Christmas 2010

I hope you all had a great Christmas!

The college I work at is closed this week s :) so I have been relaxing and enjoying time with family and friends!

We are so incredibly blessed to have such great people in our life.

We got a new tv, air mattress, heated mattress pad (so excited about this one) some new sheets and blankets, some gift cards, some new clothes and my annual Wizard of Oz ornament.

As I read this it makes it sound like we don't have heat in our apartment, we do but are having some major issues with the apartment we live in (a whole different post).

The best part by far was getting to spend time with the people that matter the most and with it being my niece's 2nd Christmas and she could actually open her own gifts she was just too funny!

I will add some pics soon but I am at my Dad's and my camera cord is at my house.

Wishing you all a great New Years!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas!!

from my crazy family to yours!

Sending love to all my readers out there that time out of their busy lives to read about and be part of my crazy world.

Love you all! Have a blessed day!

Being a grown up?!?!?!

We went shopping this weekend, not because I needed to I have been done with my Christmas shopping since before Thanksgiving (thankyouverymuch) but Josh on the other hand is the worlds biggest procrastinator per usual.

So we went to Kohl's to look for a gift for his sister and while we were there I was browsing at some snowmen plates and platters that were 70% off and was pondering getting one for me and one for Josh's mom. I was picking it up and then putting it back then picking it up again obviously trying to decide if I was gonna buy it or not and this woman just blurts out to me oh hunny just buy it and tell your husband its a gift for yourself Merry Christmas lol.

I sorta laughed then put the plate back down and didn't buy it (trying to save $ here) but then thought...I don't have a husband...wonder why she thought I did.

Then at work last week I was giving a campus tour to an interview candidate and he asked so how many kids do you have? I jokingly answered oh a couple hundred (referring to the students I work with)

I guess I just don't feel like a grown up or feel like I look like a grown up at all. I think sometimes I still feel 17 years old for example I can not wait to go "home" for Christmas and just hang out with my mom.

Will there ever be a day that I feel "grown up"? I obviously am 26 years old can have a husband and children just don't even feel remotely ready for either of those things right now in life?

Has anyone else felt that way?? Is there a day, a moment, an occasion where you start to feel "grown up"?

Outfit Failure

I have always loved getting dressed up for Christmas Eve for church and then for our family gathering at my Grandma's . I think my mom always forced a dress on me so now I am cursed for life lol. Well I was so excited because I had this whole freakin cute outfit planned out. I had bought a cute pocketed black skirt this summer from Old Navy and then found a cute cardigan online (during Old Navy's BOGO Sale whoo hoo) so I bought some black tights to go with it.

Well after a what felt like a million days my Old Navy package came and I tore into it like a kid at Christmas to try on my awesome holiday outfit. Well, outfit was an epic failure :(
I look absolutely ridiculous in tights..you know its bad when our boyfriend says "you look like you about to go teach"I personally thought I looked older and like a nun ugh!

the sweater and skirt look cute without the tights but hello I live in OHIO, it's December and it's beyond cold out.

So change of plans......outfit left to be determined.

I love the cardigan and it looks good with black pants so I guess that's an option but I really wanted to jump on the tights bandwagon and look super cute for the holiday.

Hope you are having a good Saturday!

One of the best moments in my life

I am finding more and more as I get older to appreciate the smaller things and moments in life and have definitely begun to value things a lot differently. As you all know my little sister Lauren is 5 years old and is just hilarious. She is obsessed with Tay*lor SwiFt which is funny cause I too at 26 years old am a big fan. Well Josh bought me her new CD several weeks ago so last time I visited the kids (Thanksgiving week, to be there for Austin's final leg surgery) I told Lauren that I was gonna put Taylor's new CD on her Itunes *yes she has her own Itunes playlist* So I ran out to my car and put the songs on her play list. There is a song on the album titled "Never Grow Up" and from the first moment I listened to it I immediately thought of her so she climbed up in my lap and I played the song for her. (You can find it on youtube but lovely blogger wouldn't let me load it :( )

Part of me knows she doesn't really get things 100% but while I was playing the song she just grabbed my hand and looked at me and smiled and I swear it was the most incredible bonding moment ever. I know a lot of 26 year olds would much rather be doing 1000 different things but there is no where else I would ever want to be than to be part of her life. I know we may be 20 years apart but we will always have an unbreakable bond that I will cherish forever.

How can you not love her???

After we listened to some other songs, we watched a movie and she fell asleep holding my hand so I scooped her up and put her to bed....PRICELESS!!

Checkin in

So I thought it would be a good time to check in on my new year's resolutions. There were only three. 1. Take better care of myself 2. Save money 3. Do more things for charity/ volunteering





I must say that looking back over the past year (and how is it that is is already over???) I am incredibly proud of some of the things I have accomplished.





Taking better care of myself was a huge one for me. I honestly feel like I had just "let myself go" throughout college and especially in graduate school and just sorta got comfortable and stopped caring so this summer I committed to Weight Watchers and was determined to lose weight. My mom had done Weight Watchers before so I just used all of the materials she had and didn't attend meetings because I think they are really expensive.

So here it is...the before and after. I have lost 25 lbs and I am so happy with my progress. The before picture was take 2 years ago Christmas day in Belize on our 1st cruise and the after was this summer when we went to the Outer Banks, NC.





You might not be able to see it but I am down 2 jean sizes and 1 shirt size. I still want to lose some more but am incredibly happy so far. :)

Saving money has not been as successful :( but it will continue to be a resolution into 2011. This year was especially rough since Josh was out of work until May. So we will continue to try this again.

Giving back and volunteering has always been important to me but I wanted to make it a higher priority this year and really for the rest of my life. I have been volunteering with the local chapter of Delta Zeta (the sorority I am part of) and I sat on the planning committee for the Toledo Give Thanks. Walk in November which all proceeds go to St Jude Research Hospital. The walk was a huge success and raised a great deal of money for the hospital.

I think I want to continue with all three of these "goals" for 2011 and possibly add some new ones but that will be a post coming later.

How did YOU do with your new year's resolutions???

Thankful Thoughts!

Happy Thanksgiving! I can't believe it is already here. Things have been nutso in my life lately but I have plenty to be thankful for.

I am so incredibly thankful that 3 members of my family have had surgery in the last week and they are all doing very well.

I am thankful for a job that allows me to live in a great apartment and put gas in my car so I can travel home whenever I want

So thankful to reunite with old friends while I am home. I love seeing people from high school. There is a certain sense of understanding one another when you watch each other grow up and go through those awkward years together.

Thankful that I checked my twitter this morning (bear with me for a second). I was not in a very thankful mood when I got up, just grumpy and feeling sorry for myself but got on twitter to catch up and one of my former students had tweeted me "Happy Thanksgiving! I miss you" I realized at that moment I needed to snap out of it and enjoy the day (even though it may not be exactly how I would like it to be) because I am so blessed.

I am not thankful that Josh is 3 hours away today working but am thankful that he has a job

And finally, I am so truly, wonderfully, blessed and grateful for my wonderful family who I would be absolutely lost without.

I hope you all have a great Thanksgiving!

Happy Holidays

Cool Blue Snowflake Holiday 5x7 folded card

Get custom holiday cards online at Shutterfly.com.

View the entire collection of cards.

So although I acted like it was the hardest decision I ever made, here is our 2010 Holiday Card!!

Best part, 50 of them were only $8.00!

Decisions, Decisions

I'm gonna be honest and throw myself under a blogger bus and say that I have not always loved celebrating the holidays. I always seem to get so wrapped up in buying stuff and worrying about travelling that I have a tendancy to foget the real reason and just take some time to enjoy my friends and family. But one thing I have always enjoyed doing is sending and recieving Christmas cards. My whole life we have always been forunate enough that we got a lot of Christmas cards and we would always hang them up around the house to add to the holiday decor. Last year was the first year Josh and I sent out holiday cards as a couple and we had a cute picture of us from an Ohio State game on it. Our family members loved them! We even sent some cards to his aunt and uncle who I had never met as of last year and when I met them this past summer his aunt said "She's the cute one from the Christmas card" I just giggled but was secretly excited she rememebered the card cause I had worked really hard on it.

This year we are going to be using Shutterfly for several of our Christmas projects.
They have great card options that will be sooo hard to choose from http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery

I have been really wanting to make a photo calendar for Josh's mom for a gift for a long time that includes all the trips we have all been on the past few years, and yay Shutterfly has those too http://www.shutterfly.com/calendars/wall-calendars

And I have seen Shutterfly's awesome photo canvases and think I am going to get one made for one of my sorority sister's wedding gifts this summer http://www.shutterfly.com/home-decor/canvas-wall-art


The best news about Shutterfly is Bloggers get 50 free holiday cards from Shutterfly, follow the this link----> http://bit.ly/sfly2010


So go, run...RIGHT NOW this is an awesome opportunity to make the holidays even brighter!

Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Day

Today is a day a lot of people don't even know about yet a day that probably affects a lot of people. I, myself have never had a miscarriage or lost an infant but it has affected my family.

This past spring my brother and his wife experienced an ectopic pregnancy which resulted in my sister in law losing the baby and losing a fallopian tube after it had burst. It was a very scary experience for all of us, as no one really knew what was going on. After the worst was over, they were assured they would be able to have more children and this was nothing that could have been prevented.

It was an incredibly humbling experience for me and made me realize how precious life is. It took quite a toll on my family as mostly everyone had already known about the baby (which would have been arriving right around Christmas) and was already excited planning for it, especially my mom!



Bu the good news is the doctors were right as my sister in law is now pregnant and is due in April.


So please take a second today and hug the children that you do have and send a prayer up for those that have had to deal with the loss of a child.

The truth shall set you free??

I have started this post about a million times in my head but have just never sat down and wrote it out. Maybe because if I actually write it, I can't hide it anymore or I can't just sit back and pretend like everything is OK. So here it is, I have been hiding. Hiding from myself, or maybe from the truth, just hiding in general. Please let me start by saying this is not a post in which I am looking for pity, I know there are a lot of people out there is much worse shape than me...trust me I get that.

I'm just not happy and I don't know how to fix it. I feel like I walk around my life is this haze of "faking it". I thought moving back to Ohio and getting a new job would fix me, wrong. We have been here for a year and I don't feel any different than I did when we first moved here. I like my job, but I am not in love with it. I want to wake up everyday excited to go to work and I have not felt that way for a long time. I am 26 years old and I have no idea what I want to do with this life I have been given and I feel like an epic failure. I have thought about going back to school but in the end I have no clue what I would even study so why waste my time and my money. I love working with college students, I love event planning, and I hate to sound like a snob but I am good at planning events. All the while, I love spending time with my family, and love being home and having free time. Changing my life to become an event planner would make for some serious life sacrifices...is that what I want. I HAVE NO IDEA!

I have actually said out loud..I could just pack up and go live with my mom. Who says that at 26? This girl does, once again FAILURE! I have always had this picture of how I thought life would be and let me just tell you, I was so wrong. This is nothing how I wanted or envisioned my life to be. Sometimes I joke and say I just need to run away and find myself, but maybe that isn't so far from the truth.

I feel lost and I have no idea what to do about it.



*This blog has always been therapy for me, when I write things out it helps me, I am not looking for people to feel sorry for me, or maybe there is someone out there who gets how I am feeling cause I am completely unable to explain it to anyone in my life I have just been MIA on here lately and thought the 1st step is admitting you have a problem, so here is it I have actually said it out loud*

30 before 30 updates

I hate to say it but I am NOT doing too well with this list...

1. Be published

2. Get Married

3. Go to California

4. Swim in the Pacific Ocean
5. Own a good set of dishes that match
6.Go on a family vacation
7.Run in a charity race
8.Sponsor a Child
9. Go to Washington D.C.-We are going next summer for a friend's wedding
10. Learn how to make Buckeye Cookies
11. Learn how to make kolachi
12.Go back to school
13. Go White Water rafting
14. Take my mom on a vacation
15. Get a tattoo to represent my family
16.Go to an Ohio State game at the Shoe
17. Clean out my bedroom at my Mom's house
18.Catch a fish
19.Go Camping
20. Go to a winery
21. Learn how to crochet- In process
22.Learn how to sew
23. Plant a garden
24.See a movie in 3-D
25.Make a Thanksgiving Dinner
26. Learn to swim
27.Have a fun spa weekend with some friends
28.Go to a water park
29.Go to a movie alone- I tried pulled in the parking lot and then chickened out. I WILL DO THIS!!!
30. Spend a whole day being lazy


So as you can see I am doing terrible but I have 4 more years to go!

Growing up sooo fast

This little girl started kindergarten this week! She called me right at noon (it's half day) and told me she loved school and loved riding the bus. This calmed me greatly cause on Sunday afternoon she wanted nothing to do with school and no way no how was she gonna ride that big bus to school. She is growing up so fast, and is just too darn funny. I never thought I would have such a bond with a sister who is 20 years younger than me but it amazing the relationship we have. She is one of the most amazing kids I know, she has no judgement and just her smiles and hugs brighten my life. I can not wait to see her grow and develop into a great woman.

I am so lucky and blessed!

Eat.Pray.Love. among other things

My Mom made a surprise trip here on Saturday and we had probably one of the best days either of us have had in a long time. We dedicated the whole day to celebrating my birthday which is at the end of the month but I won't get to see her.

We started the day with some back to school shopping, even though I don't go to classes, I still work at a school so it counts right?? We had some lunch at the mall and bought some shirts from JCPenney and some new dress pants (2 sizes smaller, might I add) from Old Navy ( GOSH I love that store)

Then we headed to get pedicures...and it was so relaxing and I leaped out of my color comfort zone and had them paint my toes black I feel so mysterious lol

Then we headed to dinner down by the river which I knew my Mom would love and she did then we continued with the day and went and sat Eat Pray Love.

Let me just say, I think every woman should go see this movie. Not that I think every woman has the ability to go on a year long spiritual journey but it certainly makes you think about your life and where your going with it or maybe it was just me but for real it's a good movie..go see it!

And speaking of things I am loving right now...Taylor Swift's new song "Mine"...go find it, listen, fall in love :)

Book reviews

My wonderful friend Candy sent me the 1st LC book L.A. Candy a long time ago. I have been so behind on my reading that I had just sorta forgot it was even on my bookshelf, that was until I was packing for vacation. I picked it up and thought perfect beach read, not too thought provoking, teenage girl drama, easy read!

I will sadly admit that I loved it and had it read by the third day of vacation! It was everything I had expected. and even if you never watched an episode of The Hills in your whole life you will still understand and even laugh at this book.

So once we got back from vacation she asked if I wanted her to send me the next book.....ummm..YES!!!! And sadly again I had the book read in just a few short days...so sad!

But as lack luster as a book review that this is...if you want just a fun, relaxing read I definitely recommend both these books (and I think there is a 3rd one out or in the works). So grab a cold beverage, lay by the pool and enjoy the last days of summer with this super fun read!

Where have I been???

VACATION! And I loved every single second of it. We travelled to Outer Banks, NC with my mom and grandparents and it was amazing. Everything I ever could ask for in a vacation, totally relaxing and amazing! If you can ever go to the Outer Banks I give it a 4 star rating, and you should totally go! We visited the Wright Museum, the Sand Dunes, some lighthouses, rented jeeps and saw the wild horses, went to the aquarium and just relaxed at the beach and at our beach house.

I came back feeling so refreshed and rejuvenated which is good considering August is utter madness at work, madness that has already begun. I swear I don't know how it is already August, but I digress.

Anyways, we came back from vacation and have been non-stop ever since (as I secretly begin to start planning our next vacation lol) but am ready for school to start just to say I survived it.

Hope you are enjoying the last (eek!) weeks of summer!

Worst blogger of the year award

No, no one has actually awarded me with that title but I definitely feel like the worst. I have only posted once this month and its the 22nd. YIKES! It's not that there's not a whole lot going on its just that this summer has been so stinkin busy and I see no end in sight, especially when it comes to work. I can not believe there are school supply sales happening and as of August 1st my life will revolve around getting ready for school to start. Where the hell did the summer go? I had all the best intentions of going to the lake, laying by the pool, getting a good tan. UGH!

So here I sit saying that I am so busy yet really have nothing new to talk about...I am so lame. I got a new cell phone which is sadly exciting for me and I finally joined the 21st century and got one with a touch screen and a keyboard since even my 13 year old brother has a keyboard so I knew I needed an upgrade ha!

Sorry this is a boring, picture less (no pics since MY laptop is getting fixed) post but it's all I got!

Have a good one!

The past three weeks

I have really been slacking in the blog department the past few weeks. Life has been super busy and hectic but so much fun!

Two weeks ago I travelled to Clarion and reunited with some of my sorority sisters for a wonderful afternoon of swimming, eating and catching up. I miss those ladies so much and wish I could spend more time with them. I loved just hearing about what everyone has going on and it honestly felt like we had never left college.

Then came 4th of July weekend WHOO HOO! I absolutely love the 4th of July, I don't know why but it is my favorite holiday. Per usual I went back home for the weekend and we went to the parade with a whole lotta people and collected more candy than we knew what to do with. Then my Momma had a BBQ at the house with just some friends and families and when it finally got dark our house was surrounded by fireworks so we sat by the fire and just enjoyed the view.I love this picture, I think there were fire crackers involved by my neice was just not having it. Oh and I just love 4th of July outfit #2 of the day. So happy we got to spend some time with her,she is getting so stinkin big!

Then this past weekend, we travelled (again) to Paris, Ohio for Josh's Uncle 3rd annual pig roast titled Porkapolooza and it was a ton of fun (sorry no pictures) I was way to busy kicking butt at lawn golf and just enjoying everyone's company.

Overall I think I have spent every Friday and Sunday after noon this summer driving back to our apartment but I wouldn't have it any other way, I love being able to make memories with both my and Josh's families.

I hope you all have been out enjoying your summer as well!

My name is Jessica and I am a shopaholic

Really...I have a problem. I can not pass up a sale to save my life. Coupons on wonderful, sales are way better, but I have really got to get this spending under control definitely have not been keeping up with that New Year's resolution. If you live under a rock and have not heard, Old Navy is having a 30% off sale, so off we went last night. I really did need everything I bought last night (haha) talk about rationalizing.

I really needed some new shorts for vacation, bought a white simple tank for layering (cause you can never have too many), a pair of navy blue flip flops to go with the navy blue shorts I bought last week (I seriously have a problem) and a cute green shirt that was on sale and I only spent $30.00 that's not too bad, and honestly there was a really cute dress I wanted but told myself NO! haha

Well, if you have an Old Navy nearby I recommend stopping in cause they really do have some cute summer stuff!


Happy Friday!

Thankful Thursday, First Edition

Today I am thankful for a great deal of simple things....

So thankful for my family for coming up and visiting last weekend, even though it was by far the hottest, most humid weekend ever they didn't let that stop them

Thankful that my sister survived her very 1st sleepover and it was at
my house...I got no sleep getting up every 5 seconds to check on her but it was so worth it

So thankful for my wonderful friends, near and far who no matter what I know I can call and they will say "I'm just gonna let you cry for a minute" knowing that will make me feel much better

And let's be honest and trivial....I am so thankful for cold iced tea, air conditioning and that I have a pool about 20 feet away from my front door, oh yes and thankful for sunscreen cause this heat/humidity is killing me

Last but no least, so thankful for the opportunity to reunite with some very special sorority sisters this weekend! Can't wait to see my girls!

Flip Flop Swap Gifts!!

When Jess @ All American Jess posted this swap I knew I had to particpate. Who doesn't love summer and who doesn't love getting stuff in the mail. Well, I love both of those things!!!

I had a wonderful swap partner Amy and loved everything I saw when I opened the box :)

Amy made it the pinkest box of gifts ever and that was awesome, since Pink is the best color there is! I just used the pink shovel to plant some flowers this week :)

Thanks for doing the swap Jess!

(Baseball) Diamonds are a Girl's Best Friend

Last weekend I travelled ( I seem to do that every weekend) to Cleveland to meet up with one of my bestie friends, Candy. We met in grad school and there is no way I would have survived those 2 years without her. She now lives in Eastern Pennsylvania so we don't get to see each other much but I love that we make a point to get together as much as we can. While in grad school I did a great job of getting her to fall in love with the Cleveland Indians, so last weekend we had a fun filled baseball weekend, along with a fun night out on the town.

If you follow baseball, this picture above is of the Nationals pitcher "Strausburg" ( I don't remember his first name) but the game we saw was his 2nd MLB appearance and he did great, I didn't really see what all the hype was about, but oh well. Anyways, the Indians won one game and lost another so I guess it was an ok weekend for them. I was just happy it didn't rain.




Now, it is already the weekend, again and my Dad, Stepmom and the kids will be here sometime this afternoon, which we are very excited about.

Have a great day!

Wishful Wednesday

'I wish' .... I had the opportunity to change careers and it would be to become a an event planner!

I feel like we have been down this road before but it is honestly where my heart lies. I would love to do big corporate events at hotels and banquet facilities in a big city, with wedding planning on the side. Or I would love to help plan charity events and raise lots and lots of money for good causes. I often wonder how to you get a degree in "event planning?" I've got years of planning experience but never seem to even be considered for jobs in the field. Any ideas???

Don't get me wrong I do all sorts of event planning at my current job, and I love what I do but I am always up for an adventure.

There are all sorts of other careers I would love too (I have a hard time making up my mind) I would love to be a talk show host or an E corespondent, or a fashion designer, or a photographer, or a talent agent. Hahaha I have crazy dreams!

Thanks for stopping by!

Weekend with my Momma!

My wonderful mother came to visit this past weekend and I loved having her here. She always says she feels like she is on vacation when she is here :) We laid low on Friday night with dinner at Cracker Barrel mostly cause Josh will never go there with me. Then we hit up Kohl's for some super sales and Sonic for some milkshakes. YUM!!!

The weather forecast was unpleasant on Saturday but we were determined to get a trip at the zoo (I love having a membership) in so we got up early and headed that way, and as we were leaving it started to rain...we are awesome. Then came the impossible task of deciding where to go to dinner, I swear we have every restaurant known to man here in town. So we decided to hit up a locally owned Japanese Steakhouse hibachi place and it was so stinkin cool. They cooked the food on the table and we just had a great time.

Obviously the rest of Saturday involved the scary tornadoes (see post below) then sadly Mom had to head back home on Sunday.

But it was a great weekend and I am so excited that I have plenty of more fun weekends ahead filled with all sorts of visitors!

Please Pray

If you have been following the national news you know that some deadly tornadoes passed through the Midwest this weekend. The storm that touched down in Northwest Ohio was about 10 miles away from us, killing 7 people. Please pray for the families that have lost loved ones and the ones who have lost their homes.

Here are some pictures from a local fire and rescue.




A link to a very sad story about one of the victims http://www.aolnews.com/nation/article/ohio-tornado-kills-ted-kranz-proud-father-of-valedictorian/19505840



Thank you for your prayers!