They made their nest at the corner of the ceiling of her doorway. They are very cute but they make quite a mess down below :)
Sunday, July 31, 2011
Caroline's new house guest
They made their nest at the corner of the ceiling of her doorway. They are very cute but they make quite a mess down below :)
Saturday, July 30, 2011
The place we decided NOT to get married at :)
I am going to try to keep the visuals of the wedding and what we choose a surprise so that when I post the wedding pictures you will all be shocked and those that are coming to the wedding will be surprised when you walk in. However I can show you what we did not choose :)
Pine Lakes
This is a very popular wedding location and golf course. A LOT of brides get married here. It is gorgeous but mostly due to Myrtle Beach taxes it cost 10k more then the venue we chose. The alcohol didn't help, if we took the alcohol it would be about 2k more then the venue we chose. There are pros and cons of every site and while this definitely is pretty...we would have to pay a lot more to give up on stuff. Plus the lay out is a little weird. The way our wedding would go we would be divided between rooms. It is also VERY formal. Our wedding will be formal but not Pine Lakes formal.
We shall start the tour from where the Bride gets ready:
It is small but enough space for about 4 bridesmaids and the bride to get ready. Not sure what you would do if you had more bridesmaids then 4.
This is where the guests would walk through. They actually walk through this and the ball room to get to the wedding venue.
The above pictures are where we could get married. we could get married facing the golf house or the "garden" with the red trees. To the left if your looking at the garden or to the right of the house if your looking at the house is the pool for members. We would have had to plan our wedding so that the pool would be closed so we wouldn't have the noise from it being a distraction.
The ball room is very pretty. I love the blue and yellow together but I could see those colors clashing with certain colors of bridesmaids dresses. There was a wedding the night before and in this wedding they had a small enough guest list to fit in the larger part of the ball room and had a buffet so the buffet went into the smaller part. In this case, it would work well but I will be having a plated meal and my guest list won't fit in just one room so they will be separated from each other. The ball rooms are separated. There are 2 large doors that would remain open but there are walls rather then having it be more of an open floor plan.You can see what I mean in the first picture. The room to the left is the large ball room and the wall and door you see on the right is the smaller portion. Pretty but I don't want the guests that end up back there feeling like they are separate from the guests in the larger ball room.
So while it is very pretty and a lot of brides have had amazing weddings there, that is why we chose not to get married at Pine Lakes on top of the cost.
Pine Lakes
This is a very popular wedding location and golf course. A LOT of brides get married here. It is gorgeous but mostly due to Myrtle Beach taxes it cost 10k more then the venue we chose. The alcohol didn't help, if we took the alcohol it would be about 2k more then the venue we chose. There are pros and cons of every site and while this definitely is pretty...we would have to pay a lot more to give up on stuff. Plus the lay out is a little weird. The way our wedding would go we would be divided between rooms. It is also VERY formal. Our wedding will be formal but not Pine Lakes formal.
We shall start the tour from where the Bride gets ready:
This is where the guests would walk through. They actually walk through this and the ball room to get to the wedding venue.
 |
| This is part of Ballroom but also how the guests get from the "lobby" to the outside wedding part |
 |
| One half of the ballroom |
 |
| The other half |
So while it is very pretty and a lot of brides have had amazing weddings there, that is why we chose not to get married at Pine Lakes on top of the cost.
Friday, July 29, 2011
August's Grocery List
Here is August's grocery list....it actually shouldn't be that bad...
August's Grocery List 2011
English Muffins
Sub Rolls
Crusty Bread
Dish Detergent
Tomato Paste
Molasses
Potatoes
Frozen Peas
Frozen Carrots
16 ounce bag of frozen hash browns
Garlic
Capers
Red Onion
4 Onion
3 red peppers
Tomatoes
Provolone
2 Cheddar cheese
Parmesan Cheese
6 ounces Gruyere
Manwich
Chili
1 16 ounce can of whole kernel corn
1 15 ounce can creamed corn
Tuna
Bacon
Heavy Cream
Half and Half
Butter
Sour cream
Eggs
Pasta Sauce
Steak Sauce
Thursday, July 28, 2011
Augusts' Menu
Well we did end up having to go back to the store for a few things in July. I can't remember exactly what but it brought us technically a few dollars over June's meals cost.
Here is August's menu. I really tried to use things we already had in the house. In one of July's trips to get what we forgot we ended up buying two pizzas and getting a box of ready made cookies, a box of perogi's, a box of cheesy garlic bread and a Tyson Anytizer for free. We have already eaten one pizza, the cookies and the cheesy bread. We have also run out of my breakfast food and I have decided that even getting it at Costco..it is just too expensive so I am going to try to find cheaper options. Hopefully my efforts will work even though we have to restock some pantry items.
Here is August's menu. I really tried to use things we already had in the house. In one of July's trips to get what we forgot we ended up buying two pizzas and getting a box of ready made cookies, a box of perogi's, a box of cheesy garlic bread and a Tyson Anytizer for free. We have already eaten one pizza, the cookies and the cheesy bread. We have also run out of my breakfast food and I have decided that even getting it at Costco..it is just too expensive so I am going to try to find cheaper options. Hopefully my efforts will work even though we have to restock some pantry items.
August 2011 Menu
Monday, August 1st: Shephards Pie
Tuesday, August 2nd: Stove Top Chicken
Wednesday, August 3rd: Fend
Thursday. August 4th: Chicken Dijon
Friday, August 5th: Emeril's Tuna Melts
Saturday, August 6th: Out
Sunday, August 7th: RAH @ Carolines, BMC Fend
Monday, August 8th: Mexican Lasagna
Tuesday, August 9th: Pizza
Wednesday, August 10th: Fend
Thursday, August 11th: Perogi's
Friday, August 12th: Zucchini/Sausage Lasagna
Saturday, August 13th: Out
Sunday, August 14th: RAH @ Carolines, BMC Fend
Monday, August 15th: Spaghetti Carbonara
Tuesday, August 16th: Meatloaf
Wednesday, August 17th: Fend
Thursday, August 18th: Mahi Mahi
Friday, August 19th: Spanish Chicken with Rice (4 breasts)
Saturday, August 20th: Out
Sunday, August 21st: RAH @ Carolines, BMC Fend
Monday, August 22nd: Slow Cooker Potato and Double Corn Chowder
Tuesday, August 23rd: Oven Honey Chicken
Wednesday, August 24th: Fend
Thursday, August 25th: Salmon Cakes
Friday, August 26th: Meatball Subs
Saturday, August 27th: Out
Sunday, August 28th: RAH @ Carolines, BMC Fend
Monday, August 29th: Cheeseburgers
Tuesday, August 30th: Tuna Helper Casserole
Wednesday, August 31st: Fend
I will post the corresponding grocery list tomorrow hopefully. After it is officially August I will post how July's menu went. As always, if you want any recipes let me know though I don't there are any new ones here....
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
Overwhelmed
I have been feeling very overwhelmed lately. And no, I do not feel that it is just the wedding though maybe I am just not seeing it.
I get home from work any time between 5:45 and 6:15. I have emails to read and send (this is mostly due to the wedding), blogs posts to read, have to make dinner, shower since I work out twice a day, and still hang out with Brian.
I do get everything done but Brian has been spending a lot of time playing his games as the first hour and a half I am home I am dealing with emails. He tries to talk to me and all I can manage is "huh? hold on....trying to get this done" and then later have no clue what he was trying to tell me. After I get done with the emails I start dinner. Dishes has been lacking this week and Brian has now only started to do them after they were literally falling out of the sink and off the counter. I wish he could help more with the dishes...all he does is play games after work. (If I weren't doing emails he would be hanging with me)
While dinner is cooking/after we have eaten I try to catch up on my blogs. This is fun and I enjoy reading them all and refuse to stop but by the time I am finished it is about 8:30 and Brian and I still haven't had much time together. We have about time for one tv show and then it is time to go to bed. It is then when I actually get to grab a shower. Whatever I don't finish I do the next morning after I pack our lunches for the day.
Each day is like this.....never feeling like I have a moment and never feeling like I have accomplished anything. And if you know me...then you know I need to feel like I have accomplished something. I haven't even found a moment to take the nail polish off my hands from my manicure and it desperately needs to be taken off.
A fellow blogger posted about having a life planner...where she writes down what she needs to do each day, what she needs to do that month/year, a place with her grocery list and menu, a place for the recipes she is using and other various things which I wouldn't need. It is something that just helps keep everything organized and something that I could check off each day and feel like I have done something. I might have to find something like that for me.
The weekends are busy but there is a bit more of a breather because I can check my email periodically so I don't have 40 emails to go through at the end of the day. I am enjoying what I am doing but just missing the downtime. It also doesn't help that I am pretty tired from the work day and working out twice a day on top of it.
I get home from work any time between 5:45 and 6:15. I have emails to read and send (this is mostly due to the wedding), blogs posts to read, have to make dinner, shower since I work out twice a day, and still hang out with Brian.
I do get everything done but Brian has been spending a lot of time playing his games as the first hour and a half I am home I am dealing with emails. He tries to talk to me and all I can manage is "huh? hold on....trying to get this done" and then later have no clue what he was trying to tell me. After I get done with the emails I start dinner. Dishes has been lacking this week and Brian has now only started to do them after they were literally falling out of the sink and off the counter. I wish he could help more with the dishes...all he does is play games after work. (If I weren't doing emails he would be hanging with me)
While dinner is cooking/after we have eaten I try to catch up on my blogs. This is fun and I enjoy reading them all and refuse to stop but by the time I am finished it is about 8:30 and Brian and I still haven't had much time together. We have about time for one tv show and then it is time to go to bed. It is then when I actually get to grab a shower. Whatever I don't finish I do the next morning after I pack our lunches for the day.
Each day is like this.....never feeling like I have a moment and never feeling like I have accomplished anything. And if you know me...then you know I need to feel like I have accomplished something. I haven't even found a moment to take the nail polish off my hands from my manicure and it desperately needs to be taken off.
A fellow blogger posted about having a life planner...where she writes down what she needs to do each day, what she needs to do that month/year, a place with her grocery list and menu, a place for the recipes she is using and other various things which I wouldn't need. It is something that just helps keep everything organized and something that I could check off each day and feel like I have done something. I might have to find something like that for me.
The weekends are busy but there is a bit more of a breather because I can check my email periodically so I don't have 40 emails to go through at the end of the day. I am enjoying what I am doing but just missing the downtime. It also doesn't help that I am pretty tired from the work day and working out twice a day on top of it.
Sunday, July 24, 2011
An update on the wedding :)
Today Brian and I are going to try and get the cupcakes to taste test. I will leave 4 here and bring the rest to Caroline's. Hopefully they are open with a good variety :)
Yesterday we dropped off the contract at Wachesaw so I am very excited about that as well. Today Caroline and maybe her daughter are going to come with me to meet with a possible photographer. He is a bit expensive though and while I want professional photo's I don't really want to spend 2k on them. My trainer at work knows a girl who does weddings so she is going to get me her name. Hopefully a) her pictures are good and b) she is less expensive.
The hotel rooms have been put on hold and the guests only have until December 1st to get the rooms booked so that puts the rush on save-the-dates so that everyone has enough time. I have traditionally thought the hotel info went with the invitations which means the invitations would need to be sent out before October and that would be only 2 weeks or so after the save-the dates. My trainer suggested sending the hotel info with the save the dates and my co-worker said that is how she did it and it worked wonderfully.
Now I just have to wait for my group sales director at the hotel to tell me how I should let the guests know how to book the rooms. It is a bit of a complicated set up....half of the people will be combining and have set rooms and the other half will book on their own within the block. The fear is that someone who is supposed to combine will end up in a single room and someone who isn't supposed to combine will end up in one of the larger units. Everyone who is combining knows they are and will be reminded before the save the date cards get sent out. What I do know is that everyone who is combining will get a special insert in their save the dates along with the typical hotel-info. What that insert and hotel info says, I will leave for the group sales director to advise on. I know how complicated and easily this can get messed up if people call in saying the wrong thing or not saying enough as I worked there and handled these calls so I definitely want my wedding to go smoother and easier for the Front Desk staff to handle because we are expecting about 60 people calling in which can be a lot for the hotel.
We are still deciding on what to do Friday night. Right now, if the cost is right, we are thinking of doing dinner at the hotel at about 6:30 after a quick rehearsal either at Wachesaw or outside where we would get married at the hotel if we got married there. After dinner we would have a couple activities for people to do so that everyone can get to know everyone. That is the current idea :)
Next week I hope to meet with the DJ. The second DJ finally emailed me back but didn't really answer any questions so I hope the first DJ who responded and was just so helpful is just as wonderful as he seems to be. It would be nice to get that checked off the list.
Yesterday we dropped off the contract at Wachesaw so I am very excited about that as well. Today Caroline and maybe her daughter are going to come with me to meet with a possible photographer. He is a bit expensive though and while I want professional photo's I don't really want to spend 2k on them. My trainer at work knows a girl who does weddings so she is going to get me her name. Hopefully a) her pictures are good and b) she is less expensive.
The hotel rooms have been put on hold and the guests only have until December 1st to get the rooms booked so that puts the rush on save-the-dates so that everyone has enough time. I have traditionally thought the hotel info went with the invitations which means the invitations would need to be sent out before October and that would be only 2 weeks or so after the save-the dates. My trainer suggested sending the hotel info with the save the dates and my co-worker said that is how she did it and it worked wonderfully.
Now I just have to wait for my group sales director at the hotel to tell me how I should let the guests know how to book the rooms. It is a bit of a complicated set up....half of the people will be combining and have set rooms and the other half will book on their own within the block. The fear is that someone who is supposed to combine will end up in a single room and someone who isn't supposed to combine will end up in one of the larger units. Everyone who is combining knows they are and will be reminded before the save the date cards get sent out. What I do know is that everyone who is combining will get a special insert in their save the dates along with the typical hotel-info. What that insert and hotel info says, I will leave for the group sales director to advise on. I know how complicated and easily this can get messed up if people call in saying the wrong thing or not saying enough as I worked there and handled these calls so I definitely want my wedding to go smoother and easier for the Front Desk staff to handle because we are expecting about 60 people calling in which can be a lot for the hotel.
We are still deciding on what to do Friday night. Right now, if the cost is right, we are thinking of doing dinner at the hotel at about 6:30 after a quick rehearsal either at Wachesaw or outside where we would get married at the hotel if we got married there. After dinner we would have a couple activities for people to do so that everyone can get to know everyone. That is the current idea :)
Next week I hope to meet with the DJ. The second DJ finally emailed me back but didn't really answer any questions so I hope the first DJ who responded and was just so helpful is just as wonderful as he seems to be. It would be nice to get that checked off the list.
Saturday, July 23, 2011
Week of fitness #2
My second week at the gym was a lot of fun! The days continue to fly by and I love all the girls that go to the gym. They are all so nice and funny! I work with a lot of funny people! Zumba on Tuesday night was cancelled but they added a stations class which was a lot of fun as well. I love my schedule and hope Augusts schedule of classes is just as much fun :)
Even though it has only been two weeks there have been some changes already with my body. As I mentioned before my back is back...haha! My calves are almost back where they used to be and from my waist up I have already slimmed down. The newest thing is that my shoulders are back. My arms are getting there but they won't be back to exactly where they were when I was doing gymnastics because of course I am not flying around bars. My arms may actually come back different as I am doing different exercises.
I can't wait for Monday to do it all over again! August 1st I will be taking pictures and I will start there for my progress reports. SO much fun!
Even though it has only been two weeks there have been some changes already with my body. As I mentioned before my back is back...haha! My calves are almost back where they used to be and from my waist up I have already slimmed down. The newest thing is that my shoulders are back. My arms are getting there but they won't be back to exactly where they were when I was doing gymnastics because of course I am not flying around bars. My arms may actually come back different as I am doing different exercises.
I can't wait for Monday to do it all over again! August 1st I will be taking pictures and I will start there for my progress reports. SO much fun!
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