{Augusta} a.k.a White Beard

 

 

Augusta is a very special dog. She hates large groups of people, loud noises, thunder and being left alone. Her latest pet peeve is an empty water dish or dog food bowl. She has gotten into the habit of pawing at either bowl {even Harley's food bowl} when it is empty. P-Dizzy and I swear she just wants to keep us busy, waiting on her hand and foot.

After we fill up her bowl, because she just pawed at it like 50 times, she looks at it {to make sure it's up to her standards} AND THEN SIMPLY WALKS AWAY!!!

ARE YOU KIDDING ME!! 

 

But she can also be very sweat. Augusta will love you forever if you take her to look for rabbits in the open field, rub her belly, give her a blanket to lay on, praise her endlessly, give her a treat or be very quiet when she is sleeping. 

A Gift from the Universe

It is truly awe striking when you are searching for something- not a physical object but more along the lines of a goal, purpose or answer- and you feel completely lost and overwhelmed and never think the answer or whatever you are searching for you will come to you and then out of nowhere during a time when you are least expecting it or are not even focusing on it the answer just presents itself to you like a gift from the Universe.

This exact thing happened to me this evening.

You see I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE setting goals and thinking about the future and my dreams and everything I want to accomplish. But this year has been different. Coming up with my 2012 goals seemed daunting and boring and I knew they would be very similar to 2011's goals. So I began to get squirmy. I talked to Preston and asked if we could sit down and talk about them {we like to make sure we are both on the same page} and put them in writing. Maybe if I can get Preston excited I will become excited about setting them.

So we set a date to discuss them and so I sat down at my computer this evening and starting typing them out so I would be ready to share and receive input. As I typed my brain powered off. I felt very overwhelmed and annoyed for not coming up with anything besides the obvious.

I started writing my list.
1. Financial
2. Fitness
3. Marriage
4. Personal Growth
5. Giving Back
6. Organization
7. Work
8. 30 Before Thirty List

Then it hit me. I am not excited to make goals for 2012 because I have this huge 30 Before Thirty list looming over my head. I know, I created this list and the world is not going to end it I don't achieve all 30 items but it will go down as another project that Lori started but didn't finish.

I then become soo completely frustrated I started reading some of the blogs I follow. I ran across this blog: The Athletarian  and a post about a fitness program she is following and her new desire to become lean and fit. Out of curiosity I Googled the program she was doing and found Jamie Eason staring at me telling me about a 12 week fitness program she put together for women. Interesting I thought. So I watched the intro video  and I knew immediately, like a gift sent from the Universe, what my main 2012 goal/focus should be. 

More to come!

Best.Christmas.Gift.Ever

Ashley got me a bomb.com Christmas present. Probably the best Christmas present ever! Somehow she always knows what to get me.

This year she got me a pink wake boarding life jacket. The life jacket is so professional looking.

It zips  up the side and even has thumb holes to pull it down. But the best part is it's not supposed to ride up. It should stay in place. The pink life savor has a ton of padding both in the front and back for when I yard sale it {wipe out}.

I absolutely cannot wait for boating season!

Cruise Weight

Let's talk about the topic that everyone worries about when they go on a cruise. Is the 10 pound weight gain fact or a myth?

To tell you the truth I was pretty worried about gaining 10 pounds! That's a lot for this shorty and very noticeable. For most of the trip I tried to make somewhat healthy choices and not gorge. I did allow myself to drink all of the alcohol my wonderful husband could order- which was a lot. I also allowed myself to eat desert every night at the main meal and a lot of bread and butter.  

I had great hopes in going to the cruise gym everyday and running on the treadmill. It didn't happen once. I finally allowed myself to stop feeling guilty over it and enjoy the vacation.

When I got home I had no idea what to expect. I knew I gained some weight, but I didn't know how much. Turns out I gained 3 pounds. Not too bad.

What has been hard is getting back into working out and not eating out. It's super easy to eat Chick-fil-A for lunch and then eat out for dinner with P-Dizzy. I am hoping that once all of the holidays are over with I can get back into a routine.    

{Must Have} Mr. Clean...

I just saw the new Mr. Clean Magic Eraser Bath Scrubber commercial. Have you seen it? I have one word for you: SOLD.

Click HERE to watch the commercial and see why I'm going to buy it tomorrow and try it on my scum filled shower. 

Or watch this YouTube video on the Magic Eraser. 

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When I was searching for a Mr. Clean image I found some pretty interesting variations! 

{Read This} The Language of Flowers

I read a great book on the cruise- The Language of Flowers by Diffenbaugh. 

The central topic of the book- the secret language of flowers- is extremely fascinating. I knew that different flowers convey special meanings such as red rose- love, yellow rose- friendship {actually Diffenbaugh argues that it's true meaning is infidelity} but that's all I knew. The book brings to light various flowers and their secret meanings that most people do not know about anymore. As the story goes on, you start to appreciate the message that a flower conveys- when you give a flower to someone or the bouquet you carry down the isle. 

As the main character learns, the meaning of a flower has changed over time from author to author sometimes even conveying conflicting meanings. Daisy is known to mean: Innocence, Loyal Love, I'll Never Tell, Purity. The author and main character were so troubled with all of the conflicting meanings they came up with their own language of flower dictionary with each flower only having one meaning- the best meaning. According to Diffenbaugh and the main character Victoria, daisy means Innocence. In case your wondering mistletoe means I surmount all obstacles.... not kiss me.

If the meaning of flowers does not excite you, the plot and depth of chraacters are well worth the read.

What I've Learned about Cruisin

Picture taken from internet.

P-Dizzy and I just got back from our cruise to the Eastern Caribbean on the ship Carnival Glory. We had an amazing time! Before I tell you all about it in detail, here are some things that I learned about myself and cruisin.

~ Do not book through a travel agent. Didn't receive much value.

~ Take time to pack... thoughtfully. I packed way to many outfits with some random shirts/skirts/shorts that literally went with nothing.

~ Leave the jewelry at home. I did not wear one necklace the entire trip. Earings is all I needed.

~ Pack more comfy cloths like sweats and sweatshirt. Towards the end of the trip all I wanted was to relax in some sweats.

~ Pack more jackets to wear at night. It gets cold from the air conditioner.  

~ Make sure to pack the right camera charger. My camera died the first day. I dug into my bad to find that I packed the wrong charger! We bought one of those crappy disposable camera's. Hopefully the pictures will turn out half way decent. 

~ Leave the workout clothes at home. I realized that when given the choice I choose alcohol over getting a good nights sleep and running around the track.

~ Pack all the swim suites you can. I am so glad I had a different swim suite for each day.

~ Bring a book. I really enjoyed reading by the pool in the sun.

~ Bring a more comfortable bag to carry to the pool/island that will hold everything and doesn't make your husband look border-line homosexual when he's carrying it.

~ I loved our room. Getting a balcony is the way to go. 

~ Tip the people who really get to know you. We had one waitress, Jo Ann, on the pool deck who really got to know us and brought us buckets after buckets of beer. She was soo amazing and gave us great service. The last night we tipped her personally and the  true emotion and gratitude that she showed us was priceless. She hugged us and kissed us many many times. It is people like her that make your trip wonderful! We also had a couple of waiters in the casino who knew got to know us and what we drank. They loved saying Preston's name and probably remembered us because of it.... or because of how much we drank.  

We had an amazing time and will most defiantly go on another cruise in a couple of years. Now it's time to get ready for Christmas. It didn't feel like Christmas at all in Miami or the Islands. And it doesn't feel like Christmas at our house either. Not sure if I'll put up the tree this year or not.

 

{30 Before Thirty} 2 Down

Wow, I am really behind in the blogging front. I have been super busy and just haven't found the time. It's about time I update the 30 Before Thirty list.

29. Go to a bar to play pool. Done-Zo! A couple three weeks ago P-Dizzy, D & H and I went to my favorite pool playing bar- CJ's. We listened to some pretty good karaoke and played some pool. They all tried their best to talk me into signing a tune, but the timing wasn't right. Nothing is more embarrassing then being the worst {undrunk} karaoke singer in the bar.  We did find an open table and play some pool. I feel pretty cool when I bend way down to shoot a shot {just like a professional pool player} and I miss.

Professional Pool Player: Jeanette Lee

19. Put together a puzzle: P-Wee and I started to put together a puzzle at least 4 months ago. We put together all of the easy parts and were left with the endless bookshelves. The puzzle set in our living room for multiple weeks. I didn't touch it and P-Wee wasn't interested in it. I moved the card table to the dining room when I started to decorate the living room. Then I got my dining room set and decided to pack up the puzzle.... unfinished. I took a picture of the pathetic puzzle, but I can't seem to find it. Any who, I am checking this one off my list.


Only 19 more to go.