stomach can't take it anymore... Ya know, nothing lasts forever... Even cold November rain.

Feels Like the First Time

So, lemme just start this whole "adventure" by disclosing that I am, by no means, a creative, witty, or charming writer. However, I do have a bunch of random thoughts swirling around in my head that I think others might enjoy reading about... and, although Facebook and Twitter are out there to spill some of said thoughts out on, I feel like updating my status or tweets more than 2-3 times a day would be a bit much. I mean, come on, we all have friends that do that and, if you're anything like me, you may find it hard not to harshly judge them for their incessant life updates when you're face-to-face with them. And, don't even get me started on people who play games on the 'book and their "all time record setting" score for Bouncy Ball Central clutters up the schtuff that I really care about... like creeping on people's drunken pictures from the weekend or ever-changing relationship statuses. YaDig?

Another point of note, I have no plans for this blog. I have some blogs that I check in on every now and again that have specific themes: cooking, make-up or hair tricks, all about their pets... I would never be able to pick one thing to blog about. I think that's why I felt the urge to begin this in the first place. I have so stinkin' much random shizz just boiling in my head that I wanted to get out. If I felt obligated to the swarming fans (that are bound to be addicted to this blog) to post about only one thing, I feel like I would severely disappoint them... and myself. I mean, I think that's one of my favorite personality traits; I'm random. Damn it, I'm random and I'm proud! (In my head, when I pictured myself standing up in a room with an 'AA'-esque setting and proclaiming myself 'random' and the crowd cheering me on, that statement seemed much cooler.)

Any-hoos-it... Today is my first attempt of blogging. I just hope I can keep up with this better than I did feeding my Beta fish, Bella, in college...