So considering that I am two weeks behind on the 30 day challenge...I'm throwing in the towel. It really is a great idea, but I have been really busy!
1. We got a new puppy. This was totally my doing, J does not want anyone to think it was his idea, so I take full responsibility. Her name is Delilah, we got her from a guy at the dog park with 9 puppies and 2 dogs at home, and she is a cuddle bug! We don't know what she is, a lot of people ask if she is a Brittany Spaniel, but she really is a mutt!
2. I got a job! So excited about this. It is a school much like the one that I used to work in. As much as I wanted to be working in a public school I think God is just trying to tell me that I belong working with some more challenging kids. The job starts Nov. 1st and I'm sure I will have lots to blog about!
Leaves are taking over my yard...they are EVERYWHERE. I tried to convince J that we should by a blower/vac but alas I've lost that one....for now. On the upside Samson and Delilah love jumping in the leaf piles that are spotting our lawn.
This weekend is Halloween and I am excited, but I don't think we will get a lot of trick-or-treaters on our busy, non-sidewalk street...especially since we live right across from a development. We will be passing out full sized Reese's peanut butter cups though, so if you're in the area....stop by!
Tonight we are going trick-or-treating with Peyton at Grandma & Grandpa's assisted living community, so that should be fun. Saturday we are going to the Howl-o-ween party at the dog park and don't you worry- we have some great costumes for our little puppies! After that we are going to dinner and seeing Sweeney Todd at the community theater.
I am sorry to disappoint those who were following the 30 day blog...but I will definitely use some of Katie's topics in the future!!
Thursday, October 28, 2010
Thursday, October 14, 2010
30 Day Challenge...Day 4
Your Parents
My parents have been married 16 years. Yes, that's my real mom to my real dad- I was 8 years old when they got married and proudly held the title of "junior bridesmaid" at their wedding. They have helped me become who I am today; and for that I cannot be more grateful.
I am not daddy's little princess (that's my sister) and we have not always had the best relationship. My dad was 19 on the day I was born and that complicates things. My dad didn't live with me for the first part of my life, but I do remember spending weekends with him. And he even bought me a powerwheels corvette! (It was not a barbie car) When I was 6 my dad became a bigger part of my life...my mom and him were getting closer and I would see him quite frequently. One night he brought me a puppy surprise....I was so excited, it wasn't even my birthday. In the spring of '92 my dad's apartment burned down and we moved into his new apartment. For two years I was daddy's girl...I would go to work with him, go fishing with him and go for runs with him. On my 8th birthday my dad never said "Happy Birthday" to me and I cried myself to sleep until he came into my room. Something in my heart broke that day and I still don't think it's fixed. Don't get me wrong- I love my father and I wouldn't replace him for anything in the world- I just wish we could have had a closer relationship when I was growing up. Middle school and high school didn't do well for us...I was emotional and dramatic and he just didn't know how to communicate with me. By the time college came I felt like there was no hope because now I wasn't even home. Since I've moved out on my own my dad and I have had a better relationship, we make small talk when I'm home for visits and he takes my husband golfing. He walked me down the aisle in July and that is a moment that I will forever treasure...no matter what our past or future holds!
I am a momma's girl, I always have been a momma's girl and I will forever be a momma's girl! My mom was 18 the day I was born and I can't imagine how difficult that was for her, how hard she worked to provide for me in the first few years of my life, or how much she sacrificed to be the best mom in the world. I have tons of wonderful memories of me and my mom ranging from something as simple as listening to "I'll be there for you" as she drove me to my babysitters or entering a Mother-Daughter Look-a-Like contest to her recording the Country Music Awards in 1992 on a cassette so that I could hear all of the music...the show was on after 8 and I had a bedtime!! One time my mom and I went to a reservoir near where we lived and she carved my initials (CLT) into a tree...backwards and told me that it stood for Tender Loving Care. (This is why I struggled so much to change my last name after hubs and I got married.) My mom worked full-time until I was 9 or 10 and then she worked part-time off and on until I was in high school. She always told me that she wasn't my friend, she was my mom- but through it all she's one of the best friends that I've ever had. I can only hope that I work half as hard as she did to provide my (someday) children with the love and care that she provided me. A million thank yous could never be enough....my mom is an incredible woman and I wouldn't be the successful, married, homeowner with a college degree that I am today if it wasn't for her.
Mommy & Me (1986)
My family at Mom & Dad's wedding (1994)
Don't forget to check out the other ladies doing the 30 Day Challenge over at Katie's blog!!!
My parents have been married 16 years. Yes, that's my real mom to my real dad- I was 8 years old when they got married and proudly held the title of "junior bridesmaid" at their wedding. They have helped me become who I am today; and for that I cannot be more grateful.
I am not daddy's little princess (that's my sister) and we have not always had the best relationship. My dad was 19 on the day I was born and that complicates things. My dad didn't live with me for the first part of my life, but I do remember spending weekends with him. And he even bought me a powerwheels corvette! (It was not a barbie car) When I was 6 my dad became a bigger part of my life...my mom and him were getting closer and I would see him quite frequently. One night he brought me a puppy surprise....I was so excited, it wasn't even my birthday. In the spring of '92 my dad's apartment burned down and we moved into his new apartment. For two years I was daddy's girl...I would go to work with him, go fishing with him and go for runs with him. On my 8th birthday my dad never said "Happy Birthday" to me and I cried myself to sleep until he came into my room. Something in my heart broke that day and I still don't think it's fixed. Don't get me wrong- I love my father and I wouldn't replace him for anything in the world- I just wish we could have had a closer relationship when I was growing up. Middle school and high school didn't do well for us...I was emotional and dramatic and he just didn't know how to communicate with me. By the time college came I felt like there was no hope because now I wasn't even home. Since I've moved out on my own my dad and I have had a better relationship, we make small talk when I'm home for visits and he takes my husband golfing. He walked me down the aisle in July and that is a moment that I will forever treasure...no matter what our past or future holds!
Daddy & Me (1986)
Dad and me at our wedding (2010)
I am a momma's girl, I always have been a momma's girl and I will forever be a momma's girl! My mom was 18 the day I was born and I can't imagine how difficult that was for her, how hard she worked to provide for me in the first few years of my life, or how much she sacrificed to be the best mom in the world. I have tons of wonderful memories of me and my mom ranging from something as simple as listening to "I'll be there for you" as she drove me to my babysitters or entering a Mother-Daughter Look-a-Like contest to her recording the Country Music Awards in 1992 on a cassette so that I could hear all of the music...the show was on after 8 and I had a bedtime!! One time my mom and I went to a reservoir near where we lived and she carved my initials (CLT) into a tree...backwards and told me that it stood for Tender Loving Care. (This is why I struggled so much to change my last name after hubs and I got married.) My mom worked full-time until I was 9 or 10 and then she worked part-time off and on until I was in high school. She always told me that she wasn't my friend, she was my mom- but through it all she's one of the best friends that I've ever had. I can only hope that I work half as hard as she did to provide my (someday) children with the love and care that she provided me. A million thank yous could never be enough....my mom is an incredible woman and I wouldn't be the successful, married, homeowner with a college degree that I am today if it wasn't for her.Mommy & Me (1986)
My family at Mom & Dad's wedding (1994)
My family at our wedding (2010)
Don't forget to check out the other ladies doing the 30 Day Challenge over at Katie's blog!!!
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
30 Day Challenge...Day 3
Here's the last post for today...it catches me up to the other ladies over at Katie's blog!
Your First Love!
Well, there was Andy...the little boy who made everything better in first grade when Mrs. Hudkins changed my color. It wasn't my fault that the other kid kept switching my lunch choice tag. I told him if he did it again I would scream and momma didn't raise no liar! Unforunately, Andy moved to Arizona that summer and I've never heard from him again. It could also be the boy that I dated for one day in middle school and then followed like a love sick puppy for the rest of seventh grade, all of eighth grade, set up with my best friend in ninth grade, and finally gave up hope on in tenth grade. We'll keep his name out of this. It could be Paul, or "El actor" as he was known as in his mom's spanish class. But that relationship had a number of faults.
I would say that my first real love was Matt. We started dating junior year and we were pretty much inseparable until college. I remember going sledding with him and a bunch of my friends the Alvord Park and I remember the night in the lighting booth when he sat in the chair and I rested my cheek against his palm. It was magical and I knew that nothing could ever feel so special. I remember how we would go to church together on Saturday and/or Sunday and how he really helped me find my relationship with God. I can picture us sitting on my bedroom floor, talking about how our relationship would change once we went to college, and I begged him to give it a chance. I know now that he only agreed because he didn't want to make me unhappy, and that our relationship never really stood a chance. But nonetheless I went off to college convinced that we were different and that we would make it. I remember how things changed, I remember the night that he told me he didn't love me anymore, and I remember how I stood in the freezing rain out on the Cliff Walk with a borrowed cell phone because Sprint had HORRIBLE service in Newport. The funny thing is that soon after that I was riding in the car with a friend, explaining to him how Matt was the only one for me, and I knew that we were destined to be together. That friend told me I was wrong, and someday I would get over Matt....little did I know that friend would end up being my husband, my best friend and my soul mate. God really does work in mysterious ways, and I will never forget my first love...and he will always be my good friend!
Your First Love!
Well, there was Andy...the little boy who made everything better in first grade when Mrs. Hudkins changed my color. It wasn't my fault that the other kid kept switching my lunch choice tag. I told him if he did it again I would scream and momma didn't raise no liar! Unforunately, Andy moved to Arizona that summer and I've never heard from him again. It could also be the boy that I dated for one day in middle school and then followed like a love sick puppy for the rest of seventh grade, all of eighth grade, set up with my best friend in ninth grade, and finally gave up hope on in tenth grade. We'll keep his name out of this. It could be Paul, or "El actor" as he was known as in his mom's spanish class. But that relationship had a number of faults.
I would say that my first real love was Matt. We started dating junior year and we were pretty much inseparable until college. I remember going sledding with him and a bunch of my friends the Alvord Park and I remember the night in the lighting booth when he sat in the chair and I rested my cheek against his palm. It was magical and I knew that nothing could ever feel so special. I remember how we would go to church together on Saturday and/or Sunday and how he really helped me find my relationship with God. I can picture us sitting on my bedroom floor, talking about how our relationship would change once we went to college, and I begged him to give it a chance. I know now that he only agreed because he didn't want to make me unhappy, and that our relationship never really stood a chance. But nonetheless I went off to college convinced that we were different and that we would make it. I remember how things changed, I remember the night that he told me he didn't love me anymore, and I remember how I stood in the freezing rain out on the Cliff Walk with a borrowed cell phone because Sprint had HORRIBLE service in Newport. The funny thing is that soon after that I was riding in the car with a friend, explaining to him how Matt was the only one for me, and I knew that we were destined to be together. That friend told me I was wrong, and someday I would get over Matt....little did I know that friend would end up being my husband, my best friend and my soul mate. God really does work in mysterious ways, and I will never forget my first love...and he will always be my good friend!
30 Day Challenge...Day 2
The Meaning Behind Your Blog Name!
The meaning behind my blog name is pretty simple...at the beginning of the year one of my friends started a blog as a New Year's resolution. At Christmas my grandma suggested that I write down the wedding process, because I wouldn't remember it after many years of happily ever after. I was secretly planning to buy a house with hubs, planning a wedding, and planning out the rest of my life so I decided to start a blog detailing the journey to our new life! I wish it was more exciting...but it is what it is!
The meaning behind my blog name is pretty simple...at the beginning of the year one of my friends started a blog as a New Year's resolution. At Christmas my grandma suggested that I write down the wedding process, because I wouldn't remember it after many years of happily ever after. I was secretly planning to buy a house with hubs, planning a wedding, and planning out the rest of my life so I decided to start a blog detailing the journey to our new life! I wish it was more exciting...but it is what it is!
30 Day Challenge
While I'm being unmotivated I was checking out some of my favorite blogs and I found Katie's!
She is doing a 30 Day Challenge and I thought this might be a good way for me to keep up with my blogging, think about where I've been in my life and where I want to go, and help people get to know who I really am! I am three days behind (yikes!) so I am going to catch up...starting NOW!
Day 1: Introduce, Recent Picture, 15 Interesting Facts
My name is Cass and I'm 24 years old. I graduated from Salve Regina University in 2008, moved to Boston, MA with my boyfriend and taught at an incredible school for incredible kids for 2 years. In July of this year I moved to Ohio (where hubs grew up) and got married...all within the same week. I love teaching but I'm finding it really difficult to get into a school right now and it's been a tough adjustment. I have an awesome family that I've always been close to. Being so far away has also been tough...it's caused a lot of tearful and sleepless nights and one roadtrip..so far. I have a brother who is a freshman in high school and sister who is in 8th grade. In a way I feel like they are almost like my kids because I was so much older than them growing up. It hurts that I can't be there for them during these fun, yet difficult, years. I have an amazing husband that I met in college, 2 cats that I adore, and a beautiful golden retriever puppy that is 4 months old. I have a 2,000+ sq. ft. home with very little furniture and way too much wallpaper, on 2+ acres of land with an unbelievable amount of leaves. I have some unbelievable friends who have stuck with me through some difficult times, and I am really blessed to have each and every one of them. I like to cook, take pictures and spend time with my niece who is 2 years old.
15 Interesting Facts
1. I love animals...all types...and when I'm feeling sad my hubs knows that he can take me to Petsmart and let me look at the animals up for adoption to make me feel better. (He also knows that he will have to talk me out of adopting at least one of them!)
2. I like to help people. I met some of my best friends while involved in community service during high school and college. It's also where I met the love of my life!
3. As a senior in high school I traveled to England and it was the best trip I've ever taken, the memories of that trip will forever stay in my heart, along with the people that helped make them.
4. I have an obsession with squirrels...and I will do anything to protect them from my car...including swerving into oncoming traffic or coming to a complete stop in the middle of the road. I try to feed them in my yard but hubs won't let me!
5. I love children and I want to have my own someday....but it isn't happening this year, or probably even next year...so don't hold your breath!
6. I have a terrible attention span and it led to an amazing friendship with a girl who I used to pass notes to under her door freshman year because she couldn't study with my constant need to DO something!
7. I have rescued two snapping turtles in the past 2 years because they were in the middle of the road. Neither turtle was appreciative and both times I almost lost one or more of my fingers.
8. I love football...mostly professional...but I have three favorite teams- the Giants, Cowboys and Colts. Don't ask...I have explanations but they really don't make sense to anyone but me!
9. I am a Yankees fan....but I don't tell people because usually it causes more trouble than I care to get into. I watch games online when no one is looking :-P (This was also the start of an amazing friendship in middle school!)
10. I have a deep and passionate love for Bon Jovi that could never be replaced by anything in the world...my parents started it when I was just a baby, and it will forever be in my soul.
11. That being said, I love country music and will blare it in any setting, any time....because it speaks to me and I love it.
12. I was always more of a Backstreet Boys Fan than *N Sync
13. My mom is my hero...even though she drives me crazy sometimes...I can never repay her for everything she did for me and all that she gave up to give me such a great life.
14. I cry ALL the time (I teared up writing #13) and hubs laughs because all it takes is a sentimental commercial to bring on the waterworks.
15. I am really self conscious, and I've never admitted it to anyone...not even myself.
She is doing a 30 Day Challenge and I thought this might be a good way for me to keep up with my blogging, think about where I've been in my life and where I want to go, and help people get to know who I really am! I am three days behind (yikes!) so I am going to catch up...starting NOW!
Day 1: Introduce, Recent Picture, 15 Interesting Facts
My name is Cass and I'm 24 years old. I graduated from Salve Regina University in 2008, moved to Boston, MA with my boyfriend and taught at an incredible school for incredible kids for 2 years. In July of this year I moved to Ohio (where hubs grew up) and got married...all within the same week. I love teaching but I'm finding it really difficult to get into a school right now and it's been a tough adjustment. I have an awesome family that I've always been close to. Being so far away has also been tough...it's caused a lot of tearful and sleepless nights and one roadtrip..so far. I have a brother who is a freshman in high school and sister who is in 8th grade. In a way I feel like they are almost like my kids because I was so much older than them growing up. It hurts that I can't be there for them during these fun, yet difficult, years. I have an amazing husband that I met in college, 2 cats that I adore, and a beautiful golden retriever puppy that is 4 months old. I have a 2,000+ sq. ft. home with very little furniture and way too much wallpaper, on 2+ acres of land with an unbelievable amount of leaves. I have some unbelievable friends who have stuck with me through some difficult times, and I am really blessed to have each and every one of them. I like to cook, take pictures and spend time with my niece who is 2 years old.
15 Interesting Facts1. I love animals...all types...and when I'm feeling sad my hubs knows that he can take me to Petsmart and let me look at the animals up for adoption to make me feel better. (He also knows that he will have to talk me out of adopting at least one of them!)
2. I like to help people. I met some of my best friends while involved in community service during high school and college. It's also where I met the love of my life!
3. As a senior in high school I traveled to England and it was the best trip I've ever taken, the memories of that trip will forever stay in my heart, along with the people that helped make them.
4. I have an obsession with squirrels...and I will do anything to protect them from my car...including swerving into oncoming traffic or coming to a complete stop in the middle of the road. I try to feed them in my yard but hubs won't let me!
5. I love children and I want to have my own someday....but it isn't happening this year, or probably even next year...so don't hold your breath!
6. I have a terrible attention span and it led to an amazing friendship with a girl who I used to pass notes to under her door freshman year because she couldn't study with my constant need to DO something!
7. I have rescued two snapping turtles in the past 2 years because they were in the middle of the road. Neither turtle was appreciative and both times I almost lost one or more of my fingers.
8. I love football...mostly professional...but I have three favorite teams- the Giants, Cowboys and Colts. Don't ask...I have explanations but they really don't make sense to anyone but me!
9. I am a Yankees fan....but I don't tell people because usually it causes more trouble than I care to get into. I watch games online when no one is looking :-P (This was also the start of an amazing friendship in middle school!)
10. I have a deep and passionate love for Bon Jovi that could never be replaced by anything in the world...my parents started it when I was just a baby, and it will forever be in my soul.
11. That being said, I love country music and will blare it in any setting, any time....because it speaks to me and I love it.
12. I was always more of a Backstreet Boys Fan than *N Sync
13. My mom is my hero...even though she drives me crazy sometimes...I can never repay her for everything she did for me and all that she gave up to give me such a great life.
14. I cry ALL the time (I teared up writing #13) and hubs laughs because all it takes is a sentimental commercial to bring on the waterworks.
15. I am really self conscious, and I've never admitted it to anyone...not even myself.
Oh Motivation....Where have you gone???
So I'm a teacher and I'm used to having time off to relax, rejuvenate and have fun. The only problem is that this year, for the first time since I was 5, I did not have the deadline of school starting in late August to loom over me and remind me that real life begins the last Wednesday in August. This lack of work has turned me into the biggest unmotivated lump ever! It is 12:30 and my big accomplishment for Wednesday has been taking a shower. I really feel pathetic, but I just have no motivation. There are no friends who might drop by to say hi or have dinner so who cares if the leaves that Samson tracked through my kitchen yesterday are still festively decorating the floor? Who cares if the blanket protecting the ottoman looks like we've adopted a 2 foot tall square cat? And who cares if my sweatpants go on at 6am and stay on until J and I go to the dog park at 6pm? Don't get me wrong, I like living in a clean place, but I am so unmotivated that rather than cleaning I just go someplace else in the house where I don't have to worry about the unfolded socks that are calling my name! I haven't cooked dinner in a week, and I am even thinking about going to the Kiwanis meeting tonight just so I have another excuse not to cook.
I know reality will hit hard when I am working again, but it's been so long that I have given up hope of finding a stable job for the remainder of this school year...and it's only October. I have friends who are taking trips, buying new things for their new homes and thinking about the future...and unfortunately with $0 a month coming from my said of the paycheck, I can't even begin to think about the future without J pulling me back and showing me that we have to pay for here and now before anything else.
The worst part of it all is that with nothing to do and no place to go I often find myself wandering through the kitchen thinking, "I really could go for some rice..." or "I wonder how that pizza would taste cold...". I'm in denial about the fact that even if I get a job this fall/winter, I might not have clothes that fit to provide a proper Monday-Friday wardrobe. I try to talk to J about it, but he tells me everything will be fine, and when he suggests that maybe I should vacuum the stairs or mop the floor...I break down and cry because if I had a job I wouldn't have all of this free time to complete household tasks. I need motivation, and it has to be something more than "I'll take you for custard after we go to the dog park".
Help...somebody!
I know reality will hit hard when I am working again, but it's been so long that I have given up hope of finding a stable job for the remainder of this school year...and it's only October. I have friends who are taking trips, buying new things for their new homes and thinking about the future...and unfortunately with $0 a month coming from my said of the paycheck, I can't even begin to think about the future without J pulling me back and showing me that we have to pay for here and now before anything else.
The worst part of it all is that with nothing to do and no place to go I often find myself wandering through the kitchen thinking, "I really could go for some rice..." or "I wonder how that pizza would taste cold...". I'm in denial about the fact that even if I get a job this fall/winter, I might not have clothes that fit to provide a proper Monday-Friday wardrobe. I try to talk to J about it, but he tells me everything will be fine, and when he suggests that maybe I should vacuum the stairs or mop the floor...I break down and cry because if I had a job I wouldn't have all of this free time to complete household tasks. I need motivation, and it has to be something more than "I'll take you for custard after we go to the dog park".
Help...somebody!
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
Top 2 Tuesday....Dream Kitchens!
This week's Top 2 Tuesday is Dream Kitchens. This one hits home as I will take any excuse to go to Home Depot, Lowe's or ANY store that sells kitchen appliances, cabinets and counters. Don't get me wrong, my kitchen is very functional, but it is NOT my dream kitchen. It's difficult to pick a "dream kitchen" from pictures on the internet but here is my attempt!
1. I love the wood tone in this kitchen, ceramic tile floors, and granite countertops. The built in hutch is beautiful, and would give me a great place to display all of Grandma's china! Bright windows add a lot of light to this kitchen. The cabinet layout is something that could be done in my kitchen, with some light demo and an installation of an island!
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